As he stood up, Kaelen offered a casual excuse. "That billion-dollar bracelet you gave me… it broke."

"I was asking the Ancients for a blessing, hoping the craftsman can restore it."

After all, once it was fixed, he intended to return it to Vera.

Vera's brow furrowed slightly.

She thought for a moment but couldn't recall which bracelet he was talking about.

Giving up, she simply offered a comforting smile. "If it's broken, it's broken. As long as you're okay. There's an antique auction in a few days. I'll buy you something even better."

Kaelen fell silent. He never imagined that one didn't need a Sorrow-Eater to forget. All it took was falling out of love. She had forgotten that the bracelet was their engagement gift.

He gave a self-deprecating smile and spoke slowly.

"Yes. If it's broken, it's broken."

"Broken things should be thrown away. No matter what they are."

Vera's body stiffened. She rushed forward and threw her arms around him.

"Honey, it's just a bracelet. We have a long life ahead of us. We have our sixth anniversary, our seventh, our silver and golden anniversaries…"

"I have a lifetime of gifts to give you."

Vera's words were filled with deep affection, as if she could already picture them as a pair of old folks.

She had no idea that in just seven days, Kaelen would be leaving her, returning to Serenity Peak to guard the mountain, never to re-enter the mortal world.

A tightness gripped Kaelen's chest. He gently pushed Vera away.

"Vera, let's just get a divorce."

Vera's expression changed, a mix of frustration and anger in her eyes. "Kaelen, why have you been bringing up divorce so much lately?"

"Honestly, haven't I been good enough to you?"

Kaelen frowned, trying to recall.

But his memories of the past five years with Vera were fragmented, like looking at flowers through a thick fog.

He had learned from Vera not to dwell on it. "Whether you were good to me or not, I've already forgotten. But why I want a divorce… are you really so clueless?"

Vera flinched, her heart pounding. She thought Kaelen had discovered something.

She was so consumed by guilt that she didn't even notice this was the fifth time Kaelen had said he'd forgotten.

"Honey, I really don't know. If I did something to upset you, just tell me, please? Don't talk about divorce. It hurts me."

Kaelen watched her quietly for a long moment before speaking.

"Have you forgotten? I'm fated to be childless. If we continue like this, won't I just be holding you back?"

The tension in Vera's face instantly eased.

As if she had just survived a disaster, she carefully took Kaelen's hand, lacing their fingers together. "If you're worried about children, that's not a big deal."

"Caden's wife is pregnant, isn't she? And you just agreed to ensure the child is born safely. To that child, you're practically a second father. When the time comes, we can have the child call you godfather."

Kaelen froze for a second, his fingers trembling.

First of all, the only things he had promised Caden were a divorce and leaving with nothing.

He didn't care whether Caden's child was born or not.

And what kind of wife in the world would openly ask her husband to raise her lover's child?

Kaelen silently recited a calming mantra, trying to quell his rising emotions.

But Vera squeezed his hand, a look of self-congratulation on her face. "This idea is perfect, isn't it? It solves everything! Honey, you must be thrilled!"

She barely gave Kaelen a chance to refuse before taking his silence as agreement.

"I'll go take care of this right now. You just wait at home for my good news."

Vera dropped the bombshell and turned to leave.

He could pretend not to know about her affair.

He could turn a deaf ear to the fact that she was having another man's child.

After all, he had already decided to leave.

But Kaelen could not, under any circumstances, adopt this child. Not even in name. It would be a forced entanglement, a stain on his karma.

Suppressing his emotions, Kaelen rushed downstairs, hailed a cab, and followed Vera, hoping to stop her.

But as he followed her, he watched in horror as she pulled up in front of a villa in the southern part of the city.

Caden opened her car door, then pressed his face against her belly.

Without a care in the world, they kissed as they got back into the car.

A moment later, Vera's Maybach began to rock gently, then more and more violently…

Kaelen watched from the car behind them.

He had seen this scene before, in her office not long ago.

And his memories of Vera were mostly gone, erased.

But seeing her betrayal so blatantly, his heart still felt like it was being viciously stabbed, the pain so intense it brought tears to his eyes.

Suddenly, a fragment of a memory surfaced.

Two weeks ago, when they went to the Sanctuary to pay respects to the Ancients.

He had casually asked, "Vera, if one day your heart changes…"

"It won't. I will only ever love you. If my heart changes, may I be punished to never see you again, to live a life of regret and sorrow, and to die a miserable death."

So be it, Vera. I hope you remember your oath.

Kaelen tore his gaze away from the rocking car and said to the driver, "Let's go."