Chapter 1
“How dare Aria Sinclair mention divorce?”
“Hah, she’s just talking big. Would she really leave? Her paralyzed brother, her half-dead mother, which one of them could survive without the Winters’ money?”
“Exactly. Look at how submissive she is to Caleb. That maid outfit really suits her.”
“Let’s place bets! I’ll put down a million that she’s just putting on a show today. In the end, she’ll obediently stay.”
“I’m in. It’s a sure win.”
I clenched the hem of my maid outfit, looking towards Caleb.
The girl beside him was Mia Sullivan, a new model his company had just signed. She was now giggling as she poured more wine into his glass.
Caleb held his wine glass, looking at me with a mocking smile.
“Look at that. The person we Winters raised can’t even serve properly now?”
“Who was it that knelt and begged us Winters to take her in back then? What’s this? After being Mrs. Winters for a few years, you’ve gotten too proud to serve?”
Mia giggled and stretched her foot towards me. “Mr. Winters, my feet are so sore. Make her rub them for me?”
“You heard her,” Caleb tapped my calf with the tip of his shoe. “Get to it.”
He always did this, pushing me into the mud in front of everyone, watching me struggle.
I crouched down, took off her shoe, and started massaging, one press at a time.
His friends burst into raucous laughter, their faces full of schadenfreude.
Just when everyone was waiting to see me swallow my pride as I had for the past seven years, I put Mia’s shoe back on, slowly stood up, and met his gaze.
“Caleb Winters, let’s get a divorce.”
The room fell silent for a few seconds, then erupted into even more unrestrained mockery.
Caleb acted as if he’d heard something unbelievable. The casual smile on his face vanished completely.
He shook off Mia and strode over to me in one step, his large hand violently gripping my neck.
“Say that again?” His voice was low and vicious.
“Aria Sinclair, have you forgotten how you begged like a dog at my family’s doorstep, asking my mother to take you in?”
“You want a divorce? Fine!”
The force on my neck suddenly increased, forcing me to look up at him.
“Do you believe I’ll cut off your brother’s medical expenses right now? Let him die along with your half-dead mother!”
“What you owe our Winters family, you can’t repay even in your next life!”
Tears finally fell uncontrollably.
That snowy winter night seven years ago floated before my eyes once again.
My father was driving us to pay New Year’s visits when he swerved to avoid a child who suddenly ran into the road. The car lost control and crashed into an oncoming vehicle.
In that car sat Caleb Winters’ father.
The accident scene was horrific. My father died on the spot, my mother became a vegetable, and my brother suffered a severe spinal injury, condemning him to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
And Caleb Winters’ father couldn’t be saved either.
I knelt for a long, long time outside the Winters’ mansion. Snow and blood from my forehead mixed together as I kept kowtowing, begging Mrs. Winters to save my mother and brother who were still in the hospital.
I was willing to do anything, to atone for the Winters family for a lifetime.
Mrs. Winters finally nodded.
She said, “Stay. From now on, take good care of Caleb.”
I moved into the servants’ quarters of the Winters house, serving wholeheartedly.
One night, Caleb, reeking of alcohol, barged into my room. The smell of liquor and hatred hit me:
“Marry me! You have to live under my nose for the rest of your life, watching how I suffer because of your family! That’s how you atone!”
To atone, I agreed.
To repay Mrs. Winters’ kindness, I endured Caleb for seven whole years.
But Mrs. Winters passed away from heart disease six months ago.
I could no longer find a reason to endure.
This kind of life, I didn’t want to suffer through for even one more day.
Just as I was about to pass out from being choked, I seemed to hear a vague sentence float by.
“Divorce him. I’ll take care of you.”
It must be some bored person playing a prank on me.
My vision was blurring, and I had no strength to see clearly.