Chapter 14
Marcus finally agreed to divorce.
Witnessed by millions of netizens, he hired specialized divorce lawyers to make a clear and fair separation of their joint assets from these
years.
He didn’t shortchange me.
Not only did I get what was rightfully mine, but I also received half of all his assets.
Looking at the numbers on the contract, I was truly shocked.
I hadn’t imagined Marcus’s worth was so enormous.
I hadn’t imagined he would give me so much.
A large portion of it could have been easily avoided with some legal maneuvering.
In the end, a divorce incident triggered by a reality show finally came to a close after two tumultuous months,
The story’s conclusion: I transformed into a single billionaire.
My next meeting with Marcus was to finalize the divorce.
During the later stages of the controversy, he was too busy handling various meetings and decisions to come home.
Genuinely too busy this time.
After he agreed to divorce, I immediately had people pack all his belongings and send them to his office, without even seeing him. It was w
winter now, and light snow was falling during the day.
Marcus and I arrived from different directions, each getting out of our cars.
In the falling snow, we silently faced each other
black wool coat, with snow dotting his hair and shoulders. He looked much thinner, making his features appear even sharper
ce sazied a hint of hoarseness.
a smile at him gently.
“They’re for casting Hlizzard later, Mr. Crawford. We should hurry inside.
His eyelashes trembled as he gave a bitter smile.
“You won’t even call my name anymore?”
“During this time, you wouldn’t meet me or take my calls. We
e were husband and wife after all–did you have to be so absolute?”
“This divorce was forced by circumstances, Rachel. Can you wait for me a while? I win you back—“
He stopped speaking, staring at me in surprise.
Because I had suddenly started taking off my gloves and rolling up my sleeves.
the down jacket, then the sweater, finally exposing a section of arm.
First th
He stood frozen, somewhat confused.
I hold my arm out in front of him.
“Look, my skin is breaking out in red spots”
He glanced at it blankly, not understanding my meaning.
I spoke calmly.
“When you
you speak, my body breaks out in these spots. I specifically went to the doctor about it. They said its an allergy- the best solution is to Savoid the allergen:
“So, Mr. Crawford, please stop saying those things. My entire being, including my heart and my body, completely rejects you.”
“Lets end it here. May we each find peace.
His eyes widened, his lips moved, opening and closing, wanting to say something but unable to speak. Finally, he could only make two strange choking sounds in his throat.
I said nothing more, pulled my scarf closer, and went inside.
Throughout the entire signing process, Marcus appeared dazed, his body slightly trembling.
I maintained a blank expression, calm and composed.
When we walked out of the civil affairs bureau, the blizzard had arrived.
Heavy snowflakes danced in the sky, turning the whole world into a blur of white.
I walked through the thick snow toward my parked car.
“Rachel
Marcus called out.
I turned back to nen bin
5:45 PM
<
Marcus called out.
I turned back to see his eyes were terribly red
“When did you…” he struggled to ask, “When did you start being allergic to me?”
“Six months ago.”
“That long..”
His body swayed as he lowered his head dejectedly.
Suddenly, he raised his head again:
“So you… you had already decided on divorce long ago?”
I stood in the snow with my hands in my pockets, silently watching him.
He displayed a strange
nge expression, speaking in a voice that seemed muffled and distant, as if wrapped in snowflakes:
“You obediently went on the show to use it to create public pressure, forcing me to i
to divorce.”
“Not just divorce- you wanted to maximize your benefits.”
“That video was leaked by you, wasn’t it? And the regular contestant’s livestream was arranged by you too. The timing of each incident was perfectly calculated.”
“How foolish I was! Even reminding you to express your desire for divorce, worried you wouldn’t cooperate. All along, you were meticulously planning your escape!”
I hadn’t said a word throughout, standing in the heavy snow, enduring the allergy discomfort, giving him full respect.
After all, he had given me billions in assets.
After finishing his speech, his head drooped.
After a long while, he asked in a trembling voice.
“Rachel, do you really… not love me anymore?”
I smiled gently
“Yes, I don’t love you anymore.”
“Didn’t I tell you this right from the start?”
I turned and walked into the depths of the heavy snow.
The entire world was wrapped in another layer of this expected blizzard, all traces erased, as if everything had always been clean and even.
Looking
g at the flying snow, I sighed:
re white everywhere, how clean it all ist
Pure
Epilogue
From that
t day on, Marcus became obsessed.
He desperately wanted to see Rachel.
Yet he didn’t dare appear before her or speak a single word to her.
I turned and walked into the depths of the heavy snow.
The entire world was wrapped in another layer of this expected blizzard, all traces erased, as if everything had always been clean and even
ing at the flying snow, I sighed:
Pure white everywhere, how clean it all is!
Epilogu
From that day on, Marcus became obsessed.
He desperately wanted to see Rachel.
Yet he didn’t dare appear before her or speak a single word to her.
The mere thought that his voice caused her body to react that way made him feel like he was in the d
He could only watch her silently, from afar,
depths of hell.
From the street below at night, from cars parked along the road, from audience seats at filming locations…
After leaving him, Rachel’s career soared,
The divorce incident had earned her a massive following of supportive mothers and sisters who empathized with her experience. They treated her like their own daughter or sister, offering advice and protection for her future life.
The smile returned to her face.
Radiant, warm, full of strength.
She began taking roles in women’s empowerment films, participating in female–focused shows, even becoming a host.
Watching her on screen, confidently and elegantly expressing her views, he felt both strange and familiar.
Many times, he had criticized her in front of others “slow–witted,” “slow to react,” “culturally lacking.” She usually just listened silently, never arguing back..
The woman on screen now was utterly foreign to him.
Yet he felt a hint of familiarity, as if this w
was the real her, who she had always been meant to be.
He hazily recalled their first meeting.
She sat in his office with red–rimmed eyes, looking timid.
Beside her, her then–agent meekly explained how their negligence had trapped Rachel in a contract dispute, asking for his help.
He had meant to refuse, but in that instant before speaking, he caught sight of Rachel’s eyes shining like diamonds.
As if possessed, he agreed.
And then he witnessed her transform from tears to smiles, beautiful as a flower blooming after rain.
After they got together, Rachel once curiously asked him, “Why did you choose me? It’s so strange… I thought you would choose someone else…”
He asked, “Who else?”
She tilted her head, “Someone like Victoria”
Victoria? At the time, he had just found it amusing.
“Who else?”
head. “Someone like Victoria”
be had just found it amusing.
that perfectly cultivated woman, how could she compare to Rachel’s natural radiance and vitality?
But – at the height of his relationship with Rachel, he slept with Victoria,
qat that one time.
He was drunk, with only fragments of memory.
He thought it was Rachel, but woke to find a naked Victoria, a torn dress on the floor, and spots of blood on the white sheets.
He almost frantically told her to name her price, with the condition that she leave the company and keep this buried forever.
Victoria cried.
Said he had been too rough the night before, said it had been her first time.
She swore she wouldn’t breathe a word, only begging not to be sent away.
She had lost her virginity; she didn’t want to lose the career she had worked years for too.
That day, watching her usually straight and elegant back naked and pitifully bent before him.
He softened.
After that incident, he found himself unable to face Rachel directly.
She was so pure, passionate, and hopeful, filled with enthusiasm and expectations for the future, unable to tolerate any impurity in life.
He unconsciously began avoiding her, spending night after night at the office.
Victoria indeed kept her word about that night’s accident, continuing to work diligently as ever, communicating naturally, never seeking additional favors because of it. Her integrity made him feel somewhat quilty.
Meanwhile Rachel, hurt by his sudden coldness, began to feel insecure and emotionally unstable.
At this time, a young director who had won international awards suddenly contacted the agent, saying he had a perfect script for Rachel and
wanted her as the load.
He and Rachel were still secretly married then, and the young director made no attempt to hide his admiration and fondness for Rachel in
front of Marcus.
Marcus brooded, his brows furrowed in contemplation.
He knew perfectly well that if Rachel took this role, her acting g career would reach new heights, incomparable to her current status.
But would the Rachel of that future still stay contentedly by his side?
That day when he returned home, he saw Rachel intently watching a TV Interview – it was that young director.
The admiration in her eyes matched exactly what he had seen in the young director’s office earlier that day.
He rejected the offer, without Rachel over knowing.
He became even more unable to face her straightforwardly, yet refused to acknowledge the darkness in his own heart.
So he adopted a ridiculous and foolish approach.
He watched her gradually sink into self–doubt, watched her break down with jealousy over Victoria, watched her focus her entire being some
im, watched the smile slowly fade from her face….
cause of this, even deriving a perverse pleasure from the process.
Line, when she fought with him over changing her agent and he angrily suspended all her resources for half a year.
During that period, she wilted like a flower, living in constant fear. Until that day when she suddenly knelt before him, crying as she apologized, begging him to stop punishing her.
He was shocked – this wasn’t the result he wanted.
In his panic, he hastily expressed forgiveness and fled.
Probably from that incident onward, he clearly sensed that something had started to change.
She no longer showed jealousy, no longer cared about his interactions with Victoria, no longer had eyes only for him, becoming quiet, peaceful, indifferent.
On his birthday, she showed no acknowledgment whatsoever no gifts brought to the office, no phone call.
He deliberately stayed out late returning home, only to find her quietly asleep.
An uncontrollable emotion seized him, and he almost desperately pressed himself on top of her sleeping form, wanting intimacy to fill the emptiness in his heart, but she refused him.
From that day on, they grew even further apart
When the agent proposed the divorce reality show, he agreed immediately.
Whatever the show was about, deep down, he craved some enclosed time with Rachel.
He wanted to use the script’s premise of saving their marriage as a posture to truly reconcile with her, to humble himself before her.
Rachel would surely be moved, be delighted.
Then, after recovering what was lost, she would surely be overjoyed.
They would overcome all the unsightly parts and return to how they were before.
However, reality diverged completely from his expectations.
She continued, step by step, steadily moving away from him.
He consoled himself that Rachel was following the script, that her words and actions couldn’t be taken at face value.
But that night, he saw Rachel relaxedly chatting with other contestants under the night sky.
Among the crowd, she showed a long–absent smile.
Her eyes were so bright they outshone even the starc above.
In that moment, he panicked.
About the incident of saving Victoria, he hadn’t lied.
On one hand, it was a matter of life and death; on the other hand, he wanted to use this action to compensate Victoria whom he’d felt guilty about for so long. He thought that after this conclusion, he could clear–mindedly dismiss Victoria.
see
During the mountain rain Incident, when he couldn’t find Rachel, he experienced genuine fear and panic for the first time, making him see his own heart more clearly,
When Rachel still chose divorce in her final choice, his suspended heart finally died, though it felt somewhat expected.
divorce at any cost.
After the show ended, he had made up his mind – whether by gentle means or force, he would prevent Rachel’s desire for divorce at i
He returned home.
But events developed in a direction he couldn’t control.
He hadn’t expected the internet opinion to reach such intensity.
He was practically forced by external pressure to divorce Rachel.
Victoria came begging to him after being fired.
She knelt on the ground crying, saying her reputation was ruined and she had nowhere else to go, begging him to keep her.
In that moment, he heard nothing, his mind filled with the image of Rachel kneeling before him.
er in pain.
He doubled over
Later, Victoria dejectedly suggested that he at least give her some money, considering she had given him her first time, to secure her future.
He was irritated, wanting no further entanglement with her, and tersely arranged for subordinates to negotiate with her.
Just then, he received a message from Rachel.
He opened it trembling- no words, just a screenshot.
It contained several photos Victoria had sent to Rachel six months ago.
The aftermath of that night’s “accident” at the hotel.
Torn clothes, bloodstained sheets, his naked form…
He was shocked, furious, desperate.
He immediately burst into the next office and, in front of several assistants, beat Victoria with all his strength.
He screamed like a madman.
“You promised not to tell! Why did you lie to me! You worthless woman! Why did you ruin me!”
When Victoria was carried away by ambulance, her face was unrecognizable, only making unintelligible whimpers from her throat.
The final outcome was:
Victoria was disfigured and lost an eye.
Marcus paid $860,000 in compensation and was sentenced to two years.
He could have spent more money to get probation, but he refused, saying if he had to serve time, he w than necessary.
Two years later-
would, but wouldn’t give her a penny more
The day before Marcus’s release, after tidying his bed, he sat properly on a small stool watching television.
They were broadcasting a fi
a film awards ceremony.
On the brilliant stage, Rachel wore a dazzling evening gown, holding a trophy while giving her acceptance speech. Her eyes s
8 sparkled like stars as the smiled and said:
“I wont to thank my la
Just then, he received a message from Rachel.
ned it trembo no words, just a screenshot.
it contained several photos Victoria had sent to Rachel six months ago.
The aftermath of that night’s “accident at the hotel.
Torn clothes, bloodstained sheets, his naked form…
He was shocked, furious, desperate.
He immediately burst into the next office and, in front of several assistants, beat Victoria with all his strength.
He screamed like a madman.
“You promised not to tell! Why did you lie to me! You worthless woman! Why did you ruin me!”
When Victoria was carried away by ambulance, her face was unrecognizable, only making unintelligible whimpers from her t
The final outcome was:
Victoria was disfigured and lost an eye.
Marcus paid $860,000 in compensation and was sentenced to two years.
He could have spent more money to get probation, but he refused, saying if he had to serve time, he would, but wouldn’t give her
than necessary.
Two years later-
The day before Marcus’s release, after tidying his bed, he sat properly on a small stool watching television.
They were broadcasting a film awards ceremony.
On the brilliant stage, Rachel wore a dazzling evening gown, holding a trophy while giving her acceptance speech.
Her eyes sparkled like stars as she smiled and said:
“I want to thank my love….
Beside her, sharing her smile, was that young director from years ago.
He had found her after all.
Marcus stared at the screen, at the woman in full bloom.
Not blinking, afraid to miss even a second.
That night, lying in bed, he silently shed two meaningless tears.
