06
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The next day, to make Stella happy, Julian took her and me to get our divorce papers.
The moment I received my red divorce certificate, he rushed off to get his marriage certificate with Stella.
The staff present looked at me with pity.
But I was happy, handing them candy.
The young girl who stamped my divorce papers looked at me with wide eyes, then quickly broke into a big smile.
“Congratulations on your divorce, Miss!”
I nodded, my mood light as I walked out of the Civil Affairs building.
Riley, wearing sunglasses, leaned against the extended limo. The moment she saw me, she hugged me tightly.
“My champion, I finally got you!”
I looked at her vibrant, confident face and remembered our days of struggle.
Back then, we were just seventeen or eighteen. She’d pose for me, and I’d paint her.
Until the entire art studio was bought out by a famous corporation, just so the corporate heir would have fewer rivals.
On that star–filled night, the wind lifted her hair.
“Do you believe me? If I get out of this hellhole, I’ll make something of myself! I swear it!”
Then she began to meticulously study painting techniques, take exams, and study abroad, slowly becoming a renowned critic.
I smiled and applauded her, and then we each went our separate ways.
I once thought I was luckier. I met Julian right after my debut, and he shielded me from countless covetous eyes.
But I didn’t know fate’s gifts always came with a hidden cost.
The privileges I’d smugly enjoyed in my youth became the chains that bound me for half my life.
Thankfully, I had the courage to break free.
As Riley and I boarded the plane, Julian was holding a press conference for Stella’s art exhibition back home.
At the conference, a reporter asked, “Mr. Julian, rumors say there’s trouble in your marriage. Miss Quinn has reportedly gone abroad with Director Riley to hold an art exhibition. Is this related to your marital discord?”
Julian, enraged, slapped the reporter’s microphone out of his hand.
“Which media outlet are you from? I don’t answer questions about my private life.”
C
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After the press conference, Julian couldn’t resist dialing that familiar number.
But it kept showing: “The number you have dialed is currently busy.”
Julian clenched his fist, wanting to smash his phone.
Gossip sites flooded the internet with photos of me, beaming and whispering with Riley before boarding the plane.
Julian looked at the woman in the photos again and again, a frown on his face. *Had Quinn always smiled that much?*
Just then, police sirens wailed outside the banquet hall.
