Chapter 3

But Liam, desperate to save his family, contacted me privately to express his intention to marry.

He only took me out for dinner once, and I was completely lost, tossing my father's words aside.

I confidently believed that his change of heart meant he had feelings for me, and with my beauty and good nature, he would eventually fall in love with me.

Our wedding, supported by my father's wealth, was grand.

It should have been a day filled with bubbling happiness whenever I recalled it.

Unfortunately, before the banquet ended, news of Daisy Stone's suicide arrived, abruptly ending all joy.

My memory of that day is only of Liam rushing out of the wedding hall, my stepmother's wails, countless whispers, and my father's heartbroken gaze.

Their honeymoon was canceled.

Everything was in disarray.

For the first six months of our marriage, Liam simply didn't reply to messages, claiming he preferred phone calls.

Six months later, the Hayes family's fortunes rose, unstoppable.

Then, he stopped answering calls altogether.

He was like a black hole; I poured all my joys and sorrows into him, but not even an echo came back.

I broke down, confronted him, and demanded to know why.

Liam showed me SnapChat messages from our wedding day.

It turned out Daisy had messaged him before she took her own life, but I had dragged him away to toast guests, making him miss the chance to save her.

He hated himself, and he hated me.

Now he found a substitute who resembled her by eighty percent, channeling all his emotions into her, treating her a hundred times better than me.

I snapped out of my memories, crumpled the photo, and tossed it away. I looked at my reflection in the rearview mirror—

My face was ashen, my hair frizzy and disheveled.

I looked like a madwoman.

For five years, I clung to Liam, unwilling to let go.

The less he responded, the more messages I sent, as if possessed, desperate to force a single reply from him.

Yet, all I did was torture myself.

Countless breakdowns, fits of rage, followed by solitary moments of calm and healing.

I pulled out my phone and dialed a number I hadn't called in five years.

"Is the promise from five years ago still valid?"

When I got married, a man had tried to dissuade me three times.

I talked about love; he talked about sex.

"Liam is too rigid. Trust me, he'll be just as boring in bed. What you need is a fire."

I laughed, "Who's the fire? You?"

He raised an eyebrow, neither confirming nor denying.

"Aria, I bet you two will break up within five years. If I win, consider me first."

"I'm still single, so, of course, it counts."

His familiar voice on the other end brought me back to reality.

"I'm divorcing in a month. I don't need love, I just need a man to have some fun with for a while, to let loose."

He burst out laughing.

"Alright, sweetheart! I'll play along!"

I hung up, went home, tidied myself up, and prepared for my mother's death anniversary the next day.

Every year, my father took my mother's death anniversary very seriously.

The next day, when my father and I met, he looked displeased not seeing Liam with me.

"He can't make it again? Can't spare even an hour?"

I stepped forward and linked my arm through his, forcing a lighthearted smile.

"Dad, we're getting a divorce. I initiated it."

"It doesn't matter whether he comes or not!"

My father stared at me for a long moment, then gently patted my head. "Cut your losses. My daughter did the right thing."

We lit incense before my mother's portrait, then went to the kitchen to cook her favorite homemade dishes.

Just as we finished setting the table, Mr. and Mrs. Hayes stormed in, and Mrs. Hayes, without a word, slapped me hard across the face.

"Mr. Kingston! Look at the good daughter you raised! She stabbed my son and put him in the hospital, and she hasn't even gone to care for him! Is that how a wife behaves?!"

I snapped back to reality, stepped forward to shield my enraged father, and without hesitation, slapped Mrs. Hayes back.

Then I snatched my phone and called Liam.

It rang once, then connected.

*That* was fast.

I sneered, "Your parents are making a scene at my house. Get over here and get them out. Today's my mom's death anniversary!"

Liam's voice was as calm as ever: "I… can't leave the hospital right now."

"Liam honey~ Which sofa do you think would look better in the villa you gave me? Come sit and help me decide."

Zara's sugary voice came from the background.

I gripped the phone tightly, about to speak, when I heard Liam say, "You can't eat anything cold right now."

Then, the call disconnected.

I stood there, staring blankly, like a statue.

Mrs. Hayes scoffed, "You hit his mother, and you expect him to side with you? Dream on! Not to mention, you've never won his heart in these five years."

With that, she arrogantly swept the entire table of dishes—that my father and I hadn't even had a chance to "offer" to Mother—onto the floor.

The shattered dishes knocked over Mother's portrait, and it broke.

I came to my senses, held my trembling father back, and looked at my in-laws, whom I had respectfully treated for five years.

"I tolerated you before because I cared about Liam. Now, I don't even care about him, let alone you!"

Leaving that statement hanging, I grabbed two bodyguards, a man and a woman, and drove straight to Mr. and Mrs. Hayes's house.

The two bodyguards ensured I wasn't disturbed. I personally took a baseball bat and started smashing things from the living room, all the way to Mrs. Hayes's favorite walk-in closet.

Amidst Mrs. Hayes's frantic screams over her precious jewelry, Liam strode in and grabbed my arm.

"Haven't you had enough?"

I panted, looked up at him, and smiled.

"Oh, you have time now? You got here so fast, less than fifteen minutes."

I forcefully pushed him away, dropped the bat, and walked towards the door.

A figure stood by the door, peeking in. Seeing me, she quickly said, "I'm so sorry, it was my fault for delaying Liam. He didn't mean to ignore you…"

Zara's carefully crafted 'innocent' act. I couldn't be bothered to engage.

As I brushed past, she retreated, apologizing profusely, and then sat down hard on the floor.

"Oh… my stomach hurts so much…"

"Zara."

Liam rushed over to support her, lightly bumping into me.

This slight force shouldn't have been enough to make me fall, but my lower abdomen suddenly cramped, the pain was excruciating.