Chapter 12
565words
The divorce papers arrived with his signature still fresh on the page.
He'd rewritten the settlement, leaving me nearly everything he owned.
Melanie showed up at my door, livid.
Her meltdown in the lobby ensured everyone at the studio knew our sordid history.
But as the wronged wife, I found unexpected allies. Someone leaked videos of Melanie's tantrum online.
As the scandal exploded, corporate headquarters put Marcus on notice.
Melanie confronted him, tears streaming down her face.
"You'd raise a hand to me? After everything I did for you when you had nothing?"
Marcus's eyes blazed with long-suppressed fury.
"Enough!" he roared. "You've held that debt over my head for fifteen years! Haven't I repaid it a thousand times over?"
"For you, I approached Natalie under false pretenses. I lied to her. I betrayed her. I destroyed the only woman who ever truly loved me."
"And for what? To silence the guilt eating me alive?"
"We're done here. Take care of yourself."
Melanie vanished from my life after that.
Months passed without a whisper of either of them.
Until the wrap party for my first successful screenplay.
A familiar face appeared through the crowd.
Marcus's oldest friend, who'd traveled from Jiangcheng just to find me.
He carried a bouquet of roses—my favorite shade of pink.
And a folder containing transfer documents for Marcus's entire stake in W Group.
"Marcus discovered the truth about that day on the steps—how Melanie staged the whole thing. He was devastated when he realized it cost you your baby."
"I watched you two all these years. Marcus fell for you ages ago, but he couldn't admit it—even to himself. He was too obsessed with repaying his childhood debt."
With trembling hands, I accepted the documents and a flash drive.
"Natalie, if you're watching this, I'm probably…"
"I can't regret meeting you, even though it started with lies. What I regret is realizing too late that I loved you more than my own life. By then, you were already gone. I deserve this ending. It's karma."
His face on the screen was bloody, one eye swollen shut, tears cutting tracks through the grime.
"Melanie's baby isn't mine, but I still betrayed you that night. I have no right to ask your forgiveness."
"I'm so sorry, Natalie…"
When he confronted Melanie about her pregnancy lie…
The argument turned violent.
Their car veered off the road at high speed. Melanie and her unborn child died instantly.
Marcus, trapped in the wreckage, recorded this message with his dying breath.
Each year since, I've returned to Jiangcheng on the anniversary of his death.
I bring offerings of sweet and sour fish and braised pork—never spicy, just as he preferred.
I trace the outline of his face on the cold marble, a familiar ache blooming in my chest.
"This is goodbye, Marcus. I've finally forgiven you."
Wind whips my hair as tears fall, but for the first time, my heart feels light.
Love, pain, regret—all because we were wrong for each other from the start.
My father was my mother's greatest mistake.
Marcus was mine—but I refuse to let him define my entire story.
Stephen was right. The living must keep living.
I don't know what lies ahead or who I'll meet along the way. But forward is the only direction worth traveling.
