Chapter 1

The entire hall fell into dead silence.

Ruby Wheeler’s face shifted from ashen pale to a dark, blotchy purple, then to a black so deep it looked as if ink might drip from it at any moment.

Inside me, ten years of love collapsed in an instant.

Her fingers tightened around the wine glass until her knuckles turned white, veins rising sharply along the back of her hand. In that moment, whatever restraint she had left snapped.

Hayden Gibson’s smug expression froze. His face flickered between red and white as Yara Morris’s careless words crushed what little pride he had left.

Around us, the guests’ whispers buzzed like a swarm of flies.

I looped my arm through Yara’s, a faint smile resting on my lips.

“Ruby, happy birthday.” I raised my glass toward her from across the room, then tipped my head back and drained it in one motion.

Ruby did not move. Her gaze cut like a blade, sharp enough to tear me apart.

I set the glass down and turned to leave with Yara.

“Jeff!”

Her voice forced its way out through clenched teeth, burning with anger.

I did not stop.

A sudden, powerful grip seized my arm. Ruby yanked me back so hard that pain shot through my wrist.

“Are you done making a scene?”

She lowered her voice, yet every word carried a biting chill.

I looked at her. This was the face I had loved for ten years, so familiar it felt carved into my bones. However, all that remained was fury and impatience.

“Let go,” I said.

“Come back with me. Stop embarrassing yourself here.” She tried to drag me away.

Yara stepped forward and blocked our path. She caught Ruby’s wrist and twisted it lightly, almost lazily. Ruby flinched and let go.

“Ms. Wheeler, Jeff does not want to go with you.” Yara still wore that playful, careless smile, yet her eyes were ice‑cold.

Ruby shook off her hand and smoothed the slight crease in her sleeve. Then she looked at me. The disappointment and indifference in her eyes were almost overflowing.

“Jeff, I thought you were more sensible than this.

“How far are you going to push this, just for an outsider?”

An outsider.

I followed her gaze past her shoulder and saw Hayden standing there, watching me with the smug air of a victor.

“Ruby, let us get a divorce.” I said it calmly.

The air froze.

Ruby let out an icy laugh, as if she had heard the most ridiculous joke in the world.

“Divorce?”

She looked at me, her eyes full of disdain. “How many times have you used that to threaten me?”

She tilted her chin slightly, her tone turning sharper. “I am telling you, do not push your luck.

“If you want a divorce, fine. Sign the papers and do not expect to take a single thing with you. Do you even have the guts?”

She was sure I did not.

She was sure that a man like me, living off her, would not survive a day without her.

In my previous life, she was right.

I had cried and begged her, only to be humiliated even more.

However, now…

“Sure.” I met her gaze and said it clearly.

A simple word.

The mockery on Ruby’s face froze. She stared at me in disbelief, as if trying to decide whether she had heard me wrong.

I did not give her the chance to respond.

“Yara, let us go.” I turned and walked away. This time, Ruby did not stop me.

I felt her burning stare drilling into my back, following me until Yara and I disappeared through the doors of the banquet hall.

Inside the car, Yara broke the silence.

“So, you have really decided?”

“Yes,” I said.

“She will not let you go that easily,” she added.

I looked out the window as the night sped past us, neon lights stretching into long, blurred streaks across the glass.