Chapter 1

1

I was right in the middle of a high-level executive board meeting when I got the call. My husband, Garry, had fallen from the thirteenth floor while filming a stunt on set.

I abandoned everything and rushed home in an absolute panic, only to find him and his entire entourage perfectly fine, drinking and singing karaoke in our living room.

Garry shot me a sideways glance, his tone dripping with sheer annoyance. "I told you to come home last night, and you refused. What the hell are you doing here now?"

"Why didn't you just die outside?"

Before I could even process his venom, that sickeningly familiar inner voice echoed in my head.

Hmph. I knew my wife still loves me.

The second she heard I was hurt, she came running back.

Hurry up, babe. Come jump into my arms and act spoiled like you always do. Tell me you love me and that you can't live without me.

I looked down at the blood seeping through my sleeve, an injury from a minor car accident I got into because I was driving so fast to get to him.

For the first time in ten years, I did not cater to the secret desires in his head.

Instead, I slowly reached into my bag, pulled out a thick envelope, and placed it on the table.

"Since you hate me that much, let's get a divorce."

...

Garry's brow furrowed tightly. He stared at me like his brain hadn't quite processed the words.

Sensing the sudden shift in the atmosphere, his entourage immediately scrambled to do damage control.

"Sister-in-law, you must be exhausted from work. You are just talking crazy."

"Yeah, Scarlett, Garry was just joking. Don't take it seriously."

They probably assumed I was just throwing a tantrum to get Garry's attention.

I couldn't blame them for thinking that.

After all, for the ten years I had been with Garry, I had acted like his perfect, completely obedient marionette.

If Garry told me to go east, I would never dare step west.

Because I could hear his true inner voice, I always treated his violent outbursts and cruel words as a twisted form of affection. I broke my own back trying to be perfect for him.

But today, I was done being a puppet on a string.

"You are right. I am exhausted," I said, my voice completely devoid of emotion as I looked directly at the man sitting in the center of the couch.

"So, Garry, let's get a divorce."

The moment Garry realized I wasn't joking, the glass tumbler in his hand shattered under the sudden pressure of his grip.

He let out a cold, mocking scoff. "Scarlett, do you really think you are that important?"

"A divorce? I have been waiting for this day."

"If you hadn't begged me to marry you back then, I wouldn't have even looked at you!"

His spoken words were vicious and biting. But beneath them, his inner voice was a pathetic, frantic prayer.

What is wrong with my wife? Why does she suddenly want a divorce? Do you not love me anymore?!

No, no, no! Please, babe, take it back! Tell me you don't want to leave me! I want to be with you forever!

This was the incredibly toxic duality I had lived with for ten years.

Garry suffered from severe paranoid personality disorder.

The less he cared about someone, the kinder and more patient he was to them.

But to the person he supposedly loved? He held impossibly high expectations. The second I failed to meet whatever ridiculous standard he set in his head, he would express his dissatisfaction by screaming, throwing things, and being completely vile.

When I first started hearing his inner voice, I was foolishly moved by it. I thought he was just a broken man who couldn't express his love.

From that point on, whenever we fought, Garry didn't have to do a single thing to fix it.

All I had to do was listen to his cheap, pathetic inner monologue, and I would instantly forgive him and coax myself back into his arms.

Over the years, I tried desperately to teach him how to verbally express his affection.

But he always pushed me away with deep annoyance, only to scream internally right after.

Babe, babe, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to push you! Hurry up and hug me!

Why aren't you coming over?! Come kiss me right now so we can make up!

When Garry's assistant accidentally fell asleep during a massive promotional live stream, causing a catastrophic PR disaster, Garry didn't say a single harsh word to her. He just smiled and gave her a month of paid leave.

But when I didn't hear him call my name from the other room, he handcuffed my wrist to the headboard and locked me in the bedroom for three days.

When his assistant mixed up wardrobe shipments and cost him three million dollars in breach of contract fees, he patted her on the head and told her it was fine.

But when my mother was diagnosed with a critical illness and I desperately needed thirty grand for her emergency surgery, he completely ignored my pleas all because I had forgotten to kiss him before leaving the house that morning.

Because the surgery was delayed, my mother would never be able to get out of bed again.

Garry, this time, I am no longer cleaning up the mess of your hypocrisy.

Ignoring the judgmental stares of everyone in the room, I calmly pushed the divorce papers across the table.

"Sign it. I will see you at the courthouse tomorrow at 10 AM."

Garry stared at my elegant, resolute signature on the document. The corner of his eye twitched violently.

Why did she even prepare something like this? She is just trying to get my attention, right? That has to be it.

Be a good girl, babe, stop throwing a fit. You know my heart belongs entirely to you. Just come hug me.

You haven't slept in the same bed as me for two days. I am going to kiss you to death tonight.

The voices assaulted my mind from all directions, suffocating me.

Right at that moment, his assistant, Chloe, peeked her head out from behind Garry's shoulder.

"Scarlett, his manager said a lot of crazy fans have been forging his signature lately."

"If you want Garry to sign anything, you need to sign a strict NDA first, and we have to record the entire process on video."

Garry clenched his fists, leaning back into the couch as he spoke with absolute ruthlessness.

"Scarlett, if you walk out that door today, you are not taking a single thing that belongs to me."

"That includes the clothes on your back. Take them off."

Good girl, this is so insulting! Hurry up and refuse! I am giving you the perfect excuse to back down!

If I didn't just want you to come home, I wouldn't have even let these losers in our house. I want to kick them all out.

I just want to cuddle with my wife.

I had known Garry for ten years. We dated for eight, and we had been married for six.

He had an extreme, suffocating need for control.

Where I worked, who I interacted with every day, the very clothes I wore everything had to be meticulously curated by him.

If I didn't let him control those things, it meant I didn't love him.

My entire closet consisted solely of clothes he had bought. Even my underwear.

In the past, I actually thought this was his twisted way of proving his love.

Now? It was just humiliating evidence that after ten years, I owned absolutely nothing of my own.

Looking at Garry's smug, triumphant expression, I slowly exhaled.

"Fine. I will sign."

A flash of malicious victory crossed Chloe's face as she quickly scrambled to prepare the NDA forms.

Garry stared at me, completely unable to mask his absolute shock.

I offered him a polite, hollow smile. "Don't worry. I won't take a single thing that belongs to you."

The room fell dead silent. Everyone exchanged nervous glances, but no one dared to speak.

I walked into our massive walk-in closet, dug through the storage boxes in the back, and finally found the cheap puffer jacket and denim shorts I had bought for myself ten years ago.

As I was changing, Garry's frantic inner voice bled through the walls.

What is she doing?! Is she actually divorcing me?!

No! I don't want a home without my wife! If she leaves, I'll die! I'll literally die!

The softest corner of my heart trembled slightly, but I did not stop moving.

When I pushed open the bedroom door, Garry was sitting on the edge of the bed, aggressively puffing on a cigarette.

Seeing me, he instinctively crushed it out in the ashtray.

When his eyes finally landed on my old, faded clothes, he completely lost his composure.

His inner voice started blaring like a broken smoke alarm.

Why did she actually change out of the clothes I bought her?!

I promise I'll never make a joke like this again! Babe, please don't take it seriously!

It is nearly a hundred degrees outside! If she wears a puffer jacket, she's going to get heatstroke!

I ignored the pathetic whining in his head. I dropped his expensive clothes onto the bed in front of him and turned toward the stairs.

"Scarlett, are you absolutely sure you want to do this?" Garry's voice was dark and menacing from behind me.

I didn't turn around. "I thought I made myself perfectly clear downstairs."

Just as I took my first step, Garry spoke again.

"If you walk out today, tomorrow morning, I will hand your Generation II AI Robotics blueprints over to Maya and have her patent it under her name."

Despite the blistering summer heat outside, I felt like I had been plunged into arctic waters. Every drop of blood in my body ran cold.

Babe, I'm sorry! I just don't know what else to do! I can't let you leave me!

You care about this project more than anything. If I use it as leverage, you won't leave, right? Right?!

The Generation II Robotics project was a highly specialized emotional-support AI I had designed specifically for people with paranoid personality disorders like Garry.

The core philosophy was simple: to let people like him know they weren't alone in the world, and that there were people who loved them.

The woman he mentioned Maya had blatantly stolen my prototype during a global robotics competition right after I graduated college.

Before I could even gather the evidence to expose her, she filed a formal complaint with the judging panel, completely reversing the narrative and accusing me of plagiarizing her.

During that horrific period, I fell into a deep, crippling depression and was medically diagnosed.

And now, all of that trauma had become nothing more than leverage for Garry to control me.

It was a shame. Because Garry, this time, I am not backing down.

Garry cared about his pride more than his life. With his entire entourage watching, there was no way he could refuse to sign the divorce papers without looking weak.

Sure enough, when I walked downstairs, the signed agreement was sitting on the coffee table.

The moment the ink was dry, Garry had ordered everyone out of the house.

Except for his precious assistant, Chloe.

Under the cold, mechanical lens of a professional video camera, I signed the NDA.

Chloe held the signed document, her eyes gleaming with barely concealed excitement.

Garry sat in the darkest corner of the sectional sofa, completely silent.

After living in this massive mansion for years, the only things I owned didn't even fill half of a cheap canvas tote bag.

As I grabbed my bag and reached for the front door, Garry's inner voice echoed one last time.

Babe, you don't actually think you can escape me, do you?

The next second, a suffocating, violent force crashed over me like a hurricane.

His voice was the last thing ringing in my ears.

Babe, you promised you would love me forever.

Why are you running away so fast?

Babe... I am a coward. But I love you. You cannot leave me.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back in the master bedroom.

And exactly as I expected, my wrist was heavily handcuffed to the steel frame of the bed.

Chloe walked into the room, holding a steaming bowl of congee.

"Oh, you're awake, Scarlett. Drink this."

I stared at her with dead eyes and didn't move.

Without warning, she violently grabbed my jaw, forcing my mouth open, and shoved the edge of the bowl against my lips.

Boiling hot congee spilled down my chin and seeped under my collar. I broke out in a cold sweat from the agonizing burn and forcefully shoved her away.

Chloe lazily brushed off her clothes, flashing her usual punchable smirk.

"Don't give me that look, Scarlett. This was Garry's explicit order. There is no need to make things difficult for me."

"He said if you refused to cooperate, I have full permission to use physical force to make you behave."

I swallowed the raging fury in my throat, grinding the words out through clenched teeth. "Get out. Tell Garry to come see me himself."

Hearing that, Chloe reached into her pocket and pulled out a ring of keys.

"Garry left on a business trip. He won't be back for a week."

"I'll be taking very good care of you while he's gone."

I stared at the keys in her hand, my mind going completely blank for a second.

Hanging from the ring was a small, woven tassel charm. Garry and I had made it together with our own hands.

The night we finished it, he sat on the edge of the bed holding the keys, grinning like an absolute idiot for an hour.

I made this with my wife. No one else is ever allowed to touch it.

I really want to fire all the maids. I just want this house to be empty, so it's only me and my wife.

No one is allowed to even look at her.

But now? Not only had he invited countless strangers into our private sanctuary, he had handed the keys to our home to another woman.

Noticing my reaction, Chloe dangled the keys in front of my face like she was teasing a dog.

"Surprised? I told Garry I liked this keychain, and he just gave it to me."

"Honestly, I don't even need the keys. My fingerprint is already registered on every single digital lock in the house."

"But this charm is incredibly ugly."

She unhooked the woven tassel and casually tossed it out the open window.

The small glass pendant attached to it slammed against the pavement outside, shattering into dozens of pieces.

Just like Garry and me.

I refused to look at her anymore. I turned my head and closed my eyes.

Chloe leaned down, whispering directly into my ear like a venomous snake.

"Scarlett, your mother is lying in a hospital bed wishing she was dead. How do you have the peace of mind to sleep?"

My eyes snapped open. I instantly grabbed her by the collar of her shirt.

"What did you just say?"

"What happened to my mother?!"

Chloe threw her hands up, feigning complete innocence.

She pulled out her phone and showed me a call log a conversation she had with my mother's attending physician thirty minutes ago.

"They've issued three critical condition notices today. You really are a devoted daughter, aren't you?"

The moment I verified the information, I didn't even put on my shoes. I bolted for the door and sprinted down the stairs.

But when I reached the grand entrance, the heavy reinforced door was completely locked down. It wouldn't budge.

Chloe sauntered down the stairs at a leisurely pace.

"It isn't that I don't want you to see your mother for the last time."

"Garry made it very clear. Until he gets back, you are not allowed to take a single step outside this house."

I ignored her completely. All I knew was that my mother didn't have time to wait.

My phone and all my electronics had already been confiscated. I had to figure this out myself.

I knew the internal security schematics of this house. Garry had designed it himself.

In the event of a lockdown, the doors would magnetically seal from the inside. They could only be bypassed by emergency personnel opening them from the outside.

Which meant, all I needed was for someone on the outside to trigger the release mechanism.

Realizing this, I slammed my fists against the heavy oak door, screaming at the top of my lungs.

"Is anyone out there?! Help! Somebody help me!"

Chloe sat at the kitchen island, calmly sipping a cup of tea. "Save your breath, Scarlett."

I glared at her with pure hatred. "Are you not afraid I will tell Garry about this?"

Chloe looked at me like I had just told the funniest joke in the world.

"Scarlett, do you actually still think you are the lady of this house?"

"Tell Garry? So he can just humiliate you all over again?"

"Don't worry. I'll be taking over your position as Mrs. Sinclair very soon."

"And you? You'll be crawling on the floor like a stray dog, begging me to spare you and your pathetic mother."

I could hear my own voice trembling as I demanded to know why she was doing this.

When she first moved to the city, she was completely broke. She couldn't even afford to eat.

I was the one who personally introduced her to Garry and got her her first high-paying job.

"Do you have no conscience at all?"

Her face instantly twisted with rage.

"Why should I have a conscience?!"

"We are both women! Why do you get to be born into a perfect life and marry a billionaire movie star?!"

"And me? I have to work myself to the bone to pay for my brother's tuition, buy him a house, and pay for his wedding!"

"I've lived that life for twenty years! You can't even handle it for two days?!"

My body began to shake with mild tremors.

I had arms and legs, yet I was completely imprisoned in this massive concrete cage.

I couldn't even make it to the hospital to look at my mother's face one last time.

Right at that moment, the electronic lock on the front door beeped. It clicked open.

It was the cleaning lady who came every three days.

The older woman gave me a polite nod.

Seizing the only chance I had, I shoved past her and sprinted out the door.

But I didn't even make it across the front garden.

Four private security guards materialized from all directions and tackled me to the grass.

They bound my wrists with zip ties like I was a piece of trash and dragged me back inside, dumping me at Chloe's feet.

"Scarlett, Garry was very clear."

"If you refuse to behave, I have to punish you."

Without another word, she picked up a high-voltage stun baton from the floor, pressed the metal prongs directly against my chest, and pulled the trigger without an ounce of hesitation.

The cleaning lady gasped, pulling out her phone to call Garry for instructions.

Chloe offered a sweet, gentle smile.

"Ma'am, Ms. Scarlett and Mr. Sinclair are officially divorced. She has no authority in this house anymore."

"Mr. Sinclair is on a business trip, and I am following his direct orders to keep her contained."

"Please, don't make my job difficult, okay?"

The electricity fried my nervous system. My vision blurred, and my mind started shutting down.

Through sheer willpower, I managed to twitch my fingers, weakly begging the cleaning lady to call my uncle.

But after a long moment of hesitation, the older woman quietly put her phone back in her pocket.

Acting like nothing had happened, she picked up her supplies and started cleaning the living room.

I weakly slammed my forehead against the marble floor, trying to use the physical pain to stay conscious.

"Look at this, Scarlett. This might cheer you up."

Chloe squatted down next to me and held her phone in front of my face. It was playing a live security feed from the hospital.

My mother was covered in tubes. Thick white foam was bubbling from her mouth as she desperately tried to make a sound to alert the nurses.

But the hallway was empty. No one noticed.

She kept throwing her head back, suffocating, fighting wildly for a single breath, letting out horrific, gurgling whimpers.

And then, in absolute, agonizing despair, she stopped moving.

I broke down into a hysterical, guttural scream. I violently thrashed against the zip ties, lunging upward, ready to bite Chloe's throat out and die with her.

But before I could even touch her, the guards pinned me back down.

This time, Chloe jammed the stun baton directly into my stomach.

A massive surge of electricity tore through my entire body.

In the final seconds before I completely blacked out, I felt a warm, thick liquid sliding down the inside of my thighs.

The unborn child I didn't even know I was carrying was erased from existence in a matter of seconds.

And Garry?

He was standing in the garden right outside the window, holding a box of blueberry mousse cake.