novelxo Chapter 1
Chapter 1
“Let's get a divorce.”
They had been married for three years yet nothing had changed. He was cold as he enunciated each word. Each frigid word was delivered without a hint of warmth in his voice.
Sage stood behind Jace Yuriel, and her eyes were fixed on his back. Catching a glimpse of his cold, hard, expressionless face, Sage felt her heart sink.
With her fists clenched tightly, Sage trembled
The day she had dreaded had finally arrived.
He turned around, and Sage saw his face. It was a perfectly sculpted, distinctive face. He still took her breath away, despite standing next to him for three years.
“Can we... not get a divorce?”
Sage uttered the words with all the strength that was left in her as she looked at Jace with a glint of hope in her eyes.
Furrowing his brows, Jace glanced over to look at her face. His brows furrowed deeper at the sight of her red-rimmed eyes.
Sage still looked gorgeous even without her makeup. She had clear, fair skin and was never the type to cake on makeup. Sage was pretty in a sweet and soft kind of way.
Sage pleaded with him, as she stared beseechingly at him with her big, clear eyes. With tears staining the corner of her right eye and her long hair tucked behind her ears, she looked guileless. However, in Jace's eyes, Sage was a soft but dull woman.
As his wife, Sage was perfect, but he did not love her.
Three years ago, Jace had been in a car accident that had left him a paraplegic. He had been bed- bound, and the doctor had warned him that he might not be able to stand up straight anymore. This accident had also caused him to leave his lover. After that, his mom had forced him on plenty of blind dates, so that he might acquire a wife with a medical background. She would then be able to take care of him for the rest of his life. Thus, Jace had settled for Sage Luz, a nurse. Her humble background and quiet nature were the other reasons for his choice.
"We've been together for three years, and you've taken care of me all this time. These ten million dollars will serve as compensation.”
Jace was unfazed when he said those words, and his face remained emotionless.
He then added, “Or, if there's anything else that you want—"
“Why?”
This was the first time Sage had ever interrupted him. Her red-rimmed eyes reflected her last grasp on hope, and... resentment. She then added, “Why must we get a divorce now?”
The next day would mark their three-year wedding anniversary. She had had everything planned out. She had even thought to herself that there would be another three years and another twenty to thirty years, and eventually, they would stay together for the rest of their lives.
“You know more than anyone else that you are not the person that I love.”
He replied in a cold and indifferent tone. He even took away her last glimmer of hope when he added, “Sienna is back. I want to marry her.”
Sage felt as if she was struck by thunder. She stumbled, as she could not bear the heaviness of the news.
The marriage that she had faithfully guarded for three years was reduced to nothing in the face of Sienna's return.
“Sirl”
The butler strode in. “Miss Zelda threw up what she had just eaten, and there are even hints of blood!” he said urgently.
A slight crack appeared in Jace’s cold expression. Rushing past Sage, he exited the room and headed for the guest room. “Get the car ready! We're leaving for the hospital,” he said in a deep voice.
Not long after, Jace walked out of the guest room with a frail and weak woman in his arms. The
woman was covered with a thin embroidered blanket with floral motifs. That blanket had been
embroidered by Sage.
The woman looked pale and sickly. It was as if she would soon disappear from this world. She lay in Jace's arms as she said in a soft and weak voice, “Jace, she... Miss Luz..."
At the corner of the staircase, Jace stopped, turned to look at Sage, and said, “I'll have the lawyer go through the divorce procedure with you. Please move out within three days.”
He then adjusted the woman in his arms and walked down the stairs without sparing a second glance at Sage.
Sage was standing at the staircase while Sienna, who was in Jace’s arms, looked at Sage. Her eyes were filled with victory.
Just an hour ago, the sickly woman had been chuckling as she said to Sage, “I am even freely allowed to enter your house, so shouldn't you just return him to me?”
As soon as their backs were out of her sight, Sage finally crumpled to the floor. With tears streaming down her face, she wrapped her arms around herself. All she could feel was cold.
Ten years.
From the moment he had saved her from the hell that she was in till this day, she had eyes only for him. Her eyes had followed him for ten years, and she had been in love with him for ten years. However, he did not love her. Even if she were to give away all her dignity, there was nothing that she could do to make him love her.
“Jace, this will be the last time that I'll be crying for you.”
Sage wiped away the tears on her face with the back of her hands and got to her feet. The once soft and weak Sage had now transformed into a cold but determined woman.
It was time for her to leave.
The papers were left prominently sitting on the bedside table of the master bedroom.
Sage flipped to the last page and saw a signature that she was familiar with. There was a flicker in her eyes. She traced her fingers carefully across Jace’s signature as she felt tears well up in her eyes once more.
She sniffled and tried to keep the tears from falling. Sage did not allow herself to have any lingering feelings. She grabbed a pen and signed her name— Sage Luz.
Since everything had started with this name, everything should end with this name too.
Sage placed the seal on the bedside table. She had spent a year choosing the materials and the design that would be carved onto the seal. It was to be his third-year anniversary present.
In fact, throughout the three years of marriage, she had showered him with plenty of gifts. All of which she had poured her heart into. However, all of them wound up either in the closet, if not the dumpster. It reflected his treatment of her love and feelings.
Walking out of the mansion, Sage got into a black limo that was parked by the roadside. She then announced faintly, “We're divorced.”
In the driver's seat sat a man with a pair of sunglasses. He smirked as he congratulated her, "Congratulations, you're finally back to your carefree days.”
He then passed a laptop to Sage and said, “It's time for you to be yourself again. We're all waiting for your comeback.”