When I ended my marriage with Raiden Curtis, we were both composed. He calmly asked what I wanted.
Without second thought, I replied, The car, the house, the savings.
And half of the company shares.
For a moment, Raiden seemed taken aback, clearly surprised. The kids? You dont want either of them?
Youve always loved them so much. Can you really leave Castor and Amara behind?
My eyes fell on the marks on my wrist, memories of the many times I had hurt myself.
I gently shook my head. No.
From this point on, besides money, anything tied to Raiden, I didnt want it anymore.
Seeing how distant Id become, Raiden looked like he wanted to say something.
But after a brief pause, he stayed silent and signed his name on the divorce papers.
When we finally parted, Raiden spoke politely, I cant give you the shares, but youll always be the mother of our two children.
If you ever face any trouble, you can come to me.
I nodded.
But when I turned away, I tossed the business card he had handed me straight into the trash.
In this life, even if I died, I never wanted to see Raiden again.
Once I got home, I told the housekeeper to pack up everything that belonged to Raiden and throw it all out.
The housekeeper didnt think too much about it and smiled teasingly. Maam, did you and your husband argue again?
Let me tell you something, try to be patient.
Sir really does care about you; no need to give up being Mrs. Curtis over a little fight.
All the pain I had suffered through the years, every bit of humiliation I had endured, Isabella had witnessed all of it.
She knew how deeply I had loved Raiden.
She had also seen me break down countless times because of his betrayals.
She and Raiden were no different; both assumed I would never actually walk away.
But this time, I didnt cry or plead like before.
Instead, I took the wedding photo off the wall and said softly and calmly, My mother is gone.
The smile on Isabellas face froze right away.
She stood there in a panic, stumbling over her words as she tried to apologize.
I quietly smiled and didnt reply.
Then I held the photo frame tightly and smashed it apart.
Startled, Isabella gasped and quickly bent down to help clean the mess.
She carefully tended to the small cut on my hand, muttering softly, Good thats a relief.
Youre a top graduate from Atmore after all. Even without him, your life will still be fine.
Be strong, stop letting yourself suffer for him.
I answered quietly and lowered my head.
I hadnt meant to cry. But when I looked down, tears still slipped out on their own.
There was regret, sorrow, and a bit of relief that I had finally escaped.
After ten years of being bound together, this so-called love story between a prince and a Cinderella had finally come to its end.
It wasnt a happy ending, but it was one that was meant to happen.
That year, I got into Southwestern University with the highest score in the whole county.
It was also that year when I met Raiden, who had returned to his alma mater as an investor.
Like many stories, ours started off beautifully, and we were no different.
Raiden fell for me the first time he saw me. After his speech, he started chasing me like crazy.
He would wait outside my classroom with milk tea and a bunch of flowers.
He even sent money to my roommates just to ask where I was.
He remembered every little thing about me.
And he confessed his love in the middle of a garden full of blooming flowers.
Back then, everyone around us said we wouldnt make it.
They were sure a small-town girl like me could never match someone like Raiden. But Raiden didnt care at all, and he just wanted to be with me.
He pushed through all the pressure and proposed, blocking out every bit of malice directed at us.
With him shielding me, my once rough and poor life suddenly turned easy.
Flowers, jewelry, guaranteed grad school, and study abroad. Every opportunity leaned in my favor.
Everything I wished for came without asking.
I was just a teenage girl, simple and full of dreams.
Under Raidens relentless pursuit, I fell for him fast.
I gave up everything ahead of me and stepped straight into marriage.
Dating, marriage, pregnancy, childbirth, everything flowed naturally.
For me at that time, life felt almost effortless. Everything I wanted seemed close enough to touch.
I was lost in the sweetness of love, never realizing that fate had already written the cost behind it.
When Castor was born, the Curtis familys matriarch, Jasmine, someone I had never even met, walked into the hospital room and took my baby away.
She wore a polite smile that looked refined, but her voice was cold and full of arrogance.
Castor is the heir of the Curtis family, with a noble standing.
With your background and experience, you dont deserve to raise this child.
The baby I carried for ten long months and delivered through endless pain, I wasnt even allowed to hold him once.
I couldnt see him unless they gave me permission first.
I begged Raiden not to be so heartless, not to take my child away from me, but he just stared at me with an odd look.
My mothers right. You really are just a small-town girl.
She told me I could play around all I want, but when it comes to the baby, shes the only one who decides.
I cried until I could barely breathe. Yet Raiden ignored me, pulled me into his arms, and kissed me.
He smiled lightly. Alright, dont cry.
If you love kids that much, we can always have another one.
I wasnt able to push him away, but when his eyes caught the stretch marks all over my skin, Raiden stopped on his own.
Suddenly, hesitation and disgust flashed across his face.
After staying quiet, he only said softly, Youve been tired all day. Go to bed early.
That coldness from Raiden felt like a splash of cold water, pulling me out of a dream Id been lost in for too long.
I thought about Jennifers disapproval, the laughter, and gossip from those around me.
Thats when it hit me, this so-called love story had only ever been a rich mans passing fancy from the start.
Life had once handed me luck, but now it was here to make me pay it back.
That child was only the start.
During my recovery after childbirth, I fell into deep depression.
I called Raiden, but he never picked up. I sent him messages, yet there was no answer.
I started to worry that something might have happened to him, but the next morning, news of his affair reached me.
Photos of him lying in bed with a young actress spread online overnight.
People started guessing when this Cinderella who married into wealth would finally be thrown out.
The gossip and laughter from strangers completely broke the last bit of hope I had.
I couldnt accept it.
My condition worsened. I had the most violent fight ever with Raiden.
In a moment of complete collapse, I grabbed a knife and hurt myself.
Right in front of Raiden, I was ready to jump off the building.
At the very last second, he caught me, shaking as he begged for forgiveness.
Like every man caught cheating, he cried and admitted he was wrong.
He said it was all a misunderstanding. He said he still loved me and pleaded for another chance.
That night, Raiden knelt before me, tears running down his face as he looked up. Elysia, please forgive me just this once, okay?
I made the second biggest mistake of my life. I decided to forgive him.
For the sake of our child.
Because of the love, I still couldnt let go of.
Also, because my mother had just been in a car crash, and I had nowhere else to go.
So, Raiden and I ended up back together.
Not long after, I became pregnant again and gave birth to our second child, Amara.
Like Castor, Amara was taken away as soon as she was born.
The excuse they gave was that Raiden needed to stay focused on work and couldnt stand the noise of children.
To catch even a glimpse of my two children, I had to show up at the old mansion before sunrise each day to complete my chores.
Make tea, pour drinks, massage shoulders, and pat backs.
I even had to kneel and wash Jennifers feet.
All of it just to earn a little sympathy, so she would let me stay close to my children.
But what I received for all that effort was Raidens endless cheating and my childrens growing hatred.
Castor never once called me mom.
Whenever he saw me, he would frown and mutter, That dumb village woman is here again. I dont want to see her.
Amara still couldnt speak, but she would only cry and reach for her grandmother instead.
Meanwhile, my mothers illness kept getting worse.
My childrens coldness and the burden of life left me completely drained and hopeless.
When I needed someones support, when I was desperate for comfort, Raiden had already built a new family with another woman.
That day happened to be our wedding anniversary.
Castor turned down my invite to celebrate. Raiden ended my call without a word.
His mistress, on the other hand, was the one who sent me a video of them together in bed.
Hearing their intimate voices, I completely broke down inside. I lost control and cut my arm with a knife.
By the time Isabella rushed into the bathroom, I had already lost nearly all my blood.
Terrified, she called Raiden for help, but this time, he didnt return home until early morning.
He crouched in front of me, smiling as his eyes swept over my wounded arm.
Didnt you say you wanted to die?
Its been all night. Why are you still here, hanging around the Curtis family like a stray dog?
Those words crushed the last trace of calm I still had. Without thinking, I jumped from the balcony.
I survived. Only one leg was broken.
Jennifer dismissed all the gossiping reporters, dragged me into my mothers hospital room, and stared down coldly.
The ICU costs twenty thousand dollars a day.
If you dare embarrass the Curtis family again, Ill make sure your mother dies with you!
That was when I finally understood, death could be a kind of mercy.
I couldnt let go of the love I once had, nor could I cut off my bond with blood.
So I could only keep crawling through this marriage, stripped of pride and dignity.
Watching my son and daughter drift further away from me.
Watching Raiden flirt with one woman after another.
Watching them use my mothers life to keep me trapped.
Marrying into money was both a sweet joy and a heavy chain.
Cinderella had climbed to the top and became Mrs. Curtis, but the prince was still lost in his own world of love games.
Outside, he went on saving one pretty poor woman after another. Until one day, Raiden crossed the line.
He fell for a woman in her thirties, a socialite who had been married several times, and even got her pregnant.
Jennifer completely lost her mind in fury. She burst into my room, slapped me twice across the face, and yelled at me for not keeping my husband in check.
A woman who cant even hold her own husbands heart, what good are you?
Im ordering you to fix this mess right now, or else
Ill stop your mothers treatment immediately and make sure you never see Castor and Amara again in your life!
After the marriage had fallen apart, the only family tie left became my last bit of strength.
I couldnt let go of my mother, and I couldnt lose the last bit of hope.
I instantly went to meet Hestia Miranda.
She wasnt like the other women Raiden had been with, those who were proud and full of themselves.
Instead, she was gentle and polite.
Every time she spoke, she called me Mrs. Curtis, her eyes shining with flattery when they met mine.
Im sorry, Mrs. Curtis. I never meant to ruin your family.
I just care about Raiden too much.
If its for his sake, Im willing to end this pregnancy and never appear again.
Hestia kept her promise. After taking the money, she disappeared completely.
That night, Raiden, who hadnt been home for a long time, suddenly opened my bedroom door.
Without saying a word, he pushed me onto the bed and forced himself on me.
For a whole month, he didnt allow me to get up until I became pregnant again with our third child.
As a reward for fixing the problem and to make sure he stayed home, Jennifer did something she had never done before. She agreed to let me keep this baby by my side and raise it myself.
And my mothers condition also started to get better under the Curtis familys private doctors.
I was delighted.
I believed my misery had finally come to an end.
I thought my life was finally turning around.
When I was eight months pregnant, Raiden suddenly pushed me down the stairs.
Standing there, he watched me struggle in a pool of blood and said coldly, When you drove Hestia away and made her lose her child, did you ever think this day would come?
Did you ever consider how much she suffered?
You owe Hestia a life. This is what you deserve.
With pain and despair, I lost consciousness.
When I opened my eyes, the baby was gone.
I cried as if my heart had been torn apart, unable to accept what had happened.
Yet the bad news didnt end there.
My mothers doctor told me that after waking up, she learned everything I had gone through in the Curtis family.
Her emotional collapse made her illness worse, and she now needed an urgent operation.
The surgery required two hundred thousand dollars, and I didnt have the money.
No property from the Curtis family was under my name.
Those designer bags and pieces of jewelry, I didnt own any of them.
Two hundred thousand dollars, to Raiden, was nothing more than the price of one meal.
To me, it was the final weight that broke me completely.
Crying, I called him and begged for a bit of pity.
As long as my mother could be saved, I was willing to serve him like a laboring animal.
But Raiden said coldly, Elysia, dont think too highly of yourself.
You really believe Ill fall for your pitiful lies?
To fight with Hestia, youll say anything, wont you?
He ended the call without emotion. And the last sound I heard was the two of them lost in their passion.
My mother stopped breathing completely amid those vague moans.
While I was taking care of her funeral arrangements, I happened to notice the headline of the day.
[The Rich Young Master Spends Tens Of Millions To Propose To His New Lover, The Former Cinderella Is Coldly Abandoned.]
The fallen Cinderella had returned to what she once was, and with that, two lives were gone.
Soon after, Raiden found out about my mothers death.
He didnt say a word, only transferred two million to me quietly.
For him, spending two million to end a problem was worth it.
He thought he had paid me back many times over, so what else could I want?
This was love. This was Raidens kind of love.
I should have been grateful, trembling in humility as I accepted it.
But for me, the last connection I had to this world was gone.
My children were gone, and my mother was dead.
I was finally free.
Worn out, I asked Raiden for a divorce.
The first time, he looked at me with clear disgust.
Divorce? Do you really have the courage to walk away from me?
Do you understand that once you leave, youll be left with nothing?
The second time, his tone turned impatient.
Fine. Im just messing around outside. Its not like I wont come back.
Be good, dont get upset. When I return, Ill take you on a trip to Phoenix.
The third time came, Raiden tore the divorce papers apart in anger and shame.
The fourth time, then the fifth, came and went. At last, Raiden agreed.
With superiority in his expression, he stared at me.
Hestia is right. Letting you calm down for a while might be better.
Once you suffer out there, youll realize how good the Curtis family truly is.
He signed his name easily on the divorce papers, waiting for me to break down and beg for him like before.
What he didnt realize was that this time, I had made up my mind to go.
The villa keys, I handed over to Isabella.
Calmly, I said, I sold the house, and the new owner agreed to let you keep working here.
Isabella, youve been the only one in this family whos ever been kind to me. I hope your life stays peaceful and happy.
Tears turned Isabellas eyes red. For a long while, she couldnt speak.
In the end, she only managed to say one line, Have a safe trip.
She never asked where I was heading or what I planned to do.
She simply knew that I had finally broken free from the nightmare of the Curtis family.
After a short silence, I took my suitcase and walked out of that cage that had held me for ten years, never looking back.
At the same time, Raiden, still lost in his soft dreamland, suddenly woke up from a nightmare.
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