Prologue

The prison gates closed behind him with a heavy clang.

Adrian Kingsley walked down the dim corridor, his polished shoes echoing against the cold concrete floor. His face was expressionless, his dark eyes colder than winter itself.

The prison guard stopped outside a small cell.

"Mr. Kingsley, she's been waiting for you."

Alice Carter slowly raised her head.

Three years in prison had stolen her beauty. Her once-bright eyes were dull, and her body had grown thin and frail. Yet the moment she saw the man she had loved for more than ten years, her lips curved into a faint smile.

"You came."

Adrian didn't answer. He placed a document on the table between them.

"Sign it."

Alice lowered her eyes.

It was a divorce agreement.

A bitter laugh escaped her lips.

"So... even after everything, the only thing you wanted from me was freedom."

"You brought all this upon yourself," Adrian replied coldly. "You drugged me and forced me into marriage. You tried to kill Ava. Prison was your punishment. This marriage should have ended years ago."

His words pierced her heart more painfully than any knife.

He wasn't wrong.

She had loved him so desperately that she had crossed every line.

She had believed that once she became his wife, he would eventually love her back.

Instead, she lost everything.

With trembling fingers, Alice picked up the pen and signed her name without hesitation.

She gently pushed the papers back to him.

"Congratulations, Adrian."

"You finally got your freedom."

For the first time, Adrian looked into her eyes.

There was no obsession.

No pleading.

No desperate love.

Only peace.

Somehow... that frightened him.

Alice stood up slowly.

"If there is another life," she whispered, "I will never force you to love me again."

Before anyone could react, she turned and ran.

"Stop!"

Bang!

Her forehead struck the concrete wall with terrifying force.

Blood flowed down the wall as her body collapsed to the floor.

"Alice!"

The divorce papers slipped from Adrian's hand.

He rushed forward, catching her lifeless body in his arms.

For the first time in ten years...

The man who had never shed a tear for her felt his world collapse.

"Alice... wake up..."

His voice trembled.

But the woman who had loved him with her entire heart would never answer again.

Darkness swallowed her.

...

Alice suddenly gasped and opened her eyes.

She stared at the familiar ceiling of the Kingsley Mansion.

Her hands instinctively touched her forehead.

No blood.

No prison.

No pain.

Her gaze fell on the calendar beside the bed.

It was one year after her marriage.

She had returned.

This life...

She would never beg for Adrian's love again.

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