Chapter 2
The next day.
Parking lot outside the City Hall.
Ethan sat inside his Maybach, lightly tapping the steering wheel with his left hand.
“Ethan, you and Aura have been married for a year now. You really should hurry up and have a child,” came the voice of an
elderly woman from the phone speaker.
Ethan’s expression softened. He looked a little helpless, yet his tone remained patient.
He said, “Grandma, we’re still young. There’s no rush. What you need to do now is take good care of your health and
Grandpa’s too, he-”
“How can we not rush?” the old woman cut him off. “Your grandfather may be doing better now, but we’re both old. Who
knows which day might be our last?”
“Grandma…” Ethan murmured.
Her voice turned serious. “Don’t change the subject. I’ve heard the rumors, too. Ethan, you must treat Aura better.”
Ethan paused for three seconds.
Then the old woman pressed again, “Did you hear me?”
He rubbed his brow and replied, “Yes, Grandma. I understand.”
After a few more polite exchanges, Ethan ended the call.
His fingers continued tapping absentmindedly against the steering wheel as he looked toward City Hall in the distance.
His lips were pressed into a tight line.
He opened his messages and scrolled past the contact labeled “My love,” a florist, then tapped into the chat with “Aurora.”
The last message he’d sent told her what time and where to meet this morning at City Hall to apply for the divorce.
She still hadn’t arrived.
With a small frown, he sent her another message.
Ethan: Where are you?
The very next moment, someone tapped on the car window. Ethan turned and saw Aurora’s pale face outside the glass.
She opened the door and sat in the passenger seat.
She glanced at him. She was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday. The outfits she had put together for him.
Over the years, everything about him had been handled by her-from cologne and ties to custom-made shirts and suits.
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“Why are you so late?” he asked.
Aurora looked away.
“I’m not,” she replied.
But she hadn’t come early like she used to, desperately waiting on his every word.
Ethan’s tapping slowed. He frowned slightly as he looked at her. She looked pale. Maybe she hadn’t slept well after he
brought up divorce last night.
Not that it mattered.
“Grandma called just now,” he said, shifting his gaze. “Let’s not tell the elders about the divorce. They’re too old to handle
that kind of news.”
Aurora didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she asked, “What did Grandma say on the phone?”
“She was urging us to have a child,” Ethan replied, narrowing his eyes as a hint of impatience flickered through them.
Then came a long silence.
Several minutes passed before Aurora let out a soft laugh.
Ethan clenched his left hand into a fist, eyes fixed on the window. He didn’t speak.
He had imagined what his child might look like. He had thought about when it might happen.
Sometimes, when they were being intimate, he would trace her belly and whisper in her ear, “Aura, when will you give me a baby?”
But…
She hadn’t gotten pregnant anyway.
They were going to remarry in six months. It wouldn’t be too late then.
Lilian only had six months left.
Outside, people came and went. After another few seconds, Aurora finally spoke.
“One last time, Ethan. Are you really divorcing me?”
“Having second thoughts?” This time, he was genuinely irritated.
Lilian was still waiting for him at home.
With his answer confirmed once again, Aurora said nothing more. Instead, she pulled out a document and handed it to Ethan.
He frowned as he took it. It was a property division agreement.
“If we’re getting divorced, then let’s make it clear,” she said. “I’ll only take what I’m entitled to from the Steele family. Chapter 2
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“During the cooling-off period, anything we earn belongs to ourselves.”
As she spoke, Aurora took out a pen and placed it beside the document.
“If everything looks fine, sign it. Then I will hand it over to the court.”
The more Ethan read, the deeper his frown became.
The contract was clear and concise. She really wasn’t taking much. Her signature, Aurora, was already written on her part.
He didn’t understand what she meant by this.
It was just a temporary divorce. Why the need for such a formal agreement?
Lilian only had six months left.
He’d stay with her during that time and then go back to Aurora, just like before, under the will of his grandparents.
In Ethan’s mind, Aurora had always belonged to him.
Her bottom line was low.
He had grown tired of her before and purposely asked her to do things that would make her lose herself.
She had never refused.
In fact, she’d often present the results with a bright smile and say, “Ethan, look! I did it. Isn’t it great?”
She had always been the perfect, obedient partner. Over the past seven years, he had proven that to himself time and
again.
If it weren’t for Lilian, his marriage might have continued on in its dull, uneventful way.
But…
The image of Lilian’s face streaked with blood, stubborn even while coughing up blood, flashed in his mind. It left him
breathless with pain.
He glanced at the car window beside him.
Reflected in the glass was Aurora Sinclair’s expressionless face.
Was she trying to threaten him?
After all, she had once used forged messages to frame Lilian.
She hated Lilian.
Ethan picked up the pen.
He signed his name in the designated space.
No one could threaten him.
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There were two copies.
Aurora took hers.
Then she stepped out of the car.
Took a number.
Submitted the paperwork.
Filled out the Divorce Application.
With the papers signed, all that remained was the court’s final decree, then they’d be officially divorced.
The sun was already high in the sky.
The sunlight felt warm on Aurora’s skin.
Ethan looked at the crowds passing by.
You could easily tell who came to get married and who came to divorce.
A married couple walked out hand in hand.
The woman’s face was beaming.
He suddenly remembered how Aurora had looked a year ago when they came here to register their marriage-her smile
had looked exactly the same.
Ethan glanced at Aurora.
Her face remained blank, showing no joy, no sorrow.
“I’ll keep sending money to your account during the divorce period,” he said. “And don’t tell Grandma and Grandpa about
any of this.”
Without waiting for a response, he turned and left.
She watched as his car disappeared around the corner.
Then the ride she had ordered pulled up.
The two cars drove off in opposite directions.
One headed to Vivian Floral Studio, the other went to Ashire General Hospital.
Ethan opened the door to the floral studio. Lilian greeted him with a bright smile.
He pulled out the divorce application and said, “It’s done. She didn’t put up a fight.”
Meanwhile, Aurora was sitting in the gynecology clinic with her appointment number.
She sat across from the doctor.
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The doctor closed the curtain.
*Aura, are you really going to terminate the pregnancy?” asked Isabella Carter, her doctor and close frie this for so long. You even asked me to help you with treatments.”
Aurora placed the proof of pregnancy on the table beside her.
“Yes,” she said calmly. “I’m getting rid of it. I don’t want it anymore.”
Chapter 2
