Chapter 1

The day Antonia Wood was discharged from the hospital, everyone in Oro City was waiting for her to make a spectacle of herself.

They expected her to go after Ian Hoffman like a raging shrew, just as she had the previous four times.

Someone even started a discussion thread online.

[How will Antonia do this time?]

The comments poured in.

[Everyone knows Nicole caused Antonia’s miscarriages. Number ninety-nine must be Mr. Hoffman’s true love. He certainly protects her like she’s the most precious thing in the world.]

[Antonia is a stupid, greedy shrew who married into a rich family for money. She deserves everything that has happened to her! Ian should’ve divorced her years ago!]

To everyone’s surprise, Antonia did not react angrily. Instead, she calmly liked the comment calling for her divorce.

Then, she replied from her verified account. [You’re right.]

Her response stunned everyone online.

Even one of Ian Hoffman’s influencer friends started a livestream and invited him on to confirm the story.

“Ian, you’re incredible. You actually managed to tame a crazy woman as difficult as Antonia? Come on, share your secrets with everyone watching.”

Ian did not answer.

Instead, he casually pulled out his phone and read the text he just received.

[Mr. Hoffman, Mrs. Hoffman has returned to the vault at the family estate.]

He scoffed and sent Antonia the link to the livestream. Then, he looked into the camera with a mocking smile.

“Tamed her? Hardly. She’ll put up with anything if the price is right. Some people never change. I bet it’ll take at least ten million dollars to make her let this go without a fight. Isn’t that right, Mrs. Hoffman?”

Antonia had opened the link and heard every derisive word from her husband. Despite herself, she lowered her gaze.

The dull ache in her chest reminded her once again that, in Ian’s eyes, she would always be a shameless woman who cared about nothing but money.

Even though this was the fifth child she had lost, even though the baby inside her had already been fully developed, he still believed that enough money would shut her up and make her accept what had happened.

She wiped away the tears that had gathered unnoticed in the corners of her eyes. Then, she left the livestream and walked into the vault at the family estate.

Before her lay diamonds, jewelry, antiques, and every other treasure imaginable. Any one of them was worth a fortune.

Yet she did not spare them a glance. She walked to the cabinet at the back of the vault and took a yellowed document from one of its drawers.

In fact, when Antonia married into the Hoffman family eight years ago, she had signed two agreements.

Apart from the one Ian knew about, there was also a marriage termination agreement.

[If the couple remains childless after eight years, either spouse may choose to end the marriage.]

As Antonia read the words, her vision gradually blurred, and her thoughts drifted back to the distant past.

Eight years ago, the Wood family had been set up and driven into bankruptcy by a business rival.

Antonia’s father, Charlie Wood, had been hospitalized with serious injuries. With no other choice, he had entrusted her to the Hoffman family, to whom she was already promised in marriage.

Ian had always liked Antonia since they were little, so their first year of marriage was filled with tenderness and affection.

In spring, he took her to Nivara for its Festival of Colors.

In summer, he whisked her away to ski on Mount Forelia in Esterland, where they escaped the heat together.

In autumn, he brought her to Norwyn to stroll along its famous maple-lined avenues.

In winter, he took her dune riding in the Emirate of Azhar.

Happiness surrounded them like honey. For a time, their marriage was celebrated as a fairy-tale romance.

People called it a love rarely seen among the wealthy and powerful.

The day Antonia learned she was pregnant, Ian discovered the prenuptial agreement she had signed with his grandmother, Gillian Hoffman.

His eyes were bloodshot with rage. He demanded, “Antonia, did you ever love me at all? Did you only marry me for the money?”

In the heat of the argument, Ian shoved Antonia and sent her crashing to the floor.

Just like that, they lost their first child.

After Antonia was discharged from the hospital, their marriage fell apart.

No matter how many times she explained that she had signed the agreement only because it was the sole way to save her father, Ian had already convinced himself that she was greedy and had never loved him.

From then on, Ian became a different man.

He flaunted one affair after another and cycled through mistresses by every imaginable system, from their zodiac signs to the alphabetical order of their surnames.

He even forced Antonia to deliver condoms and fresh clothes, sit beside the bed while he slept with other women, and clean up afterward.

At first, Antonia cried, fought, and broke down again and again.

She even wielded her authority as Mrs. Hoffman and sent people to teach those women a lesson. Her increasingly outrageous confrontations became a constant fixture on the city’s trending topics.

Ian watched her unravel with cruel amusement, then moved on to the next woman, dragging them both deeper into their cycle of torment.

Then, three years ago, Ian’s ninety-ninth mistress, Nicole Hallet, entered the picture.

Antonia confronted her and ordered her bodyguards to send Nicole to a criminal compound in Feloria, where she was subjected to horrific abuse.

For the first time, Ian pressed a gun to Antonia’s forehead and demanded, “Tell me where you sent Nicole! If she doesn’t come back alive, neither will you.”

After Nicole returned, she taunted Antonia smugly.

Antonia lost control and slapped her. That very night, Ian had Antonia dragged into an underground fight club, stuffed inside a heavy punching bag, and struck ninety-nine times.

By the time they let her out, she had miscarried yet another child she had only just conceived.

Over the years, such events had played out countless times.

The loss of her fifth child finally made Antonia understand that Ian really no longer loved her.

Whatever love they had once shared had long since rotted away.

The eight-year agreement had finally expired, so it was time to bring the whole farce to an end.

Antonia left the family estate with the agreement and went to her lawyer’s office.

“Mr. Nunez, please begin the divorce proceedings.”