Untouchable After the Divorce：The Billionaire's Regret

"Once the unilateral divorce and property separation process is initiated, it will take thirty days. Are you absolutely sure you want to proceed?" the lawyer confirmed over the phone one last time. "I'm sure," I replied, my tone perfectly calm as I looked at the one-way ticket in my hand. "Alright. In that case, you must get his handwritten signature today. Not a single day later." Hanging up, I took the divorce initiation document and slipped it at the very bottom of a thick stack of apartment reimbursement forms. I pushed open the door to the study. Julian was sitting behind his desk, frowning as he pressed a hand to his stomach. Hearing the noise, he looked up. When he saw it was me, his tense shoulders visibly relaxed. He didn't speak. He just pushed his empty glass to the edge of the desk. I knew exactly what he meant. Warm water, half a glass, no ice. Our tacit understanding over the past three years meant he never even had to ask. He took all my dedication for granted, having long since treated it as a given. I walked over to the water dispenser, filled the glass halfway with warm water, and placed it back by his hand. My right hand was buried in my coat pocket, my fingertips pinching a folded pregnancy test report, while my left hand held a few documents that needed his signature. I looked at him and was just about to speak. "Julian, I—" Crash! A sharp shattering sound suddenly came from the lounge area by the window. Valerie scrambled to her feet in a panic, knocking over an ornament next to her. Her handbag tipped over, and half of an antique pocket watch with scorched edges tumbled onto the rug. Valerie stared fixedly at the broken watch, her shoulders trembling violently as she clutched her chest, gasping for air. Julian instantly set down the glass he had just picked up and strode over. Half-kneeling beside the sofa, he gripped Valerie's hand tightly. "Don't be afraid, Valerie. The fire was put out a long time ago. Deep breaths. I'm right here." I stood by the desk. Inside my pocket, my fingers slowly released their grip on the pregnancy report. The words I had prepared to say were swallowed back down. After soothing Valerie for a moment, Julian turned to look at me. Noticing the papers in my left hand, he held out his hand. "Are those the forms to sign? Bring them over." I walked over and handed them to him. On top were the property bills for the apartment; buried at the very bottom was the divorce initiation document. Taking the papers, Julian let go of the arm he had wrapped around Valerie. He uncapped his fountain pen, his eyes skimming the itemized bill on the first page. Then, his finger flicked the corner of the page, seemingly intending to flip through them. My hand tightened into a fist inside my pocket. If he turned to the last page right now, he would see 'that' document. Right then, Valerie sharply gasped in pain. Her body went limp, and she clung to Julian's arm, her voice trembling. "Julian... I'm so dizzy... I think I smell smoke again..." Julian's hand, about to turn the page, froze. His attention was instantly hijacked. He immediately tossed the pen cap aside and wrapped an arm around Valerie's swaying body, his tone frantic. "It's nothing, it's just the scent of the diffuser." To finish his trivial tasks as quickly as possible so he could tend to her, Julian didn't spare another glance at the papers in his hand. Resting the stack against his leg, he peeled back the corner of every single page without reading a word of the contents, and swiftly signed his name at the bottom right of each one. "Handle the household bills yourself from now on. Don't bother me with them," Julian said, shoving the signed papers back into my hands. "Go call Dr. Lee. Valerie can't handle the fright." He didn't ask what I had been trying to say before I was interrupted, nor did he notice my slightly tightened grip on the documents. I glanced down at the last page. At the bottom right corner, the signature "Julian Vance" was sharp and clear. Without a word, I put the papers away, turned around, and walked out of the study. The moment I returned to my room and closed the door, a wave of profound exhaustion completely submerged me. That half-burnt pocket watch Valerie dropped on the rug actually belonged to my late father. Three years ago, during that devastating fire in Boston, I was the one who truly carried him out on my back, leaving massive burn scars on my right shoulder in the process. But when he woke up, the first person he saw was Valerie, who had merely picked up that broken watch. Ever since then, he gave all his privilege and favoritism to his "savior from the fire." When we first got married, I had tried to tell him the truth. But when he unhesitatingly shook off my hand to fuss over Valerie just because she coughed, I swallowed my words. I didn't need to rip off my clothes and bare my scars just to fight a fraud for a husband who was already supposed to be mine. Because old Mr. Vance had once sponsored me, I had willingly hidden my edge for the past three years. I played the invisible wife in this marriage, hiding away in a sunless underground lab to patch up perfume formulas for the Vance Group. I considered it my way of repaying the Vance family's kindness. But yesterday, I found out I was pregnant. I didn't want to waste away here anymore. And I certainly didn't want my child to be born to a father who would always put another woman first. Besides, three years of anonymously fixing formulas for him was more than enough repayment to the Vance Group. Next month, the International Fragrance Guild's (IFG) supreme rating channel in Paris would close, and my commercial masterpiece, 'Starfall', had to be submitted before then. It was time to reclaim the career that rightfully belonged to me. I took out my phone and opened the photo album. On the screen was a picture of the pregnancy test report I had taken yesterday. I opened the chat with my lawyer and held down the voice record button. "He signed it. In thirty days, once the divorce procedure is finalized, send him the official papers." I locked the screen. He had no idea what he had just personally signed.