Chapter 1 Divorce

As Florence Carter leaned back against the couch, soaking her feet, she barked arrogantly, "Put your back into it and get this floor cleaned! Alora will bring Mister Cox home from Durmund City to discuss a business deal later. If I see a speck of dust, you are dead meat," Florence Carter yelled angrily, leaning against the couch and enjoying a foot soak.

She was Ashton Levin's mother-in-law. Without any complaints, Ashton went in and out of the bathroom repeatedly, holding and cleaning the mop.

"You've been sponging off my daughter daily, yet you don't work your ass off for the household chores. Keeping a dog is better than having a useless piece of trash like you around." Florence shot him a glance, then shook the water off her feet and put them on the coffee table. She was asserting her dominance, flaunting her power in the household.

Ashton froze in place. He was so enraged that he clenched his fists tightly.

"Wow! What's the matter? You've got something to say?"

"No, Missus Latham." Ashton forced himself to smile.

Florence sneered. "You'd better not. Hurry up and dry my feet for me, then get rid of this bucket of water."

Ashton walked over and got down on his knee.

Suddenly, Florence kicked the bucket, spraying the water all over Ashton. "Don't think I don't know what's going on inside your head, you bastard. You're cursing at me, aren't you? Listen to me, Levin. I call the shots in this household; even my daughter has to do as I say. Even if you're unhappy, you'd better suck it up and hold it in. If you dare to go against me, I'll kick you out and let you spend the night on the streets tonight. You think I won't do that?"

Ashton wiped the water from his face, a sullen expression on his face. "Missus Latham, in the three years that Alora and I have been married, I have worked tirelessly at home without complaint to support Alora's career. That's because I did not want to put her under any pressure from the family. But don't you think you've pushed it too far in the past two years?"

Florence's face darkened. She jumped up from the couch and slapped Ashton.

Ashton did not dodge it, so he was smacked across his face.

"Levin, do you fucking have a death wish? How dare you talk back to me? You're a worthless piece of shit living off your wife, yet you have quite the temper. If you have the guts, divorce Alora then. Do you have the guts to do it?" Florence said with a wicked sneer.

Ashton sighed. He knew what his mother-in-law was thinking.

When Ashton and Alora got married, Alora had nothing to her name, and the Latham family was 150 thousand dollars in debt. Ashton was the one who paid it off and helped Alora build her first company. At that time, he was the perfect son-in-law, according to Florence.

However, as Alora's career flourished, Florence started to get ideas. She wanted them to get a divorce, then let Alora marry an actual wealthy family so that both the powerful families could join forces.

Florence wanted to ditch Ashton, a wimp who could only do household chores and serve the family after marrying her daughter. She knew very well that Alora would not ask for a divorce, so she wanted to force Ashton to leave by making his life difficult and humiliating him. After that, Alora would be able to marry into a wealthy family.

However, Florence had no idea that Alora could have everything she wanted and sail through life because of what Ashton had been doing in secret.

"I won't divorce Alora," said Ashton.

Florence was infuriated when she heard that. She raised her hand as she wanted to slap him, but Ashton grabbed her hand.

"Argh! Ouch! That hurts! Help! He's trying to hit me!" cried Florence.

"What are you doing, Ashton?" An icy voice could be heard coming from the entrance at that moment.

Then a beautiful woman in a red gown with a cold expression entered. Her skin was fair, her hair was long, and she was beautiful. She also had a curvaceous figure that made others hesitant to look away from her.

The arrival of Alora Latham immediately added color to the otherwise monochromatic living room. She was escorted by an elegant gentleman dressed in a suit, clearly from a wealthy family.

"Alora, I—"

"You're finally home, Alora. Look at this jerk. He's always bullying me when you're not around. He kicked the bucket, and he even wanted to beat me up!" Florence sat on the floor, throwing a tantrum.

"Mom, get up. I'm here. Nobody's going to bully you." Alora massaged her temples, feeling a little exhausted.

"Alora, I didn't—"

"Enough!" Alora cut Ashton off before he could finish his sentence. "Ashton, I'm really very tired. You've truly disappointed me. Help my mother up and apologize to her," Alora said in a firm tone.

Ashton looked at her in a daze. Little by little, his gaze turned dull, and an intense disappointment washed over him.

"Didn't you hear what I said? Apologize to my mother!" Alora shouted.

"Forget it. I'm the one to be blamed. You shouldn't worry about matters at home after a long day. Just forget about this. It doesn't matter for me to suffer a little grievance," Florence said earnestly.

"Alora, in wealthy families like mine, a disobedient person will have his source of income completely cut off. If someone dares to talk back to members of the family who are older than him, he would be severely punished. If he dares to disrespect his elders by raising a hand at them, we'll usually feed him to the wolves." Tyson Cox, the handsome young man next to Alora, went up to help Florence. "Are you alright, Missus Latham? Should I take you to the hospital to get you examined?"

"No need for that. I'm not hurt." Florence beamed as she looked at Tyson. "You must be Mister Cox from Durmund City! As expected, you look handsome and gentlemanly. I've heard Alora speak of you many times. Gosh, I would be overjoyed if you were my son-in-law!"

"Mom!" Alora frowned and glared at her mother.

"Alora, do I mean nothing to you?" Ashton said coldly, standing at the side.

Tyson turned his head a little, shooting a glance at Ashton. "You're Ashton, right? I've heard Alora mention you a few times over dinner. Put it bluntly; you're just a pet dog she's keeping. Why should you mean anything to her? You've thought too highly of yourself."

Alora hung her head without replying to Ashton. Taking a deep breath, she took out a document from her purse. "Ashton, I've thought about it for a long time. Let's get a divorce."

She put the divorce papers on the table. The documents looked like they had been drafted for a very long time. It was just that Alora had never taken it out.

Contrasting to the sadness that appeared on Ashton's face, Florence was so excited that she almost jumped for joy. She had longed to kick the loafer out of the family, and the day finally came. Fortunately, Ashton and Alora did not have children. Otherwise, they would be tied together for the rest of her daughter's life.

"Why?" Ashton looked down, and his gaze was fixed on the divorce papers. He had plenty of things to say, but he only managed to ask her why.

'Why? This son of a bitch is shameless enough to ask why?' Florence was so pissed she almost had a heart attack. Just when she was about to start cursing, Alora looked at her and shook her head.

Then, Alora came up to Ashton and handed him a pen. "If you have to ask why, it's most probably because the paths we take are not the same, so the view we experience along the journey is not the same. It's destined that you'll never be the man to reach the summit with me. We will only gradually drift apart. A marriage like this is destined to be unhappy."

"Reach the summit…" Ashton sneered, smiling through the pain. "I knew you were very dedicated to your career since we met. I love you, so I put everything aside to support your dreams. I thought you'd stop and look at the person who had been by your side once you've had your own company and your life has settled down. However, I never expected that this was all I got in the end."

Alora knew she was wrong, so she did not dare to look Ashton in the eye. Instead, she took out a card from her purse that she had prepared for a long time. "There's no point saying all this anymore. This is 300,000 dollars. Half of it is to repay the favor you've done for us back then, and you can treat the other half as a gift from me in the divorce. Also, the car and the apartment at Serene Heights that we bought when we got married are all yours."

There was a pause before Alora asked, "Is that not enough?" Seeing that Ashton did not react, Alora took out another card. "Here's another 300,000 dollars. That's a total of 600,000 dollars. I've done everything I can for you. Just take it. This way, we can still leave a good impression on each other."

"Alora, have you lost your mind? You can just kick this jerk out. Why are you giving him money? If you have the money, why don't you give it to me or buy another apartment for your brother?" Florence said.

"Mom, I'll handle my own business. Don't interfere." Alora was unusually firm.

Ashton played with the cards she handed to him. Then he tossed them casually on the table. "You seem to have a knack for throwing money at everything now. Is wealth and power so important to you?"

Alora turned away, looking into the distance outside the window. Her eyes were sparkling. "When you've climbed to the top, everything at your feet will look insignificant. People who stand at the bottom of the mountain could never understand what's on the minds of those at the peak. Meanwhile, this is also the distance between us. You'll never understand what I want."

In Alora's opinion, once a couple was no longer on the same page, there was no need to keep the marriage going. It would only make both of them suffer more.

"You're right." Ashton nodded. "I've never understood what you truly wanted. I only know to pick you up with an umbrella when it's raining, prepare your medication for you when you're having gastric, walk seven blocks every morning to get your favorite breakfast for you, and keep our home tidy so you'll be in a good mood when you return every day."

Ashton breathed deeply, then pointed at Tyson. "I've heard many rumors that you've gotten close to him lately. He's also one of the reasons we're getting a divorce, right?"

Alora was slightly taken aback, then she immediately nodded. "That's right."

"Alright. I've gotten the answer I wanted. I hope that you'll be happy in the future." Without hesitation, Ashton picked up the pen and signed the divorce papers.

From that moment on, they would have nothing to do with each other anymore. At that moment, his gentle gaze completely turned indifferent.

He pushed the cards toward Alora and only took the pendant she wore around her neck. With tears in his eyes, he said, "I'm taking this. I'll only give this to my wife, and you're not my wife anymore."

Alora said nothing and returned the pendant to Ashton. With a sorrowful gaze, Ashton turned slowly and said, "To be honest with you, Alora, I truly regretted knowing you."

Alora was frozen when she saw Ashton leaving with the pendant without looking back. She felt empty, as if something important had torn away from her.

At that moment, Alora did not feel the happiness she imagined after becoming single again. All she felt was a sense of melancholy that she could not quite explain.