Chapter 4

Hugo seemed to come to his senses a little. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. After a long silence, he finally spoke, his eyes red, "I'm sorry, Cathy, but I can't divorce you."

He turned and walked away, leaving only one final remark. "Let's just spend the rest of our lives torturing each other until we die."

…

Over the next few days, I prepared for the divorce proceedings and made plans to leave.

Maybe I'd spent so long lowering myself for Hugo that everyone had gotten used to it. Even the fact that I'd sold my shares in Lambert Corporation had made headlines.

Everyone was trying to guess what I was up to. They wondered if I had finally gotten tired of chasing after Hugo and decided to play hard to get.

While gossip about my sudden change was still making the rounds in high society, news broke that Janelle had been dumped, not long after I asked for a divorce.

She showed up outside Lambert Corporation every day, crying and demanding to see Hugo. But he paid her no heed.

So, Janelle turned her attention to me instead. She bombarded me with messages every day and kept calling from different phone numbers.

It was driving me crazy. I thought blocking her would put an end to it, but I'd clearly underestimated how relentless that woman could be.

That day, I had just sold one of my cafes. The shop was empty, and I was finishing up the handover when I turned around and saw Janelle.

The moment she saw me, she dropped to her knees. "Cathy, I'm sorry for everything I did before. I only did those stupid things because I love Hugo so much."

She was crying so hard that her face was covered in snot and tears. I was disgusted, but I still helped her to a seat.

Once Janelle had calmed down a little, she said, "Cathy, I'm really jealous of you. Although Hugo is always surrounded by women, he has never touched any of us."

She handed me a gift box and ordered two coffees. "Do you know why I've been able to stay with him for so long? He said my smile resembles yours the most."

Janelle kept rambling on about Hugo, and I started to lose patience. I took a few sips of coffee to pass the time.

Soon, a powerful wave of drowsiness washed over me. Just before I closed my eyes, I sensed the air growing thinner and thinner. Flames flickered all around me. I tried to struggle, but I was too weak to move.

In a daze, I felt as if I were back in that fire all those years ago.

…

A few days later, Hugo was about to head out when he ran into two police officers. They looked at him.

"Are you Ms. Colgan's husband?"

Hugo replied impatiently, "Yeah, so?"

The officers' expressions grew sterner at his attitude.

"If you're her husband, why haven't we been able to reach you? Ms. Colgan's body has been unclaimed for a while now. If no one claims her body soon, she'll be cremated at public expense!"