Chapter 2

"Ms. Hart, this is your Relationship Remnant Liquidation Confirmation Form. Please sign here."

I'd just returned from the cemetery when assistant Chloe stood in the entryway of Skyridge Manor, handing me a folder.

The access code had already been deactivated.

I'd had to register at the security office and wait for Chloe's confirmation before being allowed inside.

The liquidation supervisor nodded at me and opened the checklist.

"Ms. Hart, your items are divided into three categories."

"Category One: Marriage Display Items."

He pointed to a gray plastic bin in the center of the living room.

"Wedding photos, rings, formal gowns, jewelry worn at public events---retention period expired, classified as assets pending destruction."

A red barcode label was stuck on the bin: PENDING DESTRUCTION.

I looked at the wedding photo inside.

In the picture, Ethan stood beside me in a black suit, his expression cold and distant.

I had smiled so carefully that day.

Because the photographer had said the bride could move a little closer.

I'd just shifted half a step toward him when Ethan reminded me in a low voice:

"Serena Hart, just cooperate for the camera. Don't cross the line."

I'd thought I smiled gracefully that day.

Now I could see I'd looked desperate to please.

I'd been caught in the rain. My lower abdomen throbbed with a sinking pain.

I endured it and asked:

"What about the second category?"

The supervisor continued reading:

"Category Two: Non-Essential Traces of Cohabitation. Including bunny slippers, handwritten medication notes, study repair tools, tableware, etc."

He picked up a sealed bag.

Inside were the stomach medication labels I'd made for Ethan.

One early morning.

Ethan had stomach pain so severe his face turned pale.

I searched through the medicine cabinet and knelt by the sofa to pour him water.

He kept his eyes closed, his voice low.

"Don't bother. Call the doctor."

I'd smiled and said:

"Mr. Wheeler still needs to stay alive until the doctor arrives."

He'd glanced at me briefly.

But I remembered that glance for a long time.

What I'd taken as the beginning of feelings had only been a risk assessment for him.

"What about the third category?"

The supervisor paused.

"Pregnancy Medical Remnants Archive."

My fingers stiffened.

He continued:

"Ultrasound results, prenatal checkup records, miscarriage records, post-procedure medication lists. The system has determined that these materials may trigger subsequent emotional disputes and unnecessary complications. We need your confirmation on whether to have them sealed by Wheeler Medical or destroyed."

I stood there, unable to speak for a long time.

They even called the child who never got to be born "medical remnants."

The door opened at that moment.

Ethan walked in, bringing the scent of rain with him.

He swept a glance around the living room, his gaze landing on my trembling shoulders.

"Why did you get so soaked?"

He turned to Chloe.

"Get a hot towel."

Chloe returned quickly.

Ethan took the towel, walked over to me, and draped it over my shoulders.

My eyes suddenly burned with unshed tears.

He was always like this.

He could remember that I got cold easily, remember my stomach problems, remember all my little ailments.

But he could never remember that my heart could hurt too.

The liquidation supervisor approached, holding up the box of stomach medication.

"Mr. Wheeler, should this old medication and the handwritten labels be destroyed?"

Ethan glanced at it, barely pausing.

"Keep the medication. She only takes this brand for stomach pain---anything else makes her throw up."

My heart clenched violently.

He still remembered.

I looked up at him.

Ethan saw the look in my eyes.

The next second, his expression cooled.

"It was in the medical records."

He adjusted the towel on my shoulders, his voice steady.

"Finishing the liquidation quickly is better for both of us."

Last night, I'd stood outside his study begging him not to divorce me.

Today, that study stood wide open.

Inside, it was so clean it looked like I'd never existed.

The supervisor handed me a pen.

"Ms. Hart, regarding these relationship remnants, what is your decision?"

I bent down and retrieved my mother's old repair kit from the corner.

I didn't look at any of the notes, the rings, or the wedding photos again.

I looked up at Ethan.

"Destroy them."

Something flickered in Ethan's eyes.

I smiled slightly.

"Since they're all risk remnants anyway, there's no point keeping them."