But why did she sign it on that day of all days? And then fall into the sea right after?

Could it really be that she had completely given up on him, and that was why she chose to leave in such a resolute manner?

"She... what else did she say?" Julian grabbed the lawyer’s arm suddenly, like a drowning man clutching at a final straw. "Tell me her exact words; don't leave out a single syllable."

The lawyer was startled by his appearance and took a moment to compose himself before saying: "Ms. Claire didn't say much else. She only asked me to give the document to you and said that this is the result you have always wanted, so you should be happy."

The words were like the sharpest icicles, instantly piercing Julian’s heart.

He stumbled back a few steps and slammed hard against the wall.

The result he wanted?

The result he wanted was clearly for her to be alive!

The reason he had insisted on a divorce was because he had been convinced that he was going to die.

He didn't want to keep her bound by their marriage after his death.

So, he used the divorce to distance himself from her, so that his funeral affairs would have nothing to do with her, and she wouldn't have to live in this world as his widow, enduring endless suffering.

He hoped she could start a new life properly.

That was why he made a will, leaving all the assets under his name to her.

He thought that was the best arrangement he could make for her.

But he never imagined that all the things he did for her good would end up becoming sharp blades stabbing at her, pushing her into the abyss step by step.

An inexplicable sense of desolation surged in his heart, and Julian suddenly began to laugh lowly.

He only felt that he was so ridiculous.

He grabbed the divorce agreement and used all his strength to tear it to shreds.

"I am not getting a divorce. I will absolutely not divorce Claire."

The shredded paper fell like pale snowflakes, scattering all over the floor.

Julian only wanted to use this to hold onto the last bit of connection he had with Claire.

But, in the end, she was already dead.

He couldn't deceive himself.

Afterward, he began to numb himself with large amounts of alcohol.

He locked himself in the room, pulled all the curtains, and cut off all light and sound from the outside world.

He sat leaning against the cold wall, surrounded by piles of empty wine bottles. The pungent scent of alcohol filled the entire space, yet it could not eliminate that soul-gnawing pain.

In the chaos between dreams and wakefulness, he dreamed of Claire countless times.

He first met Claire when he was sixteen.

That year, he had suddenly learned of his shameful illegitimate origins and was abandoned in the countryside by his biological mother and foster father.

His world collapsed completely that year.

Until he met Claire.

That day was his birthday. He squatted in the snow, piling up a snow cake with his frozen, red hands, pretending it was a birthday celebration for himself.

Then he saw that girl wearing an old cotton-padded jacket, yet smiling like a little sun.

That was fourteen-year-old Claire.

She asked him curiously what he was doing, and after learning it was his birthday, she ran home. Not long after, she brought over a bowl of steaming noodles, though the ingredients were simple.

She said, "This counts as celebrating your birthday, too. My mother used to say that as long as you eat longevity noodles on your birthday, you will grow a year older smoothly."

Her smile was like a beam of light tearing through the gloom, shining unexpectedly into his darkest life.

He would never forget the taste of those noodles.

He had originally thought she must have lived in a honey pot to be so sunny and bright.

Until one day, when he accidentally heard the fighting, scolding, and crying coming from next door and rushed in, he saw her being cornered by her drunken father, shivering like a frightened little deer, her exposed skin covered in bruises.

He saved her from her devil of a father, only then catching a glimpse of the despair and hardship hidden beneath that sunny smile, which was even deeper than his own.

Chapter 13

He learned of her background.

Her mother had passed away from illness when she was nine. After her mother left, her father’s personality changed drastically; he began to drink heavily and gamble, and would hit and scold her whenever he was in a bad mood.

She had tried to seek help and run away, but no one believed her, and no one offered a hand.

At that moment, he told himself that he would be the person standing in front of her to protect her.

From that day on, whenever Claire was being beaten or scolded, he would be the first one to stand in front of her to shield her.

Later, they supported each other, promising to get into college together and escape that place.

However, fate seemed unwilling to give her a chance at happiness, teasing her time and time again.

In the first year, shortly before he was about to take the college entrance exam, he learned that her scumbag of a father had sold her to human traffickers to pay off gambling debts. He tried everything to save her, but in doing so, he missed his exam.

But it didn't matter; as long as she was okay, he didn't care.

Until the second year, when loan sharks, to whom her father owed money, came knocking on their door and cornered her in a small alleyway.

To protect her, he was stabbed over a dozen times and fell into a coma, missing the college entrance exam once again.

That incident alarmed his parents abroad. They wanted to take him away, but he eventually threatened them with his life, which was the only way he could stay.

From the moment they abandoned him for the sake of their reputation, he had long ceased to have a family.

Claire was his only family.

He only wanted to be with her.

Later, they finally got into college together, but just then, Claire’s scumbag of a father returned from hiding to avoid debts.

After learning everything, he tore up her admission letter, locked her at home to keep her from going to school, and later even forged medical records of her having a mental illness, sending her to a mental hospital.

After many twists and turns, he managed to rescue her from the mental hospital again.

To eradicate future troubles, he leaked her father's whereabouts to the loan sharks who were hunting him; later, they found her father and beat him into critical condition.

After that, her father never appeared again.

They attended the same university and escaped that city; he originally thought that was the beginning of happiness.

Little did he know that the shadows of the past had severely eroded Claire; she developed severe depression.

She began to self-harm and desperately pushed him away, saying she was a burden to him.

But he never felt that way.

She was clearly his light—the only light in the darkest life he had ever known.

That was why he had to desperately stay close to her, desperately pull her back from the edge of the abyss.

Until Claire was healed, and they were finally together.

After graduating from college, they started a business, and the year the business succeeded, he proposed to her.

The five years of their marriage were the happiest times of his life.

Unexpectedly, heaven still refused to give them a chance at happiness; the shipwreck half a year ago shattered everything once again.

Until he was reborn, he believed he had received heaven’s favor.

But through failure after failure, he discovered he still couldn't reverse the ending.

He calmly accepted his own death and painfully pushed her away from his side, believing that was the best result for her.

Little did he know that he would personally push her into the abyss.

In the end, he had lost that light forever.

"Claire..."

He mumbled in his dreams, reaching out, trying to grab her.

But he only grasped at nothingness.

Julian woke up amidst severe headaches and a sense of suffocation in his heart, his eyes still stained with undried tears.

For a fleeting moment, he was dazed, as if the long, agonizing days he had just experienced were merely a nightmare.

Claire was still alive; she was still safe and sound by his side.

However, the deathly silence in the room and the lingering scent of alcohol in the air were cruel reminders.

This was not a dream.

Claire was dead.

His light had been completely extinguished.

Massive agony, like a tsunami, drowned him once again—more violent than any time before.