Chapter 5

"Layla! You're not allowed to leave!"

I pulled open the car door. William tried to stop me, but Matthew grabbed him and held him back. "William, stop making a scene and let her go!"

"Matthew, let go of me. I can't let Layla leave!"

Before, when I was naive and blinded by love, whenever I saw William acting so desperately like this, I thought he was madly in love with me.

But now, after everything I had been through, looking back, I finally understood.

Sometimes what I thought was love was just a man's pathetic need for control.

I smiled bitterly at myself, not wanting to look at that face that disappointed me so deeply anymore. I turned and got in the car.

"Layla! You're not allowed to leave!"

"William! That's enough. She's a living person, not an object. You have no right to control her freedom!"

"Matthew, you don't understand anything! If I let Layla leave today, she'll never come back!"

So, he knew everything, yet he still did it anyway.

Men really were creatures we couldn't trust.

I stepped on the gas and stopped the car in front of William.

The window slowly rolled down. I pointed at the bright red mark on his shirt collar and said coldly, "William, have you been acting for so long that you've even fooled yourself?"

"Don't pretend to be some devoted lover in front of me. When you slept with Olivia, did you ever think about me?"

William and Matthew's eyes followed my finger and finally noticed that bright red lipstick mark.

For a moment, I saw embarrassment on their faces, and my heart turned cold.

"Layla, let me explain. It's not what you think. Olivia and I..."

Perhaps my gaze was too penetrating, making William choke on his words, unable to continue.

Or maybe he was holding back because Matthew was there.

Whatever it was, it didn't matter to me anymore.

My heart was completely calm, without a ripple. I said flatly, "William, let's get divorced."

As the words fell, William's body clearly swayed, and he showed an expression of disbelief.

I looked straight ahead, pressed the window button, started the car, and shut out all his helpless rage outside the window.

"Layla! Don't even think about leaving me!"

"Layla, since you married me, I will never divorce you!"

Through the rearview mirror, I saw Matthew holding William firmly, preventing him from chasing after me.

Driving the car out of the villa, away from the home I'd lived in for three years, I finally felt like I could breathe.

I opened the window, letting the cold wind hit my face, feeling increasingly calm and determined inside.

This marriage had rotted and festered from the root. I had to cut through this mess quickly and divorce William!

But judging from his reaction just now, things probably wouldn't end peacefully between us.

Plus, William's mother, Harper, wasn't someone easy to deal with either.

I had to be prepared to fight William to the end.

But right now, what I needed most was to find a place to stay.

I definitely couldn't go back to the Brown Mansion. I didn't have much money on me, so I couldn't keep staying in hotels.

Although Matthew said he would arrange a place for me, our current relationship was really awkward, and I felt too embarrassed to contact him first.

Holding my phone, I scrolled through my contacts looking for someone I could reach out to, feeling even more strongly how childish and ridiculous my decision to marry Matthew had been.

I used to be a top student at school, the pride of my teachers.

But for so-called "love," I gave up graduate school and was sweet-talked by William into going home and becoming a full-time housewife.

Although over these years, he did keep his promise to let me live comfortably without having to serve his parents, and we had servants at home.

But I lost my connection to the outside world and drifted further and further from my friends.

Looking at Facebook, those classmates and friends who weren't as good as me back then had now become company managers or supervisors, and several friends had successfully started their own businesses. They were shining in their respective fields.

And I, like a canary, had been kept in a cage, unable to even hold onto my own husband's person and heart. In the end, my ten years had become a joke.

If only I could turn back time.

I would definitely slap myself awake from being blinded by love, tell myself to work hard, get ahead, and never trust men's words again!

Just as I was sitting in the car reminiscing about the past, my phone suddenly rang.

I glanced at it—the call was from my best friend Emily Johnson.

My heart lifted, and I quickly answered.

"Hey, Layla, I'm back from my business trip. When are you free? I brought you a gift."

"I'm free right now."

"Then come to my place."

"Emily, can you let me stay with you for a few days?"

"With our relationship, of course, you can. Come to my place first, we'll talk when we meet."

"Okay."

Hearing Emily's strong, decisive voice, I felt like I had a backbone, and my heart was no longer panicked.

I turned the car around and headed straight to Emily's place.

When I rang her doorbell, I thought I was strong enough, but the moment I saw Emily, my heart instantly collapsed.

All the grievances I'd been holding in these days turned into tears that poured down.

I threw myself into her arms, sobbing while telling her everything in bits and pieces—about William's affair, about catching them in bed.

Emily had a straightforward personality and was furious listening to this. "William, that bastard! He said he would never let you suffer any grievance, that he would only love you for his whole life. Now you've only been married for three years, and he's already cheating! Men's words really are the most fake!"

"No, I'm so mad. Come on, I'll take you to confront him!"

Emily made as if to pull me out. I quickly waved my hand. "Don't go. What's the point? Even if we yell at him and hit him, will that make him clean again?"

Hearing me say this, Emily calmed down. She frowned and sat down across from me. "Layla, have you already thought about what you're going to do?"

"You know me—I'm a clean freak. Now, whenever I see William's face, I can't help but picture him having sex with Olivia in bed. There's no way I can continue living with him."

At this point, I took a deep breath and looked at Emily with determination. "William and I definitely have to get divorced, but judging from William's current attitude, we can't divorce peacefully. Filing a lawsuit is the only option."

"So before that, I need to find a job first. Once I have a source of income, I can fight this out with him."