Chapter 4The Half Of My Body I Sacrificed To Make You Queen

The next day was supposed to be my discharge date.

Seri called after she left. The gentle tone from the previous days was gone.

“Devin’s been expelled from school.” Her voice was tight. “Was that your doing? He’s threatening to hurt himself now. If anything happens…”

“Ashton, don’t push me.”

She hung up before I could reply.

News about Devin spread instantly. One viral post after another popped up:

[They say Song Yu is a vindictive loser. Looks like Serena was right to want a divorce.]

[Being fierce and chasing what you want is the Big Female Lead move. It takes guts. Ashton Reed is just a petty, jealous man going after a kid.]

[Isn’t he the kept man? The useless house husband? Those men are the worst.]

The public narrative was entirely against me.

Even worse, Seri, who rarely posted anything personal, updated her social media:

[Twenty-plus years of history with Ashton ends today. I refuse to tolerate a man who is content to be utterly unaccomplished.]

Her statement threw me straight into the pyre. I quickly signed my discharge papers. Stepping out of the hospital, I was instantly surrounded by reporters. Their camera flashes blinded me. I felt like a public enemy.

I fought my way out of the throng and drove home in a desperate, panicked state.

When I pushed open the front door, Seri was sitting on the sofa. A news channel was playing on her tablet, showing my pale, desperate face from outside the hospital.

“Was it you?” My voice was terribly hoarse.

Seri didn’t deny it. Instead, she pushed a fresh copy of the divorce agreement towards me.

“What I said was true, wasn’t it, Ashton? Haven’t I been the one supporting you for years?” Her eyes were cold. “You spread rumors, claiming he was a kept boy, a mistress, and you got his scholarship revoked. I never knew you were so full of such intense jealousy.”

A hysterical laugh burst from me. All the humiliation and grievance of the past weeks finally erupted.

“So you’re playing both sides in the media? Devin is a homewrecker! We’re still married! And why did I stop working? You know perfectly well why! That huge company of yours? I built that with my life!”

Seri’s face instantly darkened. She slapped me, hard. The force sent a ringing echo through my ear.

“No one made you help. You did it voluntarily. I would have built this company just fine without you.” Her voice rose, laced with contempt. “Haven’t I been good to you all these years? The big house, the luxury cars. What can you actually contribute? All you can do is use your sacrifices to make me feel guilty and chase my attention!” She leaned in, her voice low and furious. “You’re pathetic! You love these self-pitying martyrdom plays!”

It was as if she were finally voicing every unspoken resentment she’d bottled up over the years.

“You’re an embarrassment, Ashton. Devin is at least young and attractive, someone I’m not ashamed to be seen with. What do you offer me?”

My eyes were bloodshot. The last flickering ember of hope in my heart was extinguished. All my recent efforts, all the self-delusion, felt like a cruel joke.

In that moment of pure rage, people speak their deepest, ugliest truths.

Seri was about to say something else. I snatched a pen from the desk and scrawled my name on the signature line.

She opened her mouth, but the words were stuck. She picked up the signed agreement, flipping through the pages. Her fingers tightened on the edge of the paper bearing my name.

“We’ll see each other at the Registry after the cooling-off period.”

I met her eyes one last time. “Your company’s half equity… it’s mine. It’s what I paid for.”

I threw the pen down, turned my back, and walked out of the house we had shared for ten years.

I could feel Seri’s gaze burning into my back. This time, I was never looking back.