Chapter 2

Everyone in the private room looked over at the door. For a moment, the room was eerily silent.

Yvette immediately caught sight of Xavier in the middle of the room. His eyes were clear and bright. He was clearly not drunk.

She knew that she had been tricked by Daphne.

When Xavier saw Yvette, his pupils constricted.

Everyone else in the room looked awkward, including Tristan, who had been the most vocal in getting Xavier to accept Daphne's confession earlier.

Yvette shouldn't have gone there.

Daphne was the first to break the silence. "Please don't get the wrong idea, Yvvy. Tristan was joking. Xavier and I are just friends."

Before Yvette could answer, Xavier stood up impatiently. "There's no need to explain it to her."

Then, he stalked over to Yvette. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought you were drunk, so I came to take you home," Yvette answered truthfully.

Xavier scoffed. "You really didn't retain anything I told you, did you?"

Lowering his voice, he said softly so that only she could hear him, "Are you here to remind everyone that I was tricked into marrying you three years ago? Did you think they forgot?"

Yvette was stunned.

Xavier gave her a cold look. "Stop seeking attention. You're only making me hate you more."

With that, he turned away, leaving Yvette standing alone.

Yvette stared after his retreating figure, unable to snap out of her shock.

None of the other scions in the room took pity on her when they saw Xavier ignoring her.

Tristan even had no qualms in telling Daphne, who was feigning distress, "You're too kind, Daphne. You didn't need to explain anything.

"If Yvette hadn't scammed Xav, he would've married you in the first place. You wouldn't have needed to suffer abroad as well."

Despite the constant ringing in her ears, Yvette could still hear every word clearly.

She knew better than anyone that even if Xavier hadn't married her, he wouldn't have married Daphne. Daphne was a nobody with no background, after all.

Daphne was well aware of this as well. That was why she had chosen to break up with Xavier and leave the country.

How had everything turned out to be Yvette's fault?

When Yvette left Sternhow Club with her umbrella, she felt as if she had been enveloped by darkness.

Just then, a lithe figure appeared beside her.

It was Daphne.

She was decked out in fine clothes, complete with high heels. She looked smug. "It's a cold night, isn't it? So, how does it feel to get scoffed at by Xavier after you came all the way here at this time to get him?"

Yvette didn't answer her, but Daphne didn't mind her silence. She just continued speaking. "I do pity you, you know. You've never experienced true love before, have you?

"Do you know that when I was with Xav, he would cook for me himself? When I was sick, he would drop everything and stay with me.

"Has Xav ever told you he loves you? He used to say that to me all the time…"

Yvette listened to Daphne's rambling quietly, her mind going over the past three years she had been married to Xavier.

He had never so much as stepped into the kitchen during that time.

When she had gotten sick, he had never comforted her.

He had never told her he loved her either.

…

That night, Yvette couldn't fall asleep.

She had only just found out that the man she had loved for the past 12 years had once loved another with all his heart, in the spectacular way that only young people could.

At that moment, she realized that it was time for her to give him up.

She had a sleepless night.

The next morning, Xavier returned home. The glare he gave her was cold.

"How attached are you to the Lane family's money, to me, your money-making robot?" he demanded.

Yvette was stunned. She didn't know what had gotten into him so early in the morning. Instinctively, she said, "I never wanted your money."

She had only ever wanted Xavier.

Xavier laughed in disdain. "Then, why did your mother come to my office and beg me to give you a child?"

Yvette was stunned.

She stared into Xavier's eyes. It was only then that she realized that he wasn't angry about what had happened last night.

Xavier had no desire to waste his breath on her. "If you want to continue staying with me and keep your family afloat, tell your mother to behave herself!"

...

In the end, Yvette didn't need to look for Yara.

Yara found Yvette instead. She was no longer cold and distant; she gripped Yvette's hands and said gently, "Yvvy, you should ask Xavier to give you a child. He doesn't have to do it biologically. He could do it through scientific measures."

Scientific measures.

Yvette stared at Yara in shock as the latter continued, "Daphne told me that Xavier hasn't slept with you in the past three years."

That was the last straw for Yvette.

She didn't know why Xavier would tell Daphne about that.

Maybe he really loved Daphne a lot.

With that thought, she suddenly felt relieved. "Just let it go, Mom."

Yara paused. She frowned. "What?"

"I'm tired. I want to get a divorce—"

Before she could finish, Yara slapped her hard across the face.

The kind, motherly facade was gone in an instant. She jabbed a finger at Yvette and gritted out, "You have no right to ask for a divorce!

"Without the Lane family, what do you think you're going to do? Who's going to remarry a disabled divorcee like you?"

Yvette felt her body go numb.

Yara had never liked Yvette, even when the latter had been a child.

Yara had been a famous dancer. The fact that she had given birth to a daughter with hearing issues was one of her biggest regrets.

Therefore, she had sent Yvette away to be taken care of by a nanny. She had only allowed Yvette to return home when the latter started school.

People used to tell Yvette that every mother loved their child.

So, she had done everything she could to excel at everything in hopes of making Yara happy.

Despite her hearing issues, she had been at the top of her class in dance, music, and art classes. But no matter how hard she tried, Yara still didn't consider her a good daughter.

In Yara's words, Yvette wasn't "complete".

Not only physically, but also in love and familial relationships.

After Yara left, Yvette used some makeup to cover up the red print on her face. Then, she packed her bags quietly.

Even after three years of married life, all her personal belongings fit into a single suitcase.

After she finished packing up, she gathered her courage and sent Xavier a message. "Are you free tonight? I need to talk to you."

Xavier didn't reply to her.

Yvette's eyes darkened. She knew that he didn't want to reply to her messages. All she could do was wait for him to come home in the morning.

She had thought that he wouldn't come home that night, but he got back at midnight.

Yvette wasn't asleep at the time. She went up to him and took his coat and bag from him with familiarity in her actions. It was as if they were a normal married couple.

Xavier's cold voice broke the peace. "Don't send me inane texts again."

As Yvette held Xavier's coat, her hand trembled slightly. "I won't do it again," she mumbled.

Xavier didn't notice anything wrong with her tone. He went straight to his study.

Generally, if he came home, he would stay holed up in his study. He probably thought that someone who was hard of hearing would live in a silent world.

Either that, or he simply didn't care about Yvette.

That would explain why he got straight to discussing his acquisition of Snyder Group in his study as if nothing was wrong.

When Yvette brought him some soup, she heard Xavier animatedly discussing work with his employees. He was talking about the acquisition of Snyder Group, her father, James Snyder's company.

She didn't know how to feel about that.

She knew that her brother, Terrence Synder, was useless at running a business, so it was only a matter of time before Snyder Group fell.

However, she had never thought that her own husband would be the first to cause Snyder Group's downfall.

"Xav," she interrupted.

Xavier was slightly startled. Out of guilt, or maybe some other emotion, he quickly hung up the phone and closed his laptop.

Feigning ignorance, Yvette walked into the study and placed the bowl in front of him. "Have some soup, then get to bed soon. Your health is more important than work."

For some reason, Xavier felt himself relax when he heard her soft voice.

She probably hadn't heard anything.

Feeling conflicted, he stopped Yvette before she could leave. "You said you wanted to talk to me. What is it?"

Hearing this, Yvette turned back to look at him. Softly, she said, "I just wanted to ask if you're free in the morning so we can go and file for divorce."