Chapter 2

Stella's POV

The immigration office paperwork went smoothly. When I walked out the door, the sunlight outside was brilliant.

This marriage full of misunderstandings and torment was finally coming to an end.

Just then, I heard a loud screech of brakes. "Watch out!"

Before I could turn around, a massive impact knocked me to the ground. My entire body exploded in pain, and then I blacked out.

I woke to the smell of disinfectant. The instant I opened my eyes, Ethan's cold face was right in front of me.

He looked down at me with arrogance and disgust. "Stella, did you do this on purpose? Seeing that Vivian got hurt a few days ago, you deliberately got into a car accident to gain sympathy?"

He sneered. "Let me tell you, ours is just a marriage in name only with no love. No matter how much you imitate Vivian, it won't work. I don't have time to play along with your act here."

I opened my mouth, about to say I really had been in a car accident, when the hospital room door suddenly burst open.

"Mr. Blackwood, the fruit you requested." The assistant handed over a box.

Ethan took it, lifted the lid to glance inside, and his brow immediately furrowed. "Why is there mango?"

His voice was displeased. "My wife is allergic to mangoes. Go buy another batch."

That sentence struck me like lightning, freezing all the blood in my body.

Allergic to mangoes.

In my past life, in our second year of marriage, I ate mango and had an acute asthma attack that nearly caused me to pass out. That's when he learned about it.

But now, we'd only been married one year, and I'd never mentioned my mango allergy to anyone!

Thinking back to his behavior recently. His sudden distance from me, his inexplicable favoritism toward Vivian Sullivan, and that statement "when did I ever love you"...

An absurd thought appeared in my mind, and my whole body began to tremble.

"Ethan..." I looked into his eyes. "Are you... also reborn?"

A flicker of emotion flashed through Ethan's eyes, but he quickly concealed it. He frowned, his tone impatient. "What rebirth? Did you damage your brain in the crash?"

I continued to press. "Then how did you know I'm allergic to mangoes?"

"A while ago your parents came to see me," he said calmly, not even a flutter of his eyelashes, his tone cold and flawless. "They asked me to treat you better. They gave me a notebook with your preferences and dietary restrictions written in it. I glanced through it before throwing it in the trash."

His explanation was perfect, but it caused me great pain. Was I overthinking? Yes, if he really carried memories from his past life, how could he bear to hurt me like this?

A nurse suddenly pushed the door open. "Mr. Blackwood, Miss Sullivan is awake. She says her heart hurts and she's looking for you."

At those words, Ethan turned without hesitation and walked away without looking back, not even sparing me a glance as I lay in the hospital bed.

During my three-day hospital stay, Ethan didn't visit me once. Every time the nurse came to change my dressing, her hesitant glances felt like mockery of my miserable state.

On the fourth morning, I discharged myself.

The immigration paperwork was complete. To leave now, only one final step remained. Divorce.

I returned to that cold house and sat at the desk, neatly writing out a divorce agreement. The terms in the agreement were simple: I would leave with nothing, wanting only my freedom.

My phone vibrated. Vivian Sullivan had updated her Twitter. In the photo, Ethan sat at his office desk with Vivian leaning on his shoulder. The caption read: "Someone said he never allows non-work personnel in his office, but today he made an exception for me~"

My finger hovered over the screen for a long time without pressing down. In my past life, Ethan had similarly broken countless principles for me. Though he never ate spicy food, he accompanied me eating chili peppers until he needed his stomach pumped. Despite his severe germaphobia, he carried my drunk self home...

I took a deep breath, banishing those images from my mind, picked up the divorce agreement, and walked out the door.