Chapter 1

In the fifth year of our marriage, Lucas knelt in the pouring rain, begging me to save him.

He said his company had lost a financial gamble and owed five hundred million dollars. If I mortgaged the century-old manor my parents left me, it would save his life. To avoid dragging me down, he proposed a fake divorce.

My heart ached so much my whole body trembled. J

ust as I was about to sign with the property deed in hand, I accidentally saw a message he sent to his first love: "That idiot Sophia has taken the bait. Once I get my hands on the manor, I'll tear it down and build a French château with a rose garden as our wedding house."

So there was no bankruptcy, no desperate situation. He just wanted to bleed me dry to pave the way for his first love.

I let out a cold laugh, turned around, and knocked on the door of his uncle---the terrifying billionaire of the Blackwood family: "Mr. Blackwood, I heard you need a legitimate Mrs. Blackwood?"

Lucas knelt in the pouring rain for three full hours.

Lightning tore through the night sky, illuminating his pale, haggard yet still handsome face.

I rushed out with an umbrella, my body trembling with heartache as I desperately tried to pull him up from the mud.

"Lucas, have you lost your mind? Your stomach condition can't handle getting soaked in the rain!"

He gripped my hand tightly in return, his eyes bloodshot, his voice so hoarse it seemed to be dripping blood:

"Sophia, I'm finished."

"The company's financial agreement failed, and the cash flow is completely broken. A five-hundred-million-dollar hole---if I can't fill it within three days, I'll face criminal charges for economic crimes. I'll go to prison!"

I felt like I'd been struck by lightning, my mind going blank.

Five hundred million?

Lucas only owned a subsidiary under the Blackwood Group. How could he suddenly owe such a staggering debt?

He suddenly pulled me into his embrace. Rain mixed with his tears fell ice-cold onto my neck.

"Sophia, I'm sorry. I'm useless. I couldn't protect our home."

"The lawyer said the safest option is for us to divorce immediately. I'll bear all the debts alone and absolutely won't drag you down."

He lifted his head, his eyes filled with heartbreaking despair and deep affection.

"But Sophia, I don't want to go to prison... Can you help me? If you just temporarily mortgage that century-old manor your parents left you to the bank, we can get the last bit of lifesaving money. Once this blows over, I swear I'll redeem it!"

I froze.

That century-old manor on the hillside was the last keepsake my parents left me before they died in a car accident.

It held all my childhood memories, every tree and blade of grass, and the shrine with my parents' ashes.

Five years ago, when Lucas proposed to me, he swore in the manor's rose garden that he would spend his life protecting me and the manor.

But now, he was asking me to mortgage it.

"Lucas, that's where my parents..." My voice trembled.

"I know! I know it's your life!" He suddenly broke down, pounding the ground as muddy water splattered. "If there were any other way, I'd rather die than ask you this! Sophia, are you going to watch me die?"

Seeing him in such pain, my heart softened.

Five years of marriage---he had always been gentle and considerate toward me. How could I watch him go to prison?

"Alright." My eyes reddened as I nodded through tears. "I'll mortgage it. We'll go handle the paperwork tomorrow."

Lucas's body shook violently. He pulled me into a tight embrace, the force nearly breaking my ribs.

"Sophia, thank you, thank you... I'll repay you for the rest of my life, even if it means working like a slave."

In that moment, I truly believed we were going through a life-and-death trial together.

Until that night.

Lucas developed a high fever from the rain and fell into a deep sleep after taking fever medicine.

His phone slipped into the gap between the bed and the wall, the screen constantly lighting up.

Worried it might be an urgent matter from company executives, I picked it up to check.

Just one glance made me feel like I'd fallen into an ice pit.

On the screen was a message from "Victoria White."

"Lucas, did you sign the divorce papers? That manor from the Hayes family has such a great location. I want to tear it down and build a French château with a rose garden as our wedding gift. You promised me that once I returned to the country, you'd give me the best of everything."

I stared at those lines of text, my blood instantly freezing, my whole body cold as ice.

Victoria White.

Lucas's first love who went abroad and whom he could never forget.

My fingers trembling, I opened their chat history.

I scrolled up.

The more I scrolled, the more my heart felt like it was being sliced apart, shattered into fragments on the ground.

"That idiot Sophia has already taken the bait. Tomorrow we'll handle the divorce and mortgage."

"I made the fake five-hundred-million account very clean. Damien won't notice. Once the money is laundered into the offshore account, I'll take you far away."

"I'm sorry you had to wait so many years, Victoria. Once I get the manor, that plain-Jane Sophia will have no more use."

Every sentence, every word was like a poisoned blade stabbing viciously into my heart.

So there was no failed gamble.

No five-hundred-million-dollar debt.

No desperate situation.

This was a carefully planned scam from beginning to end!

He not only wanted to trick me into leaving with nothing, but he also wanted to take my parents' last legacy to build a new house for his first love!

I didn't cry.

When the pain reaches its extreme, tears won't flow.

I calmly took out my own phone and photographed these chat records, page by page, all of them.

Then I put the phone back in its place and turned to look at Lucas sleeping peacefully on the bed.

His brow was relaxed, and the corners of his mouth even carried a faint smile.

He was probably dreaming about marrying Victoria White in a French château.

I tugged at the corner of my mouth, revealing a cold smile uglier than a ghost's.

Lucas, you want to use my life to please another woman?

Fine.

I'll see who ends up dead with nowhere to be buried.