After Divorce, My Cold CEO Regrets

It had been three years since Seles Dimond married into the Burns family. She had met her husband 30 times, shared meals together 8 times, received gifts twice, and endured countless instances of mistreatment from the Burns family. The thought of escaping from this wretched life had crossed her mind numerous times, but she hadn't acted on it even once. The Burns family was one of the most influential families in S City. Mrs. Burns had always envisioned finding the perfect wife for her beloved son. However, that despicable Mr. Dimond, taking advantage of a past favor from Mr. Burns, married his daughter Seles to Algernon Burns, the eldest son of the Burns family, in exchange for protection. Mrs. Burns dared not defy Mr. Burns, so she vented all her anger onto the innocent Seles, burdening her with all the dirty and menial chores in the house. "You useless blood-sucking leech, go clean up the horse manure in the stable." "You worthless little b***h, make sure the guest room on the west side of the courtyard is spotless." "You blind lazybones, didn't you see that the living room floor is dirty?" Dressed in shabby clothes, Seles half-knelt on the ground, silently scrubbing the living room floor with a cloth. Her long golden hair hung down, concealing her pale face. She had been busy since 6 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon, without eating or drinking anything. Her hands were constantly immersed in ice-cold water, causing several frostbites to form on her fair fingers, making her movements slow and painful. She felt her vision darken and fought to keep going, gritting her teeth. But Mrs. Burns was still unsatisfied. Walking over with arrogance in her high heels, she said, "You've been in our house for three years, and you can't do anything right except being lazy." Seles bit her lip, holding back the bitter tears. "Algernon married a thief like you. What bad luck. All you do is send money to your family every day and can't even conceive a child." Seles suddenly raised her head, glaring angrily at Mrs. Burns. In the three years they had been married, Algernon rarely came home, and he hadn't even spoken a word to Seles voluntarily. Was it solely her fault that she hadn't gotten pregnant? Suddenly, someone crashed into Seles' waist with force, pinning her down. From the strong scent of perfume emanating from the person, Seles immediately recognized that it was Magee, Algernon's sister. Ignoring the pain in her waist, Seles quickly helped Magee up. Magee forcefully pushed Seles away, causing her to fall backward unprepared. She landed on her elbows, the excruciating pain almost making her faint. "You blind slut!" Magee truly took after her mother, with the same imposing manner of speaking. "It serves my brother right for not loving you! A filthy w***e like you deserves to be on the streets, servicing dirty and smelly vagrants." This kind of scene was not the first occurrence. Ever since Seles married into the Burns family, she had become accustomed to such humiliation. "Tonight, you'll sleep in the courtyard. You are not allowed to be inside the house. I heard it's going to snow heavily tonight. It would be best if you could freeze to death out there," Mrs. Burns said with a contemptuous tone, while inspecting her exquisite nails. Seles was pushed out of the house by Dan and door closed slowly. The cold wind howled like a wild beast, pouring through the holes in Seles' worn-out clothes. Seles' whole body froze, and she could only huddle in a corner of the stairs, seeking shelter from the wind. She rubbed her hands together to keep a faint sense of warmth. She recalled the fairy tales she had read as a child. In the piercing cold wind, at least that little poor girl had a few matches. Suddenly, her phone rang. It was her mother so Seles picked up the call. "Sel, when are you going to send money?" "Send money?" "Don't talk nonsense! We sent you to the Burns family, was it for you to ride horses, walk dogs, and have afternoon tea every day?" "But..." Seles looked at the light shining through the mansion window, hesitating on how to explain to her mother. "No buts! Your father lost all the money again. Sel, you better send 500,000 bucks tomorrow, do you hear me?" "But, Mom, I don't have that much money on me..." Seles' consciousness became blurred from the freezing cold. "Ask Mrs. Burns for it! You are now a daughter-in-law of the Burns family. What's the big deal about asking for a few hundred thousand bucks? Sel, do you want to see me and your father thrown into the Western desert to be fed to vultures!" Mrs. Dimond, Seles' mother, yelled loudly over the phone before hanging up. That woman didn't care whether Seles lived or died. Seles weakly put her phone back into her pocket and stared blankly into the hazy distance. She could endure any humiliation because a small flame still burned in her heart. Algernon Burns, that man, was Seles' husband and her only hope. -Algernon, where are you? In the morning, the yard was covered in snow. Mrs. Burns pointed her fingers at a maid, urging her to apply expansive cream on her face while cast orders at Dan. "Bring that little b***h back. Algernon is coming home today. He can be seeing that." "Yes, ma’am." Dan had done things like this more than a thousand times. As Dan took unconscious Seles in and threw her on the bed, a black car slowly stopped at the entrance of the Burns family estate. The driver held a black umbrella and went to the backseat to open the door for a man who calmly got out of the car. Algernon Burns, the man destined to inherit the vast empire of the Burns family, was dressed in a black coat, slightly unbuttoned at the collar, revealing the turtleneck sweater underneath. His refined face, with its cold and sharp lines, was captivating no matter when one looked at him. Algernon raised his hand slightly, and the driver understood, handing him the umbrella. With his left hand holding the umbrella, Algernon walked towards the entrance gate, deftly buttoning his coat with his right hand. It was an innate and unattainable elegance that exuded a powerful and captivating aura, making it impossible for anyone to openly meet his gaze. Algernon walked in the bedroom and saw his contracted wife curled up into a ball on bed. He furrowed his brows. It was already 9:15 and yet Seles was still sleeping. Though he was not familiar with Seles he remembered she was not the type of person who enjoyed staying in bed. Then Mrs. Burns entered slowly and accused, "See, your loving wife is getting more and more outrageous. She doesn’t even remember the rules! It’s almost ten in the morning and she’s still in bed!" "Okay, mom. I will take care of this." As he said he closed the door behind him. At that moment, Seles was awakened by the voices. She groggily opened her eyes and saw a pair of slender hands reaching out, gently touching her forehead. She lifted her head slightly and found that the owner of those hands was the man she had been yearning for day and night, Algernon Burns. Seles shivered intensely, feeling her heart beating violently, as if it was about to leap out of her chest. She gazed at him, but not a single word escaped her lips. Algernon withdrew his hand. Seles was heating up so he said with an undeniable tone to the housekeeper, "Call the family doctor." Seles finally realized that she wasn't dreaming; he had truly come back. But her mind was filled with confusion. She had no idea why Algernon had returned home this time. It had been a full three months since she last saw him! Besides testing Seles' forehead temperature with his hand, Algernon didn't touch her again, just as he had done before. Seles lay on the bed, her body limp, her mind in a haze, her thoughts in chaos. Algernon poured Seles a glass of water and locked eyes with her. "Take the pills, the doctor is coming this way." Seles was a bit confused because this was actually the first time she felt the warmth of her husband’s care. "And I have something to say," he paused. "Let-" Algernon began. "What-" Seles spoke up at the same time, not understanding what he had to tell her. Algernon took in a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind. "Let-let's divorced."