Damon searched every inch of the house-living room, bedroom, study, bathroom-


    but there was no sign of ra anywhere. Dous had rushed over when he heard themotion.


    Seeing how panicked and confused Damon looked, Dous finally voiced the question that had been weighing on him. "Mr. Croft, why did you agree to divorce Mrs. Croft?"


    Divorce? The word sent Damon reeling.


    ra had never brought up divorce, so why was everyone acting like he was the one who wanted it? His mind raced as he struggled to put the pieces together. He was sifting through his memories for clues.


    He thought back to Olivia acting strangely at the café, the ne ticket he hadn''t even had a chance to look at, and the cryptic words ra had said that mering-


    something about already giving him what he wanted most.


    Damon''s panic grew as he thought about thatst part-


    the thing he hadn''t had a chance to ask her about.


    He ordered his assistant to track down ra''s whereabouts while he set off to look for her himself. He


    went straight to the home she''d lived in before their marriage, only to find the doors and windows boarded up.


    Neighbors told him ra had


    stopped by the day before and thrown out a bunch of things like she was getting ready for a long trip.


    A momentter, his assistant texted him. "Mr. Croft, I found out Mrs. Croft bought a ticket to Falverton two weeks ago. She left this morning, should already be there." So ra wasn''t just moving out. She had left the country.


    so she


    The realization sent a chill through Damon. He couldn''t wrap his head around why ra would suddenly


    want a divorce and disappear without a word. Hadn''t she always wanted to marry him and stay by his side?


    After instructing his assistant to


    book him a flight to Amethria, Damon got back in his car. He didn''t start the engine. Instead, he leaned back against the seat and stared nkly at the chat screen where she


    had blocked him.


    His phone, drained from being uncharged all day, shed a low battery alert. He reached into the glovepartment for a charger. That was when his eyesnded on a document envelope This time, he finally decided to open the file that had been sitting there for a month.


    The second Daman saw the words "divorce agreement", his hands started shaking, But he managed to keep himself calm and flipped through the pages one by one.


    Then, when he reached thest page


    and saw his signature, he froze: Why was his signature on a divorce


    agreement? Why didn''t he remember signing it? His mind raced as he scrambled to piece together everything he had missed. Cóntent


    ra was the one who had drawn up this agreement. The only time she had ever asked for his signature was one evening a month ago. She''d


    said she wanted to give him a he''d


    and he had signed it without looking at it. After that, he walked away.


    She had left that agreement in his car, reminding him over and over to check it until a whole month had passed. The agreement had already gone into effect, yet he had never even opened it. Those flimsy sheets of paper felt impossibly heavy in Damon''s hands. Only now did he finally understand why ra had left,


    She must have sensed the


    doubt in his heart about their marriage. She must have thought he would divorce her and go back to Giselle, so she chose to leave first


    And that so-


    called "gift" had been this divorce agreement. ra had given him his freedom, convinced that was what he had wanted all