Chapter 1
In all the years Autumn Gray had been married to Damien Caldwell, divorce had never crossed her mind.
And that was because she loved Damien to the moon and back. She loved him so much that she would even die for him.
But now, his first love was back.
…
At the time, Autumn was in the hospital.
The doctor flatly said, “Ms. Gray, the miscarriage caused lasting damage. Your chances of getting pregnant again in the future are very low. Please be mentally prepared.”
Autumn’s mind went blank.
She had been trying to conceive for three grueling years and only got pregnant two months ago.
That afternoon, a car came swerving out of nowhere, causing her to stumble and fall.
The doctor frowned at her. “Ms. Gray?”
“…Oh, I understand. Thank you, doctor.”
Not one to show weakness in front of others, Autumn blinked away her tears before forcing herself to stand up and leave.
The nurses behind her could be heard gossiping, “How come her husband didn’t show up for something this serious?”
“Don’t get me started. She was sobbing so hard after the dilation and curettage surgery while begging her husband on the phone to come to the hospital, but he never came.”
“Geez, he’s not even trying to hide how much he doesn’t care! Why would anyone still not get a divorce at this point?”
Autumn was now too far to hear the rest of it.
As a matter of fact, Damien hadn’t just refused to come. On the phone, he even said, “So what if the baby’s gone? Why would you cry about it? I’m busy. Don’t bother me again!”
After that, Autumn called him several more times, and of course, he didn’t answer any of her calls.
This cold act of his had been consistent for the past three years.
In all honesty, she had already gotten used to it.
This started three years ago. Autumn had saved Hank Caldwell’s life by chance.
Hank, Damien’s grandfather, took a liking to her and arranged their marriage. If he hadn’t done so, she’d never have had the chance to become Mrs. Caldwell with her social standing.
As such, Damien had been unwilling to marry her from the start.
The only reason she kept trying to reach him that day was that she had hoped that he might at least care for the sake of their unborn child.
But it was now clear that she shouldn’t have hoped for anything.
Pulling herself together, Autumn stepped outside to call for a cab home. Just as she pulled out her phone, a new message popped up.
It was from Damien’s close friend, Barry Walters. He had sent her a video.
The video showed a massive bouquet of roses. There were at least 999 individual roses, so many that they barely fit in the frame.
The camera then panned to the left, revealing Damien. Beside him stood a woman, Emilia Mason.
Autumn’s pupils shrank abruptly, her fists clenching.
Someone in the video shouted in a teasing voice, “Emilia, after Damien found out you’d be back today, he planned this whole party to welcome you! He really went all out!”
“Aren’t you going to give him a hug? You should hurry up and thank him!”
“Forget the hug—just go straight for a kiss! It’s not like you guys haven’t kissed before! I still haven’t deleted that three-minute-long passionate kiss video!”
Emilia shook her head. “That’s not really appropriate now…”
She hadn’t even finished speaking when Damien pulled her into a gentle embrace. “Welcome back, Emilia.”
His tone and gesture were so gentle and so natural.
The crowd began squealing in delight. “See? Damien doesn’t mind at all!”
“You guys should kiss!”
At that point, the video abruptly ended because the message had been recalled.
“Sorry, I sent it by mistake.”
The video had been recalled almost instantly. Barry must have thought she hadn’t seen it, so there wasn’t any further explanation.
Autumn stared at the chat window for a long time, her lips slowly curling into a smirk as she stared.
So, this was the important thing Damien mentioned…
For three whole years, she’d tried to win him over, but Damien never loved her back. What she got instead was watching him reunite with the woman he’d always loved.
She realized then that Damien was even less likely to care about her now.
It was time to wake up from her selfish dream.
Once Autumn got back home, she began packing her things.
Over the years of staying there, she had bought very few things because of her minimalist lifestyle and work. Aside from essentials like clothes and documents, there was nothing else she needed to take.
A single 26-inch suitcase was enough to fit everything, and she was done packing in less than 30 minutes.
Then she waited for Damien to come home.
It wasn’t until 2:00 am that the front door finally opened.
As Damien walked past the living room, he locked eyes with Autumn.
Damien wasn’t surprised to see her there.
Autumn would always wait up for him just like this whenever he had business dinners and social events.
“You just had surgery. Aren’t you going to rest?” Damien asked indifferently, his tone devoid of concern.
“I was waiting for you.”
From the moment he walked in, Autumn had been staring at his lips.
The corners of his perfectly shaped lips were rather chapped.
On his white shirt collar were faint traces of lipstick. Even his neck had some.
So, he did kiss her—maybe even did more than that.
Autumn felt her heart ache.
In their three years of marriage, Damien had only touched her a handful of times. And that only happened whenever he was pressured by his elders to have children.
He never initiated a kiss and would always just jump straight into it. There was never any care or tenderness.
It was torture for Autumn every single time, and when she wanted a hug afterward, he would turn away and head straight to the bathroom.
All she ever got was the cold back of his retreating figure.
Damien spotted the suitcase by her side. Understanding what might have happened, he asked, “You saw Barry’s video?”
“Yeah, I did.” Now that he was close, Autumn could smell the alcohol on him—and the nauseating scent of perfume.
“Let’s get a divor—”
Before she could finish, Damien cut in casually, “Since you already know, let’s get divorced. You knew what you were getting into from the start. If Emilia hadn’t gone abroad, I’d never have married you.”
At this point, there was nothing for Autumn to disagree with. “Alright.”
“It’s pretty late now. Get some rest for today, and you can move out tomorrow—”
“No need. I’ve already signed the divorce papers.” Autumn pointed to the coffee table.
Damien had handed her those divorce papers on their wedding night. It wasn’t until today that Autumn had finally signed them.
Damien was caught off guard this time.
He knitted his brows, trying to gauge if she was serious.
“I knew you’d be drinking, so I made some soup to help with your hangover. It’s in the kitchen,” Autumn added after a pause.
She made it out of habit. In order to win his heart before this, she had handled every little thing for him.
It hadn’t been easy going from someone who could barely cook to a master chef.
Every meal she made for Damien, from grocery shopping to serving, took her hours.
Her fingers bore countless scars from cuts and burns.
Nonetheless, Damien was forever picky. No matter how good the food was, he never said it was, even when his face clearly showed he was enjoying it.
Damien was well aware that a single compliment from him would make her happy for days, yet he simply didn’t want her to have that satisfaction.
“I’m going to go now.” They were husband and wife for three years, and now that it was time to part ways, she had nothing left to say to him anymore.
Damien frowned. “Stay for tonight.”
“No, thanks.” With her suitcase in tow, Autumn turned and walked out the door.
Damien’s face darkened—he didn’t like it when she wouldn’t do as told.
The front door closed.
Right then, Barry called. “Damien, are you home yet? Did you ask Autumn if she saw the video? Sorry about that. I really didn’t mean to do it. But even if she did see it, it should be fine, right? You two fight all the time anyway—”
Damien cut him off, stating, “She’s divorcing me.”
“What? Divorce?” Barry was stunned, unable to believe his ears. “Over that video? No way. That’s just not possible. If she is really divorcing you, I’ll eat my hat!”
“I’m the one who suggested it,” Damien informed.
Barry went silent for a while.
Damien’s request for a divorce had always been pointless. After all, Autumn was known to be clingy and was impossible to get rid of.
“Didn’t you ask for a divorce less than a month ago? This topic comes back every month like clockwork.”
Barry then teased, “Last time I bet she’d come back in half a day—and I was right. I’m going to bet that she’d be back in one day. If I win again, you owe me another meal!”
Damien glanced at the tightly closed door. He then heard a car engine rumble outside.
Autumn seemed pretty determined that day.
Nevertheless, Damien’s sharp eyes showed no concern. “It won’t take that long. She’ll be back by morning.”
