One Fake Headshot, Our Final Farewell

Chapter 4 Extremely Stingy

Before I left, I placed the signed divorce papers in Robert's study—there was no turning back.

That evening, I sat on the garden bench, lost in thought.

Robert stumbled out of the house, reeking of alcohol.

He looked at me with smiling eyes—still as handsome as ever.

For a moment, it felt like time had slipped backward.

Back when he first took over the company, the pressure was immense. After handling work, he'd always go drink to unwind.

I used to carefully make hangover soup to ease his discomfort.

He'd bury his head in my lap and say, "Honey, marrying you was the best deal I ever made."

Over the years, except for delivering my paintings to the studio, I stayed by Robert's side.

I thought if I endured enough, I could warm his heart. But he took my tolerance as permission to act even worse.

Now that I was detached from love and looking in as an outsider, my past devotion had become nothing short of self-sacrifice.

Seeing that I didn't react, Robert's smile faded.

He said, "I'm not agreeing to a divorce. You're stuck with me for life."

I looked up at him, my gaze eerily calm, and said, "What if I insist on a divorce? What trick will you pull this time?"

He moved to sit beside me in a few quick steps, then forcefully gripped my shoulders to make me face him.

He said, "We've never done it in the garden. Maybe it's time for a third kid. This time, you can raise the child—keep you from overthinking while you're alone at home."

When I first married into the Harding family, Maggie was very harsh on me.

She'd bring the butler along every now and then to test me.

Over time, the servants in the villa wouldn't even look me in the eye.

But love kept me going, so I never told Robert about those humiliations. I kept telling myself to just bear with it.

But thinking back, how could he not have known?

It all came from his silent approval—or even his encouragement.

He unbuttoned my shirt, breathing heavily as he kissed my chest.

His grip was so hard that I couldn't help but gasp in pain.

He tried every trick to arouse me, but I shut out every touch, giving no response.

Watching him so eager and impatient, I felt nothing but numbness.

There was no greater sorrow than a dead heart. The feeling of not loving anymore—it was that obvious.

Robert saw that I was like a piece of wood the whole time, and finally lost interest.

He pulled his hands back and stood up to leave, irritated. "Eight years together, and this is the first time you've been so silent."

His eyes sharp, he stared straight at me. "Are you seeing someone behind my back?"

Hearing that, I couldn't help but let out a scoff.

He played around freely outside—any woman he slept with once, he'd throw money at and never look at again.

The latest time, he spent the night with two sisters in a hotel suite.

But with me, he was extremely stingy.

Before, at the studio, an intern secretly slipped me a love letter.

He fired him behind my back without a word, then used his connections to kick the guy out of Astral City.

He even tried to have that innocent intern thrown in prison on charges of leaking company secrets.