Chapter 3

Ruby froze for a moment, then blurted out, "You want to divorce me? Why?"

As soon as she said it, she realized her mistake and quickly corrected herself, "Divorce? You're joking, my husband is Jack. How could I have ever been married to you?"

Watching her poor acting, I couldn't be bothered to expose her lies or waste my breath arguing with her.

I played along with her charade and lied, "It was me who tricked you into getting the certificate. Let's go and divorce now."

Jack immediately grinned, urging, "It's about time. Let's go!"

Ruby hesitated, frowned, and, ignoring the holes in my story, just wanted to brush it off.

"Forget it, this is a bit strange. I'll make my decision later."

I was confused.

I thought, "Doesn't she like Jack?

I'm the one who proposed the divorce to give them space, so why isn't she happy?"

If this were before, I would have asked her why and mockingly questioned if she had ever loved me.

But now, I couldn't be bothered to guess what was on her mind. I just wanted to divorce her as soon as possible.

I raised an eyebrow and teased, "You don't want a divorce because you're still attached to me, are you?"

Jack immediately pulled on Ruby's sleeve, looking pitiful.

"Darling, am I not your favorite husband? How could you marry someone else?"

Under the pressure from both of us, Ruby had no choice but to reluctantly agree.

When the three of us arrived at the Courthouse and were just about to enter, Ruby suddenly shook her head as if something familiar triggered a memory. She took my hand with a smile.

"This place feels so familiar... I remember now.

"On Christmas Eve, we stood in line together to get our marriage license."

She knew that day was the happiest day of my life.

So, she thought that by mentioning our happy memories, I would hesitate to get a divorce.

After all, back then, every time she made me angry, she'd use this trick to win me back.

But that day, not only did I overhear her pretending to have amnesia, but I also heard her talk about our marriage.

"There's nothing romantic about it. The reason I chose to marry him on the last day of the year is because I promised to marry him.

"But, living the rest of my life with someone I don't love, I just can't accept it, so I kept delaying until the very last day when I finally made up my mind.

"Anyway, marrying anyone would just be wasting time. He is in good condition and can help me.

"He's a good guy too, a perfect match for marriage..."

I stood outside the door, hearing her compliment me, but my heart sank.

I thought our relationship was built on love, but for her, it was all about using me.

No wonder, after the company started improving, she began to value money and power so much, never letting me touch a single penny. She had always been wary of me.

I drifted off for a moment, and Ruby tugged at my hand, asking if I remembered.

In a marriage full of mutual distrust, I was exhausted. For me, cutting ties was the best choice.

I shook my head, responding casually, "No, you probably just hit your head in the accident and developed a delusion."

Ruby's smile froze instantly. Seeing her try so hard to please me while I remained indifferent, I realized she was now a patient, yet I couldn't bring myself to be more understanding.

She grew more and more upset, and without another word, she hooked her arm around Jack's, intertwining their fingers.

"Yes, it's all fake. My husband is Jack.

"Once we're done here, I'm going to marry Jack!"

She stomped her foot and walked happily into the Courthouse with Jack as if she were the one here to get married.

I didn't care to indulge her antics and walked in behind them.

Once we finished the registration, we were quickly ushered into the mediation room.

Ruby immediately sat on Jack's lap, pulling out grapes she had bought on the way, peeling them, and feeding him one by one.

She thought this would make me jealous.

But ironically, it only reminded me of the cold, shy Ruby from before.

Back then, she wouldn't even hold my hand in public, saying it wasn't proper to act affectionately in front of others.

Now, she had completely changed. Being so open made everyone uncomfortable to look.

Even the mediator couldn't stand it. With my firm attitude, we quickly entered the divorce process.

I kept a completely indifferent expression the whole time, which made Ruby furious. She sulked and gave me the cold shoulder as we rushed through the paperwork.

Once we got the divorce certificate, I sighed in relief. The heavy cloud over my head had lifted a little.

I hailed a cab to go home.

Jack leaned over and saw that I had written our home address. He immediately exploded in anger.

"Home? You're divorced now. That's no longer your home.

"You need to pack your things and get out!"

Ruby stood aside, smiling.

"Yeah, kick the outsider out. Honey, you come live with me."

She kicked me out to make room for Jack.

No normal man could accept that, and I definitely couldn't have before.

But now, I just nodded indifferently.

"Alright, I'll leave right away."

I booked a hotel on my phone in the car, and once I got home, I started packing my things.

Things had gone too far to be controlled by Ruby anymore.

She rarely softened, but now she pretended to regain some memory and held up our wedding photo, asking, "Matthew, when did we take this picture?"

I didn't even look up as I stuffed clothes into my suitcase, answering casually, "It's fake. I photoshopped it."

That sentence really set Ruby off.

She grabbed my luggage and threw everything outside the door.

"Leave! Leave right now!"

She slammed the door shut with a bang.

I shook my head and said nothing, silently picking up the clothes from the floor, brushing off the dust, and packing them into my bag.

Inside, Jack's anxious voice came through.

"This is all my fault. I shouldn't have gone for that VP position.

"Watching you two get divorced... it really hurts. Maybe I should talk to Matthew and clear things up."

Ruby collected herself and comforted him.

"It's not your fault. It's Matthew being petty. He's even arguing with a sick person.

"Don't worry about him. I'll spend these seven days with you. After that, I'll deal with things.

"Matthew is easy to handle. I just have to wave my hand, and he'll come back."

I walked into the elevator carrying my things.

She was wrong. This time, it was over for good. There was no chance of reconciliation.