The next morning, Ella woke up early.
Arthur was still out cold next to her.
The soreness in her body was a constant reminder of what happened yesterday.
She could deal with Arthur not loving her, but hearing him call out another woman's name during sex? That was too much.
Arthur looked so peaceful while he slept. Ella reached out and traced his eyebrows and eyes in the air.
After one last look at him, she made up her mind and walked out of the bedroom.
She had packed her bags last night, thinking Arthur wouldn't come back.
After living here for so long, it was sad that only this small amount of stuff was truly hers.
Taking a deep breath, Ella signed the divorce papers she had prepared and left them on the table.
Leaving the villa area, Ella called a cab to Worry-Free Studio.
She and Lily Martin had started this studio together.
But later, she chose family over her career, leaving Lily to run the studio on her own.
When the cab stopped, Ella paid the fare and got out.
The door to Worry-Free Studio was already open, and she still hadn't figured out how to talk with Lily.
She bit her lip, picked up her suitcase, and walked in.
Ella didn't see Lily in the studio.
There was just a young girl cleaning. When she saw Ella, she looked surprised and then asked tentatively, "Ella?"
Ella was caught off guard, not expecting the girl to recognize her. "Yeah, it's me. Do you know me?"
The girl shook her head and pointed to the desk behind her. "There's a photo of you."
Following her gaze, Ella saw a framed photo on the desk.
It was a picture of her and Lily.
"Lily went out for training and won't be back until next week. I'm Emily Lewis, Lily's assistant." Emily stood there, nervously looking at Ella.
Ella frowned; she hadn't heard about this.
Thinking back, she took out her phone and checked her chat history with Lily.
The last message was about Lily going for training, but Ella hadn't replied at the time, probably busy with something else.
Ella guiltily put away her phone. "I see."
Emily smiled and went back to cleaning.
She had known there was another boss at the studio, but had only heard Lily mention her. Today, she finally met her in person.
Ella sat on the sofa, feeling Emily's gaze.
"Did Lily leave any instructions before she left?"
Emily nodded and handed her a booklet. "Lily said if you came, to give you this booklet. You'll understand."
Ella took the booklet and started flipping through it, her smile freezing instantly.
'How many orders had she taken on!'
Ella sighed, feeling grateful for Lily's hard work during this time.
It seemed her future life wouldn't be boring.
"Got it. You can go back to your work." Ella took her suitcase and the booklet into the office.
Looking at the familiar place, Ella smiled.
She hadn't done any design work in a long time.
In college, she was a design genius everyone envied, while Lily had a great talent for business.
So, they founded Worry-Free Studio together in just a few months.
She didn't ask for anything to divorce Arthur. The divorce papers stated she would leave with nothing.
Arthur probably wouldn't be too keen on sharing assets with her. Luckily, she still had the studio to rely on and make a living.
When Worry-Free Studio first kicked off, she and Lily had their roles down pat: she handled the designing, and Lily took care of production and business.
To put Worry-Free Studio on the map, Lily even made her the star designer, "Worry-Free."
As her reputation grew, orders started pouring in.
After she got married, the name Ms. Worry-Free slowly faded from the public eye.
But whenever she had some downtime, she'd still whip up some designs for Lily.
Ella sat in the chair, chuckling at the booklet in front of her.
In the days that followed, she practically lived at the studio and managed to knock out most of the orders in the booklet.
Ella had to admit that Lily had a knack for picking staff. With Emily's help, her workload had lightened up a lot.
One day, Emily had to leave early for some personal stuff.
By the time Ella finished her design, it was already dark outside.
She yawned, covering her mouth, and was about to close up the studio and head home when she saw Arthur at the door.
She froze, almost forgetting she had blocked all his contacts after leaving his villa.
She didn't expect him to come looking for her.
"What are you doing here?" Ella looked him up and down, noticing how disheveled he seemed.
'Didn't he want to be with Ava? He should be happy I left, so why does he look like this?'
"Have you had enough fun outside? Come home with me, and I can pretend nothing happened."
Ella stared at him for a long time, her eyes filled with bitterness.
After regaining her composure, she raised her chin and said arrogantly, "I'm not going back. Sign the divorce papers as soon as possible."
Arthur frowned. "Haven't you had enough? Is it just because I didn't spend Valentine's Day with you? Besides, didn't we make love that night?"
Hearing this, Ella looked at him in disbelief. "Do you think I wanted you back home just to have sex with you?"
"Isn't that the case?" Arthur shot back.
Ella was furious and sneered, "You really are shameless. Haven't you always wanted a divorce? Now I'm giving you the chance, but you're hesitating like a coward. Do you want to keep me now that you've realized my worth?"
Arthur looked at Ella strangely, not expecting such words from her.
Seeing he had no intention of leaving, Ella shoved her phone in his face, displaying the call log. "Let's get a divorce. So you and Ava can be together. Next time, don't call the wrong name during sex; it's disgusting."
Ella's face was cold. After making sure he saw the call log, she put away her phone.
Seeing his stiff expression, she walked past him and left.
Back at her and Lily's small apartment, the more Ella thought about it, the angrier she got.
Internally, she cursed, 'Arthur, you scumbag!'
After a moment of contemplation, Ella changed into a red dress and took out her long-unused makeup.
After fiddling with it in front of the mirror for a while, she applied lipstick and nodded in satisfaction to herself.
Half an hour later, Ella showed up at Drunken Dream, the biggest bar in Silverpeak City.
As soon as Ella walked in, most of the men's eyes in the bar were on her.
She didn't care, casually finding a booth to sit in. The number of men trying to hit on her was endless. When Ella was expressionless, she was more charming.