Chapter 3

Valerie POV

I don't even remember how I walked back to the penthouse.

When I pushed the door open, the massive living room was empty and freezing cold. I didn't bother changing my muddy clothes. I went straight up to the master bedroom on the second floor, pulled my suitcase out of the closet, and started packing.

Honestly, there wasn't much to take. Over the past year, I had bought expensive dresses and jewelry just to please him. I left all of them behind. I only packed a few of my usual athletic sets and my training gear.

Once I finished, I sat at the desk, pulled out a blank sheet of paper, and slowly wrote out a divorce agreement.

I wanted nothing. I would walk away with zero assets. I only wanted my freedom.

The scratch of the pen on the paper sounded incredibly loud in the silent room, echoing the sound of my heart ripping apart.

Suddenly, a high-pitched, giggling voice came from the hallway.

Julian walked in, his arm wrapped around Sienna. She was wearing a pristine white dress, looking like a fragile doll. The moment she saw me standing by the stairs, she flinched like a scared rabbit, burying herself in Julian's chest.

"Julian, Valerie's hands are covered in scars, and she's glaring at me. Is she going to hit me? I'm so scared." Sienna whimpered, clutching his sleeve.

Julian immediately shielded her behind him, glaring up at me with a deep frown. "What are you doing up here? Starting today, you move to the maid's quarters on the first floor. Stay out of Sienna's sight. You're scaring her."

My knuckles turned white as I gripped the banister.

The actual Mrs. Vance, kicked out of her own room and sent to live in the maid's quarters. How pathetic.

I didn't scream or fight like I used to. I simply walked downstairs and handed him the paper. "Sign it."

Julian glanced at the title, Divorce Agreement. A flash of dark anger crossed his eyes, but he quickly covered it with a sneer. "Playing hard to get? Valerie, do you think this pathetic stunt will get my attention? Fine. You want it, you got it."

Without even reading the terms, he grabbed the pen and violently scribbled his signature.

Sienna stared at the paper, a look of pure triumph flashing in her eyes. She scanned the living room, and her gaze landed on the glass display case by the wall.

Inside was my national championship belt and my red boxing gloves from when I won the tournament at eighteen.

"Julian, those gloves look so old and dirty," Sienna complained, holding her nose with a look of disgust. "They probably smell like sweat. It completely ruins the vibe of this beautiful room."

Julian didn't even blink. He casually looked at the maid. "Throw them out."

"Julian!" I gasped, staring at him in disbelief. "Those are my championship gloves! They were an eighteen birthday gift from my dad!"

"Throw them out," he repeated, his voice cold and cutting.

The maid didn't dare argue. She quickly opened the case, grabbed the gloves that held all my youth and glory, and threw them out the front door into the pouring rain.

"No!"

I lost my mind. I sprinted out into the storm, desperate, clawing through the mud on the lawn.

The freezing rain drenched me to the bone.

In our past life, I had tossed these gloves into a dusty corner. But Julian had picked them up, custom-ordered a temperature-controlled glass case for them, and wiped them down himself every single day.

He had told me, "My Valerie is a queen. I will guard your glory forever."

But now, he was the one throwing my glory into the trash.

I finally found the mud-soaked gloves, hugging them tightly against my chest as I sobbed on my knees in the rain. Inside the warm house, through the massive glass windows, Julian was gently drying Sienna's hair with a towel.

He didn't give me a single glance.