Adrian's head snapped to the side from the slap.
Vivian hadn't meant to hit him. Her hand had swung across his face by accident when she let go of the bag.
The torn shopping bag fell open, and the clothes inside spilled out.
Among them were a tailored skirt suit and a light-colored blouse, both still neatly folded with the tags attached.
Adrian followed Vivian's gaze.
One look at the sizes told him everything.
They weren't for him.
They were Vivian's clothes.
She had come to the mall to shop for herself.
Adrian stood there as though something had slammed hard into his chest.
Vivian bent down, gathered the clothes, folded them again, and returned them to the bag.
Then she looked up at him coldly. "Would you like to inspect anything else?"
"Vivian, I didn't mean..." Adrian lifted a hand as though to touch her, but she stepped away.
"The problem isn't whether you meant to do it. The problem is that you've gotten used to assuming the worst of me." Vivian turned toward the pale-faced Chloe. "As for who's been driving a wedge between us, you know that better than anyone."
Adrian opened his mouth, but Vivian cut him off again.
"It doesn't matter anymore. I don't care." Her voice became even colder. "I'll have a courier deliver the divorce agreement to your office. I hope you'll sign it as soon as possible, Mr. Pierce."
With that, she walked away.
Vivian returned home and began packing everything that belonged to her.
After what happened at the mall, she had finally seen Adrian for who he was. She refused to hesitate anymore. It was time to start planning for her own future.
When he came home, she would press him to sign.
As she thought this, the door opened.
Adrian came in while she was crouched in front of the washing machine, putting in the clothes that had fallen on the floor at the mall.
He stood behind her looking faintly guilty, but he didn't apologize. Instead, he asked stiffly, "Why did you go buy clothes today? Brands send new seasonal collections to the house every quarter. You don't need to buy anything yourself."
Vivian almost laughed. It would have been funny if it hadn't hurt so much. In Adrian's mind, she'd wasted her time buying clothes she didn't need, and that somehow made his mistake her fault.
That was Adrian, arrogant enough to turn every mistake into someone else's fault and never admit he was wrong.
"Adrian." Her voice was flat. "Even if you hardly come home, you should know what I've been wearing for the past 3 years."
Vivian owned only two sets of old loungewear that had been washed again and again.
She had never seen any of those seasonal collections supposedly delivered by the brands.
She couldn't believe Adrian truly had no idea whose house those clothes had actually been sent to.
Adrian hesitated. "I'll look into it. I'll give you an answer."
"I don't need one. It's been going on for so long that an answer doesn't matter anymore." Vivian walked to the nightstand, calmly pulled out an agreement, and held it out to him. "Since you're here, sign it. The sooner you do, the better it is for both of us."
Adrian stared at her in disbelief. "You're bringing up divorce again just because of this?"
"I'm not bringing it up again. I haven't changed my mind about divorcing you. You're the one who never took me seriously."
Adrian looked down at the agreement.
The words were there in black and white, identical to the copy she'd left on the table.
"Are you really that desperate to leave me?" His voice came out rough.
"Think whatever you want."
Either way, she was getting divorced.
Adrian's fingers tightened around the agreement, crumpling the pages with a soft rustle. He raised his head and looked at her.
"Vivian." He stepped closer. "Let's sit down and talk this through."
A strange fear took hold of him, as if he were about to lose something vitally important.
He wanted to ask her to stay, but he didn't know how to say it.
"What's there to talk about?"
A sharp voice came from the doorway.
Adrian's mother stood at the entrance to the bedroom.
Adrian froze. "Mom? Why are you here?"
"If I hadn't come, I wouldn't even know things had gotten this bad." Diane sat on the sofa and crossed one leg over the other. "Go on, then. What happened?" Adrian started to speak, but Diane raised a hand to stop him. "Not you." She looked at Vivian. "You tell me."
Vivian stood where she was.
"Don't you already know?" Her voice was quiet. "I'm sure Chloe told you everything."
Diane's expression flickered, but only for a moment.
"Fine. Then I'll be direct." She studied Vivian critically. "Chloe told me about the scene you caused at the mall. No man can tolerate his wife embarrassing him in public like that. And if Adrian has to put on an act for business, that's part of the job. As his wife, you should be understanding instead of making an issue out of it."
"Understanding?" Vivian almost laughed. "What exactly am I supposed to understand? That I should carry the bags while my husband meets his mistress? Or that I should hand them condoms while they sneak off together?"
Diane's face went scarlet with humiliation.
The blunt words hit her like a slap.
When she spoke again, her tone was far harsher. "Fine. If you're determined to divorce him, don't expect to take a single thing that belongs to the Pierce family."
That was exactly what Vivian had been waiting to hear.
She immediately grabbed the divorce agreement and slapped it down in front of them. The sharp sound startled both Diane and Adrian.
"I don't want the Pierce family's money. The agreement makes that very clear. I'm asking for nothing." She pulled out another debit card and slapped that down too. "This card is linked to the account Adrian transferred money into every month. I haven't spent a cent of it. If you don't believe me, check the records yourselves."
When Vivian finished, she looked at the two people staring at her in shock and asked coldly, "So, can you sign it now?"
Aksara