At that moment, a tide of emotions surged in my chest. This was what it felt like to be thought of, to be liked, to be understood, and to be unconditionally cared for. What a blissful thing it was.

Was this how Eleanor had felt all those years, being loved by Stephen?

My eyes turned red. Edmund gently placed a thick project proposal in my arms. "Take a look first. I hired the best team for this. You can give feedback based on your ideas."

"When your foot heals completely and the final plan is ready, we’ll start filming."

I nodded, clutching the proposal. After a moment’s pause, I said, “Starting today, I’m going to begin exercising and losing weight.”

Edmund responded immediately, “There’s no need. You don’t have to.”

I shook my head. “It’s not just about looks. Being overweight isn’t healthy. If I want to see the world, I need to be fit, right?”

Only then did he smile and nod. “Alright. I know a professional trainer. I’ll arrange everything.”

He made the call right away and quickly hired someone for me. That afternoon, the trainer arrived. After assessing my condition, he tailored a fitness plan that very evening.

“For the first month, we’ll focus on exercises that don’t rely on your feet. Training starts tomorrow.”

“Alright. Thank you in advance.”

The next day, Edmund had a private fitness room set up for me inside the hospital, and I began training in earnest, sweat soaking through my clothes. At the same time, the new shareholders’ meeting at the company was held, and Stephen finally discovered that every share I once owned had already been transferred to Edmund.

He exploded in fury, throwing a tantrum in his office, papers flying, vases shattered across the floor. Even though he knew I had blocked him, he still obsessively tried to call. In a fit of rage, he dialed me from a new number.

‘Are you insane, Victoria?! You knew I hated Edmund the most, he was my rival! Why would you sell the shares to him?!”

Faced with his roaring anger, I was surprised to feel nothing but calm. In fact, there was a certain sweetness to the revenge. After all, that company was his pride, his legacy. It wasn’t just about wealth. It was everything to him. Now that Edmund held a stake, it felt to Stephen like a piece of himself had been ripped away. Even if he still wore the title of chairman, it no longer felt like his empire.

“What right do you have to question me, Mr. Mortimer?”

I stepped down from the machine, wiped the sweat from my brow, handed the towel to the housekeeper, and smiled.

“Mortimer Group wouldn’t be where it was without me. Even if I stayed home, don’t forget, it was my parents who gave you the startup funds in the early years. And I didn’t just take care of you and your family at home, I helped run your business too.”

“My share of that initial capital? That was mine. I ran myself into the ground, drained my health for you, yet none of you ever gave me credit.”

“You got your success, and I spent thirty years living a life stripped of worth.”

Things had never been clearer. Those days were over. Thank heaven, I had been reborn. Even though Edmund was treating me well, even chasing after me, I knew I would never again throw away my life’s worth for love or for anyone. From this point forward, I belonged to myself. And that was why I had hesitated with Edmund. Because I feared repeating the same mistake.

“I, I remember everything you did for me!” Stephen stammered. “That’s why I gave you that 15% stake, didn’t I?”

“That wasn’t something you gave me. That was what I deserved. Don’t get it twisted.”

He began to crumble. He had never imagined I could be so firm, so unshakable. I used to be so gentle, so yielding. Even when he lashed out, even when he mocked me for no reason, I swallowed the tears and kept the household running flawlessly.

“You’ve changed, Victoria.”

“I just went back to who I really was. I’m no longer the blind, deluded Victoria who drowned herself in love.”

The smile on my lips widened. Sunlight spilled into the room, warmer and more dazzling than before, lifting my mood even higher.

“If there’s nothing important, don’t ever call me again.”

With that, I ended the call. In the past, I was always the one left listening to the dial tone. Now, it was finally his turn to feel what that was like.

That very day, I heard Stephen had stormed into Edmund’s office, yelling at the top of his lungs. Things got out of hand. Before long, they were scuffling in the parking lot. Stephen blocked Edmund’s car, and the two ended up throwing punches right there in public. The scene was caught by passersby.

When I saw the bruised corner of Edmund’s eye in the video, a ripple of worry stirred in my chest. But by the time he showed up that evening, he was calm and steady, moving with his usual ease. The bruise didn’t seem to bother him in the slightest.

Still worried, I pressed the call button. “Doctor! Please check on him!”

Soon, a doctor arrived and applied ointment. “Just a surface bruise. It’ll heal in a few days.”

Seeing me finally relax, Edmund looked even more pleased. He slouched on the sofa, shrugged, and said lightly, “Don’t worry. He came out worse than I did.”

“You two together are over a hundred years old. What were you even doing, brawling like that? Didn’t we go through all the proper steps for the share transfer?”

Edmund took a sip of water. “Because I told Stephen the truth, that it was his fault you left, that he brought it on himself. I said you were finally free, finally living like a real person. Then I wished him and his mistress a happily ever after…and he just lost it.”

“When more people gathered to break it up, I announced right there that he and Eleanor had been having an affair for twenty years. You should’ve seen their faces.”

And soon, I did. Someone who recorded the scene uploaded the video online. Watching two older men brawling, bodyguards scrambling to separate them, the crowd began whispering.

“Twenty years of cheating? Seriously? He looks so respectable, but he’s a total scumbag? That poor first wife!”

Even employees from Mortimer Group were present.

“So that woman at the last high-society banquet was the mistress? That’s disgusting! Wait, didn’t President Mortimer say she was his assistant?! I’ve never seen her before. Was that actually his real wife?”

A woman from the secretarial department whispered, “Exactly! I’ve seen her before. Madam used to stop by now and then to drop things off. I always thought they were such a loving couple. Who would’ve thought he’d ditch his loyal wife for a pretty little side piece? Disgusting pair.”

“Stop it, watch your mouth, or you’ll get in trouble.”

In the end, Stephen was knocked to the ground by Edmund. He staggered up, humiliated, shoved his bodyguards aside, and stormed off in his car.

Watching the video, I couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

“Serves him right!”