Ethan stared at the monitor.

Alive.

That single word seemed more unbelievable than everything else on the screen.

Beside him, Vivian had gone completely pale.

The official cleared her throat.

—Mr. Lu, we cannot process this marriage today.

She pointed toward Vivian’s record.

—Miss Su must first resolve her existing marriage.

Then she looked at Ethan.

—And regarding your former wife, the overseas death registration has been formally corrected.

Ethan barely seemed to hear the rest.

—Where is Elena?

The official frowned.

—That’s private information.

He left the Civil Registry without looking at Vivian.

She followed him outside.

—Ethan, listen to me.

He turned.

—You were married?

Vivian’s lips trembled.

—Daniel and I separated years ago.

—That’s not what I asked.

Silence.

Ethan laughed.

It was short.

Cold.

—For three years, Elena was accused of standing between us.

—And the entire time, you had a husband.

Vivian reached for him.

He stepped away.

—Don’t touch me.

Then he called Chloe.

She rejected his first six calls.

On the seventh, she answered.

—What?

Ethan’s voice was hoarse.

—Elena is alive.

Silence.

—Where is she?

Chloe laughed softly.

—Interesting.

—Three years ago, you wanted a divorce so badly.

—Now you suddenly care where your ex-wife lives?

—Chloe.

—Tell me.

Her voice became cold.

—Why should I?

Ethan closed his eyes.

—Because I thought she died.

—Exactly.

Chloe paused.

—And for three years, that was the first thing that finally made you understand she could disappear from your life permanently.

Then she hung up.

It took Ethan two weeks to find me.

Not because I was hiding anymore.

I simply wasn’t waiting for him.

I had returned to the country because the company I had built abroad was opening its first branch in Shanghai.

When Ethan entered the hotel conference room, I was discussing investment terms with six executives.

The door opened.

Everyone turned.

He didn’t look at anyone except me.

—Elena.

Three years.

He looked older.

The arrogance was still there, but something underneath it had cracked.

I closed the document in front of me.

—Mr. Lu.

His face tightened at the title.

—Can we talk?

I looked at my colleagues.

—Ten minutes.

We went to the terrace.

The moment the door closed, Ethan asked:

—Why?

I knew exactly what he meant.

—Because I wanted to disappear.

—You let me believe you were dead.

His voice shook.

—I went to your memorial.

—I stood in front of an empty grave.

I remained quiet.

He continued:

—Do you know what that did to me?

I finally looked at him.

—Do you know what our marriage did to me?

That stopped him.

I didn’t describe how I disappeared.

There was no point.

What mattered was simple.

After the accident overseas created confusion around my records, I chose not to return to my old life.

Years later, when I needed my legal identity fully restored for business, the records were corrected.

Ethan stared at me.

—You could have told me you were alive.

—We were divorced.

—That doesn’t mean—

—It meant exactly that.

He went silent.

Then he asked the question I had expected.

—Why did you meet Vivian before leaving?

So he knew.

I smiled.

—She told you?

—Eventually.

—Then you also know she was married.

His jaw tightened.

—You knew and said nothing.

—Yes.

—Why?

I looked at him calmly.

—Because she was your choice.

—You wanted your freedom from me so you could return to her.

—I decided you should be free enough to discover who she was yourself.

His face hardened.

—That was cruel.

I almost laughed.

—Cruel?

—You divorced me for her.

—And now I’m cruel because I didn’t protect you from the consequences?

He couldn’t answer.

The wind moved between us.

Finally, Ethan whispered:

—I never married her.

—I know.

—Not only because of Daniel.

He looked at me.

—After you died… or after I thought you died, nothing felt the way I expected.

I remained silent.

He continued:

—I kept remembering stupid things.

—The tea you left beside my laptop.

—The way you always moved my keys to the same drawer.

—How you waited for me even when I came home after midnight.

His voice lowered.

—I thought I married you because Grandma forced me.

—Then after you were gone, I realized I had built my entire life around you without admitting it.

There was a time when those words would have destroyed me.

Now they only made me tired.

—Ethan, missing someone’s care is not the same as loving them properly.

He looked away.

Then he suddenly remembered something.

—The favor.

I smiled faintly.

Three years earlier.

“No strings attached. One day, if I ask and it is within your means, you must fulfill it.”

Ethan straightened.

—You came back to claim it?

—Partly.

His expression became serious.

—What do you want?

I handed him a folder.

The Lu Group owned thirty-two percent of a logistics company blocking my new firm’s entry into the domestic market.

Ethan opened the documents.

—You want me to sell you the shares?

—At independently assessed market value.

He stared at me.

—That’s your favor?

—Yes.

He seemed almost disappointed.

—No revenge?

—No.

—No request that I leave Vivian?

I raised an eyebrow.

—Why would I care whom you date?

That hurt him more than anger would have.

He looked back at the documents.

—And if I refuse?

I smiled.

—Then you break your promise.

Ethan signed.

Not because he had to legally.

Because for once, he kept his word.

The transaction was completed the following month.

My company entered the market.

Vivian eventually returned to England to settle her marriage and disappeared from Ethan’s life.

I never asked for details.

Half a year later, Ethan appeared at the opening ceremony of our Shanghai headquarters.

He stood at the back.

Afterward, he approached me.

—You look happy.

—I am.

He nodded.

Then asked quietly:

—Was there ever a possibility for us again?

I thought about it.

Then answered honestly.

—There was.

Hope flashed in his eyes.

I finished:

—Three years ago.

His expression fell.

I continued:

—The day we divorced, if you had asked me not to leave, I might have stayed.

—But you didn’t.

He closed his eyes.

This time he didn’t argue.

I walked past him.

When I married Ethan Lu, I believed being chosen once meant I would eventually be loved.

When he divorced me, I thought disappearing was the only way to stop being someone’s substitute.

Three years later, I finally understood something simpler.

Vivian had never been my real rival.

The person I had been competing with was Ethan’s certainty that I would always remain available.

So I disappeared.

And when I finally returned alive, successful, and completely beyond his reach—

the only thing I wanted from my ex-husband was the favor he had promised me.

Not his love.

Not his regret.

And definitely not another marriage.