Chapter 1

It was not long before Ivy Lambert made a video call to Henry Garner.

Henry put on his clothes right away and walked toward the balcony as he started showering her with concern. "You should put on more clothes, Ivy. You know how weak your body is.”

"Be good. You'll stop hurting once I give you a massage. I'll make you chicken noodle soup to warm you up and nourish you tomorrow. Be good and go to sleep, okay?" Henry spoke with tenderness and patience.

The more I listened to him, the worse I felt. Henry would always be impatient when it came to me, and it hurt even worse to hear him promising to cook for Ivy. I held back my tears as I sent my billionaire father a message.

[I'm getting a divorce, Dad. I'll do what you want and go into an alliance marriage with the Langstons. I'm willing to take over the family business.]

My father replied very quickly. [That's my girl! You should have listened to me earlier. Why must you suffer like this? It's been hard on you all this time. Your mother and I miss you very much. Come home and have a good rest. Don't worry. I've gotten my secretary to handle everything for you.]

I could not hold back my tears as they fell onto my phone screen while reading my father's message. My parents had always doted and pampered me since young, but I suffered tremendously when I was with Henry.

Henry was chatting happily with Ivy when I turned to look at him, and all he did was ignore me. I quietly clenched my fists. This was the last time I would be hurt by Henry.

"What's the point of putting up this pitiful act? Do you think you don't need to apologize just because you're crying?" Henry's tone with me got even more impatient when he hung up and saw me crying. "I'm sleeping in the guest room tonight!"

He slammed the door behind him while I stood helplessly where I was, not knowing what to do. I did not sleep that night as I quietly packed my luggage.

The next morning, Henry was upset as he questioned me, "First, you lost your temper at me after doing something wrong, and now you're not even making breakfast anymore! You know very well that I have gastric, Tessa. Are you trying to make me sick by doing this?"

I took a deep breath. "How many times have you had the breakfast I woke up at 4.30 in the morning to make for you? All I saw was you packing up everything to deliver them to your dear sister-in-law, Ivy!"

Henry was taken aback by my reply and lost his temper. "We're a family. What's wrong with packing some breakfast for Ivy? I can't believe how petty you're acting over this!" He grabbed his car keys and left after losing his temper at me.

It hurt as I watched him leave. While I was feeling sad and lost in my thoughts, my mother-in-law kept calling me on the phone. "Tessa, did you fight with Henry again? He told me that you've stopped making breakfast for him. You can't do that. As a woman, you need to know how to take care of your man and be obedient. Just look at yourself right now!”

"I'll give you one more chance to do the right thing. Bring a few bottles of wine over later. Henry's father is craving a drink. Also, Henry loves lobsters. Make some and bring it along with you as well. Another thing, Ivy has never been very healthy, so remember to also pack some bird's nest over for her, understand?"

My mother-in-law's shrill voice continued, but I remained silent.

"Tessa Eckers! I'm talking to you! Don't you know how to respect your elders? How rude of you!"

I pulled the phone a little further from my ear and agreed after slight hesitation. "I'll be over your place later."

There was a message notification on my phone, and I clicked on a picture my bestie had sent to me. It was a picture of Henry tenderly helping Ivy put on her high heels and later leaning down to kiss her foot.

My fingers were trembling as I swiped the picture off the screen. I was heaving as I kept consoling myself and forcing myself to accept the fact that Henry did not love me.