Chapter 2

I was kicked out of the home I had lived in for seven years.

Rhett didn't even let me in. He just tossed a suitcase onto the porch.

A note was stuck to it. "Don't ever come back to me."

I opened the suitcase to find only a few old clothes I had brought from my hometown.

The sweater I made for him, the scarf I bought for him, and the latest model phone I saved up to buy for him were gone. Every trace of my existence had been wiped clean.

Even the silver bracelet my grandmother left me was not in my suitcase.

I sat on the cold stairs and repeatedly dialed Emeline's number.

She didn't answer.

I texted her. "He changed the locks, and I can't get home. I have nowhere to go."

An hour later, she replied, "Sorry, Kristy, but I'm in an important meeting. You find a small motel for now. I'll transfer some money to you later. We'll discuss the appeal tomorrow."

Reading the cold message, I felt my heart sink.

Emeline and I had been friends for over a decade. We shared a dorm since college. She knew I had no other friend in this city besides Rhett.

But she only suggested I stay at a hotel.

I huddled in a 24-hour fast-food restaurant.

The next day, I had only a few dollars left with me and went to Emeline's law firm.

I had to see her and figure out what was going on.

The receptionist stopped me and smiled politely. "I'm sorry, Ms. Graham is at a meeting. Do you have an appointment?"

"I'm her friend. Tell her Kristy is here."

"She has told me that she wouldn't see anyone today."

I was left outside the law firm and felt like a joke.

I didn't want to lose my composure in public, so I walked to the waiting area, where I stared intently at Emeline's office door.

It wasn't completely closed, leaving a small gap.

A man's smug voice came through. "Dr. Mason, it's all thanks to your girlfriend. Otherwise, getting rid of that country girl wouldn't have been easy for you this time. You divorced her without giving her anything. This case was handled perfectly."

Rhett's girlfriend?

I felt my blood freeze instantly.

Then I heard Rhett's voice. I had been familiar with it for seven years, but it sounded harsh, which I hadn't heard before.

"What do you know? If I have to give her some assets, how would I have money to pay you the lawyer's fee? We just have enough money to pay our son's educational fee when he goes to school abroad."

Their son...

The educational fees when he went abroad...

I felt like I'd been blown over the head with a club, and my ears were buzzing.

Then I heard Emeline's voice, which was coquettish and unfamiliar to me.

"Oh, Rhett, don't say that to James. He's a good lawyer. The fake medical record has to look real, of course. Otherwise, how would she believe it and never dare to get married and give birth to children again for the rest of her life?"

Hearing that, the last pillar of my world collapsed.

I staggered back and knocked over a display stand behind me, which caused a loud noise.

The office door swung open.

Rhett and Emeline stood there, and their faces were covered with shock.

Emeline was holding the hand of a boy about four or five years old.

That boy had eyes exactly like Rhett's.