Chapter 4

Serena's POV

I didn't speak. Pressed beneath him, my fingers slowly felt for the edge of the agreement. Then, with all my strength, with a "rip," I tore that agreement in half right in front of him.

Ethan froze in shock.

Taking advantage of his stunned moment when his grip loosened, I shoved him away hard and stumbled out of the car, pushing the door open.

My high heels clicked against the cold concrete floor of the underground garage. I'd only run two steps when my legs went weak.

My knees buckled and I nearly fell. I gripped a cold concrete pillar beside me tightly, barely managing to stay upright.

Blood from above my eyebrow ran down my cheek and into my eye. My vision was a blur of red.

Behind me, the car door made a sound. Ethan started to chase after me.

Just then, his phone rang.

The screen displayed "Violet," glaringly bright in the dark underground garage.

Ethan looked at the screen, then at me bleeding while holding the pillar. Finally, he still answered the call.

"Violet? What's wrong?"

A woman's delicate crying came through the phone.

Ethan's brow furrowed tight. He made an affirming sound, then immediately lowered his voice, walking toward the driver's seat while urgently soothing her.

"I'm coming right now. Don't cry, whatever you do don't hurt the baby..."

I leaned against that rough pillar, watching him coldly.

He walked to the car door and looked back at me with a charitable glance.

"Serena, go home first. I'll come find you after I handle Violet's situation. We'll talk about the agreement later."

With that, he got in the car without hesitation. The engine roared. The black car drove out of the garage without looking back.

The vast underground parking garage instantly held only me.

The dim yellow light overhead buzzed.

My phone vibrated.

It was a text message from an unsaved number.

"These five years, have you been wronged or not? Victoria."

Victoria was Ethan's mother's name. In our five years of marriage, because she didn't like me, I rarely initiated contact with her.

I stood alone by the pillar. Blood from my eyebrow dripped down along my nose, drop by drop hitting the back of my hand, blooming into patches of glaring red.

I stared at that text message for a very long time.

My finger trembling, I typed four words.

"I want a divorce."

After deciding to divorce, I forced myself to sleep.

At five in the morning, before dawn.

The door was kicked with earth-shattering force.

"Serena! Open the door!"

It was Ethan's voice. I'd just turned the lock open a crack when he violently shoved the door open from outside.

The heavy wooden door slammed into my shoulder. I groaned in pain and staggered back two steps.

"There's a press conference at the company at ten. You're coming with me."

"I'm not going." I pressed my numb shoulder, my voice shaking.

"I said you're going."

He didn't give me any chance to resist. He grabbed my arm. The force felt like it would crush my bones. He dragged me directly from the living room toward the door.

I was forcibly pulled out the door barefoot, my feet scraping a red trail across the floor tiles.

"Ethan, let go of me! I can walk by myself!"

"Put on shoes."

Without a word, like dragging a lifeless object, he roughly shoved me into the elevator.

The elevator wall reflected my disheveled image. I looked at Ethan's hard, cold profile, my heart turning ice-cold.

I'd been with this man for twelve years. Only today did I learn for the first time that when he got ruthless, there wasn't a shred of humanity in his eyes.

Company backstage dressing room.

Ethan shoved me inside with one push and locked the door with a "bang."

The woman in front of the mirror immediately stood up from her chair.

Violet wore a light pink dress, her belly slightly swollen.

As soon as she saw me, tears instantly streamed down her face.