"Let's get a divorce." Allie pressed the phone to her ear, speaking the words with flat, icy calm to her new husband on the other end. Midnight in Seattle. Allie Morrow sat alone in the sprawling master bedroom of Cove Estate, still trapped in her million-dollar wedding gown. Hours ago, right before they were supposed to exchange vows, her new husband—Julian Montgomery IV—had abandoned her at the altar. A single phone call was all it took for him to sprint out of the cathedral to rescue Christa Faulkner, his late best friend's widow. Allie had become the biggest joke in high society. She hadn’t had a drop of water all day, and now, left alone in the cold estate, her chronic stomach ulcer flared up with a vengeance, twisting her gut in violent cramps. On the other end of the line, Julian's usually warm voice turned to ice. "You want a divorce just because I left the ceremony to save Christa and Cody from a kidnapping? Allie, stop being dramatic." Allie's lips curled into a cold smile. Christa had once saved Julian's life years ago. She was his untouchable first love. Ever since Liam died overseas six months ago and Julian flew out to handle the funeral, Julian had come back an empty shell. Allie had planned the entire wedding alone while he barely glanced at the three options she placed on his desk. She hung up without another word, went into the bathroom to splash icy water on her face, and walked downstairs. At the landing, several live-in maids stopped talking and looked at her with open pity. Maria Davies, the senior housekeeper who had watched Allie quietly manage this house for three years, stepped forward. "Mrs. Montgomery, you must be starving. I kept some warm stomach-soothing soup on the stove. Shall I bring you a bowl?" "Thank you, Maria," Allie said softly. Her fingertips had just brushed the back of the dining chair when the roar of a Rolls-Royce Cullinan engine died outside the front courtyard. The heavy double doors swung open. Julian strode into the foyer in his bespoke black tuxedo, carrying the chill of the autumn night. Behind him stood a petite woman with shoulder-length curls and a boy around four years old. When the woman offered a timid smile, two delicate dimples appeared on her cheeks. It was Christa Faulkner. Julian wrapped an arm around Christa's shoulders, his voice dropping to a gentle murmur. "Christa, Cody, this is your home from now on." Catching sight of Allie's icy stare by the dining table, Julian spoke in a flat, matter-of-fact tone. "Allie, this is Christa and little Cody. They'll be staying here for a while." It was an order, not a discussion. The air in the living room went dead still. Christa immediately bit her lower lip, grabbing Cody's hand and taking a panicked step back toward the door. "I'm so sorry, Julian. I shouldn't have called you... I completely forgot today was your wedding day with Miss Morrow." She did not call Allie "Mrs. Montgomery." She deliberately used "Miss Morrow." In that single phrase, Allie caught the sharp hostility and possessiveness hiding behind Christa's watery eyes. Julian didn't correct her. Instead, he caught Christa's arm, his voice impossibly soft. "It's not your fault. You didn't know today was my wedding." Standing by the long table, Allie watched her husband hold another woman's arm in their bridal home. The suffocating grip around her heart slowly froze into numb indifference. Christa looked at Allie with red-rimmed eyes, her voice trembling. "But... this is your new home with Miss Morrow. How can I impose with a child..." "There is no safer place in Seattle than with me," Julian said with an arrogant smile. Christa lowered her lashes, sneaking a glance at Allie. "Still..." "No buts. I am the master of this house. If I say you can stay, you stay," Julian said, his brow furrowing as he settled the matter. Allie let out a silent laugh. Three years ago, after signing their marriage certificate, Julian had driven her to this bayfront estate and promised that she was the mistress of this house, and everyone—including him—would listen to her. That lone sweet promise had made her heart race for days. Now, he reminded her who the real master was. After settling the mother and son upstairs, Julian came back down, sat beside Allie, and habitually reached for her hand. Allie shifted her body away, dodging his touch completely. Julian's hand froze in midair. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, looking exhausted. "Allie, be reasonable. I'm exhausted from dealing with that kidnapping." "I'm being unreasonable?" Allie's voice was razor-sharp. "If Liam's family was hunting them overseas, why didn't she hide abroad instead of flying straight into Seattle today just to get caught at the airport?" Julian stiffened, caught off guard, before frowning. "There are details I can't tell you right now. Are you jealous?" He reached out and patted her head with smug confidence. "Calm down. The title of Mrs. Montgomery belongs only to you. No one can threaten your position." Upstairs, the guest room door clicked open. Christa leaned out, flashing her sweet dimples as her soft voice cut through the hall. "Julian, is there anything to eat? Cody says he's hungry."

Julian stood up almost by reflex, his long legs carrying him toward the staircase as he answered warmly. "Yes, I'll bring something up right now." At that exact moment, Maria walked out of the kitchen carrying a silver tray with a porcelain bowl of freshly stewed soup. Julian took the tray from her hands and turned toward the stairs where Christa waited. Maria's face paled, and she hurried a step forward. "Sir... that's the last portion of soup in the house. I made it specially for Madam. She hasn't eaten all day, and her stomach ulcer is acting up." Julian paused for a fraction of a second. Upstairs, Christa instantly put on a look of panicked guilt, biting her lower lip. "Oh... since it's for Miss Morrow, Julian, please give it to her. Cody and I are fine." Julian waved his hand dismissively, his voice devoid of warmth. "She's a grown adult. Missing one bite won't hurt her. Cody is still a child—he needs to eat first." Inside the guest room, Cody let out a spoiled whine. Christa tucked a curl behind her ear and smiled gratefully. "Well, if you insist, I won't be polite then, Julian." Julian handed the tray to Christa and called down the stairs to Maria. "Go back to the kitchen and make some other soup for Madam." Standing in the shadows at the foot of the stairs, Allie watched the entire exchange. Strangely, the violent cramping in her stomach settled into a dead calm. She didn't say a word or fight for the bowl. She simply walked up the stairs, passed the guest room without a glance, entered the master suite at the end of the hall, and locked the heavy oak door behind her. In the walk-in closet, the vanity mirror reflected her pale, exhausted face and the single small dimple on her left cheek. Her phone buzzed on the marble counter. It was an encrypted video call from her best friend, Claire Sullivan, a top investment bank partner and Seattle socialite currently wrapping an M&A roadshow in San Francisco. As soon as Allie answered, Claire exploded through the screen. "That bastard Julian actually ditched you at the altar for his buddy's widow? What an absolute piece of trash! I'm having my team prep the firm's private jet right now. I'll take off at dawn and land at Boeing Field before breakfast!" Allie took a slow breath. "I'm fine, Claire. Finish signing your merger deal first. You can buy me dinner when you get back." Claire bit her red lip, lowering her voice in fury. "Allie, do you know what those trust-fund brats in Seattle are saying behind your back? They're saying you're just a stand-in for Christa! That Julian only married you because of the dimple on your left cheek when you smile! Otherwise, a girl from an ordinary family like yours would never have stepped foot inside the Montgomery estate!" Allie lowered her lashes, her voice dead calm. "I know." A stand-in? Everyone thought Julian was using her as a substitute. Nobody knew that the only reason she had ever looked twice at Julian was because his long, cold eyes looked remarkably like a boy buried deep in her teenage memories. In this marriage that everyone called a desperate climb on her part, she had also been using his eyes to mourn a past she couldn't reach. "If you know, why haven't you divorced his ass yet?" Claire shouted through the speaker. "I will," Allie said, her voice chillingly clear. "But Julian is a control freak. He'll never sign the papers willingly. I have to find another way." After hanging up, the night dragged on. It was two in the morning when the master bedroom door was unlocked with a spare key and Julian finally came in. Half-awake, Allie felt the mattress dip behind her, and every nerve in her body tensed. Turning her head slightly in the cold moonlight, she saw Julian lying an arm's length away with his back turned to her. Hot tears finally slipped from the corners of her eyes, soaking into the pillowcase. Outsiders thought their delayed wedding was a romantic gesture after three years of marriage. Only Allie knew that in those three years, they had never even consummated their marriage. Three years ago, at a high school reunion organized by Scott Thompson, classmates had teased Allie about having a crush on Julian. That night, a front-desk mix-up put them in the same hotel suite. Nothing happened—they woke up fully clothed. Yet her greedy stepmother, Sharon Tucker, found out and caused a massive scene at the Montgomery ancestral manor, demanding six million dollars in bride price compensation. Julian had stepped up, married her behind his parents' backs to protect her dignity, and moved her into Cove Estate. For three years, he gave her family expensive gifts and handled their messes, yet he never touched her. Six months ago, he had held her in the study and suggested having a baby, making her believe his heart had finally warmed—until Liam died the very next day. As the tear tracks dried tight against her skin, Allie opened her eyes in the dark. This empty charity of a marriage was ending by her own hand.

At seven the next morning, sunlight cut through the Seattle fog. The king-sized bed was already empty. From the garden below came the sound of Cody's shrill laughter and Julian's patient, gentle voice coaxing him—sounding every bit like a happy family of three. Allie stood before the bathroom mirror and splashed freezing water onto her face. Drops rolled down her jawline, replacing the lingering exhaustion in her eyes with cold clarity. She dried her hands and walked into the private study attached to the master suite. The outside world believed she had thrown away her future to marry into wealth, content to be a useless trophy wife living off a Montgomery trust fund. In reality, she was a top AI prodigy from Stanford University. Over the past three years, she had never stopped her research into frontier machine learning models. Allie booted up her encrypted workstation. On the screen was a ten-thousand-word academic paper titled "Autonomous Agent Architecture Based on Deep Multimodal Reinforcement Learning"—the core algorithm prototype for her project, imitation. Having already swept top marks across three rounds of rigorous, anonymous peer reviews, the editor-in-chief had held the journal's prestigious special issue cover open, waiting only for her final benchmark convergence data. Only the concluding proofs remained. Once submitted under her pen name, Cathy Yan, this camera-ready manuscript would immediately trigger the locked publication queue of the Annals of AI Research, the highest global authority in artificial intelligence. Her slender fingers flew across the mechanical keyboard, lines of code and mathematical proofs reflecting in her dark eyes. Downstairs in the dining room, Julian was patiently feeding oatmeal to Cody in a high chair with a silver spoon. Across the table, Christa wore a fitted silk loungewear set. She glanced up toward the second-floor study, a mocking smirk tugging at her lips. Julian set down the spoon and looked toward the kitchen. "Maria, go upstairs and see why Madam hasn't come down for breakfast yet." The sudden concern made Christa's smile freeze. A flash of jealousy darkened her eyes before she quickly put on a timid, guilty expression. "Julian, is Miss Morrow still angry with me? Does she blame Cody and me for ruining your wedding night..." Julian offered a warm, confident smile. "No. Allie has always been gentle and generous. She wouldn't get angry over something so small." Christa's eyes darted around as she spoke in an aggrieved tone. "But if she isn't angry, why hasn't she come down yet? She clearly refuses to sit at the same table with me." Julian's brow furrowed slightly, his voice dropping. "Allie isn't that petty." Under the table, Christa twisted her napkin so hard her knuckles turned white. Allie, Allie, Allie. Had that boring woman actually wormed her way into Julian's heart? Upstairs in the study, Allie typed the final period, saved the encrypted file, and uploaded the manuscript under the name "Cathy Yan" to the journal's system. She pushed open the floor-to-ceiling window and breathed in the crisp morning air just as Maria knocked softly. "Madam, breakfast is ready. Sir asked me to call you down." Allie nodded, changed into tailored black trousers and a white silk blouse, and walked downstairs. As she reached the bottom landing, Julian was picking up his briefcase to leave for the office. Christa stood by the foyer like a devoted wife, holding his suit jacket and speaking in a sweet voice. "Drive safely, Julian. Shall I fix your tie for you?" "No need," Julian said, smiling politely. Looking up, he saw Allie descending the stairs and beckoned to her with the casual authority of a husband. "Allie, come fix my tie." A cold glint flashed in Allie's eyes. Did he think she was a puppet on a string? "Sorry, my stomach hurts. I feel nauseous right now." Without sparing him a glance, Allie walked straight past him into the dining room and pulled out a chair. Maria quickly served her a warm bowl of pumpkin millet porridge. Allie lowered her head and ate in silence, treating the two people by the door like thin air. Instead of getting angry, Julian shook his head with an indulgent chuckle, assuming his wife was just throwing a harmless tantrum. In his mind, Allie had been infatuated with him since high school; her jealousy only proved how deeply she loved and needed him. Pleased with that thought, Julian strode out the door. Christa stood on the porch, staring hungrily as Julian climbed into his bespoke black Rolls-Royce Cullinan. He now held absolute power over the Montgomery empire. Christa bit her lip in regret—if she had known he would rise this high, she never would have chosen short-lived Liam over him back then! "Enjoying the view?" Allie's icy voice rang out right behind her, making Christa flinch violently.