Zachary withdrew his gaze and smiled. "Let me take you there."

Marceline was feeling a little tired, and her head hurt.

Something felt off about this. How did Zachary know her workplace was near Concord Street? She was sure she'd never mentioned it.

Could Curtis have told him?

Marceline scoffed at the thought. There was no way Curtis knew where she worked.

As she leaned against the car door, Marceline ended up dozing off. When they arrived near the villa, she had no idea that the car had already stopped.

Two hours later, she woke up to the soft sound of papers being flipped. Panicked, she glanced out the window, only to find that the sky had gone completely dark.

She checked her phone. There were two missed calls from Beatrice.

Marceline quickly apologized, "I'm sorry for falling asleep, Zach. Why didn't you wake me up?" 

"You're still recovering. Wouldn't it be cruel of me to w

Everyone in Imperialis knew just how deeply Marceline loved Curtis. Why was she asking for a divorce now?

"You must be joking. I wouldn't be surprised if you were the one who wanted a divorce, but Marcy? Don't you know how much she loves you?" Beatrice questioned.

"Grandma, I don't want to talk about this. If she comes to you for your help with it, just turn her down."

"What exactly are you thinking?"

Curtis turned around, a cold smirk tugging at his lips. "We're meant to spend our whole lives tormenting each other."

Beatrice felt utterly defeated and simply waved him off. "Fine, do whatever you want. I clearly can't count on you to give me a great-grandchild anyway."

After entering the study, Curtis stared blankly at the documents on his desk. He had an important overseas meeting scheduled that night, but he couldn't even bring himself to turn on his computer.

Soon, Ken entered t

Jenna didn't even work in Wolfe Group, yet she seemed to know her way around like the back of her hand. As for Marceline, although she'd been married to Curtis for three years, she didn't even know which direction the doors in the building opened.

She would've felt horrible if this were in the past. But now, Marceline barely felt anything. 

After a few stifling seconds, she pulled out her phone to call Shawn.

Shawn sounded surprised. "You don't have an access card?"

"I don't."

He rubbed between his brows and decided not to ask any other questions about her personal life. He simply said, "I'll get my friend to meet you downstairs. He can just sign it in the lobby. We've already discussed the terms anyway."

"Okay. Sorry for the trouble, Mr. Vance."

After the call, Marceline sat on a couch in the lobby and quietly waited.

Just then, another woman came in through the revolving doors. She scanned the room before fixing her gaze on Marceline and storming over. 

"You vixen! You're the woman he's been seeing, aren't you? How dare you go to my house? I'll kill you!"

The moment Marceline looked up, the woman dumped a bottle of water in her face.

Unable to avoid the water in time, it splashed all over Marceline.

The woman was Monica Blaidd, Shawn's wife. She had been following his car since that morning.

Convinced that Marceline was Shawn's mistress, she charged forward, yanking at Marceline's blouse until several buttons popped open. "You whore! You're just a shameless mistress! Everyone, come quickly! The mistress actually had the nerve to show up at the wife's house!"

The lobby of Wolfe Group was crowded to begin with, and as soon as Monica started shouting, all eyes turned toward them.

Clutching her collar, Marceline pushed Monica away. "I'm Mr. Vance's assistant—I'm not a mistress! Could you get your facts checked next time before making accusations?"

But Monica, blinded by rage, was beyond reason. She lunged again, reaching for Marceline's hair.

Marceline took a step back, and from the corner of her eye, she noticed people stepping out of the elevator.

Leading the group was Curtis. Jenna was beside him, with several Wolfe Group executives following behind them.

Curtis looked on indifferently. Jenna, on the other hand, raised a hand to her mouth in shock. "Has there been some misunderstanding over there?"

Monica grabbed Marceline's shirt again and hysterically sobbed. "You tramp! Shameless homewrecker! All you have is that seductive face! You must've slept with Shawn at the office! 

"This is what I get after staying with him for over ten years? That's just cruel!"

Marceline frowned as she was shoved back a step. "I told you—I'm not involved with him."

Monica wept for a while longer, then she abruptly dropped to her knees. "I'm begging you, please leave Shawn. Please." She started groveling at Marceline's feet.

It was such a spectacle that several people pulled out their phones to record the scene.

Upon realizing that nothing she said would make an unreasonable person listen, Marceline decided that she needed to leave. After all, staying any longer would only further humiliate herself.

As she turned to leave, she noticed Curtis walking away out of the corner of her eye. Beside him, Jenna was smiling sweetly with her chin tilted as she spoke to him. 

The two looked like a perfect match.

Marceline froze in place at the sight. However, as she did so, Monica took the chance to seize a vase from the table and hurled it straight at her. "Die! You bitch!"

Since her health was already not the best at the moment, the blow knocked Marceline out cold.

In her fading consciousness, Marceline saw someone running toward her. 

She thought that she was hallucinating, but nevertheless, she didn't have the strength to see clearly. Soon, something warm trickled down her forehead, and her vision blurred.

…

The next time Marceline woke up, she was in a hospital.

Shawn was sitting beside her with a grim expression. "I didn't expect her to follow you. Damn it. This is my fault."

He looked exhausted as he said, "I don't have a mistress, but she doesn't believe me. I've already told her that countless times, yet she causes a scene every time.

"When I couldn't take it anymore and filed for divorce, that only convinced her I was having an affair. She's been showing up at my workplace for two years now.

"After I left Wolfe Group, I worked at other big companies. She showed up at three companies in a row and got me fired every time. That's how I ended up at my current job."

That would explain a lot. Marceline had always found it odd that someone who had reached the senior executive level at Wolfe Group would work at a small company. 

As it turned out, he had his reasons.

"Mr. Vance, were you the one who brought me to the hospital?"

A look of confusion crossed Shawn's eyes. "I was contacted by the police. It must've been someone from Wolfe Group who reported it."

Marceline gave a weak nod. Before she lost consciousness, she could've sworn she saw Curtis.

She must've been out of her mind. They didn't love each other anymore, and yet, in that critical moment, he was the only one she thought of.

"Marceline, I've already settled the medical bills, and I transferred 50 thousand to your account as compensation for emotional distress. Can we settle this whole thing in private?"

Marceline wasn't the type to fuss over every little thing, and she could tell Shawn felt defeated. He'd used to be full of ambition back then. After all, he'd made it to an executive position at Wolfe Group by the age of 36.

But now, just three years later, he seemed much older—not just in the physical sense but in emotionally too.

If Monica truly had spent all this time sabotaging his livelihood, then she was like a leech that was latched onto him.

"How's your wife?" Marceline asked.

"She's been detained by the police. They've been waiting for you to wake up."

Marceline nodded and checked her phone. She saw that she received a notification stating she had received the money.

She really was short on cash at the moment. Besides, 50 thousand was no small amount.

"Alright. I'll tell the police that I'll settle it privately, but please tell your wife that our relationship is purely professional."

Shawn furrowed his brows as he felt a headache come on. "If she were capable of listening, it wouldn't have even come to this. Just avoid her the next time you see her."

Even though Marceline's head was still wrapped in bandages, her injury wasn't that serious. Getting 50 thousand dollars from this wasn't that bad a deal at all.

After Marceline was discharged that evening, she pulled out her phone to browse listings for nearby apartments.

Since all she had was 60 thousand dollars, she needed to make sure she was careful with her money.

As she stood outside the hospital, she realized that it was too late to view any places that day and decided to stay at a hotel.

Just as she was about to hail a cab, a car pulled up and stopped right in front of her. Then, the window rolled down, and a man called out, "Marceline?"

"Zach?"

It was Curtis' brother, Zachary Wolfe.

Zachary got out of the car. Upon seeing Marceline's head wrapped in bandages, he frowned and instinctively reached out, but Marceline avoided his touch.

"How did you end up like this? Is Curtis not with you?" he asked.

Zachary had always been a gentleman. He treated Marceline rather well, so she had a lot of trust in him.

"Curtis and I are getting a divorce," Marceline simply said.

An inexplicable look crossed Zachary's gaze for a second. He then opened the car door and said, "Get in. Do you have a place to stay?"

With that, Marceline slid into the back seat and stared out the window. "I want to rent an apartment near my workplace," she said.

"Are you looking for a place near Concord Street? I've got a property there. No one's living in it, so you can move right in."

"Thank you, but there's no need for that, Zach."

"Come on, you don't need to be so polite with me. I've got loads of real estate."

Any more refusal would just make her seem pretentious. As her eyes watered, Marceline muttered, "Okay."

Zachary gently patted her head.

The car windows were still down. Far away, under the shadow of a large tree, a car was parked.

Zachary withdrew his gaze and smiled. "Let me take you there."

Marceline was feeling a little tired, and her head hurt.

Something felt off about this. How did Zachary know her workplace was near Concord Street? She was sure she'd never mentioned it.

Could Curtis have told him?

Marceline scoffed at the thought. There was no way Curtis knew where she worked.

As she leaned against the car door, Marceline ended up dozing off. When they arrived near the villa, she had no idea that the car had already stopped.

Two hours later, she woke up to the soft sound of papers being flipped. Panicked, she glanced out the window, only to find that the sky had gone completely dark.

She checked her phone. There were two missed calls from Beatrice.

Marceline quickly apologized, "I'm sorry for falling asleep, Zach. Why didn't you wake me up?" 

"You're still recovering. Wouldn't it be cruel of me to wake a patient? Go ahead and go inside. I already had the door code set up with the property manager.

Chapter 10