In the middle of the night, the villa area of the city of Los Angeles, California, was brightly lit. The Christmas trees in front of every house made the neighborhood look much cozier. A bit of white snow drifted slowly down from the air. The entire area was as beautiful as a painting, except for the Steel family villa, which was incompatible with this scene.

It was a little hard to see Astrid’s face clearly; she could only see the piece of paper in front of her, the words that read DIVORCE AGREEMENT stabbing into her beautiful green eyes.

In front of her stood a firm body and a handsome face, that man who still made her heart ache, the man who had taken possession of every cell in her body the moment they met.

It took her some time to gather the courage to speak.

“Why?” She forced out a trembling voice to ask Joshua. She didn’t even have the courage to look at him, so she only kept her head lowered in silence.

He pierced her with a cold gaze. “It was my grandfather who forced me to marry you in the first place, and now that my grandfather is dead, there’s no need for you to stay by my side.”

Astrid’s breathing seemed to stop at that instant, and she looked at Joshua pleadingly. “Don’t leave me.”

When she saw Joshua’s cold face, her nose stung. Although Joshua had always been indifferent, he had never looked at her with such coldness, as if he were looking at a toy he was already tired of; she could even say she saw a trace of disgust in his beautiful eyes.

Astrid tried to hold herself back from crying.  

Joshua had told her that he hated it when she cried. No matter how much she resisted, her eyes kept turning red. She tightly hugged Joshua’s slender waist, afraid that if she let go, she would lose him forever.

“Please, don’t leave me.” Like an abandoned cat, Astrid looked at Joshua imploringly. How she wished this were a nightmare, that Joshua would rub her cheeks and say it was a joke and that he had lied to her.

For three years, Joshua Steel had never asked for her opinion. She had obediently listened to every order from Joshua; even if it was something she didn’t like, as long as Joshua liked it, she would do it for him.

And this time, she didn’t want to listen to Joshua’s orders either. This was the first time she tried to resist Joshua. Even when he showed an expression of disgust, he forcefully broke free of the arms around his waist. This sudden force was like trying to break Astrid’s arms. Then Joshua spoke in an extremely cold tone, “You have no right to refuse!” Ignoring Astrid’s pleas, he forced the pen into her hand.

A tear fell onto the divorce agreement. Astrid’s tears finally flowed down as she stared at Joshua’s clear signature on the agreement, a name that made her heart ache so much she could barely breathe. The pen was smooth, and she almost signed her name without hesitation. Joshua, the man she had loved for three years, said he didn’t want her.

No, she couldn’t let this happen. Joshua was her life. She couldn’t imagine a day without Joshua, even if he didn’t like her.

Only this time, she couldn’t listen to Joshua.

“I’m sorry!” As if it were her last struggle, Astrid reached out and grabbed the divorce agreement, quickly crumpled it into a ball, and brought it to her mouth. She really couldn’t think of any other way. If she did this, Joshua wouldn’t leave, right?

Joshua was a man of his word, and as far as she knew, he would definitely force her to sign the divorce agreement tonight. Even if he had to tie her up, he would make her sign it.

The sharp edge of the paper ball cut Astrid’s throat as she swallowed it painfully, but it was nothing compared to the pain in her heart.

The dim light made Joshua fail to react to Astrid’s action. When he heard the sound of the paper ball being crumpled, it was already too late. Astrid swallowed the paper ball one step faster than he could react. If this had been a normal action, he would have reacted instantly to snatch the agreement away beforehand.

However, Astrid’s behavior did not surprise Joshua. After all, for three years, no matter what he said, even if it was any unreasonable request, Astrid would always unconditionally obey his orders. “Damn it! Spit it out! Spit it out, do it for me!” He stared at Astrid’s clear face, a face that resembled someone he hadn’t seen in a long time but would never forget.

“I won’t spit it out! I don’t want to divorce you.” Astrid gathered her courage to look at Joshua. Her heart was pounding violently. This was her last chance. Even if she could only look at Joshua from afar in the future, even if Joshua despised her in the future, she didn’t want to divorce him. Anyway, Joshua hadn’t liked her in the first place, so it wasn’t that bad.

Looking at Astrid’s tearful yet stubborn eyes, Joshua slowly lowered his raised hand and sighed.

He looked deeply at Astrid and went upstairs without looking back.

Watching his figure disappear, Astrid let out a sigh of relief.

The dim light suddenly reminded her of the day Joshua proposed to her, the day he told her he would stay with her for the rest of his life.

No, she would never agree to divorce him. She couldn’t live without Joshua.

Astrid stood up and softly went upstairs, stopping at Joshua’s door. She didn’t dare knock; she panicked, afraid of seeing Joshua’s eyes full of disgust again.

After a long time, she finally gathered her courage and reached out to grasp the doorknob. Just then, the door suddenly opened.

In one second, her body lost its balance, and in the next, she was pinned down by Joshua. “You still want to throw yourself into my arms even though you’re divorcing me?” Then Joshua snorted coldly. “Since you want it so badly, I’ll satisfy you!” Joshua didn’t give her time to react. In an instant, pain and pleasure swept through her entire body. Her raw, aching parts hurt so much that she couldn’t move; she could only grip the bedsheet tightly and endure it all. She liked it, even though it hurt.

“I didn’t expect it to be this bad for you.” Joshua’s frivolous tone sounded behind Astrid. Astrid wanted to say that it wasn’t like that, but Joshua’s next thrust only made her clench her teeth. She didn’t want to moan and make Joshua feel disgusted. She was afraid—afraid that if she made a sound at that moment, Joshua would leave her behind without hesitation.

“Lin…” Joshua suddenly softly said a name unfamiliar to Astrid. Astrid only listened in silence, not daring to ask who it was. She was afraid of crying again. If she did at that moment, Joshua would definitely never do something like this with her again in the future.

After Joshua calmed down, she tried to hug him from behind, but he got up and, still in a cold tone, said, “Go back to your room to sleep.” With that, he went into the bathroom.

It wasn’t until she heard the sound of running water that Astrid knew it was time to leave. It didn’t matter if he treated her like this; as long as he didn’t divorce her, she could endure anything.