Chapter 2 Part on Good Terms

It was almost the middle of the night when Shawn came back.

Vivian had been clinging to him, and he'd planned not to come home at all.

But Ruth wasn't replying to his messages or answering his calls, and he was getting more and more worried.

When he pushed open the door, the living room light was off. Only the projector was on, showing a movie—a woman stabbing a man with a knife. The scene was bloody.

"Why are you watching this kind of thing?" Shawn immediately turned off the projector and came over to check on Ruth.

She was leaning against the sofa, already asleep, with red-rimmed eyes. He'd just woken her up, and she asked groggily, "What time is it?"

"Almost midnight. Let me carry you to bed, okay?" Shawn reached out to hold her.

A familiar embrace and scent, but with a hint of women's perfume mixed in.

Ruth suddenly became alert. This was Vivian's perfume. He'd just come back from her place.

"No need." She calmly pushed him away. "You go to sleep first."

Just a moment ago when she wasn't fully awake, she'd instinctively wanted his embrace. Even though her mind no longer loved him, many physical habits couldn't be changed overnight.

"Are you mad? I really haven't had time to spend with you lately. That's my fault."

He clearly noticed something was off with her mood and asked, "Why didn't you answer your phone?"

"I was watching a movie. My phone was on silent." Ruth picked up her phone—there were indeed quite a few missed calls and messages.

"Don't watch these bloody movies. You'll have nightmares," Shawn said helplessly.

But her nightmares only featured him.

Ruth looked at him and said quietly, "I was watching a woman kill her cheating husband. Tell me, if you cheated, what would I do?"

She looked at him meaningfully, observing every tiny change in his expression. In his eyes, she caught a barely detectable flash of panic, but it quickly disappeared.

He'd always been good at hiding his emotions, and his acting skills were top-notch. This ability that made him unbeatable in business deals—she never thought he'd use it on her one day.

"You don't need to do anything, because I would never cheat." He smiled and grabbed her hand to kiss it. "Be good, go to sleep. Don't overthink."

"Vivian messaged me." Ruth really wanted to lay everything out in the open.

But that would mess up her plan. She wanted to give him one more chance—maybe just divorce him without making him go bankrupt...

"What did she say?" Shawn paused slightly, but his expression remained calm.

"Nothing much. She mentioned the engagement from back then, said she was supposed to be the one marrying you." Ruth said lightly.

Too bad he didn't catch her hint.

He frowned with distaste. "Back then she was the one who didn't want to marry and ran away. She has no right to say things like that now."

Then he looked at Ruth with deep affection. "You're the one who's always been by my side. No matter what, I would never look at another woman."

Ruth smiled, impressed by his acting, showing a mocking smile.

He knew it was her who didn't want to marry and ran away, but he was still willing to cheat.

Saying he wouldn't look at anyone else, but in reality he'd already gotten someone pregnant.

"Oh, I brought you a gift."

He didn't notice anything wrong with her expression, thinking he'd made her happy. He pulled out a flat box from his pocket and handed it to her.

"Open it?"

He looked at her expectantly, wanting to see her reaction, but before she could open it, his phone rang.

The night was so quiet that Ruth could hear the woman's voice on the other end, crying and acting cute—who else could it be but Vivian.

"Something came up at the company again, with the overseas client. I need to go handle it."

After hanging up, he immediately looked anxious and hastily threw out an excuse before turning to leave.

It seemed like the lie was prepared in advance, or maybe he'd gotten so used to lying to her face. When exactly did he start lying to her?

Thinking back to all those times he said he was busy and she was understanding, Ruth felt a chill down her spine and an indescribable disgust.

She opened the box—inside was a beautiful ruby necklace.

She'd seen the exact same necklace three days ago in the Howard family group chat. Vivian had said it was a gift she'd received.

Ruth hadn't said anything in the group at the time, but was curious who would give Vivian such an expensive gift. She looked into it and found that there were two necklaces, both bought by the same mysterious buyer.

So it was Shawn who bought both, and he'd even given Vivian one first.

Didn't he think she might show it off where Ruth could see it?

Or did this risky affair make him feel excited?

Her heart completely died. Ruth tossed the necklace onto the sofa, got up and went to the study to open the safe, taking out several documents.

Divorce agreements, property notarizations, stock transfer agreements... all documents he'd voluntarily signed during his past betrayals.

When he got drunk and pulled a waitress onto his lap, she caught him red-handed. Though they hadn't done anything yet, he knelt down begging for forgiveness and voluntarily signed a divorce agreement giving her everything.

He said if he ever did something like that again, she could just sign it, the agreement would take effect, and he'd have to leave the Grey family as a penniless man, leaving everything to her.

And when he ordered escort girls during client dinners but told her he was in a meeting—when she found out, he explained he was forced and hadn't done anything.

After that incident, he signed authorization agreements for offshore companies. She knew all the companies he controlled, all his hidden assets—everything could be hers.

Because he knew she could never bear to actually sign those agreements. She really loved him.

Originally, Ruth didn't plan to take any of it. After all, she didn't need the money.

If he'd been honest, they could have parted on good terms.

But he was still treating her like a fool. In that case, she wouldn't be polite anymore.

Picking up a pen, she mechanically signed her name on each document, then called her former secretary from when she was with the Gu family.

She wanted help selling everything Shawn had given her—sports cars, bags, jewelry... everything.

"Also help me set up a trust company to receive everything under his name."

This time she would make him lose everything completely, and see if Vivian would still love him then.