Chapter 2

Memories of the past flickered through my mind like scenes from an old movie strip.

Wayne and I met in college, fell in love, and quickly became inseparable.

Back then, the Donaldsons were nothing more than an ordinary middle-class household. On the other hand, I was born into an affluent family and known as the honorary princess of Jynxwood's elites.

I had kept my identity a secret before marrying Wayne, just so he wouldn't feel inferior.

After the wedding, I had quietly mobilized my family's resources. Step by step, I lent him a helping hand to build the Donaldson family's empire.

But somewhere along the way, the Donaldsons caught a serious case of the "new money syndrome". Maria and Harold shed their humility and began posing as aristocratic nobles.

Every sentence they spoke revolved around the sacred words "the Donaldsons". They even tried to set rules for me.

Still, I wasn't bothered because I only had eyes for Wayne. We were married for five years, and were the picture-perfect couple everyone admired.

On our fifth anniversary, he was drugged and ended up in bed with the poor scholarship student he had been funding, Valeria.

When he sobered up, he immediately knelt before me, crying as he apologized. "I swear I'll cut off all contact with her…"

I trusted him until a year later, when I ran into him and Valeria during a routine gynaecological checkup.

Valeria clung to his arm, and they were holding a baby, looking like the perfect family of three.

I never imagined Wayne would lie to me and keep seeing her behind my back, much less expected them to have a baby together.

That was when it struck me that my love was a complete joke.

Just then, my phone buzzed with a message. "The wedding's set for tomorrow. Are you sure you can make it in time?"

I replied with just two words, "No problem."

After sending the text, I was about to get up when Wayne rushed out and grabbed my arm. He had been hovering behind the door the whole time, waiting for me to yield and admit fault.

"If you'd just bow your head and admit you were wrong, you can come back. Why are you so stubborn? Besides, I've told you more than once that Valeria's the mother of my baby, while you're the only Mrs. Donaldson!"

I coolly yanked my arm free.

How could he have the nerve to demand that I yield and admit that I was wrong?

After we married, I had spent years hiding my identity as Jynxwood's princess just to protect his pride. Even now, he believed that the Donaldson family's rise to fame was credited to his brilliance and efforts.

He had no idea that "Mrs. Donaldson" was never a title he had granted to me because, without me, Donaldson Group would never have existed in the first place.

Now, I was done being the lady of the Donaldsons.

My calmness and composure seemed to unsettle Wayne. Just as he was about to speak again, Valeria came running over, tears streaming down her face.

"Something's wrong with the baby, and he won't stop crying, Mr. Donaldson. I'm scared!"

Wayne's face went pale. He was about to get up and leave when I held him back.

Turning around, he shot me a hesitant look and said in a hoarse voice, "I have to check on the baby, Shelby. Just stay here and wait for me."

Instead of responding, I took out the readied divorce papers and held them out to him, beckoning for him to sign.

He paused and probably assumed it was a work contract. So, without bothering to give it a look, he took the pen and scribbled his name.

If he had just flipped back one page, he would have noticed that it was our divorce papers, but it was a pity that he didn't.

After signing the papers, he rushed off.

Behind him, Valeria shot me a triumphant look.

Looking down at the signed name on the divorce papers, I heaved a long sigh of relief.

Five years of our marriage ended with just that single stroke of a pen.