Chapter 9

Cecilia’s clear eyes showed no trace of emotion.

Her phone rang.

Marcus.

Cecilia answered calmly.

His voice was filled with anger.

“Cecilia, I’m ordering you to go back to the hospital. Lucy isn’t doing well. You need to come and take care of her.”

She stared at the screen silently before replying in a flat voice.

“My uterus, wasn’t that already taken and repaid to her? Why would you want me to take care of her now?”

His tone grew harsher.

“Cecilia, you need to understand something. Lucy’s injuries are already serious enough. And it’s all your fault she lost her three-month-old baby. Do you even know what it feels like for a mother to lose her child?”

Her chest tightened as a dull ache spread through her.

She couldn’t forget the two children she had lost.

After leaving the hospital, she had placed the tiny bodies in a frozen container and sent them to the restaurant where she and Marcus had celebrated their sixth anniversary.

Every year on their anniversary, the restaurant manager would hand Marcus a “gift.”

This year—the seventh and final year—was no different.

“Marcus… I understand,” she said quietly.

But his voice remained cold and commanding.

“If you understand, then go take care of Lucy. I’ll forgive you. You’ll still stay with me, and you’ll stay with her. The three of us—we’ll live happily ever after. I’ll treat both of you evenly.”

His words made her stomach churn.

Marcus wanted everything.

Both of them.

Memories of his wedding vows flashed through her mind.

‘Cecilia, I love you. I will love only you for the rest of my life.’

And the teasing laughter of their childhood friends.

“Marcus, what if you ever cheat on Cecilia?”

“I’d jump off the top of Leedon Tower to make it right.”

Those joking voices echoed painfully in her ears.

She gathered the last of her strength. Her voice was calm, distant.

“Marcus… we’re done. We’re breaking up.”

They had never been legally married.

Seven years of a so-called marriage ended with those words.

She hung up and walked into a nearby coffee shop.

There were still things she needed to handle.

So she called her lawyer.

“Hello, Miss Summer. What can I do for you?”

“First, all the shares I hold in Mendes Group will go to Donovan Mendes’s older brother in the fight for the CEO position. Second, leak the news about Zander Corporation’s financial hole and sue Andy Zander to recover the five billion he owes me. Third, David Leedon murdered his own son and daughter-in-law. My grandfather left evidence of it in his estate. Hand it over to the police.”

Marcus’s grandfather had forbidden him from interfering in the power struggle within the Mendes family. He had been furious, but powerless.

It was Cecilia who begged her grandfather to secretly arrange for Marcus to help Donovan. That was the only reason Donovan had made it this far.

She had known all along that Marcus’s grandfather was the one who killed his own son and daughter-in-law.

Her grandfather knew the truth as well, but chose to endure the humiliation in silence.

He never imagined that, in the end, everything would be blamed on their family.

Marcus’s close friend Andy Zander had gotten himself tangled in a corruption scandal.

Half a year earlier, Andy had quietly come to borrow money from her, begging her not to tell Marcus.

She lent it to him.

But in truth, everyone had been protecting Marcus, hiding the truth from her.

She didn’t need their gratitude.

Nor did she want to be taken advantage of or made a fool of.

The very people she had helped had turned around and hurt her, standing on the opposite side.

All the kindness she had given them was repaid with betrayal.

The last person she met was Lucas.

“Cecilia, you need this money urgently. I can only raise half of it within an hour. The rest will be transferred to your account within a week.”

Her eyes remained cold and unreadable.

Lucas’s voice turned serious.

“Are you sure about this? If I buy the shares of Leedon Group, I’ll take control of the company. Marcus will be left with nothing.”

Without hesitation, she picked up the pen and signed the transfer documents.

Once everything was finished, Lucas personally drove her to the airport.

“Cecilia… can’t you stay? Please.”

She looked back at him but avoided answering.

Instead, she said calmly, “Lucas, congratulations. From today on, the Paterson family will be the only one of the five great families left in this city.”

Everyone would pay for what they had done.

She turned and walked toward the boarding gate without looking back.

From this moment on, Marcus and she would go their separate ways.

And neither of them would ever look back.