The coffee cup slipped from Madelynn's grasp. It crashed onto the floor, shattering into pieces.
Inside the office, both of them turned toward the noise. For one frozen instant, everything seemed to stand still.
A moment later, Isaac Morgan, her husband, slowly straightened up. There wasn't the slightest hint of guilt on his face, only the faint annoyance of someone whose private moment had been disturbed.
His shirt remained unbuttoned at the collar. Turning to Millie Bennett, his mistress, he let out a sigh devoid of any reproach. "I told you to lock the door."
"I forgot," Millie replied in a sweet, coy tone. She pouted before leisurely fixing the strap of her dress. Her eyes drifted toward Madelynn, and a faint smile curved her lips. "So you're Madelynn. You really do resemble me."
The words pierced Madelynn's heart like a poisoned needle.
An icy chill spread through her as her eyes fixed on Isaac. "Who is she?"
Isaac looked at her as though she were nothing more than an employee who had mistakenly walked into the wrong office. He offered no answer.
Instead, he pulled a set of divorce papers from his desk drawer and tossed them onto the table before looking at her with an emotionless expression. "Good timing. Sign them."
Ignoring the documents, Madelynn stubbornly repeated, "Who is she?"
Isaac lit a cigarette, his thin lips resting against the filter. "Millie Bennett. The woman I love. In a sense, she's also the reason you became my wife. If you hadn't resembled her, and if my grandmother hadn't taken a liking to you, you never would've married into the Morgan family. You should be grateful to her."
A bone-deep coldness spread through Madelynn, sinking into every inch of her body.
Three years of coldness and indifference had never hurt as much as those few words.
Everything she had done-her patience, her devotion, her endless effort-had only ever been the duty of a replacement.
Her nails bit deeply into her palms as a bitter laugh escaped her lips. "Isaac, you're disgusting."
Millie absentmindedly twirled a lock of hair around her finger, her voice soft and gentle. "Madelynn, I understand how you feel, but love can't be forced. If Isaac and I hadn't been separated by a misunderstanding back then, you would've never had the chance to marry him."
"Don't waste your time on her." Isaac said with obvious impatience. "I never shared a bed with her."
Beneath the bright lights, his handsome features looked colder than ever. The undisguised contempt in his eyes cut deeper than any words.
Madelynn let out another cold laugh. So that was the truth. He had loathed her from the very beginning.
She had actually believed that, with enough effort, she could win his heart-that persistence could melt even someone as cold as him.
Seeing her remain silent, Isaac pushed the divorce papers closer. "Be smart. Sign them."
Madelynn lowered her gaze to the agreement. Isaac had already signed it, his signature rushed and careless. From the beginning, this marriage had meant absolutely nothing to him.
Her eyes moved over the terms, and her entire body stiffened.
Every asset and every share would remain with Isaac. She wouldn't receive a single thing.
She had never imagined he could be so utterly ruthless.
The words slipped through clenched teeth, low and trembling with anger. "You're leaving me with nothing?"
"With your status, marrying into the Morgan family and spending three years as my wife was already the greatest honor you could ever hope for. So don't be ungrateful."
A mocking smile tugged at Madelynn's lips. Golden Key would have collapsed long ago without her, yet he erased all of her contributions with a single dismissive sentence.
If he was determined to destroy everything she had, then she would make sure he paid just as dearly.
Madelynn snatched up the divorce papers with both hands and ripped them straight down the middle.
The sharp, tearing sound echoed through the office as shredded pages drifted onto the floor.
Isaac's and Millie's expressions changed instantly. Isaac's brows knitted together as his eyes darkened. "Madelynn, have you gone crazy?"
Madelynn's voice cut through the silence, cold and resolute. "You want to divorce me so you can marry your mistress? Fine. But don't expect me to walk away empty-handed. Bring me a fair settlement. Otherwise..."
With a swift flick of her wrist, she hurled the folder directly at Millie. "She'll never be anything more than a mistress!"
The folder shot across the room. Millie shrieked and tried to duck, but it slammed into her forehead with a solid thud, making her cry out in pain.
Isaac froze for a split second before rushing to her side. "Millie!"
Turning to look at Madelynn, he yelled, "Madelynn, you..."
Before he could finish, Madelynn had already turned and walked away. The office door slammed shut behind her, silencing whatever furious words he had been about to shout.