Chapter 4

Cora spent seven days in police custody.

Those seven days were a living nightmare. After the other detainees heard she was a homewrecker, they either mocked her mercilessly or beat her up.

No matter how many times she tried to explain herself, no one would believe her.

Eventually, she grew accustomed to the pain.

When she was finally released, she looked at the empty road outside the police station and let out a bitter, mocking laugh.

Of course. Ethan was a man with endless business to attend to. How could he possibly spare any time for her?

She wandered down the street.

Suddenly, she noticed the enormous screens mounted on the high-rises lining both sides of the road. They were broadcasting an interview with Ethan and Madison. Standing shoulder to shoulder, the two looked every bit like a loving married couple.

They were so perfectly matched, so dazzling in the spotlight.

Cora stood there for a long time, until the voices of passersby suddenly reached her ears.

“Isn’t that the mistress from that video?”

“I heard she caused a scene and got herself locked up for seven days. How does she have the nerve to show her face in public? I’d be too ashamed to leave the house!”

Someone suddenly shouted, “Mistress, go die!”

The cry spread, and people began hurling rotten eggs at Cora in a frenzy.

Shame, anguish, and humiliation surged through her all at once.

In her twenty-five years of life, Cora had never been treated like a rat crawling through a sewer, someone everyone wanted to chase away and beat to death. Unable to stop the barrage of abuse, she fled in a miserable panic without even trying to defend herself.

Only after reaching a deserted stretch of road did she spot a familiar Maybach in the distance.

It was Ethan’s car.

Cora froze, a sudden wave of humiliation washing over her. She didn’t even need to look down to know how wretched she must appear.

Sticky residue from countless rotten eggs clung to her clothes and body, filling the air around her with a foul stench.

Meanwhile, Ethan remained impeccably dressed in his tailored suit, his natural air of nobility undiminished.

They no longer belonged in the same world.

She had simply taken until today to realize it.

Numbly, Cora opened the car door and sat beside him.

Ethan rubbed his temples and made an effort to soften his voice.

“Cora, work has been hectic lately. I’m sorry you’ve had to endure all this.

“Madison has been spoiled since childhood, so she doesn’t always think things through. And given your reputation right now, it’s probably best if you stay home for a while.”

Cora lowered her head and gave a self-mocking smile.

“Don’t worry. I know my place.”

She had become someone everyone wanted to hunt down and humiliate, while the man she’d loved for more than a decade cared only about protecting his own interests. He couldn’t even bring himself to step out of the car and shield her from the storm.

Why bother going outside just to invite more humiliation?

The two rode back to the mansion in silence.

But when Cora finished showering and went to her room to change, she discovered that it had been completely trashed.

Her jewelry and clothes had been thrown onto the floor, trampled under countless footprints.

Worst of all, someone had dragged out the large box she’d hidden beneath her bed and rummaged through it.

All the precious memories she had collected with Ethan—the love letters she’d written by hand, the protective charm she’d begged and pleaded to obtain, the fountain pen he’d given her, his handwritten letters...

Every last one had been reduced to scraps.

Madison must have done this. She wanted to humiliate Cora in the cruelest way possible.

When Ethan hurried over and saw the wreckage, he paused, a fleeting trace of pain passing through his eyes. But it vanished almost immediately.

He became the same calculating, rational Ethan Caldwell once again.

“Cora, we can replace those things.

“Once I’ve gained complete control of Caldwell Group, I’ll make it up to you a hundredfold, even a thousandfold.”

Cora closed her eyes briefly.

“There’s no need.”

She had already planned to throw those things away herself. Their love was gone, so what was the point of holding on to reminders of it?

Now she wouldn’t even have to go through the trouble herself.

Some things, once broken, could never be made whole again.