CHAPTER 3: CHAPTER 3: LEAVE WITH NOTHING!

The morning light was faint.

Adrian Lockwood was awakened by the cold.

He found himself lying on the sofa in the master bedroom.

Not only was there no blanket to cover him, but he was still wearing yesterday’s clothes.

Looking up, he saw the jacket and tie he had casually thrown on the armrest of the sofa.

Stepped on all night, they had wrinkled into strips like rags.

Adrian Lockwood sat up dissatisfied, only to see the big bed already neatly made.

Serena Sinclair was acting as if she’d taken the wrong medicine, ignoring him all night.

"Serena?"

He called out loudly but didn’t hear the expected "coming" in return.

Adrian Lockwood walked into the bathroom and saw his own angry face in the mirror.

He was angry while showering because the towel wasn’t within reach.

He was even angrier while changing clothes and finding out that Serena hadn’t prepared his clothes for the day.

Opening the closet, a dizzying array of colorful striped ties greeted him.

Adrian Lockwood went downstairs with a sullen face.

He saw the "divorce agreement" on the coffee table in the living room.

"Serena, what kind of craziness is this in the early morning?"

The morning’s pent-up anger exploded as Adrian Lockwood looked at Serena Sinclair leisurely eating breakfast at the dining table and said, "So I didn’t go to the hospital to pick you up, is that such a big deal? I’m busy with the company, managing our son, you think I lie in bed every day like you, with caretakers at my service for everything? Don’t forget, your hospital bills and the money for the caretakers were all earned with my hard work! Without me, could you have such a comfortable life?"

"Adrian, I was sick and almost dying, and you..."

"But did you die?"

All of Serena Sinclair’s grievances were blocked by Adrian Lockwood’s one sentence.

Serena paused.

Seeing Adrian’s conflicted expression as he glared at her, "Serena, what exactly are you making a fuss about? No work, no social engagements, enjoying life at home every day, what more could you possibly be dissatisfied with? ...You should appreciate your blessings while you have them, even tantrums have limits!!!"

So to him, she was just causing a fuss?

"I..."

Serena opened her mouth.

Adrian’s phone buzzed.

With sharp eyes, Serena saw "Chloe" on the screen and looked away.

Adrian answered the call, his earlier frustration disappearing, replaced by gentle, calming tones, "...I know, I’ll be right over!"

Serena swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue.

Knowing that explanations would be useless, and he clearly had no patience to listen to her now.

Serena took a deep breath, "I’ve met Chloe Lynch..."

"Why did you seek out Chloe? ...What did you say?"

Adrian glared at Serena, instantly flaring up, "Serena, are you crazy?"

In the past, just by this sentence alone, Serena would have been caught off guard and aggrieved to the point of tears.

But here, Serena was surprisingly calm, even managing to smile, "I just happened to meet her at the kindergarten entrance when picking up Miles Lockwood, that’s all. Adrian, why are you... so anxious?"

Adrian was stunned.

Serena pushed the divorce agreement on the table forward, "Sign it... it won’t take too much of your time, and it won’t delay you from going to the company either."

His gaze swept over Serena’s face, so calm as to be expressionless.

He was sure she was angry, angry he had left her in the hospital without saying a word.

Adrian’s face brimmed with even more anger.

Furiously flipping through the two thin pages of the divorce agreement, he saw the details about property division.

As if seeing the world’s biggest joke, Adrian’s eyes flashed with mockery, "Marital property? Split fifty-fifty? Serena, let me ask you, on what basis?"

Rip!

In swift motions, he tore the agreement to shreds.

It flew into Serena’s face with a slap.

Adrian coldly said, "Serena, don’t forget who gave you the good life you have today!"

"Every meal you eat, every piece of clothing you wear, even the bags in your closet and the fresh flowers that change daily on your table, every penny of it, was earned with my hard work."

"Marital property??? Serena, when you married me, your family’s situation was pitiful, wasn’t it? And you think you’re entitled to discuss marital property with me?"

Serena thought she’d become numb, indifferent.

She believed she was past being hurt by anything Adrian or Miles did.

But she was mistaken.

Adrian’s few words were sharper than the sharpest knife in the world, effortlessly leaving countless holes in her heart.

The wound on her lower back throbbed faintly; Serena’s face paled, "Adrian, people need to have a conscience..."

Back in college, when he started a business and was swindled out of everything, left without even living expenses and too afraid to tell his family.

She gave him her living expenses to support him.

Serving him nutritious meals with meat and vegetables, only to deceive him by saying she’d already eaten.

Cafeteria buns were five cents each, but she’d rather walk an extra kilometer to buy three for a dollar at the market, enough for two days.

Later, she took on several part-time jobs to get through those hard times.

After college, when he proposed, his mother wouldn’t accept her and cut off his credit cards.

During that time, he only needed to focus on work, while she worked to stretch their limited finances for both of them.

Eventually, his mother relented, allowing them to join the family company.

He became a project director, while she was just an ordinary architect, forced to climb the ranks on her own merit without publicly revealing her identity.

Just as she was making a name for herself, she discovered she was pregnant.

She wanted to continue working.

He said a capable man wouldn’t let his pregnant wife toil, that she should focus on resting and caring for herself and the baby so he could work in peace.

After their son was born and weaned at one year old, she wanted to return to work.

He said, "Serena, I’ll handle earning the money; your job is to stay beautiful. You wouldn’t want me to come home and find no hot meal, would you? Besides, if we leave our son with a nanny, won’t you worry he won’t be close to you?"

When their son turned three and started kindergarten, she broached the topic again.

He said, "Serena, just wait a bit longer."

Waiting for what?

For his heart to wander.

For the appearance of the young and beautiful Chloe Lynch.

For the moment he fell ill, and she willingly gave him her kidney, only to lose her usefulness after that.

Then, to serve as his devoted housemaid for life.

Right?

The pumpkin porridge she once loved most now felt nauseatingly sticky.

Serena took a deep breath, slowly stood up, "I’ll reprint the divorce agreement, or you can just notify me to go sign it at the Civil Affairs Bureau."

His gaze passed over Serena’s stubborn yet calm face.

Adrian’s anger intensified.

"Divorce, is it? Fine..."

A fleeting cold smile crossed his eyes, and Adrian said, "If you’re so insistent on divorce, then... Serena, you’ll leave with nothing!"

Serena was stunned.

Adrian said chillingly, "The house, the car, the son, you can forget about it! Aside from the wages for the one year you worked at The Lockwood Group, I won’t give you a penny more!"

As the saying goes, ten years of cultivation allow two people to share a boat; a hundred years bring two hearts to share one bed.

All these years of sharing the same bed, how blind had she been?

Before the bitterness could erupt from her heart, Serena nodded, "Fine!"

The malice in his eyes halted.

Adrian looked up.

Seeing Serena looking at him, "Tomorrow morning at 9, meet at the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau!"