On our first wedding anniversary, my husband, Julian Carter, was two hours late. I noticed a prominent, dark red stain on his collar. It wasn’t wine. It was cheap chili sauce. I knew immediately. The woman he had been obsessed with for years was back. Faced with my cold, questioning gaze, Julian ripped off his tie in frustration. "Audrey, I know exactly what you’re going to say. Can’t you just let me breathe for once?!" I slowly took off my wedding ring and placed it on the table. If he wanted to breathe, I was about to give him all the space in the world. Seeing my reaction, Julian let out an impatient sigh. "Audrey, it’s just a dinner. Why do you have to be so uptight every single day?" "Look at you. From head to toe, every single strand of your hair looks like it took hours of effort!" "You’re perfect. Flawless. I can’t find a single thing wrong with you!" "But it’s exhausting for me!" I hadn't said a single word. One look from me was all it took to trigger his defensive rant. I looked down at my haute couture dress. He had probably forgotten that today wasn’t just our anniversary—it was also the day of the contract signing with Apex Enterprises. I had reminded him days ago. But he forgot. I stood up. "Julian, save your energy for the board of directors." "Since I’m so exhausting, I’ll set you free. Go to Chloe. I won’t stand in your way." My words stunned him. Then, his face flushed with anger. "Audrey! Are you seriously doing this just because I was late for dinner?!" "No. I’m doing this because your absence cost us the Apex Enterprises contract. Their representatives pulled out of the deal." "Are you satisfied now?" Julian’s face went completely pale. Finally, it registered. He remembered what today was. "I..." He stepped forward, trying to wrap his arms around me. I took two steps back, avoiding his touch. "I’m tired. Do whatever you want." I left my wedding ring on the table and walked away. After changing into comfortable clothes, I rubbed my temples. My phone buzzed on the nightstand. It was a FaceTime call from my dad. "Julian isn't home tonight? You've only been married for a year, Audrey. What is going on?" "Dad, it was just a strategic marriage. Did you really expect him to love me? I’ve already arranged for the Apex representatives to stay at our hotel. Since Julian’s family blew the deal, we will take it over entirely." My dad immediately understood the play. His voice softened. "Good. I’ll make the calls. Get some rest." Right after I hung up, Julian walked into the bedroom. The mattress sank beside me, and his hands wrapped around my waist. "Babe, I’m sorry. Today was my fault." His hands started wandering under my shirt. I pushed him away coldly. "Julian, I’m tired." I turned my back to him. His hands froze, and his voice dipped into irritation. "Okay, that’s enough!" "Audrey, I literally just had one casual dinner. I’ll go talk to the people at Apex tomorrow morning. There’s no need to give me the cold shoulder!" "You always act like a lifeless block of wood!" He slammed the door as he stormed out. I looked at the Snapchat message from my assistant showing the signed, finalized contract with Apex in our family's favor. I smiled. Tomorrow? Tomorrow, the deal would already be dead and buried for him. I closed my eyes and fell into a peaceful sleep. The next morning, Julian got rejected at the Apex headquarters. Out of the blue, he asked me out for lunch. Coincidentally, I wanted to talk about the divorce, so I accepted. As I walked up to the private dining room at the restaurant, I heard a high-pitched, giggling voice from inside. "Oh my god, why do you only eat this fancy, boring stuff? I want glazed donuts and a cheap Starbucks frappuccino with extra syrup!" "Julian, you should try it. Don't be so uptight!" "I seriously can't stand how tense you high-society people are all the time!" "But now that I'm here, is Audrey going to be mad?" Julian sneered. "Order whatever you want. Audrey is like a robot. Just looking at her is exhausting." "It's so much easier being around you." "Right? I told you so! She must have thrown a fit when you didn't go home last night. Did she finally show some real human emotion?" So, last night was intentional. I pushed the door open, and the room instantly fell dead silent. Beside Julian and Chloe, a few of Julian's wealthy friends were sitting at the table. Seeing me enter, they quickly tried to break the awkward tension. "Hey, Audrey! You're here!" "Come sit, we were just waiting for you." I nodded politely and sat next to Julian. Chloe was sitting right on his left. When Chloe looked at me, a smug gleam flashed in her eyes. She exchanged a knowing look with Julian and giggled behind her hand. "Is something funny?" I asked, looking directly at her.
Chloe’s eyes instantly welled up with tears. "Audrey, I’m so sorry. I just... I thought it was a bit funny how you wore full makeup and a designer dress just for a casual lunch. You look so out of place with us." "But I get it. You come from a prestigious family. You've been pampered your whole life." "It’s my fault for laughing." Julian immediately jumped to her defense, glaring at me. "Audrey, you’re always so extra. Can't you just relax for once when you eat with me?" I let out a soft laugh. "I just came straight from the airport. I was sending off the board of directors from Apex Enterprises. Tell me, Julian, what should I have worn to meet our multi-million dollar clients?" Julian’s face instantly crumbled. His friends quickly tried to smooth things over. "Hey, Audrey dressed up to look good for you, Julian!" "Yeah, she looks stunning. Don't take her for granted, man." "Exactly. My mom has been married to my dad for thirty years, and I’ve never even seen her without makeup!" Chloe let out a sharp chuckle. "Isn't that basically wearing a mask? How exhausting!" "Unlike me. Sometimes I’m just too busy to care about looks. I’ll just throw on a random T-shirt and shorts and walk out the door!" Her desperate attempt to put me down to lift herself up was pathetic. I looked at her "no-makeup" makeup look, which clearly took her at least an hour to perfect, and smiled without saying a word. Julian cleared his throat nervously. "Anyway, let’s order! I got the Chilean sea bass specially for you, Audrey. And some King Crab." I nodded, picked up my fork, and took a bite. The flavor was decent. Julian had the waiters crack open the King Crab, and they began peeling it for me at the side of the table. Chloe raised an eyebrow. "You guys eat so primly. Seafood is supposed to be eaten with your bare hands! That's the only way it tastes good." "Just like last night. We had a greasy crawfish boil, and the juice was dripping everywhere!" She suddenly gasped, covering her mouth in mock horror. She looked at me cautiously. "Oh my god, I’m so sorry, Audrey. We were having so much fun last night that I completely forgot it was your anniversary." "I told Julian he should go back, but he insisted on staying. That's why we wanted to treat you to lunch today." "I didn't mean anything by it. I just wanted Julian to relax a bit." I set my fork down and gave her a bright, sweet smile. "Actually, I should thank you. Because of your little distraction, Julian's family lost a contract worth over fifty million dollars. Conveniently, my family took over the deal." Julian’s face went from pale to a dark, furious red. Chloe looked utterly lost. She shrieked, "Fifty million?! But you two are married! Why are you talking about 'your family' and 'his family' like you're rivals?" "Even though we're married, my money is mine, and his is his. We signed a very strict prenuptial agreement." "I don't expect you to understand. After all, you're just the housekeeper's daughter. You probably don't know that in old-money families, prenups are mandatory." "We never show mercy to gold-diggers who try to climb into high society." "Right, Julian?" Julian slammed his hand on the table, his face twisted in rage. "Enough! Have you said enough?!" "Yes! I didn't want to spend our anniversary with you! That's why I stayed out last night!" "You think you’re so superior, but you just got lucky with your birth. Stop talking down to people!" I nodded calmly. "You're right. Reincarnation is a skill, and her luck just wasn't very good." Chloe burst into tears. "Audrey..." "Don't call me Audrey like we're friends. I'm an only child." Chloe’s face flushed red, then pale. Finally, she choked out, "Ms. Sterling, you don't have to look down on me. Julian isn't happy with you at all! Did you know he called me on your wedding night? We talked on the phone the entire night!"
So that was the truth. I looked at Julian. On our wedding night, he had claimed he was too drunk and slept in the guest room, leaving me alone in the master suite. Turns out, he was busy pouring his heart out to Chloe. I smiled. "And yet, I'm still the one sitting in the seat of Mrs. Carter." "If you're so capable, why don't you get Julian to divorce me?" "Audrey!" Julian roared. The rest of the table looked incredibly uncomfortable, not knowing where to look. Julian grabbed Chloe's hand. "We're leaving. You don't need to apologize to her!" He dragged Chloe out of the room. As she passed me, she shot me a smug, triumphant look. The others stood up one by one, making quick excuses to slip away. Julian's best friend, Tyler, stopped by the door and looked back at me. "Audrey, can't you just swallow your pride for once?" "Julian is a man. He always tells us how suffocating it is to be with you!" I looked up at him coldly. "You have a lot of opinions for someone whose father is currently dealing with three secret illegitimate children trying to sue for their inheritance. Focus on your own burning house, Tyler." Tyler’s face turned bright red, and he slammed the door on his way out. Only the waiter and I were left in the VIP room. The waiter looked terrified. I said calmly, "Please finish peeling the rest of the crab for me." They didn't want to eat, but I certainly did. After a peaceful, expensive meal, I drove straight to my parents’ house. When they saw me walk in at this hour, they were surprised. "Dad, Mom, I’m divorcing Julian." "Is this because of the Apex contract? Surely it's not that serious," my dad said, surprised. "It is. I handled the Apex deal from start to finish. Julian ruined it, and we had to clean up his mess. His mother even had the audacity to suggest I hand the contract back to them to save face. Why should I?" I handed my phone to my dad. On the way over, Victoria, my mother-in-law, had sent me a long paragraph on Snapchat, telling me that I had handled the Apex situation 'unprofessionally' and that I needed to come to the family estate tonight to apologize to Julian’s father. My dad’s face darkened as he read the message. "Charles Carter has gone too far!" I added fuel to the fire. "Chloe, their former housekeeper’s daughter, is back. They were together last night. They've been sleeping together the entire year of our marriage. Dad, the Carters scammed us into this marriage." Initially, Julian's parents had talked a big game about how our families were a perfect match and how a merger would help us secure the massive Vanguard Group contract. Once the papers were signed, the cooperation went smoothly. But at that time, my family had already done the heavy lifting, and we only partnered with the Carters because of a temporary cash flow issue. Now that the profits were secured, they were turning on us. Since that was the case, I was done with them. My parents stayed silent for a moment before agreeing. My mom looked at me gently. "Marriage is a big deal, Audrey. Just make sure you’ve thought this through. There's no guarantee the next man won't be the same." I took a deep breath. Julian was the one who made a mistake, not me. My only concern now was protecting my assets. I hired the best divorce attorney in the city and began the asset division process. Since our families' businesses were deeply intertwined, it was going to take some time. But I never expected Julian to be so utterly shameless. He actually brought Chloe into our home. When I opened the front door of our penthouse, I saw a pair of dirty sneakers kicked carelessly onto the hardwood floor of the entryway. Chloe was lounging on the velvet sofa, her bare feet draped over Julian’s lap as she played a mobile game. She had a lollipop in her mouth. "Julian, save me! You're so bad at this!" Julian laughed, playfully swatting her foot. The marble coffee table was covered in empty chips and fast-food wrappers. I shook my head. Julian could ruin his own life, but I was going to live mine with class. I walked in, my heels clicking loudly against the tile. Julian jumped up as soon as he saw me. "You... what are you doing here?!" I let out a cold laugh. "Why? Am I interrupting your domestic bliss?" "No... didn't my mom tell you to go to the family estate?" "That’s your mother. Go explain your mess to her yourself." I signaled the bodyguards I had brought with me. "Go upstairs and pack all of my things." Julian froze. "Audrey, what is the meaning of this?" "Chloe just got back and has nowhere to stay. I’m letting her crash here for a couple of days. Is there any need to act like this?!" I stared at him. "Julian, I’m moving out so you two can live together openly. Isn't that what you wanted?" "What do you mean?" "I’m divorcing you, Julian. I’m done."
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