Chapter 8
Suppressing his fury, he called his assistant.
“How the hell did Dominic Lloyd show up at our company? Who authorized a board meeting without me?!”
The assistant explained cautiously.
“He holds fifty percent of the company shares…”
“Impossible! He can’t have half the shares!” Roman snapped.
His voice trailed off as a terrible realization struck him. Unless, after their divorce, Hazel had sold her half of the shares to Dominic.
But he immediately rejected this thought. Hazel would never divorce him. Something else must have happened!
With growing panic, he dialed her familiar number. But all he got was the cold, automated message: “The user is not in the service
area.”
A sense of unprecedented dread flooded Roman’s heart. Unable to contain himself any longer, he raced downstairs and sped toward
home.
The car tore through the streets. After running several red lights, the navigation system repeatedly warned about his excessive speed.
But Roman only pressed the gas pedal harder. What normally took thirty minutes, he compressed into ten.
He rushed inside, desperate to explain everything to Hazel.
But after searching the entire house, he found no trace of her-not even her belongings remained. The house felt terrifyingly empty.
Hazel was truly gone…
No, that couldn’t be right. They had just celebrated their third wedding anniversary a few days ago!
In a flash of realization, Roman suddenly turned to the calendar-today was the fourteenth day since their anniversary!
He rushed to his study and grabbed the gift box Hazel had given him.
A glimmer of hope still lingered in his heart. Perhaps this was just Hazel’s prank. Maybe she was angry that he hadn’t saved her and
wanted to teach him a lesson…
But the next moment, his heart plummeted. A divorce agreement, signed with Hazel’s name, lay before him.
Roman stood frozen, as if plunged into an icy hell. She had signed the divorce papers. They were officially divorced…
But why? Why would she do this? He hadn’t even slept with Naomi yet when she’d decided to divorce him.
In a flash of clarity, he suddenly remembered and his body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Hazel had seen him pick up that fountain pen Naomi had used! So she had decisively signed the divorce papers…
When he’d been at his most desperate and hopeless, Hazel had pulled him back from the brink.
He knew that what she couldn’t tolerate most was infidelity and betrayal.
Yet what had he done?
He’d allowed Naomi’s advances, indulged in desire with her, and even abandoned Hazel in a life-or-death situation for her sake…
He was a complete bastard!
Roman slapped himself hard, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. But the pain in his heart only grew more intense.
He covered his face in despair. Large tears fell through his fingers onto the floor.
“Roman, what’s wrong?”
Naomi had woken to find Roman gone.
Now convinced he loved her, she’d come directly to his house without hesitation, only to find him crumpled on the sofa, face in his
hands.
Confused, she approached and immediately spotted the divorce papers on the table. Her face lit up with joy.
“Divorce papers! Roman, you finally divorced Hazel! I knew it-you loved me all along. Now we can be together forever. You’re finally all mine…”
With that, she leaned in to kiss him. But this time, Roman shoved her away forcefully.
“I didn’t agree to the divorce,” he said coldly. “I’m going to find her and bring her back.”
Naomi stood frozen in disbelief. Seeing him about to leave, she rushed to block his path.
“Hazel’s already divorced you! She doesn’t want you anymore! Why are you still chasing after her?!” Her eyes reddened, voice trembling. “Roman, look at me. I’m the one who truly loves you. We’re the ones who should be together…”
“But I don’t love you. I’ve only ever loved Hazel. I don’t want to be apart from her.” Roman took a deep breath, wiped the tears from his face, and spoke with firm resolve. “Don’t come looking for me again. I’ll give you a settlement.”
These words pierced Naomi’s heart like a sword.
She couldn’t understand-she’d only slept for a few hours, and everything had changed completely.
三
2
7
11
The man who had sworn to choose her now claimed he’d never loved her.
Impossible! She refused to believe it!
Naomi rushed to the balcony and straddled the railing, poised to jump.
“You are not allowed to go! If you insist on finding her today, I’ll jump and die right in front of you!”
