Chapter 1

I arrived at the law firm in my wedding dress. After being married for five years, I'd finally made up my mind to divorce my husband, Ian Payne, who was a racer. The lawyer asked formally, "If you want a divorce, both husband and wife are required to sign the divorce agreement. Did your husband not come today?" A self-deprecating smile tugged at my lips. "I'll get him to sign it," I said firmly. It'd been five years since Ian and I received our marriage certificate, but he had canceled our wedding ceremony for the 52nd time. The first time, a female student from the training camp that he was mentoring—Selena Lindsay—wanted to cheer on the racecars, so he abandoned me in the suburbs in my wedding dress. Unable to hail a taxi, I ended up miserably walking home on foot. The incident left me with countless blisters on my feet. The second time, said female student had a stomachache and craved cupcakes from Southallerton. He drove three hours to buy the cupcakes, leaving me to apologize humbly to the guests and drink so much wine that my stomach hurt. Every time, on the day of our wedding, Selena would encounter all sorts of trouble. Ian would also abandon me at the wedding venue to reach her side every time. "The young lady is timid and afraid of the dark. She needs someone to accompany her while practicing on the track in the middle of the night." "You're just a housewife who doesn't understand the allure of the racing track. Selena and I have similar interests and are true soulmates." Today marked the 52nd time he canceled on me, and Selena's video was delivered to the wedding venue as expected. In the video, she and Ian were making love in his race car. Ian cherished it as much as his own life and usually never even let me touch it. Selena's clothes were disheveled, and she had Ian's head pressed to her chest as she looked challengingly into the camera—at me. I was very familiar with the person in the video. For the past five years, Ian had canceled our wedding time and again for her sake. Back then, my family had tricked me back home and away from the racing track with one phone call. My elder sister, Iris Shannon, had perished in a traffic accident. As such, my family forced me to marry Ian, my then brother-in-law, in her stead. They locked my car away, detained me, and all but shoved a wailing infant and an injured man into my arms. It took me five years to raise the child, take care of Ian, and let go of my dreams. Over those five years, I forced myself to fall in love with Ian and the child. All I wanted in the end was the wedding ceremony he promised me. However, he began regarding my five years of hard work and dedication as some sort of premeditated scheme early into our time together, and he started hating me because of it. The wedding ceremony that was supposed to have been held five years ago had still not been held. I was completely disheartened. The five years we'd agreed upon were up, and Iris' child no longer required my care. It was time for me to live my own life. … I returned to the villa with the divorce agreement in hand. As soon as I opened the front door, I was hit squarely in the face by a slice of cake. A member of the household staff hurriedly handed me a towel. "Nobody is allowed to help her wipe her face clean!" Following those words, an ashtray hit my forehead with a heavy thud. "You bitch! Who allowed you to wear what used to be my mother's favorite necklace?" Warm liquid flowed unceasingly down my forehead as the household staff looked at me in panic. Shawn Payne continued angrily, "Blockhead! What can you do other than cook? You're nothing compared to Ms. Lindsay!" I walked up to Shawn and gazed absentmindedly at him. This was the child I'd sacrificed my dreams to raise for five years. He shrank back for an instant, then glared at me. "What do you want? I'll have you know I'll never agree to you being my mother! Someone like you doesn't even deserve to be part of the household staff! "Ms. Lindsay is the one who deserves to be Dad's spouse! You caused Mom's death, and now you're even trying to harm Ms. Lindsay! Once I grow up, I'm going to kick you out—" "You don't have to. I'll leave on my own," I said coldly. I raised my hand to touch Shawn's face for the last time, but before I could, I heard Ian's voice ring out from the doorway. He asked accusingly, "What are you doing? The house is a mess, yet you didn't even bother cleaning up. What if Shawn scratches himself on these fragments? As expected, you don't care about him because he's not your biological child. Am I right?" Shawn immediately ran over to Ian and threw himself into the latter's arms. "This evil woman scolded me, Dad," he complained aggrievedly. "She even tried to hit me." Ian's voice turned cold when he heard this. "Where did you get the courage to do that, Dahlia Shannon? Do you really think of yourself as the head lady of the Payne family now?" I retracted my hand, slowly turned around, and bent down, hiding the self-deprecation in my eyes. "Sorry. I'll clean up right away." Ian opened his mouth as if to say something else, but he fell silent when he caught sight of my bloodstained wedding dress. He then walked over to me quickly and asked, "What happened to your forehead? Why is it bleeding?" When I saw his expression, I suddenly felt as if I was hallucinating. Why else would I have heard a trace of nervousness in his tone? I opened my mouth to say something, but I couldn't stop myself from falling sideways a second later. … The next time I opened my eyes, it was to the sight of Ian feeding me porridge. "I didn't leave yesterday's wedding on purpose. Something unavoidable happened at the racing track, so I couldn't get away. The wedding will resume in three days, and I definitely won't leave this time," he informed me. I lowered my gaze and avoided the spoon he held out to me. I couldn't help but sneer at the sincere look on his face. If I hadn't seen Selena's Instagram post, I might actually have believed him. The truth was that he'd taken Selena to a restaurant atop a Ferris wheel that day. Selena had posted on Instagram that day, attaching a photo of their silhouettes entangled in a kiss. She had captioned it, "Eternal Love." I simply couldn't figure out how Ian could tell so many lies with a straight face. Ian's expression darkened when he noticed that I wasn't speaking. "I don't care if you throw a tantrum, but you should know when enough is enough. Also, I haven't settled the score with you for trying to hit Shawnie this afternoon. "He's just a child. Why must you be petty with him and try to hit him just because he threw something at you?" My fingers dug deeply into my palms. It felt as if I'd lose all sense of pain, because it didn't seem to hurt at all. "Why are you so sure I lifted a hand because I wanted to hit him? Did you ask me about it?" I asked in a strained voice. He stiffened momentarily, and bitterness rose in my throat at the sight. "He's just a child. How could he lie?" he asked stubbornly. Countless emotions flashed through my mind at that moment. In the end, I settled for a chuckle. "Yes… You're right. Neither he nor Selena will lie, so the liar can only be me." Previously, I'd delivered a broth I spent an entire afternoon making to the racing track for him. Selena had stopped me halfway there, snatched the broth from me, and poured it into the trash. When I reached out to stop her, she'd poured the broth all over herself instead. After seeing what happened, Ian believed Selena's one-sided account of events and assumed that I was the one who deliberately spilled the broth on Selena. Back then, I'd asked him why he didn't question me before making such a decision, and he'd told me the same thing. "She's just a young lady. How could she lie?" I gave up on him completely then. I took out the divorce agreement and flipped it to the last page. "This is Shawnie's enrollment contract. Your signature is required." Ian frowned. "Does your everyday life only revolve around Shawnie? Can't you take a leaf out of Selena's book and work on a career of your own?" Just as he was about to look through the contract, his phone suddenly started ringing. After answering the call, his expression suddenly changed, and there was an uncontrollable worry in his eyes. "Something came up. I have to go." I smiled mockingly. "It involves Selena, right?" He looked at me in displeasure and said coldly, "She's a diligent young lady who's still practicing this late at night. It's completely reasonable for me to keep her company for a while. Stop letting your imagination run wild." When I saw him leave without hesitation, I sent a message to the man who had always one-upped him on the racing track. "Are you still accepting people on your team? Shall we aim for the championship together?" I received a reply immediately. "Welcome back to the team. After the formalities are completed in three days' time, I'll come pick you up personally."