Chapter 1 Divorce

In the villa, Seraphine Lavien saw her own design work on TV.

"Congratulations to Miss Brooks for winning this year's jewelry design competition championship. Now let's invite Mr. Stuart, President of the Stuart Group, to present her with the award!"

The camera turned to the side of the stage.

Charles Stuart, wearing a black suit with an upright posture like a pine tree, walked onto the stage and handed the trophy to Vivian Brooks.

On that usually cold face, there was a rare hint of a smile.

Then, a little boy in a small suit ran onto the stage holding a bouquet.

"Sean!" Vivian knelt, pulling Sean Stuart and the flowers into her arms, and kissed him on the cheek: "Thank you, sweetheart!"

The reporters' cameras flashed wildly.

"Mr. Stuart, Ms. Brooks's work is so stunning. As the award presenter, what are your thoughts?"

"It's said that this design, called 'Nocturne', was inspired by love. Can Ms. Brooks share more about it?"

"The little boy is so cute! He looks so much like Ms. Brooks!"

"What a happy family!"

They really did look like a family.

Seraphine tried to smile, but found she couldn't.

Today was her and Charles's wedding anniversary.

It was also supposed to be her award ceremony.

This "Nocturne" design was something she had worked on for three whole months, revising it seventeen times before finalizing it.

Then her original draft was ruined by Vivian with a cup of coffee.

And the design achievement, with the approval of her husband and biological son, was given to Vivian.

So Vivian copied it and submitted it for the competition.

Vivian was Charles's first love. They had almost gotten married.

But seven years ago, Charles was drugged by someone, and Seraphine, who was working part-time at that hotel, accidentally entered his room.

The next morning, the story of Charles and Seraphine's private meeting at the hotel was posted online by an entertainment reporter who loved exposing wealthy family gossip.

After seeing the news, Vivian was heartbroken and bought a plane ticket to leave the country the next day.

Charles had wanted to chase after Vivian, but his parents, to calm the public opinion and stabilize the Stuart Family's stock price, forced him to marry Seraphine.

Actually, Seraphine had always known that Charles didn't like her.

So at first, she didn't want to marry Charles, even though not long after sleeping with him, she discovered she was pregnant.

She had told Charles's parents that she could have an abortion.

But they rejected her suggestion.

To force Seraphine to be with Charles, Charles's parents threatened her using the fact that Seraphine had received financial support from the Stuart Family.

Seraphine was an orphan. She could go to college thanks to the Stuart Family's help.

To repay this debt, Seraphine eventually married Charles.

After marriage, she gave up her career to focus on taking care of Charles and Sean at home.

Since Charles believed that Seraphine was the one who drugged him that night and that she had schemed to marry him, he had always been cold to her after marriage.

Seraphine wasn't discouraged by this. She believed that as long as she kept being good to Charles, he would eventually accept her.

But Vivian's return made all of Seraphine's efforts over the past seven years a joke.

Three months ago, Vivian returned to the country. She found Charles and told him she had cancer, and her only wish before dying was to be with Charles again.

Charles agreed to her request.

After that, Charles not only stayed by Vivian's side constantly but also demanded that Seraphine unconditionally agree to all of Vivian's requests.

"This is what you owe Vivian."

"You've already become my wife. You shouldn't expect anything else."

"I'm just taking care of Vivian. I'm not cheating. You need to be understanding."

Charles always told Seraphine this.

He said he wasn't cheating, but what was the difference between what he did for Vivian and cheating?

She was also a victim that night seven years ago.

Seraphine had been sad and angry.

But it was useless. Vivian was still stuck in her marriage like a thorn.

Later on, even the son she had desperately given birth to was gradually drawn away by Vivian.

She was really tired.

Seraphine turned off the TV, preparing to go back to her room to rest.

At that moment, Charles came in holding Sean's hand. They wore matching dark coats, standing together like two copies, one large and one small.

"Mom!"

Sean ran over: "Did you see the TV? Vivian won the award! That necklace is so beautiful!"

Seraphine held back her tears: "I saw it. Did you have fun today?"

"Yes!" Sean's eyes sparkled: "Vivian took me for ice cream and bought me the latest building blocks! Dad came too!"

He looked up: "Mom, you're not mad, are you? Vivian only has one year left. If you're mad, that would be really petty!"

Seraphine's heart felt like it was being stabbed with needles.

But she only said, "The doctor said your heart can't handle stimulation. You need to eat less cold food."

Sean's little face immediately fell: "There you go again. Mom, you always control me. Vivian never does this. She even eats ice cream with me!"

Seraphine's eyes reddened: "That's because she doesn't need to be responsible for your health."

"Having it once in a while is fine. Don't be so tense."

Charles walked over, his voice low.

Here we go again.

Every time she was strict, Charles would smooth things over like this.

As if she were an unreasonable villain, while he was the reasonable father.

Sean stuck out his tongue and ran upstairs.

The air instantly became quiet.

Seraphine looked up at Charles in front of her.

He had an upright posture, broad shoulders, and a narrow waist, well-defined features, and a cold, noble temperament.

He looked completely out of reach.

She blinked: "Charles, do you remember what day it is today?"

Only then did Charles notice the decorations in the living room.

A flash of surprise crossed his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure: "Sorry, I had things at the company today, and then I went with Sean to the award ceremony."

Hearing this, Seraphine smiled: "Award ceremony? That was supposed to be my award ceremony. Vivian won the jewelry competition gold medal because she plagiarized my work."

"Plagiarism? Seraphine, even now, you're still lying."

Charles's expression was indifferent, his eyes filled with contempt.

"When I gave your design draft to Vivian, she told me that your design was almost identical to one she had drawn before."

"So, if we're talking about plagiarism, you plagiarized Vivian's work. Vivian achieved what she has now through her own ability."

"I was confused before, actually thinking of having you help Vivian design something."

"How could a housewife like you, who depends on me to survive, possibly design jewelry?"

Is this how he saw her?

Seraphine bit her lower lip, almost laughing from anger at Charles.

"Charles, have you seen Vivian's original design draft? She says I plagiarized her work, and you just believed her?"

"You've stayed at home for seven years and never shown any design talent. Before Vivian returned to the country, she was already a well-known jewelry designer. Between the two of you, who do you think I should believe?"

Charles's face was stern, his tone distant.

She understood now.

Basically, he just looked down on her from the bottom of his heart.

Seraphine clenched her fists, suddenly not wanting to argue with him anymore.

She didn't even want this husband anymore.

"Charles, let's get divorced. Don't you want to take care of Vivian? After we separate, you can be with her openly."

"What did you say?"

Charles was stunned, a flash of surprise in his usually cold eyes.

Just because he exposed her plagiarism of Vivian's work, she wanted to divorce him?

She was becoming more and more unreasonable.

"Don't be ridiculous."

Charles pressed his lips together, looking displeased: "Seraphine, you don't have a job. Without me, how will you live?"

"How I live in the future has nothing to do with you!"

Seraphine looked directly into Charles's eyes and took a deep breath: "I'll send you the divorce papers. Sign them as soon as you get them."

With that, she stood up.

"What about Sean? He's only six years old."

Charles looked at her profile, his gaze dark.

Although he loved Vivian and had been by her side all this time, he had never thought about divorcing Seraphine.

After all, Vivian only had one year left to live. After Vivian died, he and Sean would still need someone to take care of them.

"Sean likes Vivian so much. Perfect, the three of you can have a good life together."

Seraphine kept her head down, not looking back at Charles.