Liesel Sharp had just unlocked her phone while waiting for her IV drip to be done when she received a message from her best friend, Chelsea Walden. “Jacob’s back.”

She faltered. She and Jacob Ford had barely spoken throughout their month-long cold war, so she had no idea he was back.

Soon, she received another message. “He’s brought a young woman back with him.”

A photo had been sent with the message. The young woman in the photo resembled Liesel a little—she was Natalie Sharp, Liesel’s younger half-sister. She’d been raised in the countryside.

Chelsea continued, “The Sharp family is throwing them a welcome-back party. Do you want to crash it, Lili?”

She knew what Liesel was like. Liesel would give Jacob a taste of his own medicine if he dared to do anything to her. There was even a chance she would set the Sharp residence on fire.

Liesel checked her IV bag. She’d had a high fever for three days now, and the back of her hand was swollen from the constant IV drips she’d been on. She wasn’t in the mood for that nonsense.

“No,” she replied. Then, she shut her eyes to get some rest.

It was close to 10:00 pm when she took a cab back to Viewpoint Residences. The fever had taken its toll on her, so she soon drifted into a restless sleep. Jacob returned at some point, which woke her up.

“Did I wake you?” he asked while rolling up the sleeves of his ironed shirt. The dim light made his skin glow, adding a hint of iciness to his already cold demeanor. He looked down at her with an indifferent gaze. His voice was as alluring as always, though.

“No.” Liesel’s voice was a little nasal because she’d just woken up. She explained lazily, “I wasn’t sleeping too soundly after taking my meds.”

He frowned slightly. “Are you sick?”

She chuckled softly. She’d been sick for a while now and had mentioned it in her texts to him when admitting defeat. Yet he looked like he’d only just noticed.

She poured two glasses of water and handed one to him. “How are things at Norton City? I heard from Brook that there seemed to be some trouble with it. You—”

Her throat felt dry and uncomfortable; she wasn’t in the mood to chat. Still, someone had to back down—it had been nearly two months since they’d seen each other.

However, Jacob cut her off. “Let’s divorce.”

She stared at him and almost lost her grip on her glass. Her throat seemed to hurt more now.

He didn’t explain himself. All he said was, “You can ask for whatever you want. I won’t shortchange you.”

Liesel’s heart clenched, but she soon regained her composure. “We can discuss this if this is because you left to pick Natalie up two months ago.”

“It’s not.” He looked at her, his gaze aloof. “This is a loveless marriage, Liesel. There’s no point in keeping it going.”

It was true that the marriage alliance between the Ford and Sharp families had never been the one Jacob had hoped for. Liesel was the eldest daughter of the Sharp family, but he’d never wanted to marry her.

Their accidental encounter that night was the only thing that had made him choose to take responsibility for her.

Liesel lowered her eyes and said slowly, “Alright. All I want is the house at Northview Garden, and I won’t quit my job after the divorce.”

Her mother, Heather Mallone, had left the house for her. For whatever reason, it had ended up in the Ford family’s hands and become one of her wedding gifts.

As for her career, she’d worked hard and built a network within Ford Corporation. She couldn’t allow the divorce to wipe her efforts away.