The Divorce That Set Me Free

After I was reborn, I saw my billionaire ex-husband, Anderson, again.

He was leaning against his luxury car outside City Hall, asking me for a divorce. Then, he tossed me a black card.

There's thirty million in this card. Plus, I'm giving you a villa and a sports car as compensation for the divorce. It's enough for you to live comfortably for the rest of your life.

He paused, his expression a little awkward.

"If you want anything else, as long as it's not too much, I can compensate you."

In my previous life, I looked at his handsome face and refused to divorce him no matter what.

As a result, his family humiliated me, and his mistress, Anya, beat me.

He remained indifferent the entire time.

Even when Anya tormented me to death, he only said coldly:

"Finally dead. I can finally get my divorce."

This time, I calmly took the bank card and walked towards City Hall.

"Okay, divorce!"

Filling out forms, signing, stamping.

The whole process took less than twenty minutes.

The staff informed us:

"There's a 30-day cooling-off period. After that, both parties need to be present to pick up the divorce certificate."

I breathed a sigh of relief, turned to Anderson, and smiled.

"Anderson, you're a man of your word, right? We're divorced today, so I can expect what you promised tomorrow?"

After all, that was thirty million, plus my own house and car. Enough for me to live a good life this time.

Unlike my last life, when I was so broke I couldn't even scrounge up three hundred bucks.

I was repeatedly humiliated by his family and mistress, and eventually died a miserable death on the streets.

Thinking of the tragedy of my previous life only strengthened my resolve to live my own life well this time.

Anderson turned and walked out.

The driver, quick on the uptake, opened the car door.

"The things I promised you will be delivered to your new address."

He bent down to get into the car, his dark eyes sweeping over me once more.

"As long as you don't try any tricks during the 30-day cooling-off period."

The car drove off into traffic and disappeared. I paid it no mind.

I took out my phone, ordered a ride-share, and headed to my new place.

A three-story detached house, with an artificial lake just beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Anderson certainly spent a fortune to get rid of me.

My previous self never had time to enjoy anything. This time, I immediately called a few friends over.

My friends had just arrived, and we hadn't even caught up yet, when the doorbell suddenly rang.

I opened the door.

It was Anya.

Anderson's mistress from my previous life.

Because I refused to divorce, she couldn't officially become his wife for decades.

But she was no saint.

She was an expert at manipulation, humiliation, and torment.

On the surface, she put on a facade of being pure and innocent, but in my previous life, she was the one who hired people to kill me.

"Can I help you?"

Meeting my enemy, I naturally wasn't in a good mood.

Anya stood at the door, her gaze sweeping over my friends inside, a slight smirk playing on her lips.

"Luna, I know you can't accept divorcing Anderson, but there's no need to be so self-destructive, is there?"

She walked in, high heels clacking, looking down on me.

"How can you invite these low-life friends to mess around in Anderson's villa?"

"What if someone with bad intentions spreads rumors? It would be an embarrassment to the Anderson family."

"Oh, I forgot. You were never really a classy person to begin with."

Hearing that, my best friend Mira's face went white with anger. She sprang up, ready to stand up for me.

But I held her hand and shook my head.

Then, I stood up and walked over to Anya.

"Done talking?"

Anya looked at me, chin slightly raised, her eyes full of undisguised contempt.

"Luna, I'm not attacking you, I'm thinking of your best interests, after all"

"Since you're done, pay up."

I smiled, cutting her off, and held out my hand.

She froze.

"What?"

"This house, Anderson gave it to me. It's my private property now."

I pointed to the floor, then to where she was standing.

"You walked in without permission and are standing on my property, bossing me around. Shouldn't you pay me compensation?"

Anya's face darkened instantly.

"Are you really that broke?"

Facing her incredulous question, I calmly nodded.

"Yes, I'm broke. Is Ms. Anya perhaps going to offer me some extra financial aid?"

"You!"

She looked like she'd never encountered anyone as brazen as me.

For a moment, Anya just pointed at me, unable to utter a single word.

I tilted my head, smiling even more brightly.

"Ms. Anya, a moment ago you were talking so eloquently about decency, propriety, and upbringing. So articulate."

"But when it comes to paying up, you're suddenly speechless?"

"Does your family consider not paying debts a sign of good upbringing, Ms. Anya?"

At that, the room went silent for a second.

Then, Mira let out a snort of laughter.

"You..."

Anya bit her lip, looking as if she had been terribly wronged.

Unfortunately, Anderson wasn't here, and no one here was falling for her act.

Finally, Anya pulled a wad of cash from her bag, slapped it hard into my hand, and snapped.

"Is that enough?!"

With that, she turned and left.

At the door, perhaps feeling embarrassed, she looked back at me and said.

"Luna, you low-class trash! No wonder Anderson wants to divorce you?!"

The door slammed shut.

I didn't mind. I counted the money. Sixty-eight hundred.

Rich people really do have a lot of cash!

I split the money among my friends.

"No worries, let's keep having fun."

The atmosphere livened up again.

But Mira came over to me, looking at me with a touch of concern.

"Luna, are you okay?"

I shook my head.

"Of course, I'm fine."

This is nothing compared to what I've been through.

Anya's tactics against me in my previous life were far more despicable, and I still made it through.

Besides, this time I just want to live my own life. As long as Anya doesn't push her luck, I won't even bother with her.

"By the way, Mira, are you interested in starting a studio with me?"

I turned to her, stating my purpose.

Mira was a brilliant student in college, and after graduation, her abilities at work were also exceptional.

She had thought about starting her own business, but lacked startup capital, so she was stuck working for unscrupulous bosses.

But this time was different. I had money!

Anderson's divorce compensation was a hefty thirty million!

So, we hit it off immediately and decided to build our careers together.

Day one of the cooling-off period.

I got up early and spent the whole day with Mira exploring downtown to decide on a location.

Suddenly, Anderson's call came in.

Seeing his name, I was momentarily puzzled.

We were both sick of the sight of each other on divorce day. Why was he calling me now?

But I answered anyway.

"Can you please stop provoking Anya?"

His voice was faint, devoid of emotion.

I was standing in the middle of a crowd, surrounded by noisy hawkers.

In my previous life, hearing him say that, I would have immediately started frantically explaining myself.

But now, I just felt like he was wasting my time.

I'd rather spend this time looking at more locations and finalize my store address.

"Luna, I thought you agreed to the divorce because you wanted a dignified ending."

"But I didn't expect you to be just like before"

"Anderson!"

Listening to him, I cut him off directly.

"As long as Anya doesn't come looking for trouble, I won't provoke her. You should spend this time managing her instead!"

With that, I hung up without waiting for his response.

Then, I blocked all his contacts.

Day three of the cooling-off period.

Mira and I had explored several nearby streets, finally stopping in front of a newly developed art district.

"Here?" Mira turned to me.

"Yes," I nodded.

This street wasn't the most bustling, but it had several high-end residential areas nearby, with a young consumer base that valued quality and personalization.

Mira and I both studied design, so setting up a handmade craft studio here was perfect.

Three days for location scouting, five for renovation, ten for opening.

During those ten days, I slept only five hours a day, pushing the renovation team to meet the deadline, personally visiting building material markets to select materials, and contacting suppliers to negotiate raw material prices.

Mira was responsible for brand design and online operations, while I handled offline implementation and the supply chain.

Our division of labor was clear, and our cooperation seamless; we were like natural partners.

Day ten of the cooling-off period, the store opened.

But for the first three days, very few people came into the store.

Occasionally, a few customers would come in, look around, touch things, ask the price, and then leave.

Just then, Anya walked in, high heels clacking.

"Luna, opening a store and blocking Anderson... are you playing hard to get, hoping to attract Anderson's attention?"

She looked around at the store's decor, disdain evident in her expression.

I ignored her and continued trying to attract customers.

"Too bad, Anderson likes me for who I am, not for what I do. Copying me won't work."

People nearby, hearing the gossip, couldn't help but stop.

I quickly introduced the unique features of our store to them.

"Purely handmade and custom-made, one of a kind."

Seeing me ignore her, Anya got angry out of embarrassment.

She swept all the handmade accessories from a display shelf onto the floor.

"Thud"

The sound of shattering glass was particularly jarring in the quiet store.

The customers were startled and quickly dispersed.

Anya folded her arms, giving me a defiant look.

I took a deep breath, pulled out a calculator, and started tallying the damaged items one by one.

"Three pairs of handmade glass earrings, priced at 0-020 each, total $360."

"Two imported ceramic brooches, priced at $280 each, total $560."

"..."

The calculator's mechanical female voice called out the numbers, echoing repeatedly in the silent store.

Anya's expression changed from defiant to impatient.

"What exactly do you want?"

"Pay for the damages."

I stood up and turned the calculator screen towards her. "Twelve thousand three hundred."

"What if I don't pay?" Anya sneered.

I didn't say anything, took out my phone, opened a video, and turned the screen towards her.

In the video, Anya was in a lounge, punching and kicking a staff member, verbally abusing them.

This was some dirt I had paid a lot for in my previous life when I was constantly at odds with her.

"Celebrity bullying staff. If this gets out, will your upcoming endorsement deals still be safe? Can you still make it in showbiz?"

I whispered in her ear.

Anya's face instantly went white.

"Pay up."

I held the QR code for payment in front of her.

This time, she didn't dare say another word.

She transferred the money quickly and efficiently.

Seeing the money arrive, I gave her a standard smile.

"Welcome back anytime."

Anya had a bitter taste in her mouth. She stomped her foot and left.

Her little scene, however, actually brought more foot traffic to the store.

When I tallied the sales that evening, we had our best day since opening.

When we closed, an uninvited guest arrived.

Anderson.

"Here to stick up for Anya?"

Just like in my previous life, when she couldn't win an argument, she'd go complain to Anderson about me. That was her only move.

Too bad, this time I didn't care about Anderson at all.

Complaining to him was useless!

"Why did you block me?"

Anderson countered without answering.

I frowned. "A good ex should act like they're dead."

"After all, you don't want me to bother you, do you?"

He froze, his gaze at me a little complex.

In my previous life, he would have just walked away.

But now, he actually started looking around the store.

"Good location, good craftsmanship, but business isn't great, is it?"

I was about to tell him to leave, but then I heard that, and my interest was piqued.

"You have a solution?"

Anderson made a name for himself at a young age, taking over Anderson Group at twenty-two and tripling its size in just a few years.

When his name was mentioned in the business world, everyone admired him.

Why wouldn't I use an available expert? I'm not stupid.

He glanced at me, a flicker of sadness in his eyes for a moment, then finally spoke.

"You've changed a lot."

"Hey, people have to move on."

I answered casually, but my mind was only on the sales figures. I pressed him again, "So, do you have a solution or not?"

He didn't answer, just found a seat.

After a moment of thought, he spoke.

"I have a solution, but I never do business at a loss."

"How about this, I'll invest my expertise for a twenty percent stake in your studio. If you agree, we can continue talking."

I turned to Mira, and she nodded at me.

I immediately accepted. "Deal."

Anderson didn't waste words, pulling a gold-embossed invitation from his suit jacket and sliding it across.

"The Anderson Group's Designer Invitation Exhibition is in five days. All the attendees are prominent figures from various circles. Your products don't lack quality; they lack the right clientele."

He paused, then added.

"Prepare well. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me anytime."

With that, he pulled out his phone and showed me the screen.

Only then did I remember I had blocked him two days ago. I quickly pulled out my phone and unblocked him.

He glanced at the notification that his contacts were restored, said nothing, and then left.

The black Maybach drove away from the street corner. Mira poked my arm.

"Luna, don't you think Anderson is acting strange? Why is he suddenly interested in our little shop?"

I looked at the invitation in my hand, not lifting my head, and casually said.

"Because our shop has potential."

Mira opened her mouth, but ultimately didn't press the matter.

Day eleven of the cooling-off period.

Mira and I arrived at the shop before dawn. We sifted through dozens of sketches, finally settling on three main showcase pieces.

Mira and I didn't dare be careless with any step of the handmade process.

Just as we were busy, the door pushed open.

"Luna, I hear you're going to participate in the Anderson Group's design exhibition?"

Anya walked in, her stilettos clicking.

"Wanna make a bet?"

"If you can attract customers with your own work in this competition, you win. If not"

She paused, a smirk playing on her lips.

"You'll publicly admit, in front of everyone, that you opened this studio and started this business just to copy me and seduce Anderson. And then, you'll never try to go after him again."

Mira's face fell. Just as she was about to speak, I pressed her hand.

I looked up, meeting Anya's defiant gaze, and smiled.

"And what if I do win?"

Anya looked like she'd heard a joke. "Oh, please, Luna. That exhibition will be full of important people. Who would even bother to look at your little trinkets?"

"Well then,"

I put down my tools and said slowly, "If I win, you'll promote my studio for free."

After all, the sales power of a popular celebrity is too good to pass up.

Anya clearly didn't take me seriously and scoffed.

"Fine. I'll be waiting to see you make a fool of yourself."

With that, she turned and walked out, her high heels clicking.

Mira grabbed my arm, her face full of worry.

"Luna, what if she sabotages us?"

I patted her hand, reassuring her.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

After all, starting a business is a high-reward, high-risk endeavor.

Day fifteen of the cooling-off period, the day of the competition.

I sent Mira a message on my phone.

"I'll be at the venue in twenty minutes. Where are you?"

I sent the message, but got no reply.

I called again. It rang several times, but no one answered.

A strange panic began to set in.

Maybe she's stuck in traffic, I told myself.

Just as I hailed a cab, my phone vibrated.

It was an unknown number.

"Is this Ms. Luna? This is the emergency center. Your friend, Ms. Mira, was in a car accident and is currently in critical condition. Please come as soon as possible."