Chapter 2

The moment I finished speaking, surprise flashed through the eyes of everyone below the stage, especially Claire’s.

She was not only shocked but furious.

She rushed onto the stage and slapped me across the face.

“Evan! How could you twist the truth and slander Adrian’s reputation?”

The veins in her forehead stood out as she shouted, “Someone like you is a disgrace to society!”

I ignored the pain on my face and gave her a mocking smile.

“Claire, have you forgotten that everything you have today is because of me?”

“And now you’re hitting me for the sake of another man?”

“Don’t talk nonsense! Everything I’ve achieved and everything I have today comes from my own talent. What does any of it have to do with you? Stop changing the subject!”

I used my thumb to wipe the blood from the corner of my mouth.

It was obvious how much force Claire had used in that slap.

“If you don’t want to change the subject, then I’ll give you some real evidence!”

A short while later, the doors to the conference opened again, and a group of bodyguards instantly flooded inside.

“Evan! What are you trying to do? Are you lashing out and planning to use force to make us admit you didn’t plagiarize?”

Seeing the fear on their faces eased something inside me.

At least they were afraid of me.

“These are all the sketches I made. Every one of them has a date and timestamp, and even the discarded drafts are here.”

“If you don’t believe me, you can have experts examine the handwriting.”

“I also have electronic copies of the designs. The digital models are on my computer, and I had people extract the timestamps from those files as well.”

As soon as I finished speaking, the bodyguards handed copies of the designs to everyone present.

Paper evidence could perhaps be forged, but unless the electronic files showed signs of deliberate tampering, the timestamps would be genuine.

“When Claire reported me, Adrian followed up by adding one accusation after another. Neither of them presented any evidence. It was nothing more than their word against mine, wasn’t it? But this is enough to prove my innocence.”

After looking through the evidence in their hands, everyone’s expressions changed.

The thing original designers hated most was plagiarism.

Claire was no exception.

So after Adrian told her I had plagiarized the piece he had spent three years painstakingly designing as a gift for her, I had done everything I could to prove my innocence.

I didn’t want her to see me as tainted.

But when I saw how differently she treated the two of us, my heart went completely cold.

It turned out Claire did not hate plagiarism itself.

She only hated the person who had supposedly committed it.

She chose to stand firmly beside Adrian. “Evan, I believe in Adrian’s character. He could never do something like that.”

“On the other hand, after I discovered the truth about you, you’ve been using this so-called evidence to frame Adrian.”

As she spoke, she tore the evidence in her hands to pieces and tossed the scraps into the air.

The fragments drifted down like our marriage—scattered beyond repair.

“I know what your father is capable of. This kind of thing won’t fool me.”

She didn’t believe me.

Even after I placed the evidence right in front of her, she still didn’t believe me!

Adrian glanced at me with a smug smile. But when he looked at Claire, his expression returned to its usual wounded appearance.

He made it seem as though I had bullied him.

“Claire, thank you for believing me.”

“Maybe that ring was a gift I wanted to give you, and Evan misunderstood. When you get right down to it, this is all my fault.”

Right in front of me, Claire reached out and pulled him into her arms, gently comforting him. “This has nothing to do with you. I’ll make sure you get justice!”

The scene before me sent a sharp pain through my heart.

“Claire, you’d rather believe him than me?”

“What have you ever done to deserve my trust?” Claire stood in front of me and slapped me again. “Evan, I’ve shown you enough mercy. If you keep refusing to admit the truth, I won’t hesitate to personally send you to prison. Even your father won’t be able to save you then.”

“Fine. Call the police. I want to see how they investigate this. We’ll find out who ends up behind bars!”

The moment Adrian heard me mention the police, his expression grew evasive, and he said he didn’t want to make things worse, choosing to settle the matter privately instead.

He claimed he didn’t want to put Claire in a difficult position.

Those words moved her deeply, and she immediately agreed.

“Evan, look at Adrian, then look at yourself. He’s always thinking about us. If it weren’t for me, you would have been ruined already.”

“And what about you? You can’t even bring yourself to apologize.”

“You’re thirty years old. Can’t you show some dignity and stop acting out?”

From beginning to end, Claire stood beside Adrian without a moment of hesitation.

“We’ve been together for so many years. You’d rather believe him than me?”

“Don’t you understand that a married couple shares both glory and disgrace? I’ve explained it so many times. I designed that ring for you. I am the designer!”

Claire’s expression remained as disgusted as ever.

I had still wanted to explain myself, but at that moment, every word stuck in my throat.

When had Claire started to change?

Probably a year ago, when Adrian returned from overseas and the two of them saw each other again.

That was when Claire’s heart began drifting away.

No matter what happened, she always put Adrian first.

Even though I was her husband, I could only stand behind him in Claire’s heart.

To put it bluntly, perhaps I had never truly entered her heart at all.

“Since you care about him so much, I agree to the divorce. I’ll set you both free.”

With that, I turned and walked away.

As I left, I heard Adrian’s anxious voice behind me. “Claire, I don’t want you and your husband to fall apart because of me. Just let Evan have it his way. I don’t care. As long as you’re happy, I don’t mind sacrificing myself!”

“Fool, how could I bear to sacrifice you? You know exactly why I married him.”

“Evan will never compare to you!”