Chapter 1

Just as we were about to exchange rings during the wedding ceremony, Dana Gilbert's phone rang.

He glanced down at the screen, and his expression changed at once.

"Gertrude, wait for me. I'll be right back."

He gave my hand a squeeze, then turned and ran out.

I stood on the stage in my wedding gown while hundreds of eyes fixed on me.

My mom couldn't sit still in the front row anymore and got up to come pull me down.

I smiled at her, then raised my own glass of champagne to the crowd.

"Sorry, everyone. The groom has some urgent business. Please eat, drink, and make yourselves at home."

Dana Gilbert didn't come back for two days.

"Marina slit her wrists... If I don't go, she'll die."

He didn't dare look at me, his voice thick.

I set down my bowl and chopsticks and stared at him.

"And what about us?"

He didn't answer.

Right after that, a drafted set of divorce settlement papers appeared on the table.

I paused for two seconds, then picked up the pen and signed without hesitation.

Watching him wallow in his own noble self-pity, I suddenly realized that compared to a man, the balance in my bank account was a much nicer thing to look at.

...

Dana Gilbert stared at the last page of the agreement and didn't move for a long time.

I'd signed so fast that all the words he'd prepared got stuck in his throat.

"You didn't read the terms?"

"Already read them. I can skim ten lines at a glance, okay?"

He frowned.

"When did you read them?"

"Your assistant sent me the electronic copy before you came back."

The agreement was very generous.

A single-floor apartment in the Riverside district, two retail units, a vacation villa in Dana Gilbert's name, and a sum of cash enough to let me lie back and coast for several lifetimes.

He probably thought that if he threw enough money at me, I'd be grateful.

I capped the pen and pushed it back in front of him.

"Gertrude, there's no need to be spiteful about this."

Dana Gilbert's fingers twitched.

"I don't like being spiteful either."

"I'm just afraid that if you drag this out too long, Mr. Gilbert, and Marina Fox causes another death on her end, you'll be running back and forth between us. That's got to be exhausting."

His face darkened.

"Her situation is special."

"I know."

I looked up and smiled at him.

"That's why I'm clearing out for the two of you so quickly. Pretty decent of me, right?"

Dana Gilbert stared at me, irritation in his eyes.

He was used to me backing down.

Every time Marina Fox showed up, I bowed my head first.

Now that I'd stopped asking, it made him uncomfortable.

"I'll have someone finalize everything in the agreement as soon as possible."

"The first batch of handover documents needs to be in place by ten o'clock tomorrow morning."

"Gertrude Henson, that's enough."

He gritted his teeth.

"So now you've fallen into the money pit? All you can think about is making money?"

I almost laughed out loud.

"Dana Gilbert, all you can think about is Marina Fox, and you won't even let me put a little money aside to protect myself?"

He gripped the phone tightly.

The screen lit up for a moment. Marina Fox had sent a photo.

She was lying in a hospital bed, wrists wrapped in gauze, her face pale and drained of color.

When Dana Gilbert saw that photo, even his breathing went ragged.

I put down my bowl and chopsticks and got up to go back to the bedroom.

Hanging in the closet was the main gown I'd worn on my wedding day, its train a full three meters long.

I stared at it for a few seconds, then reached up, took it down, and stuffed it into a garment bag.

Dana Gilbert's voice came from the doorway.

"Where are you going with all those bags?"

"Moving out."

"You're in that much of a hurry to leave?"

"I'm leaving the house for the two of you to be a happy couple in. If she pulls another crying-screaming-threatening-suicide routine, living close by means you can swoop in and save the damsel without missing a beat, right?"

Dana Gilbert's face was ugly.

He followed me in and put his hand down on the box.

"Do you have to talk with a knife in every word?"

I looked up at him.

"On that stage, hundreds of people watched you abandon me, Dana Gilbert. Not slapping you across the face right now is already me being generous."

He let go.

That night he slept in the study.

I lay in the bed in the master bedroom, staring at the ceiling until dawn.

There was a hollow feeling inside me, but somehow I didn't shed a single tear.

My mom rushed to the villa the next day.

The moment she came in, she grabbed my hand, tears welling up.

"Gertrude, that no-good Dana Gilbert has pushed us too far! We are absolutely not divorcing—why should we give up our spot to that mistress?"

I hugged her.

"Mom, the moment he ran out of that wedding, this relationship was already over."

"You gave him five years."

"Five years traded for these houses and this money—that's not too bad a deal."

My mom's tears spilled over.

"You silly child, you've been hurt out of your senses."

I wiped her tears away.

"I'm not out of my senses. I just don't want to wait anymore."

At 1:50 p.m. sharp, Dana Gilbert showed up at the door of the county clerk's office.

At 2:00 on the dot, a black sedan pulled up at the curb.

The door opened, but the one who stepped out was my attorney.

"Hello, Mr. Gilbert. I'm Ms. Henson's attorney."

The lawyer handed over the documents in a strictly businesslike tone.

"Ms. Henson has given me full authority to handle the divorce, the cooling-off period procedures, and the subsequent transfer of assets."

Dana Gilbert stared at the power of attorney bearing my signature, his face darkening bit by bit.

At that same moment, the movers were loading my packed boxes onto the truck.

The phone in my pocket suddenly rang.

"Gertrude Henson, you won't even show your face?"

The instant the call connected, Dana Gilbert's angry voice bore down.

I glanced around the empty living room and felt not a ripple inside.

"Mr. Gilbert, I've signed everything. The lawyer can handle the rest of the paperwork. Leave professional matters to the professionals—it's more efficient."

"Do you really have to be this ruthless?"

"I'm quite busy. I need to clear out of the house as soon as possible."

I let out a soft laugh, giving him no chance to answer.

"That way, if Ms. Fox gets upset someday and threatens to slit her wrists again, she won't dirty the floor. That kind of thing is such a pain to clean up."

"Gertrude Henson..."

I didn't wait for him to finish shouting and hung up.

I turned around and waved to the movers.

"Let's go."