Courtney slept soundly that night.The next morning, she met with staff from a local charity and donated all the clothes she had sorted through.As for her personal items and every gift, letter, or memento Jesse had ever given her, she took them directly to the crematorium. She handed the staff a generous sum of money and had everything burned.Meanwhile, Mia's text messages arrived as expected."This place is stunning! Thank you, Courtney. If it weren't for you, I'd never have met Jesse. Without him, I couldn't have dreamed of vacationing in such a luxurious place!"Mia proceeded to flood Courtney's phone with photos, and all of them were of Jesse. He applied sunscreen on Mia's shoulders, grilled lobsters for her, and held her close as he kissed her.Courtney didn't bother opening the photos. She shut off her phone and focused on making final preparations to leave.On the second day after Jesse's departure, Courtney went to the bank. She withdrew every cent from her accounts, c
Jesse arrived back in the country the afternoon before his birthday. As promised, he was supposed to spend it with Courtney.The airport speakers echoed a nagging announcement."Passenger Nessa Hill, please proceed to your boarding gate immediately."Nessa.The name sounded oddly familiar, and Jesse felt something was off. It felt as though a part of his heart was missing, and an indescribable sense of emptiness swept over him.His gaze drifted to the boarding gates, where he spotted a familiar figure hurrying toward one.Jesse squinted, while his heart skipped a beat as he instinctively moved to follow. However, before he could take another step, Mia's voice pulled him back.She approached with a steaming cup of drink and said coquettishly, "Jesse, I bought your favorite mocha! Where are you headed?""Nowhere."Mia noticed his strange expression and asked worriedly, "Are you feeling okay?"She reached out to touch his forehead, but he leaned back and replied curtly, "I'm fin
With just a few succinct sentences, Courtney had ended their relationship.Jesse gripped the letter tightly, reading it over and over until the edges crumpled under the pressure of his hands. Finally, he jumped to his feet and began shouting her name as he searched through the villa."Babe! Stop playing games! I… I can explain!"He believed Courtney was just trying to scare him as a punishment. Yet, after combing through every room, there was no trace of her.The walk-in closet still held her shoes and bags, and even the one she used most often was hanging behind the door.Jesse didn't believe someone determined to leave would abandon all their belongings. He rushed to the backyard, but there was no sign of her there either.Desperate, he sprinted to the rooftop, thinking perhaps she was waiting for him in the sunroom. However, it was empty, save for the swing they had set up together.Jesse slumped onto the swing, lightly pushing himself back and forth with the tip of his shoe.
The customer service representative continued with a string of formalities, but Jesse didn't hear a single word. He interrupted urgently, "Can you help me contact her?"The answer was, of course, a firm no.Jesse ended the call and downloaded social media apps he vaguely remembered seeing on Courtney's phone. She had a habit of sharing her photography online with like-minded individuals and fans.In the early days of their relationship, he'd even used his own account to like and comment on her posts. But at some point, everything changed.Courtney's online habits were old-fashioned. Her usernames across various platforms were the same, called "Sunny Rain". Her profile pictures were all her own photographs.However, when Jesse entered her username into the search bar, every result led to unrelated users with the same name, or simply showed "User Not Found".Courtney hadn't just closed her bank account; she had also deactivated her social media accounts.Jesse felt a wave of despa
Afterward, Courtney had logged into her account settings and requested deactivation through customer support, burying a past she had once cherished deeply.There wasn't a trace of hesitation in her actions.Jesse suddenly felt an unbearable pain in his chest. If it hurt him this much, he couldn't imagine how she must have felt at the time.But why those two specific times—six months ago and last night?Those dates felt significant somehow, and he sat on the swing until dusk with his face buried in his hands, before it hit him. A bitter laugh escaped his lips.Six months ago was when Jesse and Mia had started seeing each other. Courtney must have known. She'd given him countless chances afterward, yet he had let every one of them slip through his fingers.This time, she was truly gone for good.That night, Jesse didn't go anywhere. He ignored Mia's calls and flirtatious messages, let alone the texts from his business associates and so-called friends. He couldn't bring himself to
Jesse didn't even glance at the divorce agreement. He was busy scanning the room for any sign of Courtney.The office was small, though. There was nowhere for her to hide.Jesse stared at Ethan and said, "I'm not going to discuss this with you. Whatever my wife intends to do, she should at least talk to me in person if she's serious about this. Bring her out!"Ethan shrugged indifferently. "Mr. Hawthorn, Ms. Lloyd has entrusted me with all matters regarding your divorce. Any discussions will be with me. And as far as your marriage goes, you're the one at fault."He continued, "Ms. Lloyd, however, isn't interested in assigning blame. Out of respect for your past relationship, she's willing to part ways peacefully. As for the marital assets, she has instructed us to donate her share to charity. She also requests that you not contact her again."Ethan delivered Courtney's message, and Jesse blinked incredulously."That's it? She didn't say anything else to me?"Ethan thought about
Jesse had thought he'd see Courtney right away. But when he rushed to the location provided by the police, he found himself in a barren field. There were no hiding places in sight.For a moment, images from grim news stories flashed through his mind, and his legs nearly gave out.Fortunately, a police officer approached him and said, "Mr. Hawthorn, I'm sorry, but we only found this phone nearby. It appears to have been discarded here, and we haven't discovered any other clues. The phone is powered off. Can you confirm if it belongs to your wife?"Once again, the trail had gone cold. But for Jesse, no news meant good news.Having endured emotional whiplash within a single day, Jesse was teetering on the edge of blacking out.It wasn't until the officer repeated the question that he snapped back to the present,His voice was hoarse as he confirmed, "Yes, this is her phone."When the screen lit up, Jesse was so agitated that he nearly wept.Though Courtney had discarded her phone,
Mia's messages weren't just provocative. They were outright disrespectful, aimed at humiliating Courtney as if Mia had somehow predicted she wouldn't live to reach this point in her life.Courtney never replied to any of Mia's texts. Eventually, she didn't even bother opening them.But Jesse was so furious he shook all over when imagining how Courtney must have felt when she first saw those messages. His nails might've dug into his palms if he wasn't holding his phone.After returning the phone to the police officer, he silently drove away from the desolate area. On the road, he called Mia. "I don't care where you are. Get to my house. Now."The idea of going to her place made him feel sick, especially when he thought about the things they'd done there in the past.Mia feigned surprise and said softly, "Really? You're inviting me over? Is… Courtney not home?"She had no idea what had happened between them, but the thought of Courtney leaving the villa she'd long coveted filled Mi
Jesse was dazed for a moment, but he wasn't despairing just yet. He still had a considerable amount of savings, which was pretty much a small fortune for normal people. It was enough to fund his continuous search for Courtney.He kept his phone on at all times, just in case he received any news about her.Soon, the money ran out.Jesse never managed to find Courtney. Instead, he received countless calls from scammers, all claiming to have seen her and refusing to tell him anything until he paid them.He agreed to pay every single time, no matter how high the price was.Money hemorrhaged out of his bank account endlessly until one day, while transferring money, he received a notification for insufficient balance.After that, even the scammers stopped bothering him. He kept vigil in the empty tomb that was his villa, writing sheaves upon sheaves of apology letters. A month later, he collapsed from exhaustion and was found and rushed to the hospital by a servant who had come to resi
Grace could tell that Jesse had lost his mind. She burst into tears. "What are we going to do now? Richard, do something. Don't just stand there!"Richard grabbed Jesse firmly. "You need to snap out of it!"He wanted to drag Jesse out of the room and get the servants to throw out the jewelry box so that Jesse would be forced to face reality, but to his surprise, Jesse remained strong even though he hadn't eaten for days."No! Nobody is allowed to touch our wedding ring!"Jesse went into a frenzy, driving everyone out of the room. During the scuffle, his sleeve was pushed up, revealing numerous scars of varying ages—all self-inflicted.Grace saw the scars and cried even louder. "Oh my god, he's really gone mad, hasn't he? Should we think of a way to convince Courtney to come back and see him?""He was the one who cheated on Courtney. She left so resolutely—there's no way she would come back," Richard said. He was heartbroken and helpless, but he couldn't just stand by and watch Je
Jesse couldn't accept that Courtney might no longer even harbor hatred for him. He would rather fall out with the private investigator who had the best chance of finding her.Just as he was clutching his head, immersed in his despair, another phone call came through.Thinking that the private investigator had regretted their earlier quarrel, Jesse picked up and said impatiently, "I told you, I'll pay you what I owe… Oh, it's you. Why are you calling me? I thought I told you not to bother me with anything related to Mia."It was Max, who was calling from back home where he had been tasked to keep an eye on Mia.Max sounded hesitant. "Mr. Hawthorn, Mia had a massive hemorrhage during the abortion procedure. Her situation is critical now. Should we save her?"Coldly, Jesse said, "How much did she pay you?"Max thought that he had misheard. Cautiously, he asked, "Sorry, Mr. Hawthorn, I don't think I got that."Jesse said icily, "Alright, I know you won't admit it. Tell her to stop p
Mia was taken away by Jesse's bodyguards and shoved into a car. Desperately, she pounded on the window, but no one came to save her. She kept up with the struggle until one of the bodyguards pressed an ether-soaked rag over her face.The car sped off to the city slums under cover of night.Jesse sat on the couch alone for a long time, pouring himself drink after drink until he couldn't even taste the alcohol anymore. Still, the mind that he'd hoped to numb only grew more painfully awake.So what if he made Mia pay for what she had done?Courtney probably hated him more than she hated Mia.One of his bodyguards, Max Fleming, knocked on the door for a long time, but Jesse remained motionless. He entered the living room cautiously and went up to Jesse to report, "Mr. Hawthorn, the police just called. There's been a new development on the case.""Have they found Courtney?" Jesse looked haggard. His bloodshot eyes made him look completely different.Max was shocked by his appearance,
Mia was rendered speechless. She couldn't even continue to stammer as mocking voices surrounded her. She tried to leave, but an older woman blocked her and slapped her hard across the face."I despise women like you who go around seducing other people's husbands!" she said angrily. "My ex-husband was a jerk, but you're no better!"Mia was stunned by the slap. With tears in her eyes, she tried to return the slap. "How dare you hit me!"The woman began tussling with her. She was stronger than Mia, so she quickly gained the upper hand, overpowering Mia easily. Mia quickly broke down and screamed at the crowd, "Please, help me! I'll sleep with anyone who helps me!"Trading her body for what she wanted had become second nature to her.A few lecherous men in the crowd seemed tempted, but someone sneered coldly, "She's so young and already spouting this nonsense. Who knows if she has some kind of STD? You guys sure have no standards."The remark scared off the perverts who had been eyei
Jesse did not believe Mia's false promises at all. Unwilling to argue with her any longer, he took out Courtney's phone, turned up the brightness, and thrust it in her face, asking, "You sent her these messages, didn't you? The evidence is all here. What do you have to say for yourself?"In truth, Jesse felt nauseated just being in Mia's presence. But Courtney was gone now. He needed to get to the bottom of this to get closure.Mia's first instinct was to snatch the phone out of Jesse's grasp and destroy the evidence, but Jesse did not even let her touch the phone. He held it tightly in his palm, drawing back as Mia lunged.The phone was the only thing he had left of Courtney."I… I actually…" Mia turned pale when her tactic failed. She wanted to try to talk her way out of it, but she couldn't even form a complete sentence.She had sent Courtney all those indecent messages and photos. Even though she'd deleted them on her side, they still existed on Courtney's phone.Mia regrette
Mia was only wearing the sexy lingerie that she'd put on before coming here. The revealing garments exposed her skin to the cold air, leaving barely anything to the imagination.Jesse's expression was dark. Usually, he paid little attention to Mia; this was the first time that he had treated her with such blatant disdain.Mia's heart sank. She knew that she'd made a grave mistake this time.But what went wrong? She'd always acted like this in front of him. Was it because she had moved the things in the living room?Then again, if it were Courtney who had brought up the divorce first, it made sense that Jesse was angry, given his personality. After all, proud men like him never liked it when women abandoned them.Mia lifted her hand to cover her chest, but she did not feel any shame or fear. Instead, she leaned into Jesse's arms and said coquettishly, "Aw, Mr. Hawthorn, I'm sorry. I just wanted to help clean up your room…"As she spoke, she reached for his collar, caressing his ch
Mia's messages weren't just provocative. They were outright disrespectful, aimed at humiliating Courtney as if Mia had somehow predicted she wouldn't live to reach this point in her life.Courtney never replied to any of Mia's texts. Eventually, she didn't even bother opening them.But Jesse was so furious he shook all over when imagining how Courtney must have felt when she first saw those messages. His nails might've dug into his palms if he wasn't holding his phone.After returning the phone to the police officer, he silently drove away from the desolate area. On the road, he called Mia. "I don't care where you are. Get to my house. Now."The idea of going to her place made him feel sick, especially when he thought about the things they'd done there in the past.Mia feigned surprise and said softly, "Really? You're inviting me over? Is… Courtney not home?"She had no idea what had happened between them, but the thought of Courtney leaving the villa she'd long coveted filled Mi
Jesse had thought he'd see Courtney right away. But when he rushed to the location provided by the police, he found himself in a barren field. There were no hiding places in sight.For a moment, images from grim news stories flashed through his mind, and his legs nearly gave out.Fortunately, a police officer approached him and said, "Mr. Hawthorn, I'm sorry, but we only found this phone nearby. It appears to have been discarded here, and we haven't discovered any other clues. The phone is powered off. Can you confirm if it belongs to your wife?"Once again, the trail had gone cold. But for Jesse, no news meant good news.Having endured emotional whiplash within a single day, Jesse was teetering on the edge of blacking out.It wasn't until the officer repeated the question that he snapped back to the present,His voice was hoarse as he confirmed, "Yes, this is her phone."When the screen lit up, Jesse was so agitated that he nearly wept.Though Courtney had discarded her phone,