Part 1The Price of Dignity

After my rebirth, when Julian's little secretary, Chloe, once again "accidentally" spilled red wine on my face while pouring me a drink, giggling like it was a joke.

I didn't slap her like I did in my past life.

I didn't scream for a divorce like a shrew when Julian rushed to defend her.

Instead, I smiled calmly at Julian.

"She's really cute. Have fun playing with her."

"Let's consider our seventh anniversary celebration over early. I'm going home."

With that, I grabbed my bag and walked out of the private room without looking back.

I had no choice. After divorcing Julian in my last life, my life was a living hell.

He crushed me like a business rival, gripping his assets so tight I couldn't get a cent.

I hired every lawyer in the city, but all I got in the divorce settlement was literally $7.50.

Right after the divorce, I was diagnosed with cancer.

When the pain became unbearable, I swallowed my pride and knelt before Julian.

But he let his secretary slap me three times and didn't give me a penny.

In the end, penniless and broken, I froze to death on the doorstep of the home I had lived in for seven years.

So, dignity? Dignity is nothing compared to staying alive.

* * *

I didn't expect Julian to chase after me.

He grabbed my arm.

"Let me explain, Sarah. Chloe is just young and playful. She spilled the wine to lighten the mood, to make you laugh."

"She doesn't have bad intentions. We grew up together, she's always been mischievous. She treats you like family, so she sometimes forgets boundaries. Don't hold a grudge against her."

Julian said these exact words in my past life.

Back then, humiliated by the wine dripping down my face and shaking with rage, hearing him defend her so tenderly was the last straw.

I slapped him in front of all our friends, screamed "Divorce!", and ran out.

I was so stupid then. I thought threatening divorce would scare him.

Instead, I walked for four hours in the freezing winter rain, tears streaming down my face.

My heels rubbed my feet raw until they bled.

I ended up with a 104-degree fever.

While I lay dying in our empty house, Julian didn't call once. That very night, he took Chloe on an overseas business trip.

Photos of him adjusting her spaghetti strap dress and her kissing his cheek even made it onto the company gossip forums.

The irony was too much.

A cynical smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.

The next second, Julian angrily shook off my hand.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Chloe is the daughter of my dad's friend. I'm just looking out for her."

"It's just a little wine spill. Go home and wash it off. Can you stop being jealous over nothing and imagining things between us?"

Seeing the sudden anger on his face, a bitterness rose in my chest.

Not for him, but for my past self.

In my last life, after the divorce, I got pancreatic cancer—the king of cancers.

Every day was either nurses poking me with long needles until I cried, or rolling on the floor clutching my stomach, begging for death to come faster.

When I ran out of money, I even stabbed myself with a fruit knife, hoping the pain would distract me enough to sleep.

Yet even then, I couldn't bear to sell our wedding ring for pain meds.

When the doctor gave me a month to live, I dragged my skeletal body to find him, hoping to reconcile.

After all, when my parents died, he swore he'd be with me forever.

I knelt before the security guard at our old home, begging him to call Julian.

When Julian picked up, he heard my voice and said calmly:

"Sarah, we're divorced. Divorce means we have nothing to do with each other. Don't contact me again."

He hung up.

I collapsed in the backyard of the villa where we lived for seven years.

In the final moments of my life, I saw him holding Chloe in the house I had lovingly decorated, drinking from the wine glasses I bought, having a romantic date.

The pain in my chest was suffocating. I didn't want to remember anymore.

I quickly hid my emotions and smiled calmly.

"Julian, I'm really not jealous. And I'm really not angry at Chloe."

"I'm just tired and want to go home. You should go back inside."

Surprise flashed across Julian's face.

Before he could react, I turned and walked away down the street without a backward glance.