Chapter 1 Let's Get a Divorce

It was no secret that Johnson, the wild young man from Los Angeles, had fallen in love at first sight with Maria, a genius girl from the slums. But after a car accident, Johnson lost his memory, and Maria ended up in a coma. When Maria finally woke up, Johnson had already moved on with someone new. He forced her to divorce him, insulted her, and never valued her. Five years later, Maria had remarried. Johnson, with tears in his eyes, knelt before her and pleaded, "I remember everything now, Maria. Will you marry me again?" Maria, holding her husband Cruz and their daughter Cinderella, looked at Johnson as if he were a ghost. "Don't talk to bad uncles," she said. --- "I’m giving you one last chance! Johnson, you better not do anything that would hurt Maria!" Hearing the voices inside the room, Maria paused before opening the door. Inside, Johnson's sharp and mean voice rang out. "Hmph, even if you gave me a hundred chances, I wouldn't care about Maria! She's just some leftover woman I played with. I never liked her!" Jackson, Johnson's close friend, frowned and remained silent for a moment. "But weren't you the one who insisted on marrying Maria in the first place? If you hadn't gotten drunk and decided to drive recklessly that night, she wouldn't have ended up in that car crash and become a vegetable!" Jackson threw a stack of photos at Johnson. "Even if you don't want her anymore, you could have divorced her peacefully. Why did you have to post those bedroom photos online? Don't you care about her life?" Johnson rolled his eyes. "Whose side are you on? If I hadn’t taken her out of the slums in San Francisco, she'd be dead on the streets, caught in a gang fight by now!" He stood up, facing Jackson. "And if it weren’t for Catherine pleading on her behalf, I would’ve abandoned her long ago! Posting a few photos is nothing; why are you so worked up?" Through the door, Maria could already picture Johnson's expression. The Johnson who once loved her had died in that car crash. The Johnson now was just a cruel man from Los Angeles. For him, posting those photos was just a mild form of revenge. Johnson was right. If he really wanted her dead, she wouldn’t have survived this long. Inside, Johnson’s other friends tried to lighten the mood. "Maria was definitely in the wrong this time. I heard she drugged Johnson at the party just to rekindle their old flame! How desperate is that?" "Exactly! She's still stuck in the past, but if Johnson doesn’t remember, he doesn’t remember. Clinging on like this is just pathetic!" "She should hurry up and divorce Johnson. Her presence is really getting in the way of his fun!" But some still remembered what Maria had once said. "I recall Maria saying she wanted to wait for Johnson to remember the past. And if he chose Catherine then, she’d step aside." One person, who never liked Maria, scoffed. "Does she even listen to herself? Does she really think she's worthy of Johnson? She just doesn’t want to lose her hold on him!" Maria stood at the door, filled with emotions. If she hadn't been in that coma for two years, if she hadn't been that vegetable... Would things be different? Just then, a waiter passed by, and Maria pushed the door open, walking inside. Seeing her, Johnson's first reaction was to feel disgusted. "Who let her in?" Jackson was slightly taken aback. "Maria, what are you doing here?" The room fell silent. No one dared to speak. Maria looked at Johnson. "I've reported both the drugging incident and the spreading of my photos to the police." At those words, everyone exchanged uneasy glances. A woman approached Maria, trying to be friendly. "Maria, don’t be mad. Mr. Johnson just got too anxious, that’s why he did it. You should forgive him..." Maria calmly looked at Johnson. "I did want to save our relationship, to help you regain your memory, but no matter how desperate I am, I would never stoop so low as to drug you at a party!" "The only reason I didn't want to leave was because I was afraid that if my Johnson came back and found me gone, he’d be sad and hurt. But now I realize that’s not necessary." After saying this, Maria threw a stack of papers onto the table. "I’m done, Johnson. Let’s get a divorce." Seeing Maria toss the divorce papers on the table, Johnson's expression changed. He never expected that she would be the one to give up on him. "Once the police finish their investigation, you need to apologize publicly. Then we can finalize the divorce." Maria's voice was choked with emotion. Johnson was her first boyfriend. As he had said, he had rescued her from a living hell. Johnson had taught Maria to love herself, but now, Johnson no longer loved Maria. She raised her glass, offering a distant toast to Johnson. "Happy birthday, Johnson. Let’s never see each other again." With that, she turned and left. Everyone in the room was stunned. Jackson quickly grabbed his coat and ran after her. "Maria!" After the main character had completely left, someone picked up the divorce papers to take a look. "Wow! Johnson, Maria’s leaving with nothing! She even wants to pay back the medical expenses from the past two years!" "Well, congratulations on being single again!" "Do you think she’s playing hard to get?" "I bet she’ll come back and cling to Johnson!" "If I were you, I’d divorce her tomorrow!" Johnson stared at Maria's signature on the divorce papers, lost in thought. He had given her a divorce agreement before, offering her the house in Florida and a substantial amount of money to ensure she lived comfortably. But Maria had drawn up a new agreement, signing away everything, and handed it to him. For Johnson, he had wanted a divorce ever since Maria woke up. But now that he had the papers, he couldn’t understand why he didn’t feel happy at all. Suddenly, Johnson's phone buzzed. He looked at it. "Honey, you’re here." Johnson pushed all his negative feelings aside, smiling as he stood up, answering the call as he headed out. "Wait for me, honey. I’m coming to get you."