Marrying Him was an Inferno, Leaving Him was Heaven

Ellen’s POV

When I was being stalked by a psycho, I called Carter Dillamond twenty times.

He finally picked up on the twenty-first call. I begged him, “Carter, someone’s following me! Come help me, please!”

But he sounded annoyed. “Can you grow up a little? I’m busy. Stop making things up.”

The moment he hung up, the attacker knocked me out, dragged me into an alley, and beat me until I was barely alive.

When I woke up in the hospital, Carter told me the man was mentally ill, that there was no way to hold him responsible, and that we could only settle.

I believed him until I accidentally overheard him speaking with a lawyer in the hallway.

“Settle this as soon as possible. Find someone in a psychiatric hospital to take the fall. We cannot let Ellen find out the stalker was actually Kelley in disguise…”

I froze where I stood, feeling the blood in my veins turn to ice.

I thought of that night—how terrified I’d been, how the nightmares still haunted me.

So it was because Kelley’s design drafts had hit a creative block… She wanted a special kind of “inspiration,” so she orchestrated all of this!

I had been with Carter for five years, but it still couldn’t compare to someone who had only been around for five months.

The man who once claimed to love me to the bone was now letting Kelley do something this cruel to me!

My heart felt as if it had been split open. I stumbled back to my room, broke down, and took a long time to calm myself.

When I finally steadied my breath, I called a lawyer. “Draft a divorce agreement for me.”

“Should we notify Mr. Dillamond?”

“No need. He probably won’t care anyway.”

Just as I said that, Carter walked in. “Who were you talking to?”

I turned off my screen. “A friend.”

He came to my bedside. “Next time, don’t stay out so late. A lot of people are dangerous.”

I stared at him in disbelief. My god, how could someone be this hypocritical?

“Thank God it wasn’t serious,” he added. “Just rest. I’ll get you the best doctors and medication.”

A dull ache spread through my chest. I asked, “So as long as I don’t die, it doesn’t count as serious?”

His eyes darted away before he mumbled, “Stop making trouble. The guy was mentally ill. We can’t hold him accountable.”

Was it that he couldn’t, or that he didn’t want to? He knew the answer.

Just then, his phone rang. He turned away to answer it. “Compensate the secretary’s burn injury at three times the standard rate for workplace accidents. And don’t let her do any heavy tasks…”

He was talking about something from three months ago when Kelley spilled hot coffee and burned her hand.

When he heard she was injured, he gave her three months off.

He even hired five nannies to take care of her. And now, double workplace compensation on top of that!

Ridiculous! A simple burn got her three months of paid rest.

I got my ribs broken, legs swollen, arms too injured to lift, and he brushed it off with “nothing serious.”

When he left the room, he told me, “Work’s hectic lately. I’ll have someone take care of you.”

But over the next few days, all I got were photos and videos from Kelley.

[Sorry, dear. Carter said he wants to reward me for securing that big contract for the company!]

So this “hectic work” he mentioned was him taking Kelley out to have fun. He lied with such ease.

Carter and Kelley had done everything two people could do, except they’d always kept the intimate parts out of my sight.

But now, Kelley was clearly trying to provoke me.

Fine. I’d let her.

I saved every photo and video. They’d be useful later.

On the day I was discharged, Carter showed up, but Kelley was already sitting in the front seat.

“Ellen, I get carsick. Do you mind taking the back seat?” she asked sweetly.

Carter once told me the front passenger seat was only for me. No one else was allowed to sit there.

A previous secretary sat there for one second, and he blacklisted her across the entire industry.

But after Kelley appeared, that seat was no longer special.

I turned without a word, opened the back door, and got in.

A seat that dirty, I didn’t want anymore anyway.

No sooner had I sat down than Kelley began spraying perfume in the car.

I was allergic to that scent. “Please stop. I’m allergic to that perfume.”

She immediately put on a pitiful expression. “But Carter likes it… I just wanted to make him happy.”

He looked at her with such tenderness. “Go ahead. I love that scent in the car.”

So she kept spraying until the perfume filled every corner.

My rhinitis flared up instantly, and I couldn’t stop sneezing.

Then she said with exaggerated guilt, “Maybe I should get out… I don’t want to upset Ellen.”

Carter slammed on the brakes. “Ellen, are you doing this on purpose? If you don’t like the smell, then take a cab home!”

Before I could explain, he threw me out on the side of the road and drove off with her.

Rain began to pour. I stood there soaked, my wounds reopening, pain shooting through my body.

The cold rain extinguished the last bit of hope in my heart.

I pulled out my phone and dialed a number. “You once said you wanted to marry me. Does that still count?”

Scott Knapp answered instantly. “Of course, it counts. Always.”

“Good. Then start preparing. I’ll go straight to our wedding next month.”