Chapter 3: She Walks Away Without Tears

Amelia's Pov 

The morning sunlight poured through the apartment window, warming the small living room with a quiet comfort that the enormous Anderson mansion had somehow never given me throughout five miserable years of marriage.

The apartment was modest, the furniture was old, and the walls carried faint cracks from years of neglect, yet every breath I took inside that unfamiliar place felt lighter than the countless mornings I had spent trapped inside a mansion where nobody had ever treated me like family.

Lily was still sleeping peacefully on the narrow bed after another exhausting day inside the hospital, and watching her finally rest without crying in her sleep made every difficult decision feel completely worthwhile.

I gently tucked the blanket around her tiny body before kissing her forehead because I silently promised myself that nobody would ever make my daughter question her worth again.

The first thing I did after leaving the Anderson mansion was block every member of the Anderson family except Maxwell because I had absolutely no interest in hearing another lecture about duty, sacrifice, or becoming a proper daughter-in-law from people who had never once treated me like a daughter.

My phone rang only a few minutes later, and the familiar name flashing across the screen immediately told me peace would never come easily. 

“Geez, how did I forget to block this witch!” The word came out of my mouth even before I realized 

Vanessa Anderson—Maxwell's older sister.

The woman who had spent five years treating me like unpaid household staff while pretending every cruel order represented another opportunity for me to prove myself.

I answered because running away from people like Vanessa had never solved anything.

"Amelia, where exactly are you because Mother's family dinner starts this evening, and everyone expects you to prepare the food before the guests arrive."

I quietly closed my eyes because not once had she asked how Lily was feeling after yesterday's heartbreaking ordeal.

Not once had she asked whether I had eaten.

Not once had she spoken to me like family.

Instead, she called because somebody needed a cook.

"I'm not coming."

Silence greeted my answer before an irritated laugh reached my ears.

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

"I said I'm not coming."

"You've always prepared Mother's family dinners because that's your responsibility as the Anderson family's daughter-in-law."

"No."

My voice remained calm because anger would only give them another excuse to call me unreasonable.

"Cooking for people who never respected me was never my responsibility."

Vanessa's tone immediately became sharper.

"Have you completely forgotten your place?"

I smiled bitterly because those words had followed me throughout my marriage more faithfully than kindness ever had.

"I finally remembered my place, Vanessa, and it isn't inside the Anderson family's kitchen."

Before she could continue insulting me, I calmly ended the call before switching off my phone completely.

For the first time since marrying Maxwell, nobody could order me around.

For the first time, saying no didn't make me feel guilty.

Instead, it made me feel free.

I looked around the small apartment before noticing Lily's colorful drawing resting carefully beside our packed suitcase, and a quiet determination slowly settled inside my heart because my daughter deserved a mother she could admire instead of one constantly begging for affection.

My phone vibrated again after I turned it back on, although this time another name appeared across the screen.

Eleanor Ashford.

My fingers trembled slightly before answering because years had passed since we last spoke.

"Amelia, I've arranged a meeting tomorrow morning because I want to see your recent work, and I sincerely hope you haven't forgotten how extraordinary your talent truly is."

Tears quietly gathered inside my eyes because someone still believed in the woman I used to be.

"I'll be there."

"You won't regret coming back."

After ending the call, I slowly looked toward the sleeping little girl who had unknowingly given me enough courage to reclaim the future I abandoned five years earlier.

I wasn't rebuilding my career because I wanted revenge.

I was rebuilding my life because Lily deserved a mother capable of standing proudly beside her instead of hiding behind someone else's surname.

---

Maxwell pov 

By the time I returned to the mansion that evening, I expected Amelia to have calmed down because she had never remained angry with me for very long regardless of how serious our arguments became.

On my way home, I stopped at an exclusive jewelry boutique before purchasing a limited-edition diamond necklace because expensive gifts usually ended our disagreements much faster than lengthy conversations ever could.

Women forgave easily when their lives were comfortable.

At least, that had always been true with Amelia.

I stepped inside the mansion before immediately noticing the unusual silence surrounding me because Amelia normally greeted me at the entrance regardless of how upset she felt.

"Soph….”

The wrong name almost left my lips from habit before I frowned.

"Amelia."

Nobody answered.

My footsteps echoed loudly through the hallway before I climbed the staircase toward our bedroom, expecting to find her stubbornly refusing dinner while waiting for me to apologize.

The bedroom door stood slightly open.

Everything inside looked strangely different.

I pushed the door wider before my eyes immediately settled upon the half-empty wardrobe standing against the wall.

Several shelves were completely bare.

Most of Amelia's clothes had disappeared.

Her favorite books were gone.

The family photographs she personally arranged had vanished without leaving a single frame behind.

An uncomfortable feeling slowly settled inside my chest before I walked toward Lily's nursery.

The room that had always been filled with colorful toys and childish laughter now felt painfully empty.

The stuffed rabbit Lily never slept without was gone.

Her tiny shoes no longer rested beside the bed.

Even the colorful drawings decorating the walls had disappeared.

The nursery no longer looked like it belonged to a little girl.

It looked abandoned.

My gaze finally landed upon something resting neatly on the bedside table inside our bedroom.

Amelia's wedding ring.

I stared at it for several long moments before picking it up with unexpected irritation.

"Ridiculous."

She wanted attention —That was all this was.

She had taken Lily and left because she expected me to chase after her, apologize, and promise everything would suddenly become different.

I slipped the ring into my pocket before placing the expensive necklace beside the empty jewelry box she had left behind.

She loved jewelry. Once she saw the necklace, she'd calm down.

She always came back, She had nowhere else to go. She depended on me for everything.

Sooner or later, she'

d realize life outside the Anderson family wasn't nearly as comfortable as she imagined.

Then she'd come home with Lily. Everything would return to normal.