The Ex-Wife’s Rise to Glory

Today is Cecilia and Miles' third wedding anniversary. Miles went to work, and Cecilia made a special trip to the supermarket to buy a ton of ingredients.

When she got home from the supermarket, she noticed a pair of men's dress shoes in the entryway—Miles had come home early from work.

The house was unusually quiet, but faint sounds drifted down from upstairs.

"Miles?" she called out softly, heading upstairs.

No response.

An uneasy feeling crept into Cecilia's heart.

She climbed the stairs step by step, and the sounds became clearer—mixed with a woman's sticky, breathy moans.

Reaching the second-floor hallway, she saw the master bedroom door was ajar, with a pair of black high heels with red soles lying across the doorway.

Cecilia stood in front of the master bedroom, her palms slick with cold sweat.

The moment she pushed open the bedroom door, she saw two bodies tangled together on the bed.

That extreme suffocating feeling instantly gripped Cecilia's heart. She froze in place, her breathing stopped for a full three seconds.

Miles and his first love, Thea Wilde, were having sex.

Cecilia's hand went slack, and the paper bag full of groceries fell to the floor. Miles' favorite wagyu sirloin and fresh rosemary scattered everywhere.

Hearing the noise, Miles whipped his head around. When he saw it was Cecilia at the door, he shouted, "Get out!"

There wasn't a trace of panic in his eyes, only irritation at being interrupted.

"This is my home." Cecilia's voice was tight, her hand trembling on the doorknob.

Miles grabbed the blanket and pulled it over Thea's bare shoulders. "Not for much longer."

Miles snatched a document from the nightstand and threw it on the floor. The papers slid to Cecilia's feet, with several bold words printed on top: "Divorce Agreement."

Miles had already signed it. All Cecilia needed to do was sign, and the five-million-dollar check and an apartment in Manhattan would be hers.

He'd been sick of this woman who spent every day doing housework, looking drab and worn out.

That such an ordinary, dull woman had been Mrs. Sterling for over three years was an embarrassment to him!

Cecilia looked at the agreement on the floor.

Three years, over a thousand days and nights of intimacy, and in the end, all she got was these few sheets of paper.

How ridiculous.

"Sign it, then take your stuff and get out."

Two buttons on Miles' shirt had popped open, his tie was crooked—and that Windsor knot on his tie was one Cecilia had spent five minutes tying for him this morning.

Miles bent down and kissed Thea's forehead, then warned Cecilia, "Don't make me call security."

……

Sterling Manor.

The hall was piled with Cecilia's luggage, carelessly dumped by the door like garbage.

Miles' mother, Rosalind Sterling, sat on a high-backed velvet sofa, holding her coffee, not even bothering to look up. "Finally willing to leave? You should have known better from the start."

"A girl from nobility like Thea is the right match for our Sterling family. Someone like you—no education, no background—you've had three years of benefits, you should be satisfied."

Three years ago, when Cecilia first married in, Rosalind had disliked her. No education, no family background, just embarrassing the Sterling family every day—she couldn't compare to Thea at all.

Sitting nearby was Miles' sister, Corinne Sterling, who called herself a top student. She'd always looked down on her sister-in-law. A bitch who didn't even finish college—how could she possibly be good enough for her brother?

While filing her nails, she said sarcastically, "Mom, you haven't checked her luggage yet. What if she stole some jewelry from the house? After all, people who've been poor have sticky fingers."

Cecilia ignored the mother-daughter duo's mockery and walked straight to the corner to look for her passport.

She just wanted to leave this suffocating place immediately.

"Hey! I'm talking to you! Are you deaf?"

Seeing she was being ignored, Corinne's temper flared. She jumped up and blocked Cecilia's path, pointing her finger at Cecilia's nose. "You're about to get kicked out and you're still acting high and mighty? You really think you're still that glamorous Mrs. Sterling?"

Cecilia found her passport, dusted it off, and put it in her bag.

"Move."

That statement made Corinne freeze for a moment.

In her memory, Cecilia had always been weak and submissive, only bowing her head and apologizing even when publicly humiliated.

"How dare you yell at me?" Corinne stared in disbelief, still holding her half-finished iced Americano. "You shameless bitch, you've been leeching off our family for three years without even having a baby, and now you have the nerve to..."

Cecilia stopped in her tracks.

She looked at Corinne's arrogant face, and memories of the past three years of Corinne's bullying flashed through her mind.

Three years of holding back had suppressed the pride in her bones for too long.

Suddenly, she reached out and grabbed the iced Americano from Corinne's hand, raising her wrist.

The brown liquid mixed with ice cubes splashed right into Corinne's face.

"Ah!" Corinne screamed.

The cold coffee dripped down her hair, her carefully done makeup smeared into a mess, and her expensive dress was stained with large splotches.

Cecilia casually dropped the empty cup on the floor. It shattered with a crisp sound, fragments scattering everywhere.

Rosalind jumped up from the sofa in shock. "Have you lost your mind, Cecilia! How dare you!"

"Are you awake now?" Cecilia's voice was eerily calm. "If you're not, there's still boiling water in the kitchen. Since your mouths are so filthy, I don't mind helping you wash them out again."

Cecilia lifted her head. Those eyes that used to be so gentle now looked cold, radiating an oppressive force they'd never had before.

"And one more thing—don't act like trash in front of me."

"I have nothing to do with you people anymore. I won't let you bully me like before."

With that, she picked up her suitcase and walked out of Sterling Manor without looking back.