Chapter 1

Three years into our marriage, my husband, Derek, confessed that he'd met his true love.

He sat across from me, eyes brimming with sincerity.

"I was too young back then. You were the only person I ever dated, and I rushed into marriage.

"It wasn't until I met Vivian that I understood what real love is.

"Just sign the divorce papers already. Set me free."

I glanced at the scar on his temple.

Without a word, I signed the papers.

第1章

Surprise flickered across Derek's earnest eyes.

"You're signing? Just like that?"

I slid the divorce papers across the table toward him.

He didn't take them. His gaze stayed locked on my face.

I could see my reflection in his eyes. Perfectly calm.

"I'm not the type to make a scene. Besides, you've been more than fair.

"The house your family bought before the marriage is yours. The house I bought after is mine.

"You didn't ask for a single share of my company. I have no reason to put up a fight."

Derek let out a bitter laugh.

"I'm asking you for a divorce, and all you can think about is who gets what?

"Do you even have feelings?"

I scoffed.

"Vivian hooking up with her married supervisor. Now that's what I call feelings."

Derek flinched, then hardened his voice.

"Watch what you say about her, Claire.

"I love her."

The conviction in his eyes was painfully familiar.

He'd worn the exact same expression when he first told me how he felt.

"Claire, I love you.

"I'm certain of it. You'll be the only one for me, for the rest of my life."

I stared at him, my nails digging deep into my palm.

All the pain, all the fury, jammed tight in my throat.

I couldn't breathe.

Derek seemed to sense something was off.

His eyes narrowed, suspicious.

"What's wrong with you? Is your asthma acting up again?

"Do you have your inhaler?"

He reached for my purse.

I stopped his hand with mine and lowered my eyes, forcing back the emotions surging in my chest.

"Mr. Lawson, you no longer have the right to touch my things."

Derek frowned.

"Claire, don't be difficult."

His warmth seeped steadily through my palm where our hands touched.

I was seconds from surrendering.

I couldn't forget. I couldn't forget the comfort these hands had once given me.

When I was sick. When I was exhausted. When I was heartbroken. When I was in pain.

These hands had made me feel safe, again and again.

Just this once, throw away your pride.

Stay with him and everything will be fine.

"Derek, what if I..."

Derek's phone rang then, sharp and sudden.

Some upbeat pop song that young people liked.

He glanced at the screen, then dropped my hand like he'd been burned.

"Don't forget. One month from now, we go to the courthouse and finalize the divorce."

Then he was out the door, gone like the wind.

Cold air rushed in from outside, chilling the tears on my face.

It chilled the last warmth in my heart, too.

Vivian pouted and bounced into his arms like a little bird.

With his back to me, he ruffled her hair.

Then they walked to the car, arms around each other.

Watching them disappear, I steadied my racing heart.

It's fine, Claire.

At least you didn't humiliate yourself.

I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes and called my assistant, Nora Ellis.

"Look into when Derek and Vivian first got together.

"And dig up everything you can on Vivian's background."

第2章

I remembered the first time I saw Vivian.

A few years earlier, Vivian was still the problem student who gave Derek constant headaches.

I'd heard him complain about her antics more than once.

She'd once run across the school field waving sparklers and screaming about freedom, nearly setting the lawn on fire.

She'd also once rushed to play hero without getting the full story first.

After Derek got a call from the police, we rushed to the station in the middle of the night to pick her up.

Vivian was tiny, huddled on a bench at the station.

The moment she saw us, her face lit up and she ran to Derek.

"Derek, you actually came!"

Derek shook his head, exasperated.

"That girl was just a bystander watching the commotion. Why would you hit her!"

Vivian lifted her chin, her eyes rimmed red.

"I thought she was the other woman! You know how much I hate homewreckers!"

Derek froze, a flash of guilt crossing his eyes.

I smoothed things over and drove Vivian back to her dorm.

It wasn't until we got home that Derek, who had been silent the entire drive, suddenly pulled me into his arms in the dark.

He buried his face in my shoulder and told me in a muffled voice that Vivian's father had cheated and her parents had divorced.

Her mother had killed herself by jumping off a building.

His voice cracked, and he held me tighter.

"Claire, we'll never get divorced, right?"

My heart softened. I patted his back.

"Right. We'll be together forever."

I had been such a fool.

The next day, I hired movers to pack up my things.

Workers streamed in and out, emptying the home we'd built together, piece by piece.

A sudden crash snapped me out of my daze.

The mover scrambled to apologize.

"I didn't realize the box was so heavy. It slipped right out of my hands.

"Want me to toss it?"

Train tickets and little gifts spilled across the floor.

Seven years of dating. Three years of marriage.

Heavy enough.

I thought of the debate competition where Derek and I first met. The topic was:

Is the foundation of lasting love similarity, or complementarity?

Derek was on the school debate team, and it showed. His delivery was polished, and his argument took an angle no one expected.

His side argued that similarity breeds connection, that similarity keeps two people in step.

They had our team on the ropes.

As the closing speaker, I kept my voice steady.

"Similarity is the past. Complementarity is the future. Similarity affirms who I am. Complementarity answers who we can become.

"We are so different, yet we choose each other. That is love at its bravest.

"Our position stands: the foundation of lasting love is complementarity."

We won, barely.

By all logic, our paths should never have crossed again. But Derek started showing up everywhere.

Sometimes he'd bring me snacks. Sometimes he'd invite me to watch him debate.

Sometimes he'd simply sit beside me and watch me study.

Finally, when he was rambling beside me yet again, I couldn't take it.

"Derek, don't you have anything better to do?

"You following me around like this is really annoying."

He went quiet for a long moment, his eyes wide and hopeful.

"I like you. I want to be with you. Is that so wrong?"

My ears rang. I fled from the hurt in his eyes.

For a while after that, he did as I wished and vanished from my life.

Until the night a drunk harassed me at the sports bar where I worked part-time near campus.

Derek appeared out of nowhere.

The warm, easygoing Derek I knew wore a vicious expression for the first time.

He drove his fist into the man again and again.

The drunk's friends started closing in, so I grabbed Derek's arm and we ran.

We zigzagged through alleys until we'd ducked into a safe corner, and only then did I remember to scold him.

Blood was running down his forehead, but his eyes were bright.

"I think what you said was right.

"The foundation of lasting love really is complementarity.

"I love your composure, your clarity, your caution.

"Claire, I like you."

My heart hammered against my ribs. I reached up and gently touched the gash on his temple.

The wound was deep and wide. The scar was still visible to this day.

I looked into his beaming eyes, and I said yes.

But seven years was all it took for everything to change.

"Toss it. It's nothing important."

第3章

The day we'd agreed to finalize the divorce, I was just about to head out.

I opened the door to find Derek standing there with his parents, Richard and Patricia Lawson.

I looked at Derek, puzzled. His face was dark.

Understanding at once, I stepped aside and let them in.

Patricia sat across from me, her expression eager to please.

"Claire, whatever Derek did to upset you, I'll set him straight.

"You know how couples are. You fight, you make up. Don't do anything rash.

"Divorce isn't something to take lightly. You need to..."

Derek finally broke. He stepped in front of me.

"Don't bother asking. It's me.

"I fell in love with someone else."

Richard shot to his feet and slapped Derek hard across the face.

"What do you mean, fell in love with someone else!

"I was against this marriage from the start, and look what happened!

"You threatened to jump off the roof, swore she was your true love, and now she's suddenly not!"

Derek stood his ground in front of me, voice unwavering.

"Vivian and I are alike. We share the same habits, the same passion.

"Meeting her made me realize that being with Claire was a mistake from the very beginning!

"I want to fix that mistake. Is that really so wrong!"

Silence filled the room.

I looked at Richard. My voice was quiet.

"It seems you were right after all."

The truth was, Derek's parents had never approved of our marriage.

They'd minded that I was an orphan. They'd minded that I didn't come from money.

But Derek had locked himself in his room. Refused to eat. Refused to drink.

I was the only one who could get him to open the door.

Looking at his pale face, his gaunt frame, I'd forced myself to break things off.

He'd held me, eyes red and full of tears.

"All I want is to spend my life with you. Please don't leave me."

His parents had given in.

On the morning of our wedding, Richard came to the bridal suite alone.

"I agreed to let you marry Derek, but I don't think this will last.

"Your backgrounds, your experiences, your personalities. You and Derek are nothing alike."

Back then, I'd been brimming with confidence, certain that love could conquer anything.

I gathered the hem of my gown, straightened my spine, and walked up to him.

"I'll prove it to you. Derek and I were made for each other."

When we exchanged rings, Derek held me close and shouted for the whole room to hear.

"Claire, you are the one great love of my life!"

I looked at his glistening eyes and nodded, hard.

I would work at this.

I would prove to everyone how perfect we were together.

I quit my job without looking back and started my own company.

To get the company off the ground, I drank with clients until a bleeding ulcer put me in the hospital. I revised proposals until three in the morning.

To make sure Derek never felt neglected, every spare moment I had went to him.

I went on dates with him. I helped him sort out problems at the school.

To win over his parents, every single holiday, without fail, I showed up at their door with gifts and kept them company.

Three years of that, and the company finally found its footing.

His parents finally accepted me. They even started telling Derek to treat me well.

I bought a bigger house in the heart of the city.

I thought Derek and I were about to walk hand in hand through the rest of our perfect life.

Then, at the coffee shop we visited every weekend, he sat me down.

He flung the divorce papers in my face.

Derek turned to look at me.

Unease flickered in his eyes.

"Claire, that's not what I meant, I..."

The doorbell chimed.

第4章

"Claire, honey. Sorry to bother you."

Vivian was wearing a loose, flowing dress. Not her usual style at all.

"I can't reach Derek. Is he here?"

I nodded and turned to Derek.

"Your true love is here."

Derek scrambled to his feet, but he wasn't fast enough.

Patricia charged to the door and dragged Vivian inside.

"So you're the tramp who's been seducing my son!

"Shameless little homewrecker!"

Vivian stumbled and nearly fell.

Derek rushed forward, pulling Vivian into his arms.

"Mom! If you want to punish someone, punish me!

"Leave Vivian out of this!"

What a devoted pair of star-crossed lovers.

I stood to the side, quietly adjusting the angle of the security camera.

But Vivian wasn't done with me.

She gently pushed Derek aside and walked toward me.

"Claire, honey, I know it's hard to accept that Derek doesn't love you anymore.

"But you can't force someone's heart. Even if you pressure him through his parents to save the marriage, what's the point?

"You need to learn to let go."

Confident. Self-assured.

Just like Derek, once upon a time.

A flicker of recognition crossed Derek's eyes.

As if he'd forgotten that his parents had come because they'd seen the divorce papers, not because I'd asked them to.

Idiot.

I rubbed my temples.

"I'm not holding on.

"Look, I've got all the paperwork right here. I was on my way to finalize it."

Vivian glanced at the folder in my hand.

A spark of triumph in her eyes.

I was curious.

If she knew what else was in that folder, I wondered what her face would look like.

Richard stood firm, his voice cold.

"As long as I'm alive, Claire is the only daughter-in-law this family will ever have!

"A cheap woman like you can forget about it!"

Patricia moved closer to me, standing behind me like a shield.

Derek pulled Vivian behind him, his tone icy.

"Claire, let's end this with some dignity. Stop making a scene."

Looking at their clasped hands, I felt a moment of disbelief.

They looked like a pair of noble lovers, standing tall against the world, guarding their true love to the bitter end.

Almost moving enough to make you want to applaud.

If I weren't the wife they were so heroically casting aside.

"Yeah, Claire, honey," Vivian said.

She placed her hand on her belly and smiled.

"I'm carrying Derek's baby. Five months along.

"Would you really force Derek's baby to be born out of wedlock?"

The words died in Richard's throat.

He stood there, stunned.

Patricia spoke, her voice barely there.

"You're saying... you're pregnant with my grandchild?"

Vivian looked the picture of innocence.

"Yes. Five months.

"I was going to get an abortion quietly. I didn't want to be the woman who broke up a family.

"But Derek told me to keep it.

"He said that poor Claire's health wasn't really suited for..."

Her voice trailed off to almost nothing.

I knew exactly what she meant.

Six months ago, I'd had a miscarriage from overwork.

The doctor had gently explained that my health was poor and that, without serious rest and recovery, getting pregnant again would be difficult.

I remembered lying weak and exhausted in that hospital bed.

I remembered Richard and Patricia scolding me for being so thoughtless, worried the family name would die out with him.

Derek had looked exhausted, dark circles carved under his eyes, but he'd still stepped in.

"Claire didn't mean for it to happen. Could you two please step out and let her rest?"

For the next month, Derek devoted himself to taking care of me.

I was so grateful, so guilty. I broke down crying in his arms.

He held me gently, whispering comfort.

And then, the moment he left the hospital, he'd gone straight to the apartment he was renting for Vivian and taken her to bed.

I thought about the photos in the file, and I couldn't help but laugh at myself.

Patricia walked over and placed her hand on Vivian's belly.

As if she were cradling something precious.

Every eye in the room turned to me.

Triumphant. Expectant. Furious.

None of them sorry.

"It's getting late. Let's go take care of the paperwork.

"Derek's up for his promotion to associate professor next month, isn't he?

"It wouldn't be good for his career if personal drama got in the way."

Everyone quietly exhaled.

When the divorce was finalized, Derek actually looked a little sad.

"Claire, we can still be friends.

"If you ever need anything, just say the word. I'll be there."

When I was in his way, I was the villain.

The second I stepped aside, I was a friend.

I smiled.

"Vivian wouldn't like us keeping in touch. I'd rather not set myself up for that."

Derek pressed his lips together. "You don't know her. She's not the jealous type."

I let it go.

"By the way, can I come watch your promotion review next month?

"It's your dream, after all. I don't want to miss something that important."

Something stirred in Derek's eyes.

"Sure."

I smiled, nodded, and walked away.

One month. Plenty of time to put together a proper gift.