Hendrix suddenly smirked, playfully pressing his tongue against his cheek. “Are you trying to play hard to get with me? I won’t fall for that. You’ll be the one crying in the end!”

Lilith turned her head, afraid he would see the tears welling up in her eyes. Just then, Mr. Mace stepped out.

“Mr. Hendrix, I hope we have a pleasant collaboration,” he said, glancing at Hendrix, who immediately put away his sarcastic expression and smiled at Mr. Mace.

“Pleasant collaboration indeed. You should stay in the country a bit longer; let Xenia show you around,” Hendrix replied.

Mr. Mace laughed, “I wouldn’t dare compete with you for her attention. She’s all yours!”

At that moment, Xenia arrived in a car. She got out, walked up the steps, and stood next to Hendrix, speaking to Mr. Mace. “Mr. Mace, I’ll take you to your hotel to rest.”

Mr. Mace looked pleasantly surprised. “It’s my honor. Thank you, Vice President Larkin!”

Hendrix leaned slightly toward Xenia, placing a hand on her waist, and instructed, “Be careful.”

Xenia nodded and left with Mr. Mace, not glancing at Lilith even once. It was as if she didn’t recognize Lilith in her changed outfit, or perhaps she was deliberately pretending not to know her.

Lilith watched them leave, biting her lip. She had to admit that Xenia was an impressive woman. Was this the type Hendrix preferred? The admiration and affection in his eyes when he looked at Xenia were something Lilith had never seen directed at her.

She couldn’t imagine what she looked like in his eyes. He made no effort to hide his special treatment of Xenia, leaving Lilith to wonder where that left her.

Lowering her head slightly exposed her delicate neck, and the argument they had just had made her ears flush. Hendrix’s gaze turned intense as he looked at her, and he found it hard to forget how stunning she looked tonight.

His throat tightened, and he took a couple of steps closer, pulling out his car keys with an air of superiority. “Did you drive?”

He was asking knowingly, offering her a chance to go home together. But Lilith didn’t seize the opportunity as he had expected.

“Except for our impending divorce, whether I drove or not has nothing to do with you,” she replied.

Hendrix’s expression hardened in an instant, his anger palpable. He had offered her a way out, but she didn’t recognize his kindness.

“Lilith, you’re exhausting my patience. Don’t be so ungrateful!”

His tone was starkly different from the one he had just used with Xenia. Watching his special treatment of Xenia, waves of negative emotions threatened to engulf Lilith.

Her throat tightened, and she struggled to speak, her eyes filling with tears.

“Where’s the rat?!” Yara’s loud voice cut through the tension as she appeared, circling Lilith with a look of mock terror. “If you see a rat, why aren’t you running? Aren’t you afraid it’ll bite you?”

Yara, spoiled by her family since childhood, had never been afraid to confront anyone in Rivertown’s business circle. Though the Stevenson Family didn’t match the Foster Family in power, they had enough business dealings for Hendrix to treat them with some respect.

Relying on this, Yara felt bold enough to take on Hendrix. Whenever Lilith felt hurt by his neglect, Yara would seize the chance to confront him. This time, however, she wasn’t holding back at all.

Lilith worried Yara would provoke Hendrix further and quickly pulled her away. “Yara, let’s go.”

Yara shot Hendrix a glare, her lips moving without sound, but it was clear she was cursing him.

As they reached the car, Lilith got in, but Yara still felt unsatisfied. She rolled down the window and shouted at Hendrix, “Dogface, our Lili is going to be a big designer one day, and you’re not worthy of her!”

Lilith gasped, quickly crossing over Yara to close the window, urging her to drive away. The car pulled away from the scene.

Yara's words echoed in Hendrix's mind, his hawk-like eyes reflecting the vibrant city lights. After a long pause, he pulled out his phone and called Tyler.

“What did Lilith major in at university?”

There was a brief silence on the other end before Tyler’s voice came through, “Interior Design.”

“Make sure someone keeps an eye on her every move. She’s not allowed to work at any design company.”

Hendrix didn’t feel there was anything wrong with what he was doing. The Stevenson family was wealthy enough to support Lilith for a lifetime. Since she wasn’t playing by the rules, there was no need for him to show mercy. This wasn’t bullying—this was helping her see reason sooner.

“What are you afraid of?” Yara gripped the steering wheel, her voice brimming with indignation. “You’re his wife! Even with a cheating husband and a mistress, neither of them has the right to treat you this way!”

Lilith wanted to say that her title as wife felt like a joke. “From my perspective, or even from the Johnson family’s, it’s not wise to cross Hendrix.”

If their divorce turned into a public scandal, things would become far more complicated. It would no longer just be a matter between the two of them—it would involve both families.

“Lili, have you told your family about the divorce?” Yara asked as they waited at a red light. Lilith shook her head. “No.”

The Johnson family relied on the Fosters. If her father knew she wanted a divorce, he would be the first to object. Her mother, with her gentle nature, always obeyed her father and constantly filled Lilith’s mind with the idea that being a good wife and mother was paramount.

For a long time, Lilith had believed that Hendrix loved her but just wasn’t good with words. And with her mother’s endless persuasion, she had tolerated his cold indifference for two years. Now that she knew about the affair, all that patience felt absurd and pitiful. The Johnson family wouldn’t understand her feelings, so she had to finalize the divorce before they found out.

“Then let’s keep things low-key and finalize the divorce first!” Yara said with determination. “Have you drafted the divorce agreement?”

“I... haven’t thought about it yet,” Lilith replied, her mind elsewhere. Yara, seeing her friend’s distracted state, didn’t press further.

She took Lilith home for a light meal and even suggested a night out to blow off steam, but Lilith refused. Instead, she curled up on the couch with her laptop. “I need to start applying for jobs,” Lilith said, resolute. “I want to get hired as soon as possible.”

“Do you need my help?” Yara offered, knowing she could easily bypass the whole job application process if necessary.

“No, I believe I can find one on my own.” Lilith’s voice was firm. It wasn’t arrogance—she had confidence in her abilities.

Though she lacked work experience and had been disconnected from the design field for two years, her award-winning university projects gave her an edge. Most of the companies she applied to responded with interview invitations.

The positive responses from her applications gave her a renewed sense of motivation. The next morning, accompanied by Yara, Lilith bought a new business outfit to prepare for her interviews.

Despite her busy schedule, Hendrix’s figure occasionally flashed through her mind—along with Xenia’s. Xenia, with her elegance and competence, was someone Lilith had only interacted with briefly but couldn’t stop thinking about. She couldn’t help but wonder if Hendrix preferred women like Xenia.

Whenever she imagined Hendrix looking at Xenia with admiration—something Lilith had never seen in his eyes toward her—the thought stung her deeply. These thoughts fueled her desire to enter the professional world, prove herself, and escape the shadow of their toxic relationship. But they also gnawed at her, leaving her restless.

She couldn’t help but wonder—if she hadn’t married Hendrix two years ago, would she have already achieved something meaningful by now?

On Friday, Lilith had several interviews lined up. At 9 a.m., she arrived at her first company and gave a brief self-introduction, waiting for the interviewer's questions.

“Miss Johnson, what have you been doing these past two years since graduation?” the interviewer asked. Lilith wasn’t surprised by the question about the gap in her resume, but she still felt a twinge of shame.

“I... I got married,” she admitted. The interviewer gave a regretful smile. “There’s a prime time to start a career. If you’d applied right after graduation, we would have welcomed you. But now... I’m sorry.”

It was a polite rejection. Lilith had prepared herself for rejection, but she couldn’t understand.

“You didn’t ask me anything about my professional skills. Are you rejecting me just because I lack experience and got married?”