"I specifically asked you that day if you were sure, and you told me you were."

"Which day?"

Kaden Xavier looked up in a daze, his brow furrowed as his eyes met Hugh Hale’s.

"I think it was about half a month ago. The night before you came looking for Crystal."

Kaden Xavier collapsed into his chair. He closed his eyes and propped his head up with one hand, trying to recall the events of that day.

He remembered getting drunk that day and staying at Seraphina Sutton’s place.

He had blacked out from drinking and couldn’t remember a thing.

’Could Seraphina Sutton or Nathaniel Quinn have used my phone to send that message to Hugh Hale?’

’No, Nathaniel Quinn didn’t know I was divorcing Wren Wynter.’

’That leaves only one possibility.’

’Seraphina sent it.’

Rage surged within him. His expression darkened as he snatched up the divorce agreement and stormed out without a word.

"I don’t agree to this divorce, and I will absolutely not go to the Civil Affairs Bureau with you to finalize it!"

Kaden Xavier left his company and drove to Azure Dragon Bay.

The lights in the villa were still on. He strode into the Azure Dragon Bay apartment and pushed the door right open.

Seraphina Sutton was just coming down from the second floor. Kaden had just dropped her off at the apartment, and she had hoped to use the opportunity to convince him to stay. She hadn’t expected him to leave, claiming he had work to deal with.

Seeing Kaden return, her face lit up with joy. She put on a delicate voice and walked toward him.

"Kaden, what are you doing back?"

The words had barely left her mouth when Kaden lunged forward and grabbed her by the collar.

Because she was pregnant, Kaden didn’t get too rough. He only dragged her to the sofa and pushed her down onto it.

"Who gave you permission to do this?"

"What?"

Seraphina Sutton was stunned, not understanding what Kaden was talking about.

It wasn’t until Kaden threw the divorce agreement in front of her that Seraphina understood. Her face instantly turned deathly pale.

She forced herself to appear calm. Picking up the divorce agreement, she stood up and said weakly, "I’m sorry, Kaden. It’s all my fault. That’s why Dr. Wynter misunderstood our relationship and asked for a divorce. I’m sorry. Don’t worry about me. I don’t want to cause you any more trouble."

Kaden’s sharp gaze swept over Seraphina’s aggrieved face, and a nameless rage flared up inside him. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Seraphina Sutton, are you going to keep pretending? Are you telling me this divorce agreement has nothing to do with you?!"

Seraphina’s heart skipped a beat, but she continued to feign innocence, looking at him pitifully.

"Kaden, that’s not what I meant... I’ll admit it. I’ll admit it all. It’s because of me that Dr. Wynter misunderstood. It’s because she was jealous that she’s divorcing you. I’ll take the blame for all of it. I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry..."

Seraphina cried as if she were deeply wronged, but the subtext of her words shifted all the blame onto Wren Wynter, implying that the divorce was entirely due to Wren’s jealousy and immaturity.

Kaden Xavier slowly closed his eyes, suppressing the rage in his heart. He tried to keep his tone calm as he said, "You know that’s not what I’m talking about. Seraphina, are you still going to hide things from me?"

"Kaden, what are you talking about... AHH!"

Kaden swept the tea set off the table. He furiously pointed at the divorce agreement scattered on the floor and roared.

"Seraphina Sutton, stop playing dumb! Why is my handprint on this divorce agreement?! And why would I send Hugh Hale a text message agreeing to the divorce?!"

"I don’t know... I really don’t know. Kaden, could you have misunderstood something?"

"Misunderstood? I was drunk that day! You and Nathaniel Quinn brought me back to your place. I was dead drunk, completely unconscious. How could I have sent him a message? How could I have made that handprint? And you’re telling me this is a misunderstanding?"

Kaden stared at Seraphina. The chill and fury in his eyes washed over her, and fear gradually spread through her entire body.

She had seen what Kaden was capable of before, which made her even more terrified that he would turn those methods on her.

But fortunately, she had the baby.

"Kaden, I... you don’t believe me? It really wasn’t me..."

"Seraphina, don’t make me investigate this."

His tone was heavy with warning, and a dangerous glint flashed in his eyes.

A chill instantly ran down Seraphina’s spine. His oppressive presence loomed before her, as if he were about to devour her in the next second.

"I... I..."

Kaden took a deep breath, his icy gaze sweeping over her.

"I did it for your own good, Kaden! That woman, Wren Wynter, doesn’t love you at all! If you two stay entangled like this, you’ll only cause each other pain. Since that’s the case, why can’t you just let each other go?!"

"So you admit it?"

"I..." Seraphina was at a loss for words.

She never thought Kaden would find out what she’d done so quickly. Although, she knew that as long as she had the baby, he wouldn’t do anything to her.

But the image she had worked so hard to build in front of him had suddenly crumbled.

"I never once thought about divorcing Wren!"

"But Kaden, she doesn’t love you..."

"Whether she loves me or not has nothing to do with you! Our affairs are not for an outsider to meddle in!"

’An outsider?’

’He actually sees me as an outsider?!’

Seraphina could hear the sound of her own heart breaking. She never imagined that in Kaden’s heart, she was still just an outsider.

"For the baby’s sake, I won’t hold this against you. But don’t let there be a next time. I will absolutely not divorce Wren. Mrs. Xavier will only ever be her."

"Once the baby is born safely, I will not go back on my promise to provide for you and the child. Just focus on your pregnancy."

With that, Kaden turned and walked out of Azure Dragon Bay. Before leaving, he told Auntie May to watch Seraphina Sutton closely.

It was a form of house arrest, in a way.

「The next day.」

Early in the morning, Wren Wynter received a call from Hugh Hale. He told her it was all a misunderstanding, something Seraphina Sutton had orchestrated, and that Kaden Xavier had no intention of divorcing her.

This infuriated Wren.

’So they were just messing with me?’

’She’d been happy all evening, only to wake up and find out it was all a big mistake?!’

Since she couldn’t go finalize the divorce, Wren wasn’t about to sit at home doing nothing.

She had already received a message from Julian Hawthorne telling her to report to The Capital First Hospital today. The family of the patient who needed surgery had transferred to that hospital a week ago.

Wren took her letter of recommendation to the hospital and found the dean.

The moment the dean saw Wren, he looked doubtful.

He had thought it would be one of Julian Hawthorne’s four male students.

They were quite famous in the medical world, and he would have been at ease with one of them performing the surgery.

Instead, it was this young slip of a girl.

"Miss Wynter, the surgery is scheduled for three days from now. You’ve reviewed the case files, I assume?"

"Don’t worry, Dean. I’ve reviewed them."

The dean nodded and assigned Wren to a less-busy outpatient department for the next few days.

Wren saw the doubt in the dean’s eyes, but she wasn’t annoyed. After all, given her age, it was only natural to be met with skepticism.

At lunchtime, Wren went to the cafeteria to eat. Suddenly, a voice called out from behind her.

"Miss Wynter, what are you doing here?"