Chapter 1

One day, I was bringing lunch for Joshua Warren when I noticed a new flower shop that had just opened downstairs from his office. On a whim, I decided to stop by and buy a bouquet.

However, when I stepped inside and asked, I learned that every flower in the shop had already been reserved.

The owner gave me an apologetic smile.

"I am sorry. My boyfriend hates seeing me work too hard. Every day after noon, he buys out all the flowers in my shop. He says it is a little perk for his employees."

I smiled and told her, "I am jealous."

However, my thoughts immediately went to Joshua.

He had never been the kind of man to notice the things I did for him. He only complained that my cooking was too salty or too bland, that my plans were not thorough enough, or even that the color of our curtains needed to be changed for some carefully reasoned explanation.

It was as if everything I did could only earn one response from him: criticism.

I was about to leave when I happened to glance at the screensaver on the owner's phone.

It was a picture of her and her boyfriend, smiling together.

I knew that man's profile so well that I could have drawn the curve of his jaw with my eyes closed.

It was the same man who slept beside me every night.

Suddenly, I remembered how he had come home every day for the past three months with the faint scent of flowers lingering around his collar.

I had always assumed the jasmine bushes outside his office were in bloom.

I was wrong.

It was not the flowers that had bloomed.

It was his heart.

I had always thought that Joshua simply did not know how to be gentle.

Now I understood that his tenderness had never disappeared.

He had simply given it all to someone else, leaving me with nothing but the shell of a man who always found something to criticize.

Chapter 1

When I got home, I spent the entire afternoon sitting quietly on the couch by myself.

When Joshua Warren came home from work, the kitchen was still a complete mess.

He took one look at it and his expression immediately darkened.

"Can you not even handle this little bit of housework anymore?"

I was already used to his criticism and constant fault-finding, so my expression did not change. Then I caught the faint scent of flowers clinging to his suit jacket. "I noticed something today. There is a new flower shop downstairs from your office. The smell inside is exactly the same as the scent on your clothes."

He did not even look up. His voice only grew more impatient. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

I pressed my lips together. In the end, all I said was, "Nothing. I just think the flowers smell really nice. Tomorrow, I…"

Before I could finish, he cut me off. "Since when are you interested in flowers?

"The soup was a little bland tonight. Pay more attention tomorrow."

With that, he turned and walked into his study.

That night, I tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.

The faint floral scent still seemed to linger beneath my nose. In the end, I could only bury my face in the blankets.

The next afternoon, I went back to the flower shop. I had already looked it up online. The owner's name was Whitney Baker.

When I walked in, she was trimming a bunch of white roses.

The moment she saw me, a flicker of surprise crossed her face.

"Late again today. My boyfriend bought all the flowers before you got here."

I quietly looked around the shop and spoke in a soft voice. "That's okay. I’m just looking around.

"Did your boyfriend help you open this flower shop, too?"

Whitney's cheeks turned slightly pink.

"Yeah. Every day around lunchtime, he buys up all the flowers I have left in the shop.

"I told him he did not have to rush like that, but he said no. He said flowers do not look as nice after sitting around for too long. If you are giving someone flowers, you should give them the freshest ones."

She placed the roses she had finished trimming into a bucket, handling them with gentle care.

"He is actually incredibly busy, but whenever he has some free time, he comes down here himself to order the flowers.

"I remember this one time when it was raining. He was completely soaked, but he was still standing outside the shop with an armful of flowers, grinning at me like an idiot. Tell me, is that guy not ridiculous?"

As she talked, she started laughing.

Chapter 2

However, my throat tightened and, when I spoke, my voice came out rough.

"He treats you really well."

Whitney lowered her head and gently brushed her fingers over the petals in her hand.

"Yeah. He says the flowers I arrange have the most life in them. He says every bouquet looks like a painting.

"He also says these hands of mine should only ever touch flowers. Anything else would be a waste."

She looked up at me, her eyes crinkling with a bright smile.

"How does he come up with so many sweet things to say? Sometimes, it all feels too good to be real."

Her smile was so sweet, yet it felt like a blade stabbing straight through my heart, especially the way her eyes seemed to glow as she talked about him.

I knew that glow all too well.

I used to have it too.

Back when Joshua and I had just fallen in love and gotten married, he could not get enough of pampering me. He treated me like I was something precious, as if he wanted to hold me in the palm of his hand.

However, it did not take long for his love to be worn away by the endless little things that came with marriage.

For years, I had told myself that our love had not disappeared. Maybe we had simply stopped showing it and tucked it away somewhere deep inside.

Now I knew the truth.

His love had not moved into his heart. It had moved on to another woman.

When I got home, I was greeted by the same mess in the kitchen and the pile of clothes waiting to be washed.

My hands were meant for housework, but Whitney's hands were meant for arranging flowers. The thought made me pull out my phone and call for housekeeping service.

...

An hour and a half later, the housekeeper had finished every chore that would normally have taken me half a day.

All it had cost me was 120 dollars.

When Joshua came home that evening, his eyes swept across the living room and kitchen. His eyebrows knitted together.

"You hired someone?"

I did not try to hide it.

"Yeah. A housekeeper. They charge by the hour. Eighty dollars an hour."

The moment he heard that, he tossed his car keys onto the cabinet by the door. The sound was not loud, but it was heavy.

"Do you even know what the economy is like right now? I spend all day at the company and out entertaining clients, yet you are telling me you cannot even handle a little housework?"

I simply looked at him without saying a word.

He had helped Whitney open such a large flower shop in one of the most expensive parts of downtown. Even on the low end, the annual rent had to at least be $500,000. Then there was all the fresh flower stock he bought from her shop every day. That was hardly a small expense either.

I had spent only $120 on a housekeeper, but he was already furious.

I curled my lips into a bitter smile.

"I can do it. I just do not want to anymore."

He stared at me for two seconds, as if he did not understand the chill behind my words.

After a long silence, he finally spoke again.

"What has gotten into you these past few days?"

I looked up. The first thing I noticed was the beige curtains in the living room.

I remembered that when we had picked them out, I had actually fallen in love with a light gray set. Joshua had said the color was too gloomy.

I could not argue with him, so I changed them.

Afterward, he said they were fine. However, every time he sat on the couch, he complained that the sunlight was too harsh and blamed me for not talking him out of the choice in the first place.

"Joshua." I suddenly called his name. "I have not gotten flowers from you in a long time. Could you buy me a bouquet of red roses tomorrow?

"Just get them from the flower shop downstairs from your office."

Something flickered across his face, so quickly I almost missed it. Then his voice suddenly rose. "Since when did you become so tacky?"

I said nothing.

"Flowers are for people with taste to appreciate. You spend all day at home standing around the stove. Buying flowers for you would just be a waste."

He turned and headed toward the bedroom. When he passed me, he paused for a moment.

"If you have nothing better to do, think about something that actually matters. Stop wasting your time obsessing over useless things."

Chapter 3

"Then I want to get a job."

He stopped in his tracks and looked at me like I was a child throwing a tantrum.

"You cannot even keep up with the things that need to be done at home. What could you possibly do out there? And what are you going to put on your résumé? Seven years as a stay-at-home wife? What company is going to hire you?

"All right, that’s enough. I have been really busy with work lately and I am exhausted."

As he spoke, he rested his head against my shoulder. The scent of flowers filled my nose again.

Suddenly, my stomach churned.

I shoved him away and rushed into the bathroom, where I leaned over the toilet and dry-heaved for several minutes.

When I came back out, Joshua's face was grim.

"What is wrong with you? Are you pregnant?

"Lucia, have I ever told you that I am at a crucial stage in my career right now? This is not a good time to have a child. Go to the hospital tomorrow and schedule the procedure."

I was not pregnant.

However, his coldness still hit me like a bucket of ice water, finally jolting me awake.

"I am not pregnant."

I could see the relief wash over his face.

"Joshua, let’s get divorced."

For a moment, he just stared at me.

Then, the corners of his mouth lifted into a mocking smile.

"Nice. I guess you have been watching too many soap operas. You are even coming up with new tricks now.

"However, if you think playing hard to get is going to make me chase after you, forget it."

When I said nothing, his expression softened slightly.

"All right. I know I have been neglecting you because of work lately. Once things calm down, I will take some time off and go visit your parents with you.

"I have an early meeting tomorrow. I am going to bed.

"Oh, and make the food lighter these next few days. My stomach has been bothering me."

With that, he went into the master bedroom.

I sat alone on the couch, a deep sadness rising inside me.

So, this was what it was like when the person I loved no longer cared about me.

I could ask for a divorce right to his face and he could still completely ignore me.

…

Perhaps to make it up to me, Joshua really did take a day off to drive me to my parents' home.

In our seven years of marriage, there had not been many times when he had willingly offered to come home with me to visit my parents.

As such, even though I had already made up my mind to leave him, I still nodded and agreed.

However, barely minutes after we got on the highway, his phone rang.

He glanced at the screen and immediately declined the call.

Thirty seconds later, it rang again. He declined it again.

When it rang a third time, he finally answered, lowering his voice.

"Hello? I am driving. What is it? We can talk later."

I did not know what the person on the other end said. However, I saw Joshua's fingers tighten around the steering wheel. His voice suddenly became tense.

"Stay right there. Do not move. I will turn around at the next exit."

The moment he hung up, he turned to me. His tone left no room for argument.

"A friend has encountered an emergency. I need to go deal with it. I will drop you off at the next rest stop. You can call a ride and go home yourself.

"I will take you to see your parents another time."

I stared at the man behind the wheel in disbelief. "This is a highway. Where am I supposed to find a ride?"

He ignored my question. He kicked me out of the car at the next rest stop, then drove away without another word.

I asked eighteen people for a ride. Only one person was willing to take me part of the way back into town.

I did not go home. Instead, I went straight to Whitney's flower shop.

Sure enough, she was not there.

I sat in the café next door and waited. It was almost four in the afternoon when the lights in the flower shop finally came on.

When I pushed open the door, Whitney was touching up her makeup. Her lipstick was glossy and bright.

When she saw me, she smiled.

"You actually came to buy flowers from my shop today.

"I went out with my boyfriend to look at a few storefronts today, so I just got back. He has not had time to order the flowers yet."

Chapter 4

"Looking at storefronts? You are opening another location already?"

She nodded, her excitement impossible to hide.

"Yep. My boyfriend is a senior executive at a major company, so I cannot fall too far behind, right?

"You know, he even took a whole day off just to go look at storefronts with me."

My hand tightened into a fist at my side.

"Did you know your boyfriend already has a family?

"He did not take the day off to look at storefronts with you. He took the day off to take his wife home to visit his in-laws."

The moment I said that, all the color drained from Whitney's face.

My suspicion had been confirmed.

"So you actually knew all along that your boyfriend was married."

"No. I did not know." She panicked and tried to force me out of the shop, but I snatched her phone away.

Whitney had recently started doing online flower-arranging classes, and she went live at exactly four every afternoon.

The timing was perfect.

I turned the phone's camera toward her face and spoke sharply.

"Whitney, the money your boyfriend used to open this flower shop for you and buy flowers for you came from marital assets. As his legal wife, I have the right to demand my share of that money back."

Her face went deathly pale and she kept avoiding the camera.

"When you knew he had a wife and still chose to get involved with him, did you ever think about how your actions would hurt someone else?

"You are young and beautiful. Why go after a man who already belongs to someone else? Do you really think something is better just because you stole it from someone?"

The livestream was instantly flooded with vicious comments, most of them directed at Whitney. She obviously saw them too, because she could not hold back her sobs.

"Turn it off! Turn it off right now!"

Before I could say another word, someone suddenly snatched the phone from my hand and smashed it against the floor.

A second later, a powerful shove sent me crashing to the ground.

My elbow slammed hard against a nearby flowerpot. Pain shot through my arm, and cold sweat instantly broke out across my body.

"Joshua, I did not. I did not."

Whitney threw herself into his arms, crying so hard her whole face was streaked with tears.

After calming her down, Joshua turned to me. The look in his eyes was the kind I would give an enemy I could never forgive.

"Lucia, you have lost your mind!

"Get online right now and clear things up for Whitney. Tell everyone you were just fooling around because you lost a bet with a friend. Then give her a proper apology."

"Why should I?"

He was silent for three seconds. Then he spoke coldly.

"Because I am the one who got the special medication your mother is taking. It’s imported through a friend.

"Unless you want to watch your mother suffer from her illness every day because of your stubbornness."

Joshua completely ignored the disbelief on my face. He carefully helped Whitney over to the couch and lowered her into the seat. Then he leaned down and whispered something to her. His voice was too soft for me to hear.

However, I could see his hand resting on her back, gently patting her over and over. The gesture was so tender, like he was soothing a frightened baby.

He was certain I would give in. That was why he did not look worried in the slightest.

When Whitney's sobs finally began to fade, he turned back to me.

I pushed myself up from the floor. My elbow was burning with pain. When I looked down, I saw that I had scraped off a patch of skin and tiny beads of blood were beginning to seep from the wound.

Joshua's eyes fell on my elbow. He paused for a moment, then looked away.

"Go live right now and clear things up. Whatever you said just now, find a way to explain it away."

Whitney lifted her head from his arms. Her eyes were red, and she had bitten her lips until they had gone pale.

She glanced at me, then nervously edged closer to Joshua.

Chapter 5

Yes. For my mom's sake, I had no choice.

I told myself that as I walked over and picked up the phone Joshua had smashed onto the floor.

I opened the livestream again.

More than eight hundred people had watched the livestream. The comment section was already exploding. Some viewers had tagged local lifestyle bloggers, while others had taken screenshots and posted them on social media.

I held the phone in front of me and recorded a short video, just as Joshua had ordered.

"What happened earlier was just a game of Truth or Dare I was playing with a friend. I lost, so I made up a bunch of lies. Ms. Baker is innocent and I want to sincerely apologize to her.

"I will also provide appropriate financial compensation for the emotional distress and damage to her reputation that I caused."

The moment I finished speaking, I stopped the recording and posted it.

Joshua watched every move I made, clearly afraid I might pull another stunt before he could stop me.

As soon as he confirmed that the video had been posted, he immediately told me to leave.

"Go home for now. We can talk about everything when I get home."

I said nothing. I picked up my bag from the floor and walked out.

Standing on the side of the street, I noticed the blood on my elbow had already dried and stuck to my sleeve. It looked awful.

When I got home, I changed out of my dirty clothes and tossed them into the washing machine. Then I opened the clarification video I had just posted.

The comments were still full of insults.

Only now, they were aimed at me instead of Whitney. I scrolled through a few of them before closing the app.

Then I suddenly remembered that my mother's medical bill was still in my bag. I had originally planned to take it to her today.

I pulled it out and gave it a casual glance. Then something caught my eye.

Under the insurance coverage section, it clearly stated that Category A medications were fully covered, while Category B medications were covered at ninety percent.

My mother's medication, olanzapine, was imported, but according to the insurance statement, it was classified as a Category B medication.

However, every time Joshua picked up her medicine, he insisted that it was not covered by insurance. He claimed he had been paying for every single prescription out of his own pocket.

That was exactly why I had always believed Joshua cared about me.

However, what if all of it had been a lie?

I went over the reimbursement statements three times, then pulled out my phone and searched for the medication myself.

Olanzapine was a prescription psychiatric medication. Generic versions had been available for years and they were not particularly expensive. Even after insurance, the out-of-pocket cost should have been only a few dozen dollars.

Despite this, the amounts on those bills clearly did not add up. All of my mother's medication had been paid for with her own insurance card. The balance was still enough to cover several more years of her prescriptions.

I sat in the study, listening to the sound of my own breathing grow heavier with every breath.

Seven years.

For seven whole years, every time Joshua brought up my mother's medication, he had spoken as if he were saying, 'If it were not for me, your mother would have been gone by now.'

I had believed him for seven years.

For seven years, he had used that belief against me because he knew my mother was the one person I could never let go of.

Looking back, I could not believe how stupid I had been.

I picked up my phone and called a friend without hesitation, asking her to recommend a divorce lawyer.

A moment later, she sent me a contact card.

Just then, Joshua pushed open the door. The scent of flowers still clung to his clothes.

He glanced at me and spoke in his usual matter-of-fact tone, as if everything he said was automatically the truth.

"I saw the apology video. Do not bother her again. She is a very innocent person."

I said nothing.

Instead, I opened Messenger and accepted the friend request from the divorce lawyer, Daniel Wood.