Chapter 3

I smiled bitterly. "Since we got married, there hasn't been a single woman around me besides my mother and relatives. You know that better than anyone. Now you want to believe him over me?"

"Who knows what you've been thinking behind my back?" Susie countered coldly. "You can know someone for years and still not know what's on their mind."

"Skyler, you bastard!" Betty shrieked and clawed at me. "How dare you cheat on my daughter! What did she do to deserve this?"

Andrew was livid. "Divorce him! Trash like him isn't worthy of my daughter!"

My coworkers glared at me, saying they couldn't believe I was that kind of person. I watched the Millers perform their little choir while John grew increasingly smug. My heart turned cold.

I thought that after all these years together, they would know what kind of person I was. I never imagined their trust in me would be so fragile.

"You didn't have to put on a whole production just to force me out," I said sarcastically. "I'll gladly leave."

Guilt flickered in Susie's eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about. You're in the wrong, but instead of admitting it, you're twisting things around and blaming me. You've really let me down."

"Exactly! You got caught with harassment, refused to admit it, and tried to pin the blame on my daughter. Are you even a man?"

Betty spat the words at me, practically spraying me with saliva as she pointed in my face.

John stepped closer, pretending to comfort me. "If there's anything you can say about yourself, do it now. That way, there won't be any more misunderstanding."

I caught the smug look in his eyes and shoved him away with disgust. "Get away from me. I don't need your fake concern."

John hit the floor with a painful cry. Susie rushed over and helped him up, fussing over him as if he were badly injured. She then turned and kicked me.

Pain shot through my knee. She was too busy checking John over to notice he hadn't even scraped his skin. She whipped her head at me, hands on her hips, and screamed, "If anything happens to John, you'll pay for it!"

I remembered how Susie used to defend me the same way. Once, when a local thug and his men had cornered me, she grabbed a brick and stepped in front of me like a heroine.

"Anyone who lays a finger on my man will have to get through me first!"

Now, she was protecting someone else against me.

A deep, unbearable sorrow engulfed me. "I already had a fiancee back then, but you love-bombed me. After you stood by me through several crises, I was moved by what you did, and that's why we got together."

Susie frowned in disgust. "Why are you bringing this up?"

I smiled bitterly. "Later, I gave up the career I had trained for and switched to design so I could build a business with you.

"When you insisted on entering an industry nobody understood or supported, I stayed by your side and helped you get where you are today."

Her expression began to change. "You—"

"Then you got busier and busier," I continued. "You even aborted our baby because of everything you were dealing with, and I never blamed you for any of it. When you told me you didn't want children, I respected your choice."

Some people in the room looked visibly moved.

"I thought we'd spend the rest of our lives supporting each other, but you let yourself drift further away from me for an assistant you barely knew. Let's just get divorced. From now on, we'll go our separate ways."

I turned away coldly and limped out of the room.

Susie stood there in a daze, her gaze following me. She stepped forward as if to say something, but John suddenly collapsed against her, groaning. "Susie, my head is spinning…"

She immediately stopped and anxiously called for the doctor.

That night, I went home in a terrible mood. When I checked my phone, I had many missed calls and texts from Susie.

"The doctor says John has a concussion, and it's all your fault! Do you have any idea how humiliated I was today? I'm not letting this go so easily, Skyler.

"Take a few days to think about what you've done, then apologize to John publicly. If you do that, I'll consider forgiving you and staying with you."

She still thought I was just throwing a tantrum and didn't mean anything I said. I scoffed, deleted her messages, and blocked every number she had.