CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER ONE

"Get divorced, I've already signed." The man's cold voice as he placed the divorce agreement in front of Lindis. Just a few days after Liam's grandfather passed away, he had proposed a divorce to the woman he had lived with for three years.

The marriage between the two was merely a contractual marriage, three years ago, his grandfather had forced him to marry Lindis. Back then, he hadn't agreed, but he couldn't defy his grandfather, so he had set up a three-year marriage contract.

Now that his grandfather had passed away, the marriage contract had expired, and this marriage had come to an end. That was Liam's perspective, which hadn't changed from the beginning to now.

"Sign quickly." Liam noticed Lindis hesitating, not signing immediately but staring intently at the divorce agreement, which was testing his patience. He took out a check and wrote some numbers on it before handing it to Lindis.

Before leaving, he said, "Take it as compensation for the emotional damage. You can't blame me for being heartless because, from the start, everything originated from you."

Sitting alone in the room, Lindis felt like she couldn't breathe. Although she knew that their marriage wouldn't go anywhere, she had been trying to nurture it for the past three years, believing that she could change Liam. But in reality, it felt like a sharp knife thrust into her heart. Over these three years, no matter how much effort Lindis put in, she received nothing but Liam's contemptuous and disdainful looks.

Lindis also knew that in her husband's heart, there was someone he loved, and she was just a stumbling block preventing their happiness. She didn't know how long she had been sitting in that room, how many times she had read this divorce document. The more she read it, the more her heart ached. "So, all my efforts have been in vain, no matter how hard I tried..."

Finally, after a struggle, Lindis had to suppress her emotions and stop herself from crying. She shakily took the pen and signed her name. Thus, a three-year unhappy marriage officially ended. After signing, Lindis didn't want to stay here for another moment. She packed her belongings, fitting everything into a not-so-large suitcase.

"Well, my belongings from these three years are not much." Lindis laughed bitterly inside, feeling the weight of her disappointment. She placed the divorce agreement on the living room table and quietly left the house. She remembered when her husband had left after giving her the divorce papers, he was indifferent and never turned back to look at her. But Lindis still cherished this house; after marriage, she had moved into Liam's house. Although three years were not long, her emotions were deep here.

"But even deep emotions have to come to an end." Lindis softly laughed and pulled her suitcase away.

Five years later,

In the small house that Lindis rented at a cheap price, she and her son had lived here for four years. Her son was also four years old, and his face increasingly resembled the man who made Lindis's emotions turbulent.

"Leo, why are you so sad? What's wrong?" Lindis gently spoke, thinking that her son must have received low grades or a teacher's reprimand at school.

"It's nothing, Mom," Leo said with a pout, sighing as he looked at the food on the table but didn't want to eat.

Lindis chuckled and persistently asked, she wanted to know what was making her son so sad. "Then why are you sighing? Did you get bad grades or a teacher's scolding, or are you being teased by your friends and feeling unhappy?"

Those were the reasons Lindis could think of that would make her son sad. But Leo's words afterward made her freeze, and the smile on her face stiffened.

"Mom, why don't I have a dad?" Leo looked up with innocent, wide eyes, a question he had wanted to ask for a long time. However, his mother was always busy with work, so he hadn't been able to ask before.

Leo could have forgotten about it, but today, the teacher assigned a project to draw their fathers. While all the other kids quickly sketched theirs, Leo struggled for a long time and ultimately turned in a blank sheet.

"This... Dad... he's too busy with work overseas... can't come back yet... he'll be home soon... you don't have to worry." Lindis didn't even realize her voice was trembling. She had long suspected that one day her son would ask such a question, and she had thought of many answers. Despite thinking of numerous responses, when faced with Leo's genuine question and the sadness in his innocent eyes, Lindis forgot all her prepared answers and replied awkwardly.

"So how long do we have to wait?" Leo asked with a downcast look.

Seeing her son like this, Lindis's heart ached, but Leo was still too young to understand what was happening. After tucking the little one into bed, Lindis headed to work.

Before leaving for work, she carefully locked the door, as she had installed cameras throughout the house to ensure her son's safety. Leaving a four-year-old child home alone was dangerous, but Lindis had no other option.

Lindis worked at a bar called XOX. Despite being a bar, it catered exclusively to the wealthy upper class. Lindis had a friend named Isa who held a high-level management position there. It was through this connection that Lindis got a job as a waitress. The pay here was exceptionally high, and, on top of her salary, there were tips from the customers, which could equal four months' salary from her previous job in just one month.

However, there was no easy money to be made. After changing into her work uniform, Lindis headed out to serve drinks to the customers. Given the nature of her job, she always had to endure the hungry gazes of the men here, and, at times, a few disrespectful customers touched her inappropriately.

Compared to her colleagues, Lindis was somewhat luckier, as she was not harassed as much by customers due to her connection with the high-ranking manager, Isa.

While serving drinks, Lindis was summoned by a manager. "Ana, please go to the second floor, room 222. Four is off today, so you're replacing her," said the manager. At the bar, all employees and managers had a designated name to use instead of their real names.

Upon hearing this, Lindis hurriedly went to the second floor and room 222. Rooms with numbers like 222, 111, or 333 were reserved for the VIP members of XOX, and they had dedicated staff to serve them.

Lindis's primary job was to deliver drinks and clean up after the customers left, but she had never served high-class customers, so she felt a bit nervous. With a tray of drinks in hand, she entered the room, bowing as was customary, and tried to avoid any unnecessary contact with the customers.

After placing the last bottle of wine, she thought she could leave, but unexpectedly, a strong hand pulled her back. The man behind her took a good look at Lindis and burst into laughter.

"Haha... isn't this Liam's ex-wife? Now so poor that you have to work as a waitress in a bar?" The man's loud laughter drew everyone's attention in the room.

"Huh? Liam's ex-wife?"

With just one sentence from the man, everyone's focus turned to her. Lindis wanted to retreat, but the man held her tightly. She could never have imagined that someone would recognize her here.

"I... I..."

A girl sneered and said, "She used to be Liam's proud wife, and now she's so lowly that she has to work here. Truly filthy."

The man holding onto Lindis wouldn't let go, despite her struggling. He laughed and said, "But I don't care, after all, you used to belong to Liam, so you must be of good quality."

Another man chimed in, laughing heartily, and directed his gaze at the man who mentioned - Liam. Liam, the name Lindis always wanted to forget, unexpectedly resonated again. Lindis grimaced, bowing her head and avoiding eye contact with anyone. She clenched her teeth, trying to suppress the discomfort and nausea caused by these vile men.

She also didn't want to see Liam, her ex-husband, in this embarrassing situation, leaving her unsure of what to do. One of the men said, "It's definitely delicious. Compared to the high-end merchandise here, it should be better. XOX has been doing well lately, recruiting individuals like this."

"Anyway, Liam is already divorced from her, so she doesn't matter anymore. So..."

Lindis heard the words of these men, making her flush with fear. She quickly looked up and, at that moment, locked eyes with her ex-husband. He stared at her coldly from head to toe, without saying a word. Lindis looked at him, hoping for some mercy, not wanting to be humiliated by these men. XOX treated its customers as gods, and for the high-paying members, even more so. XOX had a policy to protect its staff, but it was utterly useless.

Lindis didn't want to be humiliated by these men, she was so afraid that she felt like crying. She looked up at her ex-husband, hoping he would release her, but contrary to her wishes, Liam sneered and looked down at her condescendingly.

"Don't mind me. She's probably not clean anymore, doing this kind of work. If she's this filthy, that's her fate. As for me, I have standards." Liam also couldn't believe he had encountered his ex-wife here. This bar was a place he used to frequent with friends, and this room was reserved for them. When he saw his ex-wife here, the first thing he felt was filth.