Chapter 10

“I got accepted…?”

Nora could hardly believe her ears and had to confirm it again.

“Yes, Ms. Yates. Your design submission was outstanding. After several rounds of review, we’ve decided to award you the overseas study slot. You have three days to prepare your documents. Once ready, send them to our back-end email. We’ll notify you once the formalities are complete...”

Afraid of messing something up, Nora asked them to send her a detailed checklist. Only when both the confirmation and the checklist arrived in her inbox did her heart finally settle.

She had thought that with Travis’s interference, there was no way the opportunity would land in her hands so easily. Yet Horizon Corp still chose her.

She held back her excitement, picked up the checklist, and began matching it with the documents she already had. That’s when she realized—her passport wasn’t in her ID pouch.

After a moment of thought, she remembered that she and Travis had once planned a tropical vacation. She’d put both their passports in a separate drawer, but the trip never happened. She must have left them there.

Which meant… she’d have to go back to Travis’s villa to retrieve it.

The moment she stepped into the house, the butler had already reported her presence to Travis.

As soon as Travis wrapped up his work, he ordered his assistant to get the car ready—to go pick up Quinton.

Unaware of any of this, Nora went straight to their old bedroom, opened the drawer, and found her passport.

But just as she stepped outside, the butler—flanked by two maids—blocked her path.

“Mrs. Luther, please wait. Everything in this house belongs to Mr. Luther. Without his permission, you’ve accessed his private belongings. We can’t let you leave just yet.”

Nora took a step back, studying the unfamiliar butler and staff.

In her past life, because she had managed the home so well, Travis never brought in other help. But this time, she wasn’t around—and he’d replaced her without hesitation.

She let out a cold laugh. “You’re calling me Mrs. Luther, so you know I’m still his legal wife. That means everything in this house is jointly owned. I have every right to take whatever belongs to me.”

The butler didn’t flinch. His expression said clearly: he answered to no one but Mr. Luther.

Nora didn’t bother arguing. She simply turned and sat down on the couch by the door.

“You’ve probably already called Travis, haven’t you?” she said lightly. “Fine, I’ll wait for him.”

Ten minutes later, she heard footsteps downstairs.

A minute after that, Travis’s tall figure appeared at the door.

“Mr. Luther,” the butler and staff greeted in unison.

Travis told them to leave, then stepped inside. His gaze paused briefly as he took in Nora’s outfit. So… she dressed like this to soften him?

Nora put away her phone, crossed her legs casually, and said, “Your staff said I broke in without permission and accused me of stealing. But I only took my passport. Nothing else. What do you say to that?”

Travis didn’t sit. He leaned lazily against the cabinet opposite her, his expression cool and unreadable.

“The butler wasn’t wrong. Most of the things here are mine. His suspicion wasn’t entirely baseless.”

Nora had expected this exact answer. She nodded. “Good. Now that you’ve said that, I feel much better. That means I can freely post about how I was falsely accused of theft and illegally detained for ten minutes.”

Travis’s relaxed posture stiffened in an instant. “What did you say?”

Nora lifted her phone and waved it. “Already uploaded. Wanna guess how long it’ll take before someone calls the police?”

His face darkened immediately. Without wasting words, he grabbed his phone and called his assistant.

“Take down any video or news content related to the Luther family. Immediately.”

Just as he hung up, ready to mock her for being naive—

Nora sneered, “You really are dumb. I only saved the video to my personal file assistant. You didn’t even catch that? And you run Luther Corp?”

Travis’s face turned pitch black. He strode over to her, leaned in close, and stared her down, eyes swirling with fury.

“You played me?”

His sudden closeness made her deeply uncomfortable.

Without hesitation, she raised her knee and drove it straight into his gut.

Travis wasn’t prepared. With a pained grunt, he staggered back onto the couch.

Nora stood up quickly, putting distance between them. “Damn right I played you. So what? You Luthers treated me like a joke for years. I never heard you object then—so why are you mad now?”

His jaw clenched. His gaze flicked to the item in her hand—and froze.

“What are you holding?”

Nora had no intention of telling him about her study opportunity. She waved the passport and replied casually, “Can’t read? It’s my passport. Don’t worry, Mr. Luther. I’m only taking back my own belongings.”

His face darkened even more. “You’re leaving the country?”

Nora saw that he hadn’t guessed her true intention, so she played along. “That’s right.”

Travis narrowed his eyes. “You dragged my mom to the company this morning just to get my attention. I’m here now—happy? Can you stop this nonsense already?”

“Are you hearing yourself?” Nora scoffed. “Your mother asked me to go. And from the look on her face, I think she’s all for our divorce. Don’t project your delusions onto me.”

Realizing he’d jumped to conclusions, Travis’s expression turned stormy. “I’m not divorcing you.”

He had worked too hard to bring the Luther name into prominence. A public divorce scandal now would ruin everything.

But Nora couldn’t care less. “That’s not up to you. If you drag this out until the legal separation period is over, I’ll just file for divorce myself.”

Travis hadn’t expected her to be this serious. “Nora, don’t push your luck. I’ve been patient, considering you’ve been under stress. I’ve tried to be civil. Don’t make me regret that.”

“Oh, give me a break,” Nora said coldly. “You’ve been ‘civil’? Please. I am pushing my luck. Go find someone who appreciates your nonsense. Go chase your side piece if you want—just don’t expect me to sit around playing the loyal wife. Disgusting.”

Travis was about to explode. Why did every conversation with her circle back to divorce?

It was starting to feel like he was the one desperately clinging to her!

Right then, his phone rang. Seizing the excuse, he grunted, “Leave. I’ll deal with you later.”

Nora rolled her eyes and headed downstairs—only to see a small figure in a school uniform rush toward her.

Quinton.

He looked up at her in surprise. But within seconds, that surprise morphed into smug arrogance.

“Hmph. Don’t think dressing up all pretty is gonna win us back. I’ve got my sweet, gentle aunt now. Even if you begged me to call you ‘Mom’ again, I wouldn’t. You abandoned me! You’re too late!”

Nora stared at the brat in front of her, feeling both pity and disbelief.

Only six years old, and not a shred of childlike innocence. Just an entitled little tyrant.

Good thing she no longer felt guilty about him. Otherwise, his words might’ve driven her up the wall.

“Who says I want you back? Honestly, not having to be the mom of an ungrateful, rude little monster like you… I’ve never been happier.”

“You—!”

Quinton’s eyes widened, then his face twisted with rage. He lunged at her and shoved hard.

“I don’t want you either! I don’t need a worthless mom like you! Grandma’s right—you’re useless! You drag Dad down, and now you’ll drag me down too. You don’t deserve to be my mom!

“Get out! This is my house! I don’t want you here!”

Caught off guard, Nora stumbled.

She barely managed to grab the edge of the table to steady herself.

“Quinton Luther! You stop that right now!”

But he was too worked up to care. He shoved her again, harder, his voice cracking as he screamed, “Get out! Go away!”

Her back was already aching from the previous shove.

Furious, Nora grabbed his arm, pulled him off her, and smacked his bottom with full force.