Chapter 2

The next day, I bought a new phone number, used a voice changer, and called Timothy to tell him a package had arrived.

He told me to leave it at the door and said he'd come get it.

I waited near the apartment building.

Every time I'd sent him a package before, he'd sent me a video of himself opening it.

He would definitely come for this one.

Around ten that morning, a grand sedan pulled up in front of the building.

The moment Timothy stepped out of that car, I froze for a long time.

He went into the building, and not long after, he came back out and tossed the package into the trash bin without breaking stride.

His car sped off and was gone.

Whatever last scrap of illusion I'd been holding on to vanished completely.

I'd just secretly snapped a photo of that car and run it through a search.

A Maybach S680, worth over three point six million.

He'd said he wanted to buy a car, even a used one would do, because this southern coastal city was always raining and getting around on an electric scooter was such a hassle.

I'd gone out to run a market stall at night, saved up a sum of money for him to buy one, and he said he couldn't bring himself to spend it.

I looked at that Maybach in the photo. So this was what he meant by couldn't bring himself to.

The tears fell before I could stop them, and I thought of all those days of wind and rain.

On the bad-weather days, when I was dropping the kids off at school and picking them up, I always thought of Timothy.

I'd think about how hard he had it out there on his own, and back then it never felt like suffering.

Now, looking back, I was just a joke.

For a moment I felt lost, not knowing what to do, not knowing where to go.

Ten years of holding on had turned into a dream and a bubble; ten years of waiting had come to nothing in a single turn.

Go make a scene with him?

Fight over the assets?

What right did I even have?

In the third year of our marriage, he and I filed for divorce.

"Honey, investing has its risks. I'm carrying a lot of debt. I can't drag you and the kids down with me."

"Divorcing and splitting the assets is to protect you and the kids."

"Don't worry. The day I make it big, I'll throw you a grand wedding to make up for it."

And I believed him!

A car horn dragged me back to myself. I hadn't even realized I'd wandered out into the road.

A white Bentley Continental blared its horn like mad, and before I could get out of the way it knocked me to the ground.

"Honey, once I've got money I'll buy you a luxury car. Pick one now, tell me what kind you like."

That was why I, who barely knew any car brands, knew a Bentley, and recognized it as a Continental at a glance.

Because that was the one I'd chosen back then, and he'd said that once he had money he would definitely buy it for me.

I came to my senses and scrambled up. Only my elbow was scraped raw. I looked at the driver and kept apologizing.

The driver got out and stormed toward me, furious.

She swung her hand and slapped me across the face. "Are you blind? You trying to get yourself killed?"

I was about to speak when I noticed the gold bracelet on the woman's right wrist, and one look and I couldn't tear my eyes away.

That gold bracelet was the one my mother had left me before she died, engraved with my initials. There was no mistaking it.

Because of Timothy's startup, I'd handed him that bracelet and told him to pawn it for money.

He'd said that once he had money, he would definitely buy the bracelet back.