Belated Awakening

The moment the video cut off, I grabbed my keys and rushed out the door.

The entrance to the old building felt like a familiar scar.

The smell of cheap perfume mixed with mold wafted from the slightly open door.

I pushed it open.

Claire stood with her back to the door, holding a tube of lipstick, about to reach for my mother's photo on the table.

"Stop!"

She jumped and turned around, the lipstick falling to the ground.

I charged forward and slapped her across the face with all my strength.

She staggered, knocking over clutter, and clutched her cheek while looking at me in terror.

Tears poured from my eyes uncontrollably. "Who gave you permission to touch anything here! Who let you come in!"

I pointed at Ayden, who had just stood up from the shadows. "Take her and get out! Disappear from my mom's sight!"

I grabbed whatever I could reach and hurled it at them wildly.

"Ella!" Ayden seized my wrist, panic in his voice for the first time. "Calm down! I didn't..."

"You didn't what?" I struggled, glaring at him through blurred tears. "Ayden! Do you think this is fun? Does it prove you won, prove you can easily control me?"

"I didn't mean it that way..." His face paled as he tried to explain.

"Get out!" I wrenched free and stood protectively in front of the memorial tablet, shaking all over. "Get out right now!"

He looked at my breaking face, then stiffly pulled the sobbing Claire toward the door.

The door closed.

I slid to the floor and sobbed aloud.

Once, I had held my mother's portrait and told her I had found someone to rely on.

Now, that same reliance brought another woman to disturb her peace.

I had been wrong.

I stayed in that dark, sunless old building for half a month.

In the middle of the night, the cold woke me.

There was no heating, and the late autumn chill seeped into my bones.

I curled up and instinctively reached toward the warm heat source beside me.

There was only icy emptiness.

I snapped my eyes open.

Under the dim yellow bulb, I was alone.

My phone suddenly vibrated.

It was a message from Sophia, short and direct. "He signed the agreement."

I stared at it for a long time, then silently turned off the screen and began packing my mother's belongings.

But before I left, Claire's revenge arrived.

Blurry photos from my early days as a minor actress—at shady parties and half-exposed—were carefully compiled into a long post that exploded online.

The title was eye-catching. "Digging into Mrs. Martin's Scandalous Past: From Lowly Starlet to Abandoned Wife."

The scandal spread instantly.

Even when I went to the convenience store, strangers recognized me right away.

Their unabashed comments drifted into my ears.

"That's her, right? Looks so aloof, but she used to be wild."

"No wonder an unknown little star caught Mr. Martin's eye. She has some seductive talent."

"I heard her mom was... tsk tsk, like mother like daughter."

I pretended not to hear, picked my items calmly, and left.

I took a cab to the Martin Group building.

I waited for Ayden right at the lounge door where everyone could see.

Soon, Ayden appeared on time.

I knew he spotted the printed screenshots of the web pages at a glance.

He opened his mouth as if to say something.

Claire, following behind, interrupted him.

She smiled and approached Ayden, but he yanked her away without a word.

The hall echoed with Claire's cries. "Ayden, I didn't do it!"

But no one believed her.

Her ambition to become Mrs. Martin had always been out in the open.

That same evening, she came to find me. "Ella, are you satisfied? Ayden actually scolded me over your pathetic past! But even if I didn't post those photos, I'm glad they came out! I saw them too—half-naked. Who are you pretending to be pure for? Let me tell you, it's not me crossing the line. Ayden allowed me to."

I looked at her face calmly. "Finished?"

As I moved to close the door, she suddenly blocked it. "Guess what, if something happened to both of us. Like if this rundown place caught fire, who would he save?"

I called her a lunatic and slammed the door shut.

I thought it was just an empty threat, but I underestimated Claire's madness.

In the night, thick smoke choked me awake.

I rushed to the door but recoiled from the scorching heat.

Outside, Claire's heartbreaking cries rang out.

Through the flames, I saw Ayden.

He quickly stripped off his coat, seeming ready to cover his head and rush in.

To save me, or Claire?

I soon learned the answer.

Outside the window, Ayden carried Claire and hurried away.

The moment his resolute back vanished into the fire, I closed my eyes, and my last lingering attachment dissolved with the heat.

Ayden, we were even.

I removed the wedding ring from my finger and threw it into the blaze.

Then I ran without hesitation in the opposite direction from where Ayden had gone.