Chapter 5

Willow's POV

I finally managed to escape the mob of reporters and took a cab home, looking utterly disheveled.

But before I even reached my doorstep, I saw a group of reporters squatting outside the main gate, long lenses and microphones set up everywhere.

I couldn't go home.

I had no choice but to take a cab to our small apartment.

Back when Caleb was pursuing me, he didn't mention his identity as an Owen heir, fearing I'd reject him.

To live with me, he bought a small 600-square-foot apartment on the west side of town.

Back then, we went furniture shopping together, chose a decorator together, and furnished our new home together.

Every single item in that small apartment, we had picked out together.

Later, Caleb revealed his identity, we got married, and moved into the mansion.

He kept that small apartment, arranging for it to be cleaned regularly. He never allowed anyone to touch anything inside.

He said it was our home, just for the two of us, filled with too many memories for anyone else to touch.

Occasionally, he would even take me back to stay for a night or two.

I took a cab to the small apartment, opened the door, and froze right inside the entrance.

A pair of women's flats were on the floor.

They weren't mine.

I was rooted to the spot.

Faint voices drifted from inside. Caleb and Daisy.

"Make yourself comfortable. No one knows about this place, so no reporters will bother you."

Daisy's voice was timid, "Will Willow be unhappy if I stay here?"

"Willow won't know."

He had said this was our home, just for the two of us.

Now, another woman was walking on the floors I picked out, sleeping in the bed he and I chose together.

He remembered to find a secluded spot for Daisy, away from reporters, but he forgot that I, too, was blocked by reporters and had nowhere to go.

He didn't think of me even once.

Pain spread from my chest, stifling me until I could barely breathe.

I silently backed out, gently closing the door.

As I walked out of the apartment building, I looked down and saw my hands trembling.

My phone vibrated. It was a message from Caleb:

"Willow, we can't be photographed together for the next few days. I won't be coming home these days."

I stared at the screen, wanting to ask him, "Are you going to stay with Daisy in our small apartment? Are you going to sleep in our bed?"

But I couldn't type a single word.

My vision was completely blurred, and tears streamed onto the phone screen.

I waited at a street corner near our house until past 1 AM, waiting for the reporters outside to leave, then secretly returned home.

Back home, I found my documents, then picked out a few common clothes and toiletries and stuffed them into my suitcase.

A twenty-inch small suitcase held everything I wanted to take from three years in Caleb's house.

Four days later, Caleb finally returned.

The moment he walked in, he pulled me into a hug, resting his chin on my head, his voice urgent, "Willow, I missed you so much. Did you miss me?"

I didn't speak, my hands hanging at my sides.

Caleb noticed something was off. He released me and looked down at my face. A clear tension in his eyes. "The reporters were too vigilant these past few days. I didn't dare come back. But I worried about you every single day. Please don't be mad, okay?"

Worried every single day.

Yet, in those four days, he didn't send me a single call or message.

He didn't ask what I ate, didn't ask if I was cornered by reporters, not even a goodnight.

I subtly stepped back half a pace from his embrace, "I'm not mad. You've worked hard."

Caleb took one of my hands, brought it to his lips, and kissed it, "For our future, it's not hard."

He took out a jewelry box. Inside was a ruby necklace.

He personally put it on me, "Come on, tonight I'm taking you back to the family estate for dinner. I told Mr. Jenkins to prepare all your favorite dishes."

"The divorce is just a public statement. In our family, you're still my wife. That won't change."

I didn't want to go back to the family estate.

His mother, Eleanor, never liked me from the start.

She disliked my ordinary background, feeling I wasn't worthy of the Owen family.

That year, Caleb, to marry me, was willing to face punishment, even declaring firmly, "If she doesn't marry me, I'll never marry anyone else."

Only then did Eleanor agree.

The first year of our marriage, Eleanor was relatively polite to me, considering Caleb.

From the second year on, because we had no children, Eleanor's attitude toward me grew colder by the day.

But Caleb didn't wait for me to refuse. He took my hand and walked out.

I sat in the car, watching the city lights pass by.

The man who once said he'd marry no one but me, changed so quickly.