Chapter 1

"Tessa, Kate isn't as strong as you. I can't just stand by while she becomes the target of gossip, letting both her and her child be humiliated. I know I've wronged you, but you need to sign this divorce agreement immediately."

My husband, Gabriel Donovan, threw the divorce agreement in front of me.

I had gone into premature labor and Iost so much blood that I barely survived. My body was extremely weak.

My heart ached as I looked at my son, Adrian Donovan, lying in the incubator with tubes attached all over his body.

In his previous life, he had been thrown by his own father into a cage of wild dogs and torn to death. That horrific scene still lingered vividly in my mind.

Since fate had given us a second chance at life, I was determined not to repeat the same mistakes.

The police officer who helped me search for my biological family in my previous life had told me that they were extraordinary people. We had originally planned to meet, but I was locked in the basement and tortured by Gabriel.

My face was pale as I looked at him. "If you want a divorce, fine. But since you're the ones pushing for it, I expect proper compensation in return."

Gabriel was very surprised, as if he couldn't believe I had agreed to the divorce so readily. He let out a sigh of relief. "All you want is money, right? Fine. I'll give you one million dollars as compensation."

His fortune was worth over a hundred million dollars, yet he was only willing to give his wife and child one million dollars in compensation.

Suppressing the sharp postpartum cramps, I said, "Give me ten million dollars. Transfer it now."

Katherine Nolan stared at me in disbelief. "Are you insane? That's completely outrageous. Gabe was already being generous by offering one million dollars. How dare you ask for ten million dollars?"

Gabriel frowned. "Even if we go through a divorce lawsuit, you wouldn't get anywhere near that much money."

I nodded indifferently. "True. You had your assets notarized before the marriage, so I wouldn't get ten million dollars even if I sued. Yet a divorce lawsuit takes a year or two. I can wait, but can Ms. Nolan and her child with an unknown father wait that long?"

Gabriel's expression darkened. He grabbed a pen, wrote a check for ten million dollars, and passed it to me.

I signed the divorce agreement with ease and handed it to him. When I spoke, my voice trembled slightly despite my effort. "From now on, we have nothing to do with each other."

Gabriel's expression softened once the agreement was in his hands. "After the one-month cooling-off period, we'll finalize the paperwork. Other than that, don't come to me for anything," he said.

He was afraid that I would continue to cling to him.