"Let's divorce!"

The first sentence Winfred said to Elaine when he came home after half a month was without any courtesy and even carried a tone of hatred.

Elaine was somewhat taken aback, although she knew that Judy had returned, but she believed that for these three years, she had behaved appropriately sitting in the position of Joanna, dealing with the chores diligently, revolving her whole life around Winfred, without overstepping any bounds. She did not think that as soon as Judy returned, she would have to gracefully step aside.

So, she asked, "Why?"

Winfred pulled out a jade pendant from his pocket, asking angrily, "Did you say that I gave you this jade pendant when you saved me?"

Elaine was stunned.

Her moment of stupefaction made Winfred suspect her of having a guilty conscience.

Winfred sneered, "This jade pendant was stolen by you from Judy, right?"

"Three years ago, because you were brought back by the Howard family, but since you lived in the countryside since you were young, acknowledging your humble position, you were afraid of being wronged by marrying me. So you stole this jade pendant after knowing that Judy had saved me, and on the wedding night, you anxiously recognized me, just to make me feel grateful, and perhaps make me fall in love with you!"

"Elaine, you really are crafty!"

"If no one had told me the truth, what did you still want to get from me with this gratitude?"

Elaine's face remained calm, her eyes cold as she looked at Winfred, and asked, "Who told you? Judy? Or someone else from the Howard family?"

A fierceness flashed in Winfred's eyes, with a self-deprecating smile on his lips, "Does it matter who told me? Elaine, from the very beginning, you approached me with a calculated game plan, always being complicit with me all these years, making me think that you had fallen in love with me a long time ago!"

"You really know how to act!"

"Winfred, I..."

Winfred forcefully grabbed her hand, pointed at her wrist, and exclaimed, "Elaine! There's no scar here! What else do you want to argue about?

Back then, she got her wrist cut by sharp stones when she tried to protect him from falling off the slope. She was just a few centimeters away from severing a major artery. Her blood had soaked several bandages. How could there be no scarring?

Elaine paused.

Indeed!

There was no scar!

A flicker of struggle flashed in Elaine's eyes. She blurted out quicker than her brain could process, "Winfred, let me explain, I am..."

Winfred suddenly let go of her hand, then zoomed in on a photo on his phone and shoved it into Elaine's face. “Such a large wound, even if it has been seven or eight years, even if you have tried to heal it all these years, it would be impossible to have no scar!"

The photo was a close-up of a wrist. The wrist was slender, the skin fair. A gruesome scar was glaringly prominent.

Elaine's first reaction was, Judy really went all out!

Elaine suddenly calmed down. She let out a soft laugh, gently tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ears, a gentle smile adorning her lips.

A flicker of struggle flashed in Winfred's eyes. He turned his head away, forcing himself not to look at Elaine. The corners of his eyes turned a deep red hue, betraying his suppressed emotions.

After a while, he heard Elaine's voice, low and soft, "Winfred, in the past three years, have you ever loved me?"

"If, I mean if, that incident didn't happen five years ago, whether I saved you or not, after being married to you for three years, would you...love me?”

Winfred furrowed his eyebrows, about to speak, when suddenly, the phone rang.

"Mr. Lindberg! Miss Howard just coughed up blood, she's in the emergency room!”

"I'll be right there!" Winfred hung up the phone and headed toward the door without a glance back.

Just as he was about to leave, he was stopped by Elaine,

"Winfred, I can't!"

He was slightly taken aback, stopping in place, seemingly bewildered by Elaine's words.

Elaine spoke every word clearly and distinctly, "If not for the incident five years ago, I wouldn’t have been taken back by the Howard family. I wouldn’t have had to replace Judy to marry you, and most of all, I wouldn't have fallen for you!"

With his back to her, Winfred remained silent for a long while before finally spoke in a cold voice, "Elaine, I can't love a liar!"

A liar?

Elaine closed her eyes, her fan-like eyelashes trembling. Two clear trails of tears trickled down her delicate face.

So, his half-month business trip was actually spent with Judy?

Just a phone call about Judy could instantly break Winfred's usual composure.

Whereas she, lying on the icy operating table, dialed his number over and over, but unable to reach him, trying to have him sign next of kin in the register list.

Judy's disappearance for three years turned out to be the truth!

Elaine's sincere efforts over the past three years resulted in indifference, ridicule, and being labeled as a 'liar'!

"If that's the case, then I don't need you anymore, Winfred!" Elaine lowered her head, her long hair covering her small face, as she used all her strength to grip the pen.

At the end of the divorce agreement, the two characters "Elaine" were stroked vigorously, penetrating the back of the paper.

......

A month later.

PURPLE Club.

Just at ten o'clock, a group of rich young ladies arrived together.

Elaine didn't sleep well last night and was now yawning incessantly, her tear ducts welling up. She opened the door while greeting guests, "Welcome to PURPLE!"

"... Elaine? Why are you dressed like this?"

A delicate exclamation interrupted Elaine's yawning. Considering her current role as a hostess, she had to swallow it back.

She squinted to see the woman surrounded by rich young ladies, dressed in expensive clothes, her makeup delicate. It was none other than Judy.

Damn! It's a small world!

She remained expressionless, not wanting to answer.

The girls around Judy stared wide-eyed, their gazes sweeping over Elaine curiously, "Hey, Judy, is this your so-called poor sister? The one who was kicked out by Mr. Lindberg a while ago? Is she now working as a hostess because she's running out of money?"

Mocking laughter followed.

Judy gave a coy glare at the one who spoke, stepped closer to Elaine, and whispered, "Elaine, if...if you're having trouble, just come home. Mom and Dad know about your divorce from Winfred, they're quite worried about you."

"The work of a server is so hard..."

Elaine rolled her eyes, bluntly interrupted, "Judy, what nonsense are you talking about? Are we close?"

Judy's face was full of hurt. She looked like she was on the verge of crying.

A friend of hers who was standing by couldn't help but intervene, "Elaine, Judy is just worried about you. What's with your attitude? If you didn’t deceive the Lindberg family and Winfred back then, would you have been able to leave the mountains?”

Elaine looked sternly at the friend who was speaking, her mouth curling into a faint smirk.

Huh, fools!

The speaker had been boldly talking but upon being swept by those chilling eyes she immediately felt a cold shudder down her back.

Just then, someone came running over, face full of panic, "Elaine, help! The young master has woken up, he’s furious because he can't find you!"

Elaine was speechless.

She glanced at her wristwatch. It had only been an hour since he had taken the medicine and fallen asleep. Seems like the medicine dosage wasn't adequate.

If she went now, Setlla would surely laugh at her, ruining her reputation as a 'miracle doctor'.

Elaine turned around to leave, not sparing a single glance back.

The ladies beside Judy were fuming, pointing at Elaine’s back and shouting, "I’m going to complain! The doorman just now, the service was horrible! I demand to see your manager! She must be fired immediately!"

The employee who had just run over had a 'looking at an idiot' expression on his face and replied to the loud wealthy miss, "Miss, Elaine is not a doorman."

"She's wearing your PURPLE waiter uniform!”

"Miss, just because she’s wearing our uniform doesn’t mean she’s a PURPLE waiter. PURPLE's uniforms are recognized as stylish throughout the whole capital. Every month, some young ladies or masters take away one or two of our uniforms. Does that mean all those young masters and misses have become our PURPLE waiters?"

In the midst of arguments, only Judy was gazing at Elaine's back as if in deep thought.

"Judy, what are you thinking about?"

Judy spoke softly, "The waiter just said that Young Master was looking for Elaine. It seems to be urgent. He is to the point of losing his temper because he can't find her."

"Young Master? The one called Young Master in PURPLE can only be... the one from the Geordie family ... Judy, are you suggesting that Elaine has gotten involved with the Young Master of the Geordie family?"

Seeing this, Judy gave a wistful smile, and looked innocent. She looked at the person she was talking with and quietly denied it. "That's not what I meant. I just find it strange that Elaine, who has lived in the countryside since she was young, would know the Young Master."