Chapter 1 The Divorce

"Katherine is expecting. We should end this marriage."

Jason Baxter's low, steady voice delivered the words with chilling bluntness.

Emma Benton's fingers curled tightly, her nails biting into her palms as if that pain could calm her heart.

Today was supposed to be their third wedding anniversary. She had reheated the dinner she prepared again and again, waiting for him to come home. Instead, the moment he walked in, he crushed everything with a single sentence.

Emma looked at the man she had loved for three years and then at the woman sitting beside him. A sharp ache spread through her chest, stealing her breath.

Jason sat across from her, his fingers tightly clasped with Katherine Benton's. "You know how my parents are. They've been pressuring me nonstop for a child," he said, his tone weary. "Now Katherine is pregnant. Emma... I really can't take the pressure anymore."

With that, he pushed a stack of papers across the table.

The bold words "Divorce Agreement" stabbed into her vision.

In all three years of marriage, Jason had never once shown disgust toward the large red mark on her face.

When his parents pressured her relentlessly about having children and even forced bizarre fertility treatments on her, he had always stood in front of her without hesitation, declaring, "I only want Emma. She'll be my wife for life."

Those promises still echoed in her mind.

Yet here he was, holding another woman's hand, saying he couldn't take the pressure anymore.

A bone-deep chill crept up Emma's legs.

She forced a strained smile, her voice rough. "So your solution is to let my sister carry your child?"

Jason's brows knitted faintly, but before he could form a reply, Katherine cut in ahead of him. Her tone was soft and seemingly considerate, but the look in her eyes was sharp and undisguised. "Emma, I love Jason. Please, just let us be happy. And don't forget, I'm the real Benton daughter, the one they finally found after all these years. This marriage arrangement should've been mine from the start. As for you, with a face like that, it's hardly shocking he chose me instead."

Emma said nothing.

Just three days ago, her biological parents had called. They were coming to take her home today.

Everything had already been prepared, including medical arrangements to remove the red mark on her face.

She had wanted to surprise Jason, to finally show him her unmarked face and start fresh together.

Now, however, it felt as though destiny had already chosen a different path for her.

After a long stretch of silence, Emma reached for the pen. Without a second thought, she signed her name cleanly and firmly.

"I'll clear out immediately," she said coldly. "You two can stop pretending now."

Her decisiveness made Jason's frown deepen. A strange sense of discomfort, brief yet unsettling, rose in his chest.

Emma packed only the bare necessities. Anything tied to Jason, she left behind.

As she pulled her suitcase toward the door, a tall, elegant figure blocked her path.

"You really think the Baxter residence is somewhere you can stroll in and leave at will?" Jason's mother, Maggie Baxter, stood there with folded arms, chin raised, her gaze dripping with disdain.

For the past three years, Maggie had made life difficult for Emma at every turn.

Back then, she swallowed everything for Jason's sake, unwilling to cause him trouble.

But that reason no longer existed.

"And if I do?" Emma shot back, a mocking curve forming at the corner of her mouth. "Is being a Baxter really worth clinging to?"

Maggie's face hardened instantly. "You're free to leave, but not before we inspect your belongings. Who knows what valuables you might be trying to smuggle out!"

She gestured sharply. Two maids rushed forward, ripped the suitcase from Emma's hands, and began digging through it without the slightest care.

"Mrs. Baxter!" one maid suddenly exclaimed, holding up a gleaming emerald bracelet. "Isn't this the bracelet you mentioned went missing a few days ago?"