Part 3

The world stopped.

Truly stopped.

As if every sound had been stripped away, every light dimmed—leaving only that one sentence echoing over and over in my head.

Divorce papers.

I couldn’t think.

“No…” I whispered, more to myself than to Eva. “That’s impossible…”

My gaze went blank, fixed on something I couldn’t even see.

“Why?” I murmured again, the question turning inward. “Why would he suddenly divorce me?”

Eva shook her head, her expression grave. “This doesn’t sound like a sudden decision,” she said meaningfully.

I turned to her.

Something in her tone made my chest tighten again.

“What do you mean?”

Eva took a slow breath. “If he said he’s already taken care of the divorce papers… then it must have been arranged a long time ago.”

The words landed like a hammer.

Shattering what little hope I hadn’t even realized I was still holding onto.

“I also heard Mrs. Pierce say she wants you out of this house as soon as possible. She said—”

“What did she say?” I cut in, sharper than I intended.

Eva hesitated.

Her eyes searched mine, as if weighing whether I was strong enough to hear it.

“Ma’am… I’m sorry if I’m overstepping. But as a woman, I can’t stay silent while someone as kind as you is treated this way.”

“Just tell me what you heard, Eva,” I pressed, impatience edging into my voice. “I want to know everything.”

Eva swallowed.

“Mrs. Pierce said she can’t stand having you in this house anymore. She’s wanted you gone for a long time. But Mr. Pierce said he couldn’t bring himself to throw you out while you were still sick.”

Sick.

So that was the reason?

Not love?

Not concern?

Just… pity?

“He said… you have no one. That if you left this house, where would you even go?”

Silence.

The words lingered in the air, cutting deeper than any insult.

“Ma’am… do they not know that you—”

“No!” I cut her off quickly. Too quickly. “They don’t know, and they don’t need to know.” My gaze hardened. “I’m not telling them. Especially… not like this.”

Eva looked like she wanted to argue.

“But, ma’am, if the Master and the young master find out—”

“They don’t know,” I repeated, softer this time, but far more resolute. “And they won’t.”

I drew in a deep breath, swallowing down the nausea rising in my throat.

Holding everything in.

“If Dominic Pierce wants to divorce me…” I said slowly, each word heavy, “then I’ll accept it.”

Eva stared at me in disbelief.

“But—”

“But I need to know why first,” I continued, my voice so cold it startled even me. “I won’t stay just to be pitied. But I also won’t leave as a woman cast aside without reason.”

Silence stretched between us.

“And if Rowena Pierce wants me out of this house…” I lifted my chin slightly, though my body was still weak, “then I’ll go.”

I paused.

Eva watched me carefully, as if she knew I wasn’t finished yet.

I added, quieter now—yet laced with unmistakable warning,

“But they will pay for everything I’m feeling right now.”

“Ma’am,” Eva gripped my hand tightly, “you can’t let your emotions take over. Your condition—”

“I know,” I cut in softly.

I knew. My emotions could destroy me. But what they had done…

They had already destroyed me first.

My eyes burned. Tears gathered, but this time, I didn’t let them fall.

I didn’t want to look weak.

Not anymore.

I had known Eva far longer than I had ever known the Pierce family.

She was the one who took care of my mother until her last breath.

And now… she was the only one still standing by my side.

Her kindness was more real than anything this family had ever given me.

“Where are Chelsea and Elena?” I asked at last.

Eva blinked, slightly caught off guard by the sudden change of subject.

“They’re in their room, I think. Do you want me to call them?”

I fell silent for a moment, picturing my daughters’ faces—the only reason I was still standing.

“Do they know I’ve been moved here?” I asked quietly.

Eva shook her head.

“It doesn’t seem like it. If they knew… they would’ve come here already.”

I rose slowly. My legs were still weak, but this time, I didn’t falter.

My gaze drifted—just for a second—to the pieces of meat still lying on the floor. Dirty. Trampled. Treated like garbage.

Like me.

My chest tightened.

Then I looked away.

Enough.

It was enough.

I turned to Eva. “Call them.”

She frowned. “What for, ma’am?”

A small smile touched my lips.

Faint.

But this time… it wasn’t fragile.

“Tell them…” I turned and started toward the narrow room—the former storage space that was now my world, “we’re having a party.”

“A party?” Eva echoed, confused.

I paused at the doorway.

Without turning back.

“A party to celebrate my last day of chemotherapy.”

My voice was calm.

Too calm for someone who had just been shattered.

“Sometimes…” I added quietly, “the best way to survive… is to never let them see you break.”

I stepped into the room.

Dark.

Cramped.

But for the first time, I didn’t feel small.

A divorce? If that’s what you want, then that’s what you’ll get. But remember—this will also be the beginning of our war, I vowed silently.

I pulled out my phone and opened a food delivery app. My fingers moved quickly, selecting dish after dish—everything my daughters loved. But not just that. I deliberately ordered the foods I knew the Pierce family favored as well.

I ordered everything.

Not because I wanted to share. Not because I was hungry.

But because I wanted to see their faces.

I wanted to see the look in Rowena’s eyes when I “spent” her beloved son’s money.

As I waited for my daughters to come, I searched my memory—digging, sifting—trying to find what mistake I had made with the Pierce family.

What had I done to make Dominic… want to divorce me like this?

I knew. I had always known that Rowena and Amelia never approved of my marriage to Dominic.

And maybe… that should have been warning enough from the very beginning.

It was just that I had been too stubborn—too convinced that love alone could cover everything.

I was nothing more than an orphaned girl. A sales clerk in a small accessories shop inside the very mall where Dominic worked as a leasing staff member.

Our first meeting had been nothing but pure coincidence.

The second… felt like fate.

And after that, everything moved far too quickly.

Dominic pursued me, struck up conversations, asked me out.

And within just six months, he proposed.

Fast. Too fast.

And I… I said yes without hesitation.

Because back then, I believed he loved me. That all the differences between us wouldn’t matter as long as we had each other.

Now, looking back…

Maybe I really was that foolish.

Or maybe… I just wanted to be loved a little too much.