Chapter 4

I refused her without hesitation.

Our old family home was over 300 miles from her parents' place, a drive of at least six or seven hours.

When I was pursuing Sarah years ago, I ignored my parents' objections, determined to win her over even though she lived far away.

So, I'd always make time and drive to see her.

Whatever she needed, one call from her, and I'd drop everything to go to her.

Everything revolved around her.

Even if she just mentioned wanting an ice cream from the store downstairs.

I'd willingly drive six hours to her place to buy it for her.

Even if she took only one bite and threw it away, as long as she needed me, I had no complaints.

Because I always believed that the woman who actively helped me to the hospital during my most vulnerable moment after a car accident must be kind and wonderful.

From then on, I set my sights on her and pursued her relentlessly.

For so many years, my kindness to her had become a habit.

And she, naturally, had started taking these habits for granted as things I was supposed to do.

So, she never considered how exhausted I'd be from the road, just like she'd tirelessly chase after Lucas.

Through the receiver, my wife's impatient voice came through.

"Are you telling me I can't even tell you what to do anymore?"

"If you need it, you can come get it yourself," I said, my voice flat.

She exploded like a lit firecracker. "I'll come get it? You know how far our old family home is from here, don't you? Are you trying to kill me with exhaustion?"

"Oh, so you know what exhaustion feels like? You didn't seem tired driving to meet Lucas."

The other side fell silent for a moment, then she immediately hung up.

I knew she wanted the laptop, no doubt to prepare Lucas's contracts.

It was even highly likely that Lucas was doing the contracts on her laptop.

After all, Sarah rarely dealt with company projects herself; even though she was in the industry, she didn't understand much. So it had to be Lucas handling them.

I never thought that her asking me to bring her laptop home early this year would lead me to discover all this.

But it was also possible she was afraid I'd discover the secrets on her laptop.

That evening, my parents and I were watching a Christmas special.

Sarah's voice boomed from the doorway.

She stormed in, full of anger, towards me. "Where's my laptop? Where did you put it?"

I was somewhat surprised she'd actually driven all that way back.

Before I could speak, a male voice behind her piped up.

"Sarah, no wonder you never want to spend Christmas here. If it were me, I wouldn't either. It's so primitive."

Lucas stood there with his hands in his pockets, glancing around with a look of disdain.

My face instantly darkened.

Our old family home wasn't designed in a modern style; much of it retained its original, antique charm.

But the furniture in the house consisted of priceless antique pieces.

In Sarah's eyes, however, they were just worthless old junk.

Seeing I didn't respond, Sarah felt embarrassed and stepped forward, tugging at my arm.

"I'm talking to you! Did you hear me?"

I scoffed, shaking off her hand. "Not only did I hear you, I saw you."

My eyes fixed on Lucas.

Seeing the hostility in my gaze, Sarah immediately stepped in front of him.

"Lucas came because he was worried about me coming back alone. He's just here to keep me company."

"I also wanted to introduce you. He was the manager for all those projects we partnered on before. You can talk to him about investment opportunities."

I didn't respond directly, just sat on the couch, not even raising my head.

"You came back and said all that nonsense. Did you even say hello to my parents?"

She froze, only then noticing my parents sitting beside me.

This was only her second time meeting my parents.

Sarah reluctantly turned her face, glanced at Lucas,

and mumbled a "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Knight" to my parents.

My parents' happy faces instantly stiffened.

We had been married for seven years.

She had only addressed my parents as "Mr. and Mrs. Knight" twice.

Other times, she simply demanded money from my parents without any form of address.

I scoffed, looking at her with cold eyes. "If you don't want to call them Mom and Dad, then don't."

She thought I was indulging her yet again, and a triumphant smile bloomed on her face.

But she didn't expect me to take the divorce papers from the cabinet and hand them to her.

"They're not your parents, and this isn't your home. Sign them."