In the sixth year of our marriage, my husband Caleb Sterling cheated on me with Ava White, a student I was sponsoring through college. His excuse? He had developed Dissociative Identity Disorder. The "host" personality loved the current me, but the "alter" personality loved Ava, who reminded him of me at 18. When Ava got pregnant, the brutal truth was revealed, and we had a massive fight. Caleb said casually, "The one sleeping with Ava is the old me. The current me still loves you. Jane, what are you unsatisfied with?" He forgot. The "old him" once knelt outside his mother's house for 24 hours just to marry me. In my past life, I couldn't accept the betrayal, nor could I bring myself to divorce him. I ended up committing suicide due to depression. When I opened my eyes again, I looked at Caleb trying to coax me. "Let's get a divorce." 1 Caleb's hands paused as he fastened my necklace. He acted as if nothing had happened, finishing the clasp and looking at me in the mirror. "Jane, it's your birthday. Let's not talk about depressing things." I met his gaze in the reflection. The lighting in the room was dim. Caleb, with his arm loosely around my shoulders, had his shirt sleeves rolled up, revealing a silver watch with chipped paint—completely out of place with his noble aura. It was a gift I gave him when I was 19. A watch worth a couple hundred bucks. Caleb Sterling, worth billions, had worn it for over a decade. That’s why in my past life, I never understood until the moment I died. Why, after we finally made it through the hard times, did he cheat with Ava White? And why invent such a ridiculous excuse like "split personality"? It wasn't until Ava got pregnant and tried to usurp my position that the truth came out. Caleb and I had a breakdown fight. But he remained nonchalant. "The one sleeping with Ava is the old me. The current me still loves you. Jane, what are you unsatisfied with?" How could I be satisfied? The old Caleb knelt for a day and a night just to get his mother's approval to marry me. He could have just told me he cheated. We could have parted ways cleanly. But he chose to play me like a fool. In my past life, I couldn't divorce him, but I couldn't accept the betrayal. I ended my life in depression. The irony? While my blood stained the sheets and I stopped breathing, Caleb was happily celebrating his son's first birthday with Ava. For a moment, the dizziness of blood loss from my past life hit me. I pressed down on the ache in my chest. "It's not about being depressing. Consider it your last birthday gift to me." "Mr. Sterling, let's end this." Caleb wasn't overly surprised. He just analyzed the situation logically: "Jane, if news of a divorce gets out, it will hurt Sterling Corp's image. The stock will plummet. Investors for current projects might pull out." "So divorcing now does more harm than good for both of us." I should have known. People like Caleb are sharper and colder than anyone. Love three parts, keep seven parts for yourself. The three parts of love I felt in my past life were just illusions I burned myself to chase. 2 I looked at him calmly. "If you're unwilling, I don't mind tomorrow's headlines reading: Sterling Corp CEO Cheats with Wife's Sponsored Student, Invents Split Personality Excuse." "Are you threatening me?" "It affects the stock price either way. Why wouldn't I choose the option that benefits me?" Caleb was silent for a long time before finally agreeing to the divorce. Before leaving, he glanced back at me, a smirk on his lips. "As expected of someone I taught. You've learned how to manipulate people perfectly." Caleb was the most notorious playboy of our generation. Born into old money in New York, relying on his good looks, countless girls threw themselves at him. And me? I had just gotten into NYU from a small town in the Midwest, clutching the few thousand dollars I earned working in a factory, carrying scars, escaping a suffocating home. We were from two different worlds, with no intersection. But I forced an intersection. It was at a high-end club where I sold alcohol. The manager sent me and my friend Tess to the penthouse suite. Pushing open the door, I saw Caleb sitting in the corner. He was leaning back on the sofa, swirling a glass of wine with his long fingers. The ripples in the glass looked like my heartbeat. Halfway through the night, someone got drunk and groped Tess. She started crying. The man, annoyed, raised his hand to slap her. I blocked his hand, my eyes full of stubborn resilience. "Groping first, now hitting? Have you no shame?" The man was enraged. He raised his other hand to slap me. That's when a laughing voice cut through the air: "Is she wrong?" Casual, yet condescending. I looked up and met Caleb's amused eyes. My heart skipped a beat. I knew I had won the bet. And I knew he saw through my clumsy ploy. A calculated "accident." It's hard to say who made the first move. I used Caleb's influence to climb up, fighting for a place in this glittering city. Caleb taught me the ways of the world, hand in hand. He took me through endless social events. In those years, we flew back and forth between New York and London countless times. The drawer was full of plane tickets. We went from play-acting to real feelings. Caleb's introduction of me changed slowly too. "My friend, Jane." "My girlfriend, Jane." "My wife, Jane." ... I took off the necklace and looked at myself in the mirror. Caleb was wrong about one thing. Stripped of the jewelry and makeup, I was still that sensitive, insecure Jane from the mountains. That's why I died of depression in my last life. After spending ten years becoming Mrs. Sterling, how could I let go willingly? To say I have no regrets would be a lie. But I won't make the same mistake twice. 3 Sterling Corp's legal team—nicknamed the "Wall Street Wolves"—quickly drafted the divorce agreement. Assets split 50/50. Caleb would pay me 50 million dollars in alimony annually until my death. When the agreement was handed to me, Caleb looked at me with a complex expression. "Jane, this is my compensation to you. After all these years, I failed you." Tabloids often said Mr. Sterling was a classic ambitious man, expert at psychological games. Like now. As he spoke, redness crept into the corners of his eyes. Caleb was playing the emotional card, betting I would soften. "No objections. I'll sign." I signed without hesitation. Caleb stared at the signed paper, stunned. The sharp edge of the paper cut his finger, but he didn't even flinch. He couldn't understand. Why did I abandon him so easily, giving up our ten-year relationship? Divorce procedures in New York are complicated, and Caleb loved playing tricks. On the day of the hearing, I drove to the court. Getting out of the car, I saw Caleb and Ava standing at the entrance. Ava wore a white cotton dress with a cardigan. From a distance, she looked a bit like me. To be precise. She looked like 18-year-old Jane. Innocent, yet hiding a flicker of ambition. "Sister Jane, you don't mind me accompanying Mr. Sterling, do you?" Ava held Caleb's arm, her eyes full of provocative triumph. I remembered the shy little girl who used to call me sister. Because I came from poverty, I knew how unfair the world could be to girls from poor backgrounds. So I sponsored many girls' education. Ava was one of them. Maybe to make up for my own youth, I treated Ava like a sister. I took her to every event. Like Caleb taught me, I taught her social etiquette, hired tutors for her. I didn't know the girl I treated as a sister had decided to replace me and become the second "Jane" from the moment she arrived in New York. Even if I knew then, I would have laughed at her delusion. But I forgot. Caleb loves girls like this. Seemingly smart, but actually a blank slate for him to paint his colors on. After all, wasn't I just like that at 18? Self-righteous, a little clever, daringly naive. I became his prey early on. After a lifetime of struggle, I ended up dying of depression. 4 Seeing my silence, Caleb shook off Ava and reached for my hand: "Jane, if you regret it, we can..." I dodged his touch, glancing at Ava's slight baby bump. "What? Want your son to be a bastard?" Ava looked at Caleb expectantly. Caleb didn't even glance at her, staring straight at me. "If you don't like it, she can abort it." "If you hate her, I'll send her away from New York immediately." Ava lost her arrogance instantly. I felt no joy in victory. Only a sliver of pity for Ava. You can want anything from Caleb, but never bet on his heart. I didn't see it in my last life. Ava doesn't see it now. ... The divorce decree came down quickly. Walking out, Caleb was still dazed, unable to understand: "Jane, I lied about the split personality so you wouldn't be sad about the affair." "But how can you be so cruel? Divorcing me so cleanly—" I smirked. "Did I hold a knife to your neck and force you to sleep with Ava?" He was silent. I had no desire to continue entangling with him and walked away. Caleb chased after me. "Are you going back to LA?" "None of your business." "Stay in New York. You have nowhere else to go," he said to himself. "Whatever you need in the future, just say the word, and I'll handle it." His tone was certain I would stay. But he forgot. I gave up everything in LA to stay in New York for him. Now I can leave just as decisively. I turned back, eyes cold. "Caleb, I actually hate New York." He didn't seem to understand. But it didn't matter. I walked away fast. Fast enough that when Caleb reached out to grab my dress, his hand grasp only air. He caught nothing. 5 I drove away. In the rearview mirror, Ava and Caleb were arguing. Looking away, I remembered when I first discovered Caleb's affair with Ava. I cried until I shook, asking him why it had to be Ava. Anyone else would have been fine. Why Ava, whom I treated like a sister? So when Caleb lied about having DID... I forced myself to believe it. I knew how flimsy the excuse was. But I was unwilling to accept it. I couldn't handle the double betrayal. Over time, I almost believed he really was sick. Until the truth was revealed, and I broke down completely. I dragged it out until death, refusing to divorce. Because of unwillingness, because of love. We survived his mother's opposition, supported each other through Sterling Corp's lows... We finally stood at the top of the pyramid, happiness within reach. How could I let go? Sometimes, exhausted from arguing, I would remember the year Caleb cut ties with his family for me, the year I accompanied him in his startup. That night, after earning his first pot of gold, a drunk Caleb leaned on my shoulder and mumbled: "Jane, I want to marry you so bad." Whatever the beginning was... The love in our youth was real. The fickleness now is also real. So after settling affairs in New York, I immediately boarded a flight to LA. Passing security, I looked back instinctively. Not sure what I was looking at. The me who died unwillingly in the past life, or the ten years wasted on Caleb... Finally, I saw the night Caleb proposed. The smooth operator of the business world, his hands trembling as he opened the ring box. "Jane, stay." "Stay in New York, marry me. Let's live a good life together." Caleb, I really hated New York. But it was your home, so I stayed. Now that we've parted ways... There's no reason to stay. So Mr. Sterling, I must go. In this life, my love ends here.
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