Fae looked up at Derek and gave him a faint smile.Her cheeks were flushed from the alcohol, making her already delicate features look even more captivating. There was a rare softness in her eyes, mixed with a hint of playfulness that Derek had never seen before.For a moment, he found himself distracted. But Derek quickly snapped himself back to reality.“Stop joking around. Take your stomach medicine first. You’ll feel better after that.”He poured her a glass of water and watched until she took the medicine.“Any better now?”“No…”Fae shook her head, still looking uncomfortable.Derek sighed. “Still hurting? Then lie down. I’ll give you a massage. It should help.”Seeing her discomfort, Derek couldn’t bring himself to ignore her.He remembered how he used to take care of Erin whenever she drank too much.Erin had always had countless social obligations. Although she rarely got completely drunk, alcohol would often leave her with an upset stomach. Whenever that happened, Derek was

Early morning sunlight crept through the thin curtains, pushing shallow gold across the unfamiliar ceiling.Fae blinked awake first.The ache between her thighs reminded her of everything, but she lay still, savoring the quiet weight of Derek's arm slung over her waist.For a moment, she let herself forget about everything else-just the roughness of his palm on her skin, the way his stubble had scraped her neck raw, the comfort of his scent lingering over the tangled sheets.But reality always caught up. Fae slid gingerly from the bed, careful not to wake him. Derek mumbled something into the pillow, face pressed deep, but didn't stir.Fae hesitated before leaving, then bent close, brushing her lips against his temple.She slipped out the door.Outside, the air was sharp with pine and dew. Fae's car was still parked on the gravel patch beside the cabin. She unlocked it, slid into the driver's seat, and shut the door with a muted click.For a few seconds she just sat there, hands clenc

“If I have to, I’ll drag this marriage out for the rest of your life!”Only after saying it did Erin seem to get some of the anger out of her system.She sat back down behind her desk, collected herself, and said in a much calmer voice, “As long as we stay married, I’m willing to give you whatever you want. Money, property, anything. You should think carefully before you throw away an offer like that.”Derek looked at her for a moment before letting out a quiet laugh. “I don’t want anything from you. The only thing I want is for you to get out of my life for good. How's that not clear enough?”Erin's face went pale, and for a moment she seemed unable to respond at all. When she finally spoke, even her voice had begun to shake.“So what? If I refuse to sign, you can’t just make this marriage disappear.”Derek couldn’t help laughing again.“Erin, do you actually think you’ve found some brilliant way to trap me? Even if you refuse to cooperate, you can only delay this for so long. Once

“Derek?” Mike’s expression changed the moment he heard the name.When he had first stepped into the office and seen Erin sitting on the floor in tears, his chest had tightened. He had instinctively wanted to go over and comfort her.But hearing Derek’s name immediately ruined the impulse.“Were you hoping it was him?”“Mike, that’s not what I meant…” Erin barely looked at him. Her eyes were still fixed on the doorway Derek had just walked through.“He just left. He’s completely made up his mind about the divorce, and I still don’t understand why…”She sounded more like she was talking to herself than to Mike.“I know he doesn’t like how close we are, so lately I’ve been trying to keep my distance from you. I thought that would make things better.” Her eyes reddened again. “But he still won’t forgive me. And now there’s another woman around him.”“Every time I see him, he seems even more determined to leave.” Erin lowered her head helplessly. “I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do

Over the next few days, Derek shut himself away in his room and dug out all the finance materials he had kept from college.The worn textbooks and old notes felt strangely familiar. Even the smell of the pages seemed to pull him back to a time when finance and economics had been what he loved most.He had once walked away from finance because of Erin.Now, ironically, she was also the reason he was picking up that old dream again.“Erin…” Derek murmured her name under his breath.“I gave up on my dream a long time ago. I was willing to stay by your side for the rest of my life, be the ordinary husband in the background, and let you have all the spotlight you wanted… But I guess things just weren't meant to turn out that way.”His gaze gradually hardened.“So maybe it's time you learned something. I was never really ordinary. I simply chose not to outshine you.”As Derek continued sorting through his old financial documents, three pages suddenly caught his eye.He pulled them from the