Chapter 2

*Tantrums?*

I looked at those words and suddenly burst into a quiet, hollow laugh.

Even now, he thought I was just acting out for attention.

I didn't reply.

I held down the power button and let the screen go completely dark.

Just then, the doorbell rang. The movers had arrived.

I had already sent Maria home. Now, this massive penthouse belonged only to me and the silence.

"Ma'am, are these the boxes?" the young lead mover, Leo, asked politely.

I nodded.

He quickly instructed his men to carry out the boxes labeled *TRASH*.

They worked fast and efficiently.

I rolled my wheelchair to the door, taking one final look at the place I had called home for five years.

Then, I took the signed divorce papers out of my purse.

I placed them right on the console table by the entryway.

It was the first thing he would see when he walked through the door.

"Let’s go," I told Leo.

I didn't look back.

The moment the truck door slammed shut, I shut out Ethan and the last five years of my life.

As the truck merged onto the highway, I handed Leo a credit card.

"There's enough money on this to cover your long-distance trip, plus enough for you to buy a brand-new truck."

He gasped, staring at the card. "Ma'am... what is this for?"

"I have two favors to ask," I said, my voice incredibly calm.

"First, take all those boxes labeled 'Trash' to the local incinerator. Burn them until there's nothing left but ash."

"Second, drive me to Savannah."

It was a warm, quiet coastal town in Georgia, nearly a thousand miles away. A place I had never visited.

I couldn't take a train, and I couldn't board a plane.

With Ethan’s power, tracking my travel history would take him less than five minutes.

If I was going to disappear, I had to do it completely.

Leo fell silent for a moment. But looking at my expression, he silently started the engine.

"Understood."

The truck rumbled to life. Our first stop was the waste incineration plant.

Leo and his partner tossed the boxes into the roaring furnace one by one.

Waves of intense heat hit my face.

One of the boxes burst open in the flames, revealing its contents.

It was the custom mahogany wheelchair tray.

Then came the Scottish cashmere blanket.

And finally, our massive wedding portrait.

The glass shattered with a loud crack under the extreme heat, melting into the fire.

"Ma'am!" Leo's eyes widened in sheer disbelief. "There were... so many expensive things in there. How could you just burn them all?"

I watched the bright orange flames reflect in my eyes.

"I didn't just burn things," I whispered.

"I burned my heart."

A heart I had handed to him for five years, only for him to crush it under his heel.

Why keep any of it?

The truck hit the road again.

The night grew darker.

Thunder rumbled in the distance.

In the past, during storms like this, Ethan would cancel every single meeting and rush home.

He would kneel before my wheelchair, using his warm, large hands to massage my useless legs.

He would ask, "Chloe, does the rain make your legs hurt more?"

He would say, "Don't be scared, Chloe. I'm right here."

But right now, those hands were probably wrapped around a young, vibrant body.

All his warmth, his care, now belonged to someone else.

***