Chapter 1

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a ledger slammed into my face.

Julian Vance used the tip of his leather shoe to nudge the ledger open.

“See that clearly?” His voice was chilling, like ice. “Every single penny you’ve spent since the day you married into the Vance family is right here.”

The ledger was filled with his scrawled, almost aggressive handwriting, detailing every one of my expenses.

From an extra slice of toast at breakfast to my mother’s emergency hospital bills.

Every detail was meticulously recorded, down to the last cent.

My fingers instinctively curled, staring blankly at the ledger as tears streamed down my face, uncontrolled.

I never imagined Julian would go to such lengths.

“A total of thirteen million two hundred thousand.” He bent down, his warm breath brushing my ear. “I’ll round it down for you, Anya. With that much money, you’d have to prostitute yourself from now until they’re defiling your corpse, wouldn’t you?”

I snapped my head up, my gaze locking onto the icy disdain in Julian’s eyes.

The man who once seemed like my closest confidant was now spewing words that bordered on pure venom.

A bitter ache filled my throat. I glanced at Celeste Hayes, who was clinging to Julian’s arm, and let out a self-deprecating laugh.

“If I recall correctly, Miss Hayes, the necklace around your neck is worth ten million alone, isn’t it?”

The esteemed Mrs. Vance, after five years, had spent less than a single piece of jewelry on his trophy girlfriend.

A sharp shove sent me sprawling to the ground.

Celeste irritably rubbed her wrist, scoffing, “You old hag, who do you think you are, daring to compare yourself to me?”

She whined, stretching her palm out to Julian, “This old hag is so thick-skinned, she actually hurt my hand~”

Julian didn’t spare me a glance. Instead, he dotingly blew on Celeste’s palm.

“Next time, don’t lay a hand on her yourself. It breaks my heart.”

A wave of dizziness washed over me. I collapsed onto the floor, clutching my face as blood gushed from my nose.

“Ugh!” Celeste shrieked, pulling up her skirt. “You old hag, how disgusting! Your nosebleed got on my shoe!”

Seeing the crimson blood on the floor, a flicker of panic crossed Julian’s eyes, but it quickly turned to disgust when he spotted the divorce papers lying nearby.

“Anya Reed, what trick are you trying to pull now?”

That cold, hateful gaze reminded me of our wedding day, when Julian had gripped my throat, pinning me against the champagne tower, his face contorted with dark fury:

“Anya Reed, your mother killed mine. And you still think you can marry me? You wicked woman, I’ll strangle you right now!”

That day, he didn’t strangle me. But every day since had been a living hell.

I said nothing, just wiped away the blood, and shakily got to my feet, intending to leave.

But Celeste yanked me back by my hair.

“You stained my shoe, old hag. You have to lick it clean.”

I stumbled back down to the floor, but my eyes burned with stubborn defiance.

Lick a mistress’s shoe? Never!

I grabbed the table, trying to stand, but Julian kicked me hard in the back of my knee.

“You want a divorce, don’t you? If she tells you to lick it, you lick it.”

My entire body stiffened. I bit down hard on my lower lip, the metallic taste of blood flooding my mouth.

Divorce… once I’m divorced, I’ll be free.

My last shred of dignity shattered, I could only humiliate myself, extending my tongue.

Again and again, I licked Celeste Hayes’s high heel until it gleamed.

Celeste wrapped her arms around Julian, pouting, “Julian, darling, since this old hag is so good at licking shoes, why don’t we send her to Nightfall Bar to lick all the customers’ shoes?”

“I still haven’t settled the score with her for hurting me~”

I clenched my fists, staring at Julian’s face in disbelief.

We weren’t divorced yet. I was still officially Mrs. Vance. Was he really not going to spare me even a shred of dignity?

Julian’s gaze lingered on me, then he lifted his foot and deliberately ground it into the divorce papers.

“Anya Reed, you deserve a lesson.”