Reclaiming My Life After His Betrayal

I damaged my uterus saving my husband, yet he had his mistress bear his child and wanted me to adopt it.

To force my acceptance, he stripped my dress off in public.

I signed the divorce papers and disappeared from his life completely.

Three years later, I won an international award with my new film. When reporters asked him about his ex-wife's success, his eyes reddened on camera.

"The biggest regret of my life was losing her."

And I smiled, arm in arm with my new boyfriend. "Sorry, I don't know this person at all."

Vivian's POV

A year after remarrying Ethan, I received a family photo from Grace at the hospital where I was getting my prenatal checkup.

The man labeled "the child's father" in the photo was none other than my husband, Ethan Carter.

In the examination room, the doctor frowned as she held my test results.

"Miss Rivers, as your doctor I have to tell you responsibly. With your current physical condition, your chance of successfully carrying a baby to term is less than 5%. You need to be mentally prepared."

The doctor looked at me and repeated the words she'd probably said countless times this month.

"Okay, I understand."

My voice was hoarse as I struggled to hold back tears.

After saying those words, all my strength drained away and I collapsed into the chair.

A year of treatment, taking over a hundred different medications, countless needle marks on my belly. None of it mattered anymore in the face of this photo.

I was in a daze as I went downstairs.

I missed a step and tumbled down the stairs.

Blood immediately began pooling beneath me.

The doctors rushed me into the operating room.

I was already half dead from pain, able only to let the doctors move me around: registration, blood draw, changing clothes, and finally lying on the operating table.

My body was pried open by cold instruments, and excruciating pain shot through my lower body. I could clearly feel a sharp tool scraping inside me.

I gripped the operating table hard to keep from making a sound, two streams of tears sliding from the corners of my eyes.

I had to remember this bone-deep pain. Starting today, Ethan and I had nothing to do with each other anymore.

Half an hour later, I shuffled down the hospital corridor with one hand supporting my abdomen and the other braced against the wall. The waves of stabbing pain from my lower abdomen reminded me of what I'd just lost.

Two nurses walked toward me, holding thick stacks of cash with joyful expressions.

"Mr. Carter really is the heir of the city's top family. He gave each of us a hundred thousand dollar bonus!"

"I know, but that woman didn't seem to be Mrs. Carter..."

The nurses walked away, but I stood frozen in place.

So Ethan and Grace's child was also born in this hospital.

The same hospital where that woman's child was born with everyone's anticipation, while my child had already become nothing more than a bloody mess in the trash.

I followed the direction the nurses came from. It didn't take long to find Grace's delivery room.

I looked through the window. Ethan, who had always been cold, aloof, and had a cleanliness obsession, was actually helping Grace clean up the waste her body had expelled.

Seeing the care and patience in his eyes, I felt like I'd fallen into an ice cellar.

In the four years Ethan and I had been together, even when I accidentally stained the sheets during my period, he would replace the entire bed.

But facing Grace, his almost pathological obsession with cleanliness had completely vanished.

Tears fell from my eyes. I leaned weakly against the wall, my abdomen and heart both sending waves of excruciating pain.

Ethan's tender expression made me think of when we first met.

It was at a speech Ethan gave at his alma mater. He fell for me at first sight and pursued me intensely.

The whole city knew that the Carter heir had someone in his heart, and he would pluck the stars from the sky for me if I asked.

To marry me, Ethan didn't hesitate to go against the entire Carter family, even willing to give up his position as heir.

In the end, his mother couldn't resist his persistence and agreed.

But I never expected that the man who promised me forever at our wedding would cheat on me just one year later.

I went crazy, bursting into company meetings, making scenes at banquets, even threatening suicide. Nothing worked.

Ethan would apologize for less than two days before reverting to his old ways.

Finally, I was exhausted. I decided to let both Ethan and myself go, and divorced him.

But after the divorce, Ethan pursued me back like a man possessed.

That proud man humbled himself, begging frantically for me to come back.

I couldn't let go of our relationship either, and eventually remarried Ethan.

But this time, I'd lost the bet again.

His mother's words still echoed in my ears.

"Ethan has never lacked women. But you're the first one who voluntarily left him. He begged you back this time, but there will never be only you by his side in the future."

I laughed bitterly at myself. I'd overestimated myself, thinking love could make a playboy settle down.

I took out my phone and sent a message to Ethan's mother.

"I lost. I accept my loss. I'm willing to leave Ethan. I hope you'll keep your promise too."

I'd just put my phone away when the doctor came to check on patients and saw me outside the door, looking pained.

"Miss, are you alright?"

Hearing the voice outside, Ethan opened the hospital room door and froze when he saw me.

"Vivian, what are you doing here?"

Vivian's POV

Seeing we knew each other, the doctor said nothing more. After going inside to confirm Grace and the baby were fine, she left the room.

I took a deep breath and forced myself to walk inside. I refused to show weakness in front of these two.

"What, afraid I'd discover your little secret here?"

I laughed coldly.

"Or did I interrupt your happiness?"

Ethan's expression changed. He strode over and grabbed my hand.

His grip was strong. After several failed attempts to pull free, I simply let him.

"Vivian, you damaged your uterus saving me back then, making it hard for you to conceive. This past year you've pushed your body to its limit trying to get pregnant." Ethan looked at me.

"This child will go through adoption procedures to become our child. You won't have to suffer like this anymore."

Years ago, not long after Ethan and I got together, we were caught in an assassination attempt.

The moment I saw the assassin pull the trigger, I didn't hesitate to shield Ethan.

I laughed coldly.

"If you hadn't mentioned it, I'd almost forgotten. I damaged my uterus taking a bullet for you. So this is how you treat me? Cheating with someone else and then making me raise your mistress's child."

Ethan's brow furrowed tightly as he pressed his lips together.

I took the opportunity to pull my hand free and walked toward Grace on the bed.

"You knew all along that Ethan had a family. So did you knowingly interfere with a married man, or are you trying to use the child to secure your position?"

Grace clutched the child in her arms, her eyes reddening. The next second, tears began falling in large drops.

This was my first time looking closely at Grace's appearance. She did have beautiful features. Pure, delicate. This tearful look would awaken protective instincts in any man.

"Miss Rivers, I didn't think that much about it. I truly love Ethan. I just want to stay by his side, even without status."

As she spoke, Grace tried to push the child in her arms toward me.

"Miss Rivers, the baby's name is Liam. He's very well-behaved. From now on, he'll be your child. As long as I can occasionally see him from afar, I'll be satisfied."

Her child?

My child had already become a pool of blood, a piece of rotting flesh!

"Enough!"

I trembled with rage and slapped Grace's hand away.

The child in Grace's hands instantly fell to the floor. The baby's cries filled the entire hospital room.

"Miss Rivers, you can treat me however you want, but how can you do this to a child!"

"Vivian, what are you doing?"

Ethan quickly picked up the child and examined him.

I was pushed aside, lost my balance, and fell to the floor. At the same time, I knocked over the water glass on the bedside table, shattering it.

"You'd better pray nothing's wrong with Liam."

Ethan left me with one cold look and strode out of the room carrying the child.

I knelt on the floor, my hands and knees cut by glass shards, drawing lines of blood. The bone-deep pain brought my fading consciousness back.

I got up from the floor, left the room to have my wounds treated, then returned to the Carter house.

I didn't have much. After all, I'd already cleared everything out during our last divorce. Half a suitcase held all my belongings.

After packing everything, I took out a document from the bedside table drawer.

A divorce agreement already signed by Ethan.

This was the escape route I'd left myself when we remarried.

"Vivian, if I ever do anything to wrong you again, take this and leave me."

I'd softened then and agreed to remarry him. When we got the marriage certificate, Ethan's eyes were shining.

"Vivian, you're mine again."

But I only stayed silent. This remarriage was partly because I couldn't let go of our relationship, but more because it was a conscious withdrawal treatment.

After the divorce, I couldn't sleep night after night, my mind full of Ethan. Nothing worked. I couldn't move on. So I decided to return to his side.

And now, just as I'd hoped, I resolutely signed my name.

I called my lawyer.

"I've sent you the divorce agreement. I don't want any assets. Please process it as quickly as possible."

"Understood. It should take about three days. I'll notify you immediately of any progress or changes."

Three more days. Then I could end all of this completely.

Vivian's POV

I took my packed luggage and cabbed to my company, planning to make do there for the next three days.

I could also catch up on the work I'd fallen behind on this past month while trying to preserve the pregnancy.

I'd started this company after my first divorce from Ethan.

Calling it a company was generous. It was more like a studio. I only had two artists under contract, and to keep the company running I even had to take on planning side jobs.

I took two painkillers to suppress the pain throughout my body and quickly threw myself into work.

I needed to finish my work as soon as possible and arrange the studio's plans for the next month so I could leave without worries.

Five hours later, I finished my work. Just as I was about to stand up from my chair to stretch, I saw Ethan opening the door and walking in.

As soon as Ethan entered, he fixed his eyes on my hands wrapped in bandages.

"Vivian, what happened to your hands?"

The concern in Ethan's eyes didn't seem fake, but it made me sick.

"Thanks to you."

I laughed coldly.

"What do you want?"

I really didn't want any more contact with Ethan.

Ethan was silent for a moment, his eyes darkening slightly.

"The doctor checked. Liam is fine. But Grace fainted from emotional distress."

"What does this have to do with me?"

Ethan's face darkened. He wanted to say something, but seeing my still-bleeding palms, he softened his tone.

"Grace kept apologizing to you while unconscious. This whole thing has nothing to do with her. She's just an ordinary girl. I was the one who asked her to have the child. She won't threaten your position as Mrs. Carter. She'll just stay by my side. Can't you accept that?"

He spoke earnestly, but his words chilled me to the bone.

My whole body trembled as tears fell uncontrollably.

"Ethan, do you remember what you promised me when we remarried?"

From pregnancy to delivery takes at least ten months. It meant at the latest, Ethan had cheated by the second month after our remarriage.

Ethan pulled me into his embrace.

"Vivian, you've seen enough of the world these years. This kind of thing is normal in our circle. I've been very good. I promise you Grace is the first and the last."

"Back then I had so many women around me, but you chose to forgive me in the end. Now I'm just letting Grace stay by my side as the child's mother. You can accept this, right?"

My body stiffened in his arms.

For a moment I didn't know what to say.

I couldn't understand how Ethan could selectively forget all that pain and speak of cheating during marriage and choosing two women at once as if it were perfectly natural.

As if I was the one who'd been unreasonable all along.

After taking a deep breath, I pushed Ethan away.

"You're right. You have been very good."

But I wasn't willing to pick through men in a swamp.

Ethan froze.

"You can accept this?"

"Yes."

In three days we'd have nothing to do with each other. He could do whatever he wanted.

"Vivian, that's wonderful. Now we'll have our own child."

Ethan pulled me into his embrace again.

The man's hot breath fell on my neck, his familiar scent surrounding me. This moment that once made me feel happy now only made me nauseous.

Fortunately it didn't last long. After receiving a message, Ethan's expression changed. He said there was an emergency at the company and hurried away.

Soon my phone received a message.

"I said I was afraid of the dark at night and couldn't sleep, so Ethan immediately came over to hold me."

"Ethan also said he's going to give me and the baby a gift. I'm really looking forward to it."

The attached image was a side-view photo of a man embracing a woman.

I had no intention of acknowledging this low-level provocation. After blocking, deleting, and turning off my phone in one smooth sequence, I lay down on the couch to get some proper sleep.

Tomorrow's charity event was the most important project for our studio this year. I needed to be in the best mental state possible.

The next morning, I dressed simply and arrived at the event venue.

I'd personally handled everything from planning to execution for this event. If it went smoothly, after the event ended, my studio's only two artists would see a resource upgrade, and the studio itself could take another step forward.

I carefully checked every aspect of the venue. Only after confirming everything was correct did I sit in a corner and drink some water.

When I looked up again, I discovered Ethan had somehow arrived at the venue and was directing his bodyguards to modify the site setup.

I strode toward Ethan.

"This is my independent project. It has nothing to do with Carter Corporation, nothing to do with you. Isn't this going too far?"

The bodyguards' movements paused. They stood in place, unsure whether to continue.

Ethan raised his hand, signaling the bodyguards to continue, then pulled me aside.

"Vivian, I promised to give Grace and Liam a gift. A charity foundation established in both their names would be perfect. Liam is your son too. Consider it a birth gift for him."

I stood frozen in place, my whole body trembling.

"Ethan, Carter Corporation has everything. Why must you trample on my work like this?"

Ethan seemed to know his actions were somewhat thoughtless. He took out his phone and operated it for a moment. The next second, I received a notification of five million dollars being deposited into my account.

"Vivian, Grace's issue right now is you. Ordinary luxury goods or jewelry can't make her better. Only by giving this to her and letting her know you've accepted her, accepted Liam, will she be happy."

"Accept a mistress? Never!"

I looked at him.

"As long as I'm here today, I won't let you change a single thing about this event. You can try!"

With that, I threw myself at the bodyguard tearing down posters and blocked them with my body.

Ethan's eyes darkened as he spoke coldly.

"Whether you accept it or not, this is happening today."

Vivian's POV

The next second, two bodyguards grabbed my arms and dragged me aside.

I struggled continuously, only earning even more forceful restraint from the bodyguards.

"Ethan, even if you can give her the charity foundation, so what? Don't forget that the Carter family will never accept her. They'll never accept Liam either!"

Ethan's face was dark, his eyes unfathomable.

He walked slowly toward me and gripped my chin.

"I'd almost forgotten if you hadn't mentioned it. Then let's handle it all today. Years ago I got you married into the Carter family. Today I can make them acknowledge this child."

Ethan roughly shoved me into the car and ordered bodyguards to bring Grace and her child to the old mansion before getting in himself.

Half an hour later, the car stopped in front of the Carter family mansion. The car with Grace and her child arrived at the same time.

Ethan's mother, Helen, was already waiting inside. As soon as Ethan entered the living room, he dropped to his knees.

Grace followed suit, kneeling while holding the child.

I leaned against the doorframe, waiting to watch this performance.

"I've come today to ask you to acknowledge this child as part of the Carter family."

Helen sat in the position of authority, expressionless.

"Do you know our family's rules? To protect the Carter legacy, only when the mistress's mother is dead can the illegitimate child become a Carter son."

"Without this rule, you wouldn't know how many siblings you'd have. If you want my acknowledgment, follow the rules."

Ethan remained silent for a long moment. Grace beside him spoke up first, her voice choked with tears.

"Ethan, as long as you and the child are well, I'm willing-"

Before she could finish, Ethan cut her off.

"The child is too young to be without you."

He turned to look at Helen.

"This is my first child, and he'll be my only child. I'll use proper adoption procedures to make him mine and Vivian's child."

"Even so, isn't that acceptable?"

Ethan's eyes were full of pleading.

The always proud heir to a great family, willing to abandon his dignity for a mistress. How touching.

Hearing his words, Helen looked at me with some surprise. I shook my head, signaling her not to mention the divorce.

"Since you insist, it's not impossible."

Helen's tone shifted.

"Back when you wanted to marry Vivian, you took 99 lashes. So for this illegitimate child to enter the family, you must also take 99 lashes."

Grace's voice trembled.

"Liam was just born. How could he withstand the lash? Let me take the punishment for him!"

Helen nodded in agreement.

The next second, four executioners walked in, pressed Grace onto a bench, pulled out whips soaked in salt water, and prepared to begin.

The whip cut through the air toward Grace. Just as it was about to touch her skin, Ethan stepped forward and caught it.

"Grace just gave birth. 99 lashes might kill her."

His gaze swept toward me by the door.

"Liam will ultimately be mine and Vivian's son. We'll split the 99 lashes equally."

I looked at Ethan in disbelief. This man who took 99 lashes for me three years ago was now making me take punishment for his mistress's son.

Ethan couldn't not know how heavy the Carter family's whip was. When he was dragged out that year, he was barely breathing.

Helen frowned.

"Are you sure?"

"Grace is weak. As for Vivian, she can handle it."

Only one thought filled my mind.

Run.

The moment I stepped out the door, Ethan's bodyguards forced me back.

Facing the control of several large men, I had no ability to resist. I was tied to the bench.

Before I could react, searing pain shot through my back. Before I could catch my breath, the next lash fell heavily on me again.

Under the immense pain, I'd long lost the ability to think and could only wail continuously.

"Vivian, you'll be fine. I'll get you the best doctors."

The smell of blood filled the entire living room. I'd already lost the strength to cry out and couldn't hear the executioner's count clearly.

I gradually stopped feeling the pain in my body as my consciousness began separating from my flesh.

In the last moment before losing consciousness, I seemed to see myself from four years ago when Ethan and I were passionately in love.

I was so foolish then. And by today, I'd already paid a hundred times over for that choice.

Vivian's POV

When I woke again, I was in a guest room at the old mansion. Helen sat beside my bed.

"Awake?"

Helen brought water to my lips. I took a small sip.

"I told them to hold back. They're all minor injuries. They just look scary. There won't be scars."

Helen set down the water and opened a drawer, taking out a document and handing it to me.

"Divorce papers. Attorney Lewis couldn't reach you, so he sent them here."

Looking at the document in my hands, I couldn't help crying.

"Thank you."

I thanked Helen softly.

Honestly, my feelings about Helen were complicated. She was the one who initially opposed my marriage to Ethan, but both times I wanted a divorce, Helen helped me.

When I was with the Carter family, Helen never targeted me. She even taught me a lot about running a business.

Sometimes I even felt a kind of kindred spirit connection with Helen.

Helen held my hand and spoke softly.

"I apologize on Ethan's behalf. I knew his nature, which is why I opposed your marriage so strongly."

"The elite circle is a cesspool. Everyone in it is already set in their ways. When girls from ordinary families enter, they can't get out without being torn apart."

I smiled bitterly.

"I was too young then. I thought love was enough."

Helen patted my hand gently.

"Let's not talk about this anymore. In two days it's my fiftieth birthday banquet. Can you attend the banquet before you leave?"

Helen paused.

"News of your divorce from Ethan can't be revealed to the outside world yet."

"Just show your face at the banquet. I'll handle everything after that."

I thought for a moment and agreed. Showing my face wouldn't take much effort.

Helen had helped me so much. I should repay her within my means.

I spent these two days recovering at the Carter mansion. Occasionally I'd hear news about Ethan from the servants.

That child had ultimately been entered into the Carter family registry as Ethan's eldest son.

After learning this news, Ethan disregarded his own injuries and invited his close friends from their circle to a celebration.

Grace attended throughout as his female companion.

When the servant reached this part, I clearly sensed her looking at me with a complicated expression, schadenfreude mixed with sympathy.

I didn't feel much about it. I just ate, slept, and recovered normally.

The day before Helen's birthday banquet, she brought me a gown.

"This gown is a Carter family heirloom. Ethan's grandmother passed it to me. If you wear it and make an appearance at the banquet, everyone will understand what it means."

I nodded and silently accepted it.

The next day, the family driver took me to the banquet hall.

I picked up a glass of red wine and walked around the venue, making sure enough people saw me before returning to a corner to wait for the banquet to end.

Helen, as the guest of honor, would make her grand entrance at the end.

At the banquet, Ethan was escorting Grace around, greeting guests.

The two were intimate, as if they were a real married couple.

Everyone tactfully refrained from asking about their relationship, only casting inquiring glances at me.

"What's going on with the Carter family? The wife is right here, yet the mistress is so brazenly accompanying him?"

"Did you see what Vivian is wearing?"

"Now that you mention it, I remember that's a Carter family heirloom! Looks like this mistress still can't surpass the wife."

Many of the guests had good judgment. Soon they'd recognized the origin of my dress and naturally drew their conclusions.

Grace also sensed the shift. From the initial respect to undisguised contempt later on.

Her eyes darkened as she looked at me with a trace of malice.

In my corner, I was oblivious to all this. After receiving Helen's notice that I could leave, I drained the red wine in my glass and turned toward the back door.

Just as I was about to leave the banquet hall, an unfamiliar middle-aged man blocked my path.

"Miss Rivers, why did you donate toxic stationery to children? Where is your conscience?"

The man in front of me had bloodshot eyes and disheveled hair. He grabbed my hand, his voice hoarse with accusation.

I struggled to pull my hand free, gently rubbing my wrist as I looked up at him.

"Who are you?"

"Me? You're asking who I am? I'm the principal of Sunrise Children's Home! Paul Walker!"

My brow furrowed as my brain rapidly searched for any information about Sunrise Children's Home.

I was certain I'd never had any contact with anything related to this children's home. Principal Walker must have found the wrong person.

With this thought, I spoke softly.

"I'm sorry, you have the wrong person."

This sentence seemed to ignite Principal Walker. His voice suddenly rose, immediately attracting everyone's attention.

"I'm looking for YOU! Vivian Rivers, Miss Rivers. You donated a batch of stationery to our school two days ago. We thought you were a good person, but it turned out to be toxic stationery!"

"Three hundred and twenty-two children in our school were hospitalized because of this. Fourteen children are still in intensive care."

"How can you act like nothing happened?"

Principal Walker gripped my hand so tightly it felt like he'd crush my wrist.

But two days ago I'd just woken from unconsciousness at the Carter mansion. How could it have been me?

Donation... charity...

Ethan and Grace, who heard the commotion, walked over.

The moment I saw Grace, all the clues connected in my mind.

It was that charity foundation Ethan took from me to give to Grace!

Ethan stopped in front of us, his face dark.

"Vivian, what are you making a scene about now?"

Vivian's POV

Before I could speak, Principal Walker repeated everything to Ethan.

"Your Carter family must take responsibility for the children. Not only must you pay all medical expenses, you must provide additional compensation. Yes, and I want Vivian to apologize publicly."

The surrounding guests all discussed in low voices. At the center of the crowd, Ethan's face darkened further.

His cold gaze shot toward me.

"This is the work you've always insisted on?"

The sarcasm in his words stabbed my heart.

I took a deep breath, trying to keep my voice as calm as possible.

"This has nothing to do with me. Didn't you give that charity foundation to her? I've been at the mansion these past two days. Mrs. Carter can vouch for me."

Hearing my formal way of addressing Helen, Ethan froze for a moment.

Now wasn't the time to dwell on that. Ethan turned to look at Grace.

Based on my understanding of Ethan, he wouldn't tell a lie so easily exposed.

After transferring the foundation to Grace, he hadn't asked about it again. Now that something went wrong, it could only be Grace's problem.

At this moment, Grace's eyes brimmed with tears as both hands clutched his arm tightly, as if grasping her last lifeline.

Ethan pressed his lips together, his eyes constantly shifting between Grace and me.

Finally, under Principal Walker's urging, his gaze settled on me.

He spoke one word at a time.

"The Carter family will pay compensation. You, apologize to him now."I stared at Ethan in disbelief. He clearly knew Grace was behind this, yet he still didn't believe me!

If I admitted to this, my career would be completely ruined.

"Ethan, I didn't do this. I won't apologize."

I turned to look at Principal Walker.

"I can provide evidence. Just give me some time."

"Enough!"

Before I could finish, Ethan cut me off roughly.

He raised his right hand slightly. Two bodyguards in black suits stepped forward and restrained my arms from both sides.

The next second, they forced me down to the ground without a word.

Ethan turned to Principal Walker.

"Is this apology acceptable?"

Principal Walker froze, then nodded repeatedly.

"As for compensation, my assistant will handle everything. Today is my mother's birthday banquet, so I won't keep you."

The assistant showed the man out. The bodyguards released me at Ethan's signal.

Ethan walked over and whispered in my ear.

"I'll compensate you for this. Grace is an ordinary girl. She can't handle these things."

In an instant, coldness spread from my feet through my entire body, while rage erupted in my heart.

Again with this.

Grace can't handle it.

But I can.

So I deserve to be treated like this forever?

"Ethan, you disgust me."

I swung my right hand forward hard, but it was intercepted mid-air.

"Don't!"

Grace rushed forward and blocked the slap, covering her left cheek as she fell into Ethan's arms.

Her originally fair skin visibly swelled and reddened.

The guilt on Ethan's face vanished completely, replaced by heartache for the woman in his arms.

He carefully moved Grace's hand away and examined her injury with extreme gentleness.

Watching the intimate scene between them, all the fire in my heart suddenly extinguished.

Ethan was no longer the man who couldn't live without me. His heart and eyes were full of Grace now.

"Ethan, it's all my fault for making you both so unhappy. Your mother has already given the family heirloom dress to Miss Rivers. I shouldn't have any more expectations."

"After today, let's not see each other anymore."

Grace looked at Ethan with tear-filled eyes, on the verge of crying.

He tightened his arms around her in distress and comforted her softly.

"Don't talk nonsense. You'll always be Liam's biological mother. You're my woman."

His gaze turned to me.

"Since you find me disgusting, then don't wear the Carter family's clothes. Consider it an apology to Grace."

"But don't worry. One thing at a time. I'll still give you the compensation I mentioned."

Before I could process what he meant, Ethan turned and left with Grace in his arms. The bodyguards who had withdrawn earlier stepped forward again.

Without a word, they began removing my gown.

I struggled desperately but it was futile. With a ripping sound, the zipper on my back was pulled open.

The bone-chilling wind gave me goosebumps all over.

The mocking laughter around me, the lewd stares, the strange men's hands on my body. Everything trampled my dignity into the ground.

Those few minutes felt like a lifetime.

Finally, the dress was removed. The bodyguards tossed down a suit jacket like charity, barely covering my body.

I used the jacket to cover my private areas and walked out of the banquet hall step by step.

"Take me home."

I returned to the old mansion, changed my clothes, grabbed all my documents, and headed straight to the airport.

An email invitation on my phone was the escape route I'd prepared for myself.

Even sitting on the plane, I still felt a sense of unreality.

Two hours ago, I was being humiliated in the banquet hall. And now, I was heading toward a future without Ethan.

As the plane took off, the landscape below gradually shrank.

The sense of unreality in my heart slowly transformed into calm and relaxation.

From now on, the Carter family's affairs had nothing to do with me.

Vivian was just Vivian.