Chapter 3

The next morning, I was jolted awake by my phone vibrating.

The photos I sent had been shared multiple times and eventually reached the design firm's internal group chat.

Before I could even read the messages, an administrator deleted them all.

I opened the list of administrators. There was only one administrator, and it was Ian.

The next second, my phone rang.

"Julianna, are you done yet?

"Just because I was a little stern with you before I left yesterday, you're going to retaliate like this?"

Ian sounded exhausted. He'd probably been smoking all night.

I gathered myself.

"I don't have the energy to retaliate against you, and I'm not in the mood either.

"Ian, I was simply stating a fact.

"How other people choose to perceive it and talk about it is beyond my control."

There was a long silence on the other end. Just as I was about to lose patience, Ian finally spoke.

"Julianna, I know you've been holding a grudge for the past three years.

"Don't worry. I'll start planning the design for our marital home in the next few days.

"But before that–"

A trace of unmistakable authority entered his voice.

"You need to apologize publicly in the group and explain that you were only joking around with me.

"After all, Tina and I are jointly responsible for the design of our marital home. Your behavior has seriously damaged Tina's reputation."

A lighter clicked on from the other end of the call. There was an inexplicable hint of amusement in Ian's voice.

"Don't worry. As soon as you apologize, I'll immediately respond in the group and forgive you.

"Julianna, I won't let you embarrass yourself in front of everyone."

I couldn't help but chuckle.

This was the man who had made countless promises to give me a warm home.

"Ian, I'm not the one who should apologize.

"There's no need to design this house anymore. Let's get a divorce."

With that, I hung up and immediately contacted the project coordinator at the design firm.

"Hello. Due to a change in circumstances, I'd like to terminate the design project for this house.

"Ms. Warren, are you sure? According to our policy, the deposit is non-refundable once the project has been terminated."

The coordinator was clearly surprised and added, "You've been following up on the planning of this project for the past three years. Our records show that you've visited the firm nearly sixty times.

"The project has already begun, and the designers responsible for it are two of the most accomplished designers at our firm."

"Keep the deposit. Terminate the project," I interrupted softly. "Three years. Nearly sixty follow-ups, and I still never got a response. There's no reason for this project to continue."

The coordinator paused before finally giving up on trying to persuade me.

The moment the call ended, a loud crash came from the front door.

Ian slammed it shut. He then stormed into the bedroom and yanked me to my feet.

"Julianna, are you done yet?

"You refused to apologize, and now you're trying to use divorce to threaten me?"

His fingers clamped tightly around my shoulders, almost crushing my bones.

"Do you know what everyone at the firm is saying now? Tina cried all night because of this.

"You just had to cause trouble on the day she was moving into her new home. You know exactly what you're trying to accomplish!"

His grip made my shoulders ache and go numb. Compared to the pain of the uterine scraping, however, it barely registered.

I clenched my jaw, pried his fingers away, and pulled out a divorce agreement.

"This isn't a threat.

"Ian, I've really decided to divorce you."

His expression froze.

"When did you prepare these documents?"

I didn't answer, but I remembered it clearly.

The day my final attempt to move forward with the design of our marital home failed, I walked out of the design firm and, with trembling hands, contacted a lawyer to draft the divorce agreement.

I had kept it all this time partly because I wanted to give myself time to calm down.

But more than that, I had been waiting for a response from Ian.

Instead, he had immediately gone to help Tina oversee construction and was completely indifferent to my miscarriage.

When I didn't respond, Ian softened his tone.

"Julianna, don't use divorce to throw a tantrum.

"I've already started working on the design plans for our home. This time, I won't make you wait.

"Tina is coming over later to do an on-site assessment. Just apologize to her in the group and make her feel better."

As soon as he finished speaking, a sweet voice came from outside the door.