Shock flashed across Xavier's face, and then he grabbed her wrist in anger.
"Divorce? Brianna, how dare you ask me for a divorce?"
Before Brianna could speak, Julie let out a trembling sob.
"My belly hurts," Julie whimpered. "Mr. Hansen, don't fight with Mrs. Hansen because of me. I..."
Julie's body went limp before she could finish, and she collapsed.
"You are being ridiculous. Stay home and think about what you've done!"
He shot Brianna one last glare, then scooped Julie into his arms and rushed out the door without another thought.
The house fell silent. The workers looked at Brianna with sympathy before hurrying out as well.
Brianna got to her feet, picked up a kitchen knife, and hacked the sculpture to pieces.
A dense, throbbing pain spread through her chest, and humiliation burned even more sharply than grief.
She finally understood that Xavier could be just as cruel as anyone else once he stopped loving her.
Xavier did not come home for three straight days.
Brianna heard nothing about Julie during that time, and when she tried to send Xavier the divorce papers herself, she discovered that he had already blocked her number.
Since she had no idea where he was, she contacted his assistant.
"Mrs. Hansen, Mr. Hansen is drinking at a private club right now."
Brianna followed the location and went to the club where Xavier was staying.
Inside the private room, Xavier was talking to one of his closest friends.
His friend asked, "You really blocked Brianna because of Julie? Did you forget how good Brianna has been to you all these years?"
Pain filled Xavier's eyes.
"I do love Brianna. I married her even after what happened before our wedding, even when everyone around me objected."
He lowered his head and continued in a pained voice. "But every time I touch her, she looks like I'm forcing her. She can't forget what happened, and neither can I!"
He took a long, heavy drag from his cigarette, a sudden wave of tenderness softening his features.
"Julie is different. I was her first man. She has stayed by my side without asking for status or recognition, and I already owe her too much. She reminds me of Brianna when we were young. She's innocent and pure, and she even has a bucket list filled with things I once wanted to do with Brianna. Being with Julie feels like going back to those years. She deserves better."
Brianna stopped with her hand on the door.
At that moment, she finally understood how he had always viewed her.
Seven years ago, she had lost everything because she was trying to save him.
Yet in his mind, her suffering had become proof that she was somehow unchaste.
Brianna left the club like someone walking in a dream.
Heavy rain poured outside, and the night looked exactly like the storm seven years earlier.
Seven years ago, Xavier had proposed to her.
He had just started his own company, but was being ruthlessly suppressed by larger competitors at every turn.
He later stole a major contract from a rival, and that victory made him new enemies.
That night, Xavier told her he had to meet a client for a drink, and Brianna went to pick him up because she was worried.
In the rain, she saw that he was unconscious. Several men were carrying him and shoving him into a van.
Brianna panicked and ran after the van until those men brought Xavier to an abandoned warehouse outside the city.
They had set him up deliberately. They had drugged him and planned to cripple him.
Brianna rushed forward to stop them, dropped to her knees, and begged them to let Xavier go.
Instead, they grabbed her by the hair and dragged her into the weeds.
Brianna struggled and pleaded, but the men only slapped her hard across the face.
"If you make one more sound, I'll go break Xavier's legs and leave him crippled for the rest of his life!"
Brianna looked at Xavier lying unconscious nearby, and her body went still.
Tears slid slowly down her face.
The men laughed with excitement.
"This stupid b***h is offering herself up for Xavier. Let's see whether he still wants you after we're done with you..."
"We're serious hardasses, and if you call the police, we'll kill Xavier."
After the men left, Brianna forced down the hysteria threatening to kill herself and managed to drag Xavier back home.
When Xavier woke up, he had no idea what had happened. He saw her swollen eyes and disheveled hair and demanded an explanation.
Brianna was terrified that he would do something reckless, so she only told him that she had run into a thief on the way home.
She never told him the truth.
She never told him that everything had happened because of him. She was afraid that he would go mad with guilt for the rest of his life.
She also did not dare call the police because she feared those men would come back for Xavier.
Later, Xavier received explicit photos of Brianna and completely lost control.
He kept demanding the truth, and Brianna finally told him only that she had been attacked by a group of thugs that rainy night.
Xavier had lost his mind with grief. He swore he was heartbroken over what she had endured and vowed to protect her for the rest of her life.
In bed, he was always incredibly patient and gentle.
But Brianna was terrified of intimacy, and she often woke from nightmares reliving that night.
Yet, terrified of disappointing Xavier, she had forced herself to endure it, pretending to enjoy it.
Now she understood the truth. He had always believed that she was tainted.
Everything she had done to protect him now looked like a cruel joke.
Her phone suddenly vibrated.
Julie had sent her a message.
Julie: Brianna, what do you think would happen if I asked him for a wedding? Do you think he would give me one?
Aksara