Chapter 1

It had been three years of marriage.

Justine Thorpe finally found her husband, Ash Vanderbilt, in the OB-GYN clinic of a hospital. He hadn't shown up for three months.

However, he was not alone. Another woman—his mistress—was with him.

She bore more than a passing resemblance to Justine. Her name was Jenny Thorpe, and she had been living as Justine's replacement in the Thorpe family for 16 years.

Justine had suspected her husband of having an affair for at least six months, but she never imagined it would be with Jenny. Not that the revelation was entirely surprising, now that she thought about it.

Everyone in Sol's upper class knew that Ash's true love had always been his childhood friend.

Justine was the devil who had gotten in the way.

Seeing Ash and Jenny together somehow relieved Justine. The mystery was finally solved.

She watched them enter the elevator. Ash's delicate eyelashes were lowered as he spoke softly to his companion. Justine had never seen him this gentle before.

Jenny was grazing her slightly protruding belly, nodding bashfully.

Justine and Jenny closely resembled each other, yet Justine could never mimic the seductive femininity that Jenny exuded.

Suddenly, Jenny lifted her head and met Justine's gaze before ducking into Ash's arms as if frightened.

"Ashie!" she mumbled.

Just as always, Jenny was putting on a show again.

Ash looked up with a glare. His eyes met Justine's, and the gentleness on his face dissipated, replaced by that all-too-familiar apathy and annoyance.

Justine and Ash were married only because their parents had wanted them to be. She had lost her parents when she was three, though, and while she had been missing, Jenny had come out of nowhere and stolen Justine's identity.

By the time Justine was finally found. Ash's mind had already been set—he only cared for his "childhood friend".

The seniors in the family had had to force him to take Justine's hand.

Justine did not mind. The only thing she loved about Ash was his looks, but even that was beginning to wear thin. He seemed more and more like a stranger to her.

-

The elevator door shut.

Justine thought their encounter was dramatic. Just imagine how much of a soap opera episode it would be like if she ran at Ash, slapped him, and then confronted Jenny!

"Jean! When did you get here? I was just about to grab this medicine for you!"

Justine turned to meet Iris Carr, her manager. She smiled and signed, "An expecting mother needed help."

Iris studied her heart-stopping beauty and felt a pang in her heart. Justine was so gorgeous, kind, gentle, and an extraordinary dancer. She was a mute who outshone so many people Iris had known. She had even been the prima ballerina of a well-known ballet company, until…

"Here. Your painkillers," Iris said, her eyes reddening slightly as she choked back a sob. "How could you just… injure your spine? You finally managed to become the prima ballerina of the Academie Royale! If you could just finish this tour, you could have..."

Becoming the prima ballerina of the Academie Royale ballet company was the dream of countless dancers worldwide. And Justine had been considered after just one interview—it was incredible!

The tragedy weighed heavily on Iris.

Justine had always been silent about her family matters, leading Iris to list her as orphaned on her resume, stating she had grown up in an orphanage. Over time, Iris had even come to believe it herself.

The more she thought about it, the sadder she became. How could God be so unfair?

Justine smiled faintly, seemingly unaware of the sympathy in Iris' face, as she received the painkillers.

A year ago, Ash's uncle had hired a hitman on his life. Justine had nearly died trying to save him, resulting in her spinal injury.

Ash had found the best doctors money could buy and purchased expensive medical equipment for her. The medical team later concluded that her treatment was complete.

Unfortunately, two months later, her old injury was aggravated while she was preparing for the tour.

After another examination, Justine's career was essentially over. While the spinal injury wouldn't affect her daily life, she could no longer dance.

Justine had informed Ash immediately, but he had yet to respond. Maybe he never cared. She had cried her heart out after returning from the hospital, but ultimately, she accepted her fate.

This was not the end of the world. After some reflection, Justine decided to continue her tour. She would get treatment alongside it, determined to end her career as a ballet dancer on a high note.

This evening's performance would be her last. However, that morning, she woke up to find her painkiller supply depleted.

Justine squeezed the paper bag, her eyes feeling dry. It was as if she were a character in a soap opera. Meeting Ash and Jenny felt like a cruel joke.

The pain in her spine flared slightly.

Regret washed over her. If only she had never tried to save Ash. He would have died right there—as the perfect man in her dreams.

Instead, he survived long enough to become a villain, insulting the handsome face Justine once adored.

She tucked the painkillers into her pocket and took out her phone. Her long lashes veiled the coldness in her eyes as she looked down at the screen.

She then selected Ash's number, typed a message, and sent it immediately.

-

"Why was she in the OB-GYN, Ashie?"

At the basement parking lot, Jenny subconsciously shielded her belly and added, "Could she be, you know…"

"That's impossible," Ash replied firmly.

Jenny looked away to hide her surprised glee. So Justine had never managed to sleep with him in all three years of marriage?

Well, it wasn't that surprising. Everyone in Sol knew that, as a boy, Ash had almost been strangled to death by his mute and mentally ill mother.

Traumatized, Ash harbored hatred for his birth mother—and for people who were mute like her.

Thus, when his maternal grandparents forced him to marry Justine, it felt like a cruel joke aimed at Ash.

There was no way he would ever sleep with her.

Poor Justine! A laughingstock, was she not? So what if she was beautiful? What if she could perform some snobby, pretentious dance? Ash had still abandoned her.

How could she ever compete with Jenny for Ash's heart?

Jenny suppressed her glee and pretended to look sad.

"Oh, Ashie… I bet the one person Justine hates the most is me. You know what happened. She almost killed me when she returned to the Thorpes. And now she saw us at the OB-GYN," she said. "I should explain myself to her once I get back. I don't want her to throw another fit—"

"She won't," Ash interjected.

Justine was his simp, always obeying his wishes. For years, there had been fabricated scandals circulating online about celebrities sleeping with him, yet Justine had never questioned him about any of it.

She trusted him—like a machine programmed to smile and serve him.

"Don't overthink it, Jenny. She won't hurt you," he added. "I'll have someone escort you home safely."

Jenny still looked like she was about to cry. She was on the verge of getting into Ash's car when she suddenly caught sight of Justine in the parking lot.

Ash had assured her that everything would be fine, but what made him so certain? Justine had already tried to kill her once!

Jenny could never forget the day Justine chased her with a kitchen knife like a rabid bitch. It was a true display of Justine's character.

Did she really believe she could charm Ash into loving her by hiding her true nature? Did she think she could be Mrs. Vanderbilt forever?

It was almost laughable.

"Juju!" Jenny called out cheerfully.

Justine had always hated that nickname and would go ballistic over it. What if she reacted that way again this time?

Ash's expression darkened as he shot a brief glance at Justine, immediately noticing how thin she had become.

Justine turned to them and nodded politely as if she had no idea who they were. She signed to the woman beside her, entered her ballet company's car, and drove away.

Jenny gritted her teeth. She did not take the bait!

She squeezed out some crocodile tears and grabbed Ash's sleeve.

"Ashie, Ashie! Did you see that? She didn't even acknowledge us! This is all my fault! I shouldn't have come to you for help even if I have no one else to turn to… Because we were engaged before, so this had to look really bad…

"Oh no, I'm the one who ruined your marriage! I should have just stayed with those guys and died there!" she sobbed.

Ash ignored her. He was fixated on what Justine had signed: "I don't know them. They mistook me for someone else."

"Ashie, you gotta chase after her!" Jenny cried out as though she cared about preserving Ash and Justine's relationship.

Ash was unfazed. He absent-mindedly glanced at the sleeve Jenny was grabbing and realized that Justine had bought this coat for him. She had won a ballet competition that day and used the prize money to purchase it, presenting it almost like a tribute.

Ash yanked the sleeve away from Jenny. "I've told you. She won't mind."

At that moment, his phone vibrated.

Ash scanned the screen, and his eyes suddenly grew bitterly cold as the words leaped into view: [I want a divorce.]