A Divorce Built on Lies

After my husband Ethan Morris cheated on me with his secretary Sienna Dawn, he insisted on divorcing me.

When the divorce lawsuit began, my first love Adrian Foster offered to be my lawyer.

I agreed.

Later, Adrian fought tooth and nail to win my divorce case, and I walked away with 50% of Ethan's assets.

On the day of signing, however, I overheard a conversation between Adrian and Ethan outside the door.

Ethan said smugly:

"Adrian, thank you for pretending to be Lily's lawyer and helping me hide my assets! If Lily knew that what she got wasn't even worth one of Sienna's diamond necklaces, she'd die of anger!"

Adrian lowered his voice in warning:

"Ethan Morris, I'm not doing this to help you. Everything I've done is for Sienna's happiness. If you ever dare betray Sienna in the future, I'll make sure you go bankrupt!"

My hand trembled on the doorknob, and a sharp pain shot through my chest.

I never imagined that both my ex-boyfriend and my ex-husband would betray me for the same woman.

I took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

Both men turned around simultaneously, their expressions showing no trace of anything amiss.

"Lily, sit over here."

Adrian spoke first, waving me over.

With their earlier conversation still echoing in my ears, I clutched my bag tightly and walked toward Adrian.

Adrian pulled out a handkerchief and thoughtfully wiped the water stains from my clothes.

"I should have picked you up, but my car broke down halfway. It's pouring outsideyou didn't get too wet, did you?"

I shook my head. He explained while pulling out a chair for me.

During our four years of college, Adrian had always taken care of me this attentively.

Even after our reunion during the past half-year of litigation, he'd continued treating me well.

Friends around us would tease him: "Adrian, she's not even divorced yet. She still has a husband."

Plenty of people mocked him too, bringing up our breakup from back then.

"Adrian, why are you still acting like a lovesick puppy? Did you forget how Lily dumped you in college?"

But Adrian acted like he didn't hear them. He'd cover my ears.

"I already missed you once."

"This time, I absolutely won't let myself miss you again."

I thought he still had feelings for me, that he genuinely wanted us to get back together.

Now I knew betterI'd been deluding myself all along.

The warmth before my eyes was a sweet trap custom-designed for me.

Looking at the seat he'd pulled out, I placed my bag there and leaned toward him.

"Organize the documents first. Let me take a look."

Adrian nodded, highlighting the key sections of the documents. When he leaned close, he brought with him a crisp, cool fragrance.

I tilted my head, listening carefully.

From time to time, I'd smile and whisper a few words near his ear.

Ethan lounged lazily against his chair back and laughed:

"Mr. Foster's litigation services come with such excellent extras!"

I said nothing, simply watching the two men before me quietly.

Finding it all utterly ridiculous.

"Sorry I'm late." Sienna Dawn pushed open the door.

This time both men didn't just turn their headsthey stood up.

"Sienna, what are you doing here?"

Ethan walked to Sienna's side, brazenly wrapping his arm around her waist.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Adrian's fist clench tightly.

"I was a bit worried about you..."

"And this is such a major life event. I thought I should be here with you."

Halfway through her words, Sienna turned to look at me.

I smiled faintly and lowered my head, fiddling with the ring on my finger, pretending not to notice.

"Who's the mistress putting on such a touching performance for?"

"After Ethan Morris dies, who knows who'll be lying next to him!"

At these words, Ethan's expression darkened instantly, his smile vanishing completely.

"Lily, watch your mouth."

"I know you can't bear to divorce methat's why this lawsuit has dragged on for two years."

"What, having second thoughts now?"

I snorted coldly and glanced at Sienna, who wore an aggrieved expression.

"Not this time."

"Ethan Morris, you always used to pester me asking about my first love, didn't you?"

"Well, he's right in front of you now."

I looked toward Adrian, who sat one seat away from me.

"You're Lily's first love?"

"That first love she dated for four yearsthe one who made such a scene when you broke up?"

Ethan spoke rapidly, staring at Adrian with a look that had become very subtle.

His words even carried a hint of resentment.

Adrian stiffened his spine, looking at me somewhat confused.

I spread my hands and smiled. "We've been married five years, and you've always been a thorn in his side. But I kept my mouth shuthe investigated for five years and found nothing."

Adrian raised his eyes slightly, his gaze flicking toward Sienna.

Finally, he nodded. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Morris."

Ethan's face turned extremely ugly, his eyes darting back and forth between me and Adrian.

"Stop looking. We're just ordinary friends now."

"Sign the papers. Don't keep your true love stuck as a mistress who can't see the light of day."

I leaned forward to take the documents from Adrian's hands. The thick stack of papersI signed through them all in one go.

The lawsuit with Ethan had lasted two years. We'd gone through mediation procedures three to five times.

Each time, at the last moment, I'd backed out.

Not because I loved Ethan so muchI just refused to lose to a woman like Sienna Dawn.

The first time I met Sienna was in Ethan's office.

She'd just graduated and was job hunting.

A clean, efficient high ponytail, plaid shirt, canvas shoesher whole being radiated youthful energy.

The first time I saw her, I thought of Adrian.

Adrian as a college freshman had looked just as plain and simple, seemingly completely out of place in a city like Seattle.

But I'd fallen hopelessly for Adrian anyway, chasing him crazily for three months.

Finally, with a dark expression, he'd agreed: "Lily, you're like a sticky plaster I can't shake off. So annoying."

"Lily, let's date for one year. After one year, we break up."

Later, we dated for four years.

I was the one who initiated the breakup, on the eve of our graduation ceremony, the day before his birthday.

Adrian knelt in the rain begging me all night long. I hid in my dorm building and never went down.

Back then, everyone on campus said I was heartless, said Adrian had been toyed with by a rich girl and then kicked aside.

After we broke up, I never saw Adrian again.

So when I saw Sienna Dawn, my heart inexplicably softened a bit.

Ethan was flipping through resumes in front of me, his finger stopping at Sienna's.

"You've met this one. HR said she's decent. But I think she looks pretty unsophisticated. I'm hiring a secretary, not sponsoring a charity case."

Ethan had a vicious tongue.

He'd always liked flashy, superficial thingsliked beautiful, attractive people.

Like me. He'd liked me since childhood.

Because I was beautiful and ignored him.

That's why when the Lily family went bankrupt and everyone avoided me like the plague, he came around proposing marriage.

I pressed down on Ethan's hand as he flipped to the next resume. "Let's go with her. I think she's good. She looks innocent, and her abilities seem solid too."

To make me happy, Ethan kept Sienna on.

Back then, Ethan still found me novel and exciting. Every day, aside from work, he'd cling to me and refuse to let go.

After each time, he'd pester me with questions:

"What was your college boyfriend's name?"

"How far did you two go? Did he do this with you too?"

"Who's better, me or him?"

"Lily, do you still love him?"

Ethan was very immature.

From the day we got married in a whirlwind, he'd planted a thorn in his heart.

Everything he looked at reminded him of Adrian. Everything he did, he had to compare with Adrian.

But I never breathed a word.

The next time I saw Sienna, she wore a Chanel-style suit and sat outside Ethan's office.

Her exquisite makeup made her look young and beautiful, impossible not to notice.

"Miss Lily, Mr. Morris is still in a meeting. Please wait outside for a moment."

Everyone in this building called me Mrs. Morrisonly she called me Miss Lily.

No one in this secretary's office would make me wait outsideonly she told me to sit and wait.

I stared at the red marks on her neck and that expensive necklace.

"Miss Dawn has excellent work capabilities."

"You've been at Pinecrane for less than half a year, and you can already afford a 0-000,000 necklace just like that."

"Someone gave it to me."

Sienna's delicate face instantly flushed red.

At that moment, I knew she'd latched onto Ethan.

That necklace had been a purchase requirement when I bought a bag before. It had sat unworn in my jewelry box.

A few days ago, Ethan had asked me for it.

I thought it was for a client. Turned out it was for Sienna.

Since marrying me, Ethan hadn't continued his old ways of sleeping around like the playboy everyone knew him as. He'd stayed faithfully by my side for two years.

Counting the days, his patience was probably running out.

Someone like him would never stay put for anyone.

This marriage, to me, was just decorationa tool to keep the Lily family from collapsing.

So I wasn't heartbroken. Back then, I was thinking about how to prolong this marriage in name only, or how to get a share of the Morris family assets after divorce.

But I never expected it would be Sienna Dawnthe woman he'd initially looked down on.

And Sienna, as it turned out, wasn't content to stay in her lane either.

I was at a banquet hosted by the Morris family when Sienna sent me those obscene videos and photos.

While dealing with Ethan's parents pressuring me about having children, I was thinking about how to deal with Sienna.

[Miss Lily, I'm pregnant with Mr. Morris's child.]

[Mr. Morris and I truly love each other. Please let us be together.]

I pretended not to see it, pretended nothing happened.

But I didn't expect that same night, Ethan would come home dead drunk and confess everything.

"Sienna is pregnant. The baby is mine."

"I want her to keep it."

I stared blankly at Ethan sitting across from me. My mouth opened and closed. My hand resting on my lower abdomen involuntarily twitched.

"Have you thought this through?"

"If you really have, I'll make room for her."

Ethan looked up at me in disbelief. Perhaps he hadn't expected things to go so smoothly either.

But his joy was fleeting. He grabbed my hand and demanded:

"Lily, have you never loved me? Not even once?"

"Are you still hung up on that damn first love of yours?!"

"Cheating, divorceeven if I brought her home today to have the baby, you wouldn't care at all, would you?!"

I watched Ethan throw his tantrum, watched him smash an entire cabinet of liquor.

I let him pin me down and take what he wanted without restraint, without any resistance.

"Lily, could you just... even just a little bit, love me even just a little..."

I said nothing.

In the days that followed, Ethan often didn't come home. He brought Sienna to all kinds of occasions.

At events where I wasn't present, Ethan would shield her from drinks, hold umbrellas for her, drive her to and from worklooking exactly like a couple deeply in love.

Scandals flew everywhere, and each time I'd step in to smooth things over, buying off those tabloid stories.

I sat securely in the position of Mrs. Morris, cleaning up Ethan's mess. But Sienna couldn't sit still.

Or perhaps it was the baby in her belly that couldn't wait.

"Miss Lily, when will you agree to the divorce?"

"I don't want my child to be called a bastard when it's born."

I stirred the coffee in front of me, finding it both laughable and pathetic.

"Miss Dawn is too naive. Marriages of convenience in families like ours involve too many interests. Divorce isn't that simple."

"Besides, it's not that I won't divorceit's your Mr. Morris who refuses."

Perhaps my words hit too close to home.

That very night, Sienna attempted suicide.

The baby in her belly wasn't saved.

Ethan came home with bloodshot eyes, nearly strangling me to death.

"Lily, who told you to go see her!"

"Do you know she almost died! Because of what you said, the baby in her belly is gone!"

"Lily, do you want a divorce that badly?"

"Fine! Let's divorce!"

I only learned later that Sienna had slit her wrists to pressure Ethan into divorcing, resulting in a miscarriage.

She said it was me who went to see her.

Her words "I love you so much" kept Ethan's heart captive.

Her words "Lily doesn't love you at all" also severed the last thread of hope between Ethan and me.

"Sienna wasn't actually pregnant."

"She's just a gold-digger trying to climb the social ladder, staging this whole drama herself."

"Speaking of which, Mrs. Morris is truly magnanimousready to divorce just like that. If it were me, I'd make that scumbag and homewrecker miserable for years before I'd be satisfied!"

When these words reached my ears, the hand signing the divorce agreement stopped cooperating.

"I'm not divorcing anymore."

"Ethan Morris, you're the one at fault. I want you to leave with nothing."

And so, the lawsuit dragged on for two years.

Long enough for Adrian to appear by my side.

Actually, I didn't care how much money I got from the Morris family. I just wanted to spite Sienna.

Adrian's appearance, the trap Adrian setit suddenly all seemed pointless to me.

I couldn't even be bothered to investigate the relationship between them anymore.

"Let's sign."

I pushed the documents toward Ethan.