Chapter 3

Jake sat on the couch, sleeves rolled up with his head in his hands as his mother stood, yelling over him.

“I cannot believe that you agreed to divorce Scarlett! What was it in your mind?!”

Rachel snuggled closer, clutching his arm. “Yes, Jake. That was not very smart to do. Why would you just let her go? Ethan depends on her so much. Who is going to take care of Ethan after she leave?”

Jake felt a pounding headache.

When Jake first met Scarlett, she had taken his breath away. She was beautiful, well-educated, and later landed a good job.

The only and biggest drawback, in his eyes, was that Scarlett was an orphan with no parents.

In a society where money and family background mattered most, looks and ability weren't enough. Without parents to support her, marrying Scarlett meant they would always fall behind families with stronger connections and greater wealth.

But Rachel was already pregnant, and her wealthy parents refused to let her marry someone from a random family like Jack's. Rachel also made it clear that she didn't want to be tied down by marriage or family life.

Not being able to marry Rachel was Jack's biggest regret. Still, he believed that once she gave birth to their child, her parents would eventually soften for the sake of their own grandson.

With that in mind, he married Scarlett while arranging for the pregnant Rachel to live in an apartment near his office.

A month later, Scarlett became pregnant. Eight months later, Rachel gave birth to their son, Ethan. A month after that, Scarlett also gave birth to a baby boy.

Jake switched the two babies and later brought Rachel into the house, claiming she was a distant relative.

From that day on, Scarlett was nothing more than his wife in name, while he and Rachel finally lived under the same roof.

To keep Scarlett devoted to the family without questioning anything, he hid the truth about his relationship with Rachel.

He had a wife who gave everything to him and his family, and the woman he truly loved was by his side. Everything had seemed perfect.

So what had gone wrong?

His family had never been happy with Scarlett. They had always believed she was the one who benefited from marrying him. But now Scarlett had left with nothing, and he was finally free to build a real family with Rachel. By now, Rachel's parents probably wouldn't object anymore either.

Why were they so against him divorcing her?

Janet sighed, turning in a small circle as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Scarlett should at least bought her the pearl earrings.

Janet had relied on Scarlett's paycheck to enjoy expensive afternoon teas, buy jewelry worth thousands of dollars, and live far beyond her own means every month.

Now that Scarlett had divorced her son, that steady source of spending money was gone. Was she really supposed to go back to living an ordinary life?

Janet refused to accept it.

She had to wear a pair of Tahitian pearl earrings to the women’s city meeting converging next weekend. She had already talked a big game to the other women, even calling Olivia poor for wearing gold earrings without real gold in it.

Hearing Janet lament about earrings made Rachel send her an annoyed glare.

She had the time to care about earrings when the money for her own grandson’s care had just vanished. Without Scarlett's salary, how was Rachael supposed to take care of Ethan?

The only reason Jake had even married Scarlett was because she landed that job. The money was why Rachael was able to endure being called Jake's cousin for so many years when she really was his lover.

That was the easiest way for her to have a lazy, comfortable life while pocketing a slice of Scarlett's hard-earned paycheck as her spending money every month.

Rachael tugged on Jake's arm again. “Babyyyy. Come on, you need to talk to Scarlett to—”

Jake shoved off Rachael's arm, jerking away from her in irritation. “Just leave me alone for now. I need to think.”

She actually sent it. She actually sent the paperwork. He had not expected her to have the guts to do so.

Yet, there were even more surprising things about the situation.

Firstly, Scarlett agreed to walk away with nothing. In the contract that she had drafted herself, all of the clauses were in his favours. Even borderline outrageous.

Why would she leave herself with no way out? She gave all of her money to him. How was she planning to survive out there?

The most surprising thing about the situation was the pang of guilt in his chest. In that moment, he could not think past the rage swelling in his chest as he signed the papers on the spot.

But after he mailed them back to the law firm, he started to have second thoughts. Had he been too impulsive? Whatever arguments that he and Scarlett had in the past could always be easily talked out.

But hitting his mother was a line that even Scarlett could not cross.

Besides, it would not be long before she came crawling back when she realized that she had nothing and no one out there to rely on. After all, she loved him wholeheartedly and took care of his family even at the detriment to herself.

He was the best husband an orphan like her could ever hope for. There was no way she would actually leave him.

Jake nodded sign a reassured smile as Janet and Rachael bickered over his head into the night.

***

Scarlett was at the law firm first thing in the morning. She was dressed sharp in a dress that she had gotten with the last few dollars that she had, looking ready for a battle.

“Trevor,” she said, greeting the lawyer who was waiting for her in front of his firm.

He smiled in greeting as he ushered her through the doors.

The moment they were behind closed doors, she waved her hand. “Divorce papers. He signed.”

Trevor handed her the documents and she flipped to the back. Seeing Jake's signature on the dotted line flooded her entire body with relief, tears nearly welling up in her eyes.

She was finally free from Jake and his parasitic family.

“I am ready to go ahead with the inheritance transfer,” Scarlett said after clearing her throat to regain her composure.

Trevor presented the inheritance agreement. Scarlett quickly glanced through the terms and nodded in approval.

Every detail matched what she remembered from her past life, except with one wonderful exception: this time, she would inherit the entire fortune alone. The line that should carry the name of the spouse was left blank.

Her nerves were completely calm as she signed her name on the document. Trevor nodded and retrieved a folder from his pile of folders.

“This contains a bank card containing twenty million,” he said, bringing out the black card and handing it to me. “And these are the deeds to the different properties. Congratulations, Miss Morrison on reclaiming your inheritance.”

Scarlett opened the folder, the looming apocalypse back on her mind. She surveyed the different properties for one purpose.

The ones that could be fortified to survive the coming weather. A few of the properties made the cut.

As for the rest, in a bit of time, they would be completely useless. She might as well sell them now and use the money to stock up on more supplies.

“Are you Mr. Thorne?” Scarlett said on the phone to the real estate agent that Trevor had given her the contact for. “There are a few houses I need you to sell within a week. I will send you their details. I can pay. Just make it happen.”

Trevor watched her but did not comment on it. She nodded once at him before walking out of the law firm.

As the morning sun shone down on her skin, it was as though she had been reborn. Scarlett had never felt that free in years.

The moment she was inside her car, she immediately stored the black card inside her pocket space, the safest place she could think of.

With no more time to waste, Scarlett kicked her preparations into high gear.