Chapter 3

Those days, I could not be bothered to try to figure out what was going on inside Jeff's head. I just wanted the divorce finalized as quickly as possible.

I raised an eyebrow and deliberately pushed his buttons."So, you're refusing to divorce me because you still can't let me go?"

Immediately, Wendy grabbed Jeff's sleeve and pouted. "Jeff, aren't I your favorite wife? How could you marry someone else?"

With both of us pressuring him from opposite sides, Jeff had no choice but to agree. The three of us then headed to the courthouse. Just as we reached the entrance, Jeff suddenly rubbed his temples and swayed slightly, pretending that the familiar surroundings had triggered a memory.

Then, he reached out and took my hand.

He murmured, "This place feels so familiar… I remember now. On New Year's Eve, you and I stood in line here together to get our marriage license."

He knew exactly what he was doing. That had been one of the happiest days of my life. He thought that if he brought up one of our precious memories, I would lose the nerve to go through with the divorce.

After all, every time he upset me in the past, this trick worked.

However, what Jeff did not know was that on the day I overheard him admitting that his amnesia was fake, I had overheard something else too—something far worse.

"There was nothing romantic about it," he had said. "The only reason I got married on the last day of the year was that I'd promised her I would. But spending the rest of my life with someone I don't love? I couldn't accept that. So, I kept putting it off until the very last day before finally making up my mind.

"Besides, whoever I marry, life will be the same. She has good qualifications and could help me succeed. And she's a good person. Honestly, she was the perfect choice for a wife..."

I stood outside the room, listening to him praise me. Yet every word had felt like a stone sinking deeper into my chest. I had always believed our marriage was built on love.

However, to him, it had only ever been about what I could do for him. No wonder that after the company became successful, he grew obsessed with money and power. He never allowed me near either one.

It was then I understood. He had been guarding against me all along.

My thoughts drifted for a moment before Jeff squeezed my hand.

"Do you remember now?" he asked.

A marriage built on suspicion and calculation was exhausting. For me, ending it before it caused even more damage was the best choice I could make.

I shook my head casually. "No. Maybe the car accident damaged your brain and you're just imagining things."

Jeff's smile froze instantly. He had gone out of his way to please me, yet I showed no reaction. Then, he remembered that, in everyone else's eyes, he was supposed to be a patient recovering from an accident.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became that I was not being understanding. Finally, he grabbed Wendy's hand and intertwined their fingers.

"You're right. None of those memories are real. My only wife is Wendy. Once the divorce is done, Wendy and I are getting married right away."

With that, he lifted his chin proudly and walked into the building arm-in-arm with Wendy, looking more like a newlywed registering for marriage than a man filing for divorce.

I had no interest in indulging his little performance. I simply followed them inside.

After we completed the registration paperwork, we were taken into a mediation room. Jeff immediately sat down beside Wendy and practically climbed into her lap. He pulled out a bunch of grapes he had bought on the way over, peeled them one by one, and fed them to her by hand.

He thought the display would make me jealous. Instead, it only reminded me of the Jeff I used to know—the quiet, distant man from my memories.

Back then, he would not even hold my hand in public. He said that excessive displays of affection were inappropriate and made people look ridiculous.

At this moment, he seemed like an entirely different person—so openly affectionate that it was almost embarrassing to watch. Even the staff in the mediation room looked uncomfortable.

Coupled with my firm attitude, the process moved forward quickly, and before long, we were officially going through the divorce procedures. Throughout the entire process, I remained calm and expressionless.

That clearly irritated Jeff. As if trying to prove a point, he gave me the cold shoulder and rushed through every step as fast as possible.

When we finally walked out with the divorce certificate in hand, I let out a long breath. For the first time in a very long while, the dark cloud hanging over my head felt a little lighter.