Chapter 4The Seventh Year: The Bird Has Flown

Seven years of marriage. I didn't have much stuff, but it wasn't little either.

I hired someone to set up a burn barrel in the yard. I burned everything that could burn.

The jewelry I couldn't burn, I sold.

I didn't want to take a single thing from this villa, nor leave a trace behind.

Might as well burn it all.

When Holden returned, he walked in just as I threw our wedding photo into the fire.

I was surprised. I hadn't seen him in over a month; I thought he’d died of heartbreak.

Through the smoke, his eyes were cold. He looked at me like I was already dead.

He was holding a funerary urn.

As he passed me, Holden suddenly shoved me.

If the butler hadn't been quick enough to catch me, I would have fallen into the fire. My face would have been ruined.

A chill shot up from the soles of my feet. Holden had truly lost his mind.

He was using this to get revenge.

Holden clicked his tongue, as if disappointed I hadn't fallen.

"Clean this up."

He turned and went upstairs.

A nameless fire roared to life in my chest. Holden keeping a mistress? I tolerated it. Threatening my family? I tolerated it.

Mia’s constant provocations? I tolerated it. Him getting me drunk and pregnant? I tolerated that too.

I endured it all for three years.

Now he openly wanted me dead. I wasn't going to endure it anymore.

If that's how it is, let’s all burn.

I rushed up, grabbed Holden’s arm, and spun him around.

I slapped him across the face with everything I had.

His head snapped to the side. He stared back at me with eyes like ice.

Looking at the red handprint on Holden’s face, I felt a flash of immense satisfaction.

"Tomorrow morning, 9 AM. We divorce."

"I didn't cause Mia’s death. Don't dump your dirty water on me. You know exactly how I got pregnant. I didn't show up for the divorce that day because your mother took me to the family estate."

"And your little lover? Your mother ordered the burial because she couldn't stand seeing you act like a ghost. Don't pin your guilt on me."

Holden didn't react to my explanation.

I didn't care if he believed me. It had nothing to do with me anymore.

I made myself clear.

As I left the Winchester villa, I thought about the question Holden had asked me once.

"Have you ever tasted the feeling of your beloved dying?"

Beloved?

Ha.

How did I answer him back then?

Oh, right.

I said: "Holden, to me, you’ve been dead for a long time."

When two people are in love, they can't see anyone else.

Once, I couldn't see Mia.

Now, Holden couldn't see me.