Chapter 3

Edward flinched, lowering his head until he was barely looking up. "I-I have no idea what you mean…"

I offered a bitter, humorless scoff. "Your behavior isn't consistent with PTSD."

Renee suddenly rose to her feet and stood firmly between us, shielding him behind her. "That's enough! If you're angry about something, come at me instead! Stop acting like you know everything! I won't let you drag him down again!"

I knew that better than anyone. I'd had this illness for over a decade, ever since I watched Mom die right in front of me. I couldn't stop throwing up, crying, or self-harming whenever the memory of blood pooling beneath her came back to me.

I had never told anyone that Mom had taken her own life by jumping off a building because Dad had fallen for another woman.

I'd once vowed never to let myself get trapped in marriage, but Renee had promised never to betray me, staking the future of the entire Fuller Group and the rest of her life on that promise. I'd thought I'd never repeat Mom's mistakes, but in the end, I'd walked the same road she had.

There was a time for screaming accusations and tearing everything down in a rage, but I was done living like this.

I slipped my hand into my bag, reaching for the signed divorce agreement.

Renee's expression changed drastically. "What are you doing? Hold him down!"

However, a bunch of bodyguards slammed me hard onto the floor before I could even pull my hand back out.

Renee came over and kicked my bag aside, the impact leaving my palm tingling. "You'll never hurt him again as long as I'm alive!"

I stared blankly into those eyes, where fear and anger bled together. It brought back a night from a while ago when she had slipped out of bed while I was asleep.

I followed her quietly as I thought she was heading off to see Edward again, only to hear her whispering on the phone—asking if Timothy would still lose his mind even ten years later and if keeping herself alive was the only way she could shield Edward.

I hadn't understood what she meant back then, but now, I finally get it. That was the phone call she'd said came from ten years in the future. She was genuinely scared of me. She would always assume I intended to hurt Edward, no matter what I did.

Inwardly, I felt as cold as the floor beneath me, with my face still pressed firmly against the freezing marble. I managed a bitter smile and said, "I have the divorce agreement in my bag. I have already signed it."

Renee searched my bag with a skeptical look. She took one look at the papers and immediately ripped them to shreds. "I've already told you before! I'm never getting a divorce!"

I looked at her calmly and asked, "Is this because of that phone call?"

Edward tugged nervously at her sleeve. "What phone call?"

"It's nothing."

"You promised me we'd build a home together."

Renee clenched her hands into tight fists, her face turning bright red. "That's enough questions. I'm doing this for your own good. Do you understand, Edward?"

Edward lowered his gaze.

Renee pulled him into a hug, looking at him with heartache. "You can have anything from me, except the status of being my husband."

Those words were directed at me as well. Renee wasn't going to give me anything at all, except for the status of being her husband.

I couldn't see the point of fighting anymore. "You should just sign the agreement, Renee. I won't burn him to death. I hired someone to make that call with a voice changer."