Growing up, Melany had been Dennis's first love, and that history never seemed to fade. Earlier that day, Dennis urged Jillian to withdraw and let Melany take the award instead. She stood her ground and argued with him until he stopped insisting. At that point, she assumed the issue had finally been put to rest.
In her mind, he had already let it go. She never imagined he would go as far as claiming her patent and giving it to the woman he cherished from the past.
A piercing ring echoed in Jillian's ears, and the sharp sound made her head ache.
On stage, her husband, Dennis Miller, stepped forward and placed the trophy into Melany's hands.
Why would he do this? That recognition was the last thing she could still call her own. Why did they have to take even this away from her?
A surge of nausea rose in her throat, yet she forced herself upright and said above the applause, "Hold on, that belongs to-"
Her protest never reached the crowd because two bodyguards suddenly appeared at her sides. One locked her arms in place, and the other pressed a firm hand over her mouth.
One of them muttered, "We're sorry, ma'am. Mr. Miller gave strict instructions. You're not allowed to disrupt the event."
Without ceremony, they hauled Jillian out of the auditorium. A deep ache spread through her chest, and it felt as though something inside her had been painfully torn away.
What Dennis had done became undeniable in that moment. He sided with Melany, helped her claim the work, and then silenced Jillian to keep everything hidden.
Meanwhile, Melany remained on stage, basking in cheers that did not belong to her, while Jillian was discarded as if she meant nothing. In the end, she was left with nothing at all.
**
After some time had passed, the faint noise of the ceremony ending carried into the parking lot. Inside a black car, Jillian sat in the back seat while bodyguards stood on either side, and the sound of her pulse filled her ears.
Without warning, the car door opened, and Dennis climbed in beside her. With a sharp motion, he pulled off his tie, his irritation plain to see.
Fixing her gaze on him, Jillian could no longer hold back the storm she had kept buried for years, and her restraint finally gave way.
"My patent," she said, her tone cutting through the silence. "Tell me why it ended up under Melany's name."
Instead of answering her properly, Dennis kept his eyes away from her and spoke without concern. "She asked for it, so I handed it over."
Anger surged through her chest, and she struggled to keep it contained. "That belongs to me. What gives you the authority to take it and pass it to someone else?"
With a slight frown, Dennis reacted as if she were being unreasonable. "I already warned you ahead of time. You have given in before, so why are you suddenly acting like this is a big issue?"
A heavy truth settled over Jillian, and it made her feel sick to her core. All the things she had given up just to hold their marriage together had never been valued at all.
In a trembling voice, she spoke again, and each word carried the weight of everything she had endured. "Right... because Melany liked our house, I was the one who had to leave. Since she said my wedding dress would upset her, I never even had a wedding. When she wanted my role as Head of Research, I stepped aside for her..."
Her voice faltered, and a broken sob stopped her from continuing.
A flood of memories rushed into her thoughts, each one sharper than the last.
At nineteen, mute as she was, she fell for Dennis at first sight.
By the time she turned twenty-two, fate brought her to Cletolia, where she found him wounded and unable to see. She was the one who pulled him back from the edge of death.
Not long after that, danger followed them, and when his enemies caught up, she took the punishment meant for him and ended up with a shattered right leg. In that fragile moment, he vowed that he would make her his wife.
Everything changed seven months later, when a crisis forced her to return to her home country, and all contact between them was lost.
Years passed, and at twenty-four, her voice finally returned. Around that same time, Dennis's grandfather, Ricky Miller, sought her out and proposed a marriage arrangement. Excitement filled her heart, and she believed Dennis had searched for her at last.
However, the truth waiting at the Miller estate was far from what she imagined. Dennis looked at her like a stranger, and the woman he planned to marry was Melany Cooper.
Despite the pain, Jillian refused to walk away and chose to marry him anyway.
In the end, that decision only trapped her in a hollow marriage where she was the one who kept giving things up.
A heavy knot formed in her throat, and Jillian forced herself to speak through it.
"After everything I sacrificed, it still isn't enough, is it? There is nothing else left for me to lose. I gave three years of my life to Quantum Glue, and I failed more than a hundred times before I finally made it work. That project is the only proof that these past three years meant anything. And now you took even that away from me?"
With tearful yet unyielding eyes, she continued to face him without backing down.
A sharp scoff left Dennis as he responded without warmth, "Why are you pretending like you are the one being wronged? You knew exactly what you were doing when you pushed your way into this marriage. Melany was always the one I was meant to marry."
From Dennis's perspective, the past told a completely different story. At twenty-five, when he nearly lost his life in Cletolia, it was a voiceless girl who saved him and ended up crippled because of it.
When his vision returned, Melany was the first person he saw. She couldn't speak at the time; her leg was damaged, and every detail matched what he remembered.
Because of that, he never once doubted that she was the one who had saved him.
For two years, he stayed by her side and helped her recover. Eventually, her voice came back, though her leg never fully healed.
Right when he was ready to honor his promise and marry her, Jillian entered the picture by persuading his grandfather and forcing the marriage upon him.
As his face turned cold and unyielding, Dennis spoke again. "Answer me this, Jillian. Is there anything you have that doesn't actually belong to Melany?"
Each word cut into Jillian like a dull blade, dragging pain across her chest.
With a fragile voice, she chose not to dwell on everything that had already happened. "I'm not trying to fight about the past anymore. I only want my patent returned to me."
"That's not going to happen." Dennis refused without hesitation.
A heavy stillness settled inside the car, and it pressed in on them from all sides.
Out of nowhere, a dry and bitter laugh slipped from Jillian. "You really placed her above everyone else, did you not? What if I decide to reveal everything and watch her reputation fall apart?"
"She's the one who received the award. The industry acknowledges her, not you. To them, you might as well not exist. Who would believe anything you say?" Dennis answered without concern, with a faint trace of mockery in his eyes.
Like a sudden strike, his words landed hard on Jillian. He was willing to go to any length just to protect Melany. In comparison, what did that make her?
A faint, bitter smile appeared on her lips as she spoke. "Living as your wife feels like being trapped in a cage. I am done with it."
The shift in Dennis's expression was immediate, and his gaze turned cold and dangerous.
Moving closer, he leaned into her space until she had nowhere to retreat. "Do you think marriage is something you can play with? You pushed your way in when it suited you, and now you think you can walk out just because you feel like it?"
A steady voice came from Jillian as she faced him without hesitation. "Is this not what you have been aiming for all along? Once we end this marriage, you are free to be with her. I am simply making things easier for both of you."
Unimpressed, Dennis let out a cold scoff. "Stop pretending you're doing something selfless. You were the one who forced this marriage, and you don't get to decide when it is over."
"That part is true. I was the one who insisted on it. Now I am choosing to fix what I should not have started," Jillian said with calm acceptance.
Without waiting for a response, she pushed the car door open and stepped outside. Holding onto the edge of the door, she glanced back at him, and any trace of warmth she once had was gone. "Dennis, we're getting a divorce."
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