But Preston never imagined that, one night, he would develop different feelings for Giselle.

That time, he went to find Serena as usual, but she couldn't see him due to a club activity, so she sent Giselle to apologize on her behalf.

The two of them had dinner together. Preston was in a bad mood, had some wine, and things spiraled out of control.

He woke up in a hotel room.

Giselle said calmly: "You were drunk last night. I will pretend nothing ever happened. I won't tell Serena."

Watching her look wronged yet pretending to be strong, Preston’s heart softened.

From that day on, their relationship gradually turned tainted.

Preston was busy starting his business. On the day he achieved a small measure of success, he invited his best friends to dinner; Giselle was naturally included.

Giselle always said nothing, watching him silently from behind and encouraging him. Without realizing it, the two of them developed that kind of relationship.

When he married Serena, Preston had hesitated, but he hadn't hesitated because he didn't want to marry her—he felt he owed Giselle.

Giselle would hold his back and comfort him repeatedly: "It’s okay, I don't mind. As long as you have me in your heart, it’s enough."

Never did he expect Serena to discover the truth so quickly. Fortunately, at that time, Serena didn't know the woman on the outside was Giselle.

Preston had even wanted to give up and let it be, thinking that if Serena couldn't take it and asked for a divorce, that would be it. But Giselle wouldn't allow it, and he listened to her, returning to beg for Serena’s forgiveness.

Three years of marriage, and Preston was exhausted. It wasn't that he didn't love Serena, but that Serena gave too much—more than he could bear.

Everyone said that his success in leaving the Pei family and starting his own business was due to the capability and virtue of his wife, Serena.

From an unknown point in time, this seed had been planted in Preston’s heart, and he began to harbor resentment toward her.

Chapter 11

A ringtone broke the silence in the car.

Preston picked up the phone. Giselle’s bright voice came through: "Preston, I saw an apartment that would be perfect for us to live in the future. Do you want to come and take a look with me?"

He tightened his fingers, laughing coldly under his breath: "You decide."

"I knew you were the best." After a pause, she still asked about Serena.

"Preston, did you see Serena’s statement? That divorce certificate... what’s that about? How could it be so sudden?"

"Are you not clear about how that divorce certificate came to be?"

The other end of the line fell silent. Giselle’s voice became nervous: "How would I know? Preston, what’s wrong with you?"

Preston didn't continue; he told her to keep looking at the apartment and hung up.

It wasn't until evening that he returned home, exhausted.

He saw a figure in the kitchen, a figure that looked exactly like Serena.

Serena loved fussing in the kitchen, often trying new tricks to satisfy his stomach. Every time he came back, Serena would always emerge from the kitchen with a smile, take his coat, and tell him to wash up and eat.

"Serena, you’re back?" Preston stared at the kitchen, his gaze unmoving.

However, when she turned around, a massive wave of disappointment brought Preston back to reality.

It wasn't Serena.

It was Giselle!

Giselle had prepared a table full of dishes, all of which were Preston’s favorites. But he had no appetite. Thinking of how she had been deceiving him all along and had caused Serena to divorce him, he felt nothing but disgust.

"Preston, what’s wrong? You don't look well. Are you sick?"

Giselle reached out to touch his forehead, but Preston stepped back to avoid her.

Her hand froze in mid-air.

"You were such good friends with Serena. You kept saying you didn't want to hurt her, so why did you do so many things to harm her?"

"Preston, what are you saying?" Giselle’s face turned pale. She tried to smile, but her lips wouldn't move.

Did Preston know something?

"Are you going to keep pretending? Your parents have already confessed. Everything was your own performance, including that night Serena discovered our relationship—it was all carefully calculated and arranged by you, wasn't it?"

"You knew very well that if Serena never found out about our relationship, we would have remained a superficially loving couple. That way, you would have never had the chance to take her place."

"To force Serena away, you used despicable means to frame her again and again, leaving her covered in wounds. Giselle, you are truly the definition of hypocrisy."

Giselle gritted her teeth and suddenly her eyes turned red: "But I did all of this because I love you, didn't I?"

"Don't you mention love. Someone like you isn't even worthy of the word."

"Get out of here right now. You have no right to enter this home."

The last bit of restraint Preston had for Giselle vanished completely. He hated himself for not recognizing her true face back then, allowing her to do as she pleased with Serena again and again.

Serena had clearly told him many times that she hadn't done those things, but Preston simply hadn't believed her.

He regretted it so much!

"Preston, I had no choice. If there had been any other way, I would never have chosen to hurt Serena. She is my best friend."

Slap!

Preston slapped her across the face with all his might: "You have no right to be her friend, and you aren't worthy of mentioning her name!"

Giselle covered her face, stunned, staring at Preston in disbelief.

She hadn't expected things to be exposed so thoroughly, but if she had had an exit strategy, she wouldn't have wanted to lie either!

"Preston, aren't you a part of all this too? If you hadn't been my accomplice, how could I have ever harmed Serena? Don't you dare try to pin all the blame on me. The person who truly forced Serena away is you!"

"You chose to believe me over Serena, you favored me at every turn—you clearly loved me. Why are you treating me like this now? Is it only because Serena is gone that you’ve suddenly discovered how good she was?"

Chapter 12

Giselle lunged forward, hugging Preston tightly.

She didn't believe that Preston had absolutely no feelings for her anymore; she convinced herself he was just lashing out uncontrollably because Serena had left.

Preston pushed her away with disgust, catching her off guard and causing her to stumble to the floor.

"When you were getting married, you thought about calling off the wedding; you said you couldn't let go of me. You lied to Serena about business trips time and again, when in reality, you were keeping me company. You hurt Serena for me, you punished Serena for me. You did so much—do you dare say you don't really like me?"

Preston looked down at her from his height.

"Giselle, I do like you, but I also like Serena. Serena is my wife; she’s the one who walked out of the lowest points in my life with me, hand in hand. Even when I was with you, I never once thought about divorcing her. I told you, the times I said I might divorce her were just to appease you; I can't live without her at all."

"You’re lying!" Giselle broke down. She couldn't believe his words were just sweet nothings.

She had always thought Preston was different from other men, but it turned out he was no better than the rest!

Preston didn't want to say another word to her and ordered his bodyguards to throw her out.

Giselle wept, pleading bitterly: "Preston, the debt collectors won't let me go, please save me! They wouldn't dare touch me if I’m by your side. For the sake of the past we shared..."

However, Preston remained unmoved. He looked at Giselle’s tear-stained face and laughed: "So you know what fear is too? But when you swapped the Tibetan Mastiff, did you think about whether Serena would be afraid? Don't you know she’s terrified of dogs? That night, did you leave her any way out?"

Giselle trembled violently as she wept, and was heartlessly thrown out by the bodyguards.

That night, Preston sat in the room alone, quiet, lost in thought.

He recalled every detail from the moment he met Serena, through their falling in love, to their wedding. He remembered every single thing Serena had done for him and recalled how, whenever she was wronged, she would never proactively tell him, fearing he would worry, so she kept everything bottled up inside.

Even so, Serena had always been wholehearted in her devotion to him.

When dawn broke the next day, public opinion had completely submerged Preston.

Because someone had leaked online that the reason Serena and Preston divorced was the intrusion of a third party.