Chapter 5

The following day, Rebecca headed to Lodge Manor after lunch. She brought an emerald jewelry set that Stephan's mother, Melanie Brown, had given to her when she and Stephan had gotten married. It was supposed to be a family heirloom. Unfortunately, Melanie and her husband, Jerome Lodge, had flown to Beryl Island for a vacation that very morning. Rebecca had gone there for nothing. She asked the butler when they would return—it seemed they would be away for a month. And so, she left the jewelry in the butler's care before leaving. After that, she went to a beauty center for a relaxing spa. Then, she headed home after purchasing several pairs of earrings that had caught her eye. The lights in the living room were on, and Stephan sat on the couch with many gift boxes on the table before him. He put down his phone and looked at Rebecca when he heard her enter the house. "I heard from the butler that you returned the family heirloom." She gave a noncommittal hum. He sighed and pulled her down to sit beside him. "Are you still mad? Come on, stop being like this. Look at all the gifts I prepared for you—forgive me this once, okay?" Even after she'd returned his family heirloom, he still thought she was just mad and not that she wanted to end things. He was so sure that she loved him and would never leave him. That was why he'd boldly asked for an open marriage, and why he'd broken her heart time and time again with his affairs. Rebecca didn't say anything. She merely glanced at the boxes on the table, a hint of mockery flashing in her eyes when she saw the familiar logo on them. She said, "I only want things that are unique to me." Stephan was taken aback. He didn't know how she knew that he'd given Giselle the same things. "Don't get me wrong, Becks. I only asked Giselle to help me pick these things out because I genuinely wanted to apologize to you. I saw that she liked them when I was paying, so I got another set for her. Don't let these small things get to you." Small things. That was what he always said, and she was sick of hearing it. She swept the gifts off the table and cried out, "You can prepare several sets of the same gifts, and your love can also be split into separate sets, right? You have no idea how much I regret—" Her eyes turned red. She regretted believing his lies and regretted marrying him. Though she didn't finish her sentence, Stephan could still tell what she'd been trying to say. He panicked and grabbed her hand. "Becks, trust me when I say you're the only one who holds my heart. Why else would I have married you? Give me a few more years, alright? Just a few more years. I'll come back to you once I've had my fun." These meaningless things were all he could say, and Rebecca no longer wanted to hear them. She pulled her hand out of his grasp and said flatly, "Let's wait, then." Stephan thought she wasn't mad anymore when he saw her calm down. His expression softened, and he picked up the bags and boxes strewn across the floor, holding them out to her. She knew he hadn't caught her drift, but she didn't bother explaining. She took the things and headed upstairs. In truth, she was actually waiting for the divorce cooling-off period to be over, not for him to see the error of his ways. … It was almost Rebecca's birthday. Though they were abroad, Jerome and Melanie still remembered the big day. They had a priceless diamond tiara imported from Iropa as a birthday gift, and it was sent to Lodge Corporation's headquarters, Lodge Tower. When Rebecca heard about this, she wanted to tell Jerome and Melanie that she and Stephan had already signed the divorce papers. However, she decided against it, not wanting to rain on their parade when they were enjoying themselves abroad. She went to Lodge Tower. The tiara had been placed in Stephan's office. He happened to be in a meeting, so Rebecca went inside alone. As soon as she entered, she saw that Giselle had already unwrapped the gift and popped the tiara onto her head. She panicked when she first saw Rebecca, but she quickly put on her usual timid look. "What are you doing here, Mrs. Lodge?" Rebecca wasn't in the mood to watch her performance. She strode forward to take the tiara off her head. "I came to take what's mine." A trace of jealousy and indignance flashed in Giselle's eyes at that. She gripped the tiara tightly, refusing to let go. Did she like it that much? Rebecca was about to let go when she saw Giselle deliberately press down on the tiara, making its sharp edges pierce her skin. Blood oozed out, and she immediately slumped onto the couch while weeping. "Mrs. Lodge, I just wanted to admire the tiara when I saw how pretty it was. Why did you do this to me?"