Chapter 5

Vivian's POV

I walked out of the Blackwood tower, feeling completely hollow.

The sky was gray, and a cold rain was falling on my face, but I couldn't feel the chill.

"Vivian!"

A warm, anxious voice called out from behind.

I turned slowly to see Julian Mercer running toward me, holding a black umbrella.

Julian was my colleague and a partner at the translation agency. For the past three years, he had watched me suffer in silence, knowing all the pain I had buried.

"What did he do to you?" Julian placed the umbrella over my head. Seeing my ghostly pale face and bloodshot eyes, his heart broke.

He quickly took off his trench coat and wrapped it around my shivering shoulders.

"Julian..." my voice was barely a whisper, "He gave my vows to someone else."

Julian's fists clenched. He didn't say a word. He just gently pulled me into a hug, patting my back. "Let it out, Vivian. Cry. You need to leave him. The UN office in Geneva has a long-term interpreting project. I got you a spot. Come with me. Leave this place and live the life you deserve."

Leaning against Julian's shoulder, all the pain and humiliation I had bottled up finally spilled out in quiet, shaking sobs.

Suddenly, a violent grip grabbed my wrist, pulling me out of Julian's arms.

It was Christian.

"Christian! What the hell are you doing?!" Julian snapped, stepping forward, but Christian's bodyguards immediately blocked him.

Christian gripped my wrist so hard it felt like it would snap. His eyes were dangerously dark. "Vivian, I'm impressed. The ink on our divorce papers isn't even dry, and you've already lined up your next husband?"

I winced in pain, trying to pull away. "Let go of me! Christian, you don't have the right to control me!"

"Right?" Christian sneered, pulling me flush against his chest. His warm breath hit my cold face. "As long as we aren't officially divorced, you are still my wife. Parading around with another man in public... are you trying to humiliate me?"

He glared at Julian, his voice dripping with malice. "Julian Mercer, right? It seems like your agency wants to go bankrupt."

Julian didn't back down, locking eyes with him. "Christian, if you don't love her, let her go. Torturing her like this... does it make you feel like a man?"

"What's mine stays mine, even if I don't want it anymore," Christian said coldly.

He threw me into the back of his SUV and slammed the door shut.

The tension inside the car was suffocating. Christian grabbed my chin again, forcing me to look at him.

"You want to go to Geneva? You want to be with him?" A cruel smirk played on his lips. "In your dreams, Vivian. Until Tiffany's wedding is over, you aren't going anywhere. If you try to run, I promise you, Julian's career will be over."

I looked at him, the very last spark of hope in my eyes completely dying out.

"Christian, you are pathetic," I said, my voice eerily calm. "Are you keeping me here because you lost your memory, or because... you are too terrified to face who you really are?"

Christian flinched as if struck. He angrily pushed me away. "Shut up! Your only purpose is to stay and watch Tiffany be happy."