Chapter 1

To get revenge on Alec's affair, I threw myself at a muscular stranger who broke into our house at midnight.

I played along with Alec while secretly gathering evidence of his affair.

The mistress liked to pick up men at bars, so I helped her find plenty in one go, ruining her reputation and getting dumped by her beloved man after a miscarriage.

Armed with proof of Alec's affair, I filed for divorce.

The court ruled that Alec had to leave with nothing.

Later, he sat in the police station crying and telling me he regretted everything.

But there's no medicine for regret in this world, is there?

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1

The phone chimed with a notification, and when I opened it, the group chat was flooded with messages.

"Delia, I'm so jealous! Your boyfriend is so good to you."

"That bag costs over a hundred grand at the boutique! He just bought it for you without hesitation, he's so generous!"

"I want a boyfriend like that too."

...

The group chat continued to blow up. I scrolled to the top, where a photo showed a girl beaming with happiness, holding the latest designer handbag. Next to her was a man with his face partly obscured, but I recognized that profile immediately – it was my husband, Alec.

The gossip-loving hostess responded in the group chat.

"My birthday's coming up in a few days. He bought this specially from overseas – it's not even available here yet!"

I laughed bitterly to myself. He said he was on a business trip to England, too busy to even reply to my messages promptly, yet he hadn't forgotten to bring a gift for his mistress.

What a romantic game he's playing.

A couple of days ago, I accidentally saw his secret account on another phone, and that's when I found out about Alec's affair.

I looked up information about that girl immediately.

Her name was Delia, majoring in Communications at a second-tier art school in the city. She had been with Alec for two years now, since her sophomore year.

They met at a bar where Delia was being harassed by a drunk man. Alec stepped in to help her, and Delia insisted on getting his contact info to thank him. From there, they started seeing each other. At first, it was just simple dinner dates. One day when Delia got drunk, she naturally ended up staying in Alec's hotel room.

Remembering how passionately Alec had pursued me back then made my stomach churn.

I was the campus beauty at New York University that year, aloof and distant. Many guys chased after me, but few persisted due to my coldness.

Only Alec was an exception.

Alec was a well-known talented scholar at New York University. Unlike others who sent flowers and jewelry, Alec liked to write me poetry.

Whenever I picked up these love poems, people around me would tease me. Though I didn't show it outwardly, his presence gradually took root in my heart.

Alec's pursuit of me lasted for three years.

On graduation day, Alec knelt down on one knee, holding a bouquet of white roses.

"Serena, will you give me the chance to take care of you forever?"

White roses symbolize "I love you sincerely and openly, for I am worthy of you."

More and more onlookers gathered around. Standing in the spot Alec had carefully prepared, I gazed into his passionate yet determined eyes and nodded.

After college graduation, we got married. Two years into our careers, having saved up some money, we opened an advertising agency at Alec's persuasion.

Alec was in charge of design and content, while I could only go out to secure clients and sponsorships. I used to hate dealing with people, but after that, I couldn't avoid a lot of business entertainment.

Many clients were difficult to handle. Some creepy guys even groped me when I wasn't paying attention, and I could only swallow my disgust. As long as the company's performance kept improving and business kept growing, I didn't mind making some sacrifices.

However, Alec didn't understand. He always thought his art was high above everything else, while what I did was crude and vulgar.

But without me running around out there, where would he get all these opportunities?Even the championship in the competition was awarded to him because of my familiarity with the organizers. Otherwise, how could he have beaten those seasoned designers who've been in the game for years?

People at the company noticed our fight and started taking sides, mostly rallying behind me.

In the end, I was the one who took a step back, and we made up as if nothing had happened. After all these years of tirelessly devoting myself to him, have I just been paving the way for someone else?