Chapter 4
Hearing my words, Jacob froze on the spot, staring at me blankly, “What did you say? Sienna?
I took out a pen, signed the divorce papers one by one and used lipstick to make my fingerprint before pushing the papers in front of Jacob.
“I said, I want a divorce,” I said it again.
Jacob tugged at his collar and frowned. “Sienna, are you out of your mind? Who would want you, middle–aged woman, after leaving me?”
So in Jacob’s eyes, I, a woman who had just turned thirty, was already considered middle–aged.
I tossed the pen at him. I replied, “Haven’t you heard the saying, A woman blossoms at thirty?‘ But
Jacob, you should know that after the divorce, I won’t be your assistant anymore. You’ll need to give me a few days to hand over your recent work schedule to the new assistant.”
My straightforwardness earned a mocking laugh from Jacob.
He pointed at me with one hand, his eyes filled with impatience. “Sienna, you’re playing with fire and you’re going to get burned!”
Just as he finished speaking, Agnes’s distinctive ringtone started playing. Jacob didn’t answer, instead, he looked at me with a threatening gaze,
He started to mocked me, “Didn’t you always say you wanted to have a baby before turning thirty? I know you’re ovulating these days. Sienna, I’m giving you three seconds to fake back what you just
said.”
Last year, I made a birthday wish on my 29th birthday, turning my ovulation days into a scheduled task for Jacob and me to fulfill our marital duties. But Jacob didn’t know that I had stopped ovulating since last month.
The ringtone echoed in the living room like a ticking time bomb. Three seconds later, the last remaining connection between Jacob and me exploded into pieces.
“Sienna, you’ve got guts. Let’s see if you can stay this tough forever!” With those words, he stormed out
of the villa.
As soon as the door slammed shut, I picked up my phone and scheduled an abortion for the day after
tomorrow.
Lying on the operating table, the doctor glanced at the ultrasound and tried to persuade me, “Miss Hubert, your baby is developing well. Are you sure you don’t want to discuss this with the father?” At the same time, a notification for a trending post popped up on my phone. It was a video clip from the previous night’s film festival..
When the camera zoomed in on Jacob and Agnes sitting together, they exchanged several shy glances, their lips curling into smiles.
It wasn’t until Agnes, gathering her courage in front of the crowd and the cameras, kissed Jacob that he grabbed the back of her neck with one hand, bringing her close to his throat. The deafening screams in the video suddenly stopped when I closed it.
I accidentally clicked on a high–definition photo taken by one of the on–site reporters and there on Jacob’s Adam’s apple, I noticed a pair of small bite marks.
On our wedding night, when Jacob was still just a stand–in actor, he pressed me down on the bed and teased me harshly. He held my head and urged me to bite his protruding Adam’s apple, his low voice. still echoing in my ears, “Sienna, bite me.”
Only when my teeth sank into his skin did Jacob finally hold me close, repeatedly kissing the top of my head.
He said, “It really hurts, it’s not a dream. Sienna, I really married you.” Back then, Jacob truly saw me as his unreachable goddess.
Locking my phone, I put it away and closed my eyes, saying to the doctor, “Go ahead, doctor.”
It wasn’t as painful as I had imagined. In fact, after the surgery, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. The next morning, after being discharged from the hospital, I met with my new assistant at a nearby café. To make sure the assistant wouldn’t be bullied, I specifically chose a male assistant. After finalizing all the details, I began signing the contract with Maxwell Phoenix.
“Sienna, why are you quitting? Jacob is so nice. You have no idea how many people would kill for a chance to be his assistant,” he said.
I smiled slightly. “I’m getting old. This job is more suited to young people like you who have the drive.” Maxwell looked at me with a mixture of understanding and confusion, regret and admiration flickering in his eyes.
He said, “But I don’t think you’re old at all. You’ve been with Jacob through thick and thin, from his obscure days to his fame. You’ve worked so hard, you’re such a good assistant.”
I gave him a faint smile and packed the signed contract into my bag. “Maybe. Maxwell, I wish you a bright future and smooth sailing.” After dealing with the assistant, I drove home.
To my surprise, Jacob, who was supposed to be filming in a neighboring city, was sitting on the sofa. He looked at me, his eyes bloodshot and his voice cold when he said, “Sienna, where were you last night?”
“What does it matter to you?” I asked back.
I changed my shoes and headed straight to the bedroom. In the past, when Jacob stayed out countless nights, I would ask him the same question. I even called his friends one by one, trying to find out where he was.
Sometimes they would cover for him and other times, an irritated Jacob would grab the phone and curse at me directly, “Sienna, where I go has nothing to do with you! I’m an adult. I have my own privacy. Can you stop meddling in my business?”
While 1 endured his insults, I would think of ways to apologize to him, hoping he would drink less.. But while I was filled with concern, what I heard on the other end of the phone was Agnes’s soft voice, “Jacob, come dance with me…” Before I could even remind him, Jacob would hang up the phone in a hurry.
Now, hearing me give him the same answer, Jacob stiffened and followed me into the bedroom. He threw two photos onto my face, his eyes red with fury, “Sienna, what’s your relationship with him?”
