Chapter 4

After dinner, Julian called me into the living room.

He sat dead center on the sofa, while Summer lounged casually on the armchair beside him.

The air felt thick with manufactured tension.

Julian looked at me with that same intoxicating tenderness, yet the words coming out of his mouth were knives.

"Chloe, there's something I need to tell you."

He slid the deed transfer contract forward on the table.

"I've decided to sign the house over to Summer."

"Next week, I'm going abroad with her for a while. We might not be back for a very long time."

He stared into my eyes, clearly scanning my face for the slightest twitch.

He expected me to take this "exposure" just as quietly as the last few.

Summer let out a taunting chuckle.

"Chloe, you're super independent now, right?"

"Julian has babied you for five years. He deserves his own life. You shouldn't have any trouble finding your own place to live, right?"

I looked around the room.

I had personally picked out the rocking chair by the floor-to-ceiling windows.

We had hung the wall art together.

The mug he used to warm milk for me yesterday morning was still resting on the kitchen counter.

By the entryway, our matching couple slippers sat neatly side by side on the shoe rack.

This was once the sanctuary I had fought so desperately to protect.

And now, they were tearing it down with their own hands just to prove I was "strong enough."

"Sounds good," I heard my own voice say, eerily calm.

No hysterics. No tears. Not even a shred of anger.

A flash of bewilderment flickered in Julian's eyes, quickly morphing into an appreciative smile.

I turned around and walked up to the second floor, pulling out the suitcase I had packed days ago from the closet.

I didn't spare them a second glance.

The moment I pushed the bedroom door open, I realized I could finally breathe.

The suitcase held only a few changes of clothes and my essential documents.

The wheels rolled heavily across the hardwood floor.

I walked over to the coffee table and set a folder down right next to the fake property deed.

"Alright, I'll move out."

"Here's the divorce agreement. I've already signed it."

Julian chuckled softly, leaning back against the sofa cushions.

His expression was affectionate yet exasperated, like he was indulging a mischievous child.

"Look at you, Chloe. You're getting clever, pulling a reverse prank on me?"

He didn't grab the papers right away. Instead, he took a sip of water from his glass.

Then, with an easy smile, he picked up the folder.

"Where did you even get this printed? The formatting actually looks pretty legit."

He casually flipped it open.

But the moment his eyes landed on the explicit asset division clauses, my bold signature on the final page, and the lawyer's official red stamp...

His fingers froze mid-turn.

The smile on his lips stiffened, and his pupils contracted sharply.

Ignoring his reaction, I pulled my house key and access fob from my purse and set them lightly on top of the paperwork.

The metal clinked sharply against the glass table.

"Have a great trip abroad."

With that, I gripped my suitcase handle and turned toward the door.