When signing the agreement, Ellis hadn’t paid much attention to the details. Now, after hearing Maya’s concerns, she felt a bit worried. "It can't be that bad, right? I only have 300,000 dollars left in my account. He wouldn't take half of that, would he?" The rent alone was 10,000 dollars a month, and with basic living expenses in Stonebridge, she'd need at least four or five thousand dollars just to get by. With rent included, her 300,000 dollars might last her two years at best. If Easton took half of it, she wouldn’t last a year. "Don't underestimate how heartless men can be!" Maya hadn’t handled a divorce case herself, but she had heard enough complaints from coworkers and seen plenty of case files. In most divorces, men often ended up behaving far worse than expected, finding ways to drain every last bit from their wives. "I’ll find a suitable time to go and get it," Ellis said. She was determined not to go to the Hudson family house anytime soon. She wanted to avoid running into Easton. If she did, he might humiliate her again, and she wasn’t sure she could handle that without breaking down."The sooner, the better. Don’t drag it out." "Okay." After they bought the essentials, the two returned to the rental apartment, only to find an unexpected visitor waiting for them. Maya put on a polite smile and said, "Hello, Ms. Emma." Seeing Emma suddenly appear at her new rental place sent a wave of unease through Ellis. After greeting Maya, Emma pulled Ellis into the master bedroom for a private conversation. "You ungrateful child! Didn’t I tell you everything already? You just won’t listen, will you?" Emma scolded her and immediately grabbed her ear. Ellis had already said everything she needed to say a few days ago at the old house. Now, she couldn’t think of anything else to add, so she kept silent. Her silence only made Emma angrier. She twisted Ellis’s ear harder, and only when she heard her yelp in pain did she finally let go.Rubbing her ear, Ellis firmly said, "Ms. Emma, it's not that I don’t want to listen to you. I just can’t live a life without dignity. I have to divorce Easton." If anyone wanted to be Mrs. Hudson, they were welcome to it. She could never be the kind of woman like Emma envisioned, the one who would tolerate her husband having mistresses while maintaining the facade of a happy wife. "Don’t give me that nonsense! If you divorce Easton in a moment of rashness, you’ll regret it later, and by then, he won’t give you another chance!" Emma snapped, dragging Ellis by the hand. "Scott’s 80th birthday is next week, and there will be a banquet. You must return to the old house and help me prepare." Ever since finding out Ellis was divorcing Easton, Emma had been stressed out. She hoped this would just blow over and that Ellis would come to her senses. But when she found out that they were living apart and things had gotten ugly, she rushed over to intervene. "I won’t be Mrs. Hudson for much longer. It would be inappropriate for me to help prepare for the banquet," Ellis said. She knew she was only Emma’s adopted daughter, not really part of the Hudson family, and her grandfather had never fully approved of her marrying Easton. "If you don’t help, are you expecting me to do it with Victoria?" Emma’s tone grew sharp. She had heard that Victoria’s family was invited to the banquet, and the thought of her getting too close to Easton in public made her furious. She didn’t want to lose face, nor did she want anyone mocking Ellis. Ellis pulled her hand back and frowned. "Ms. Emma, can’t you at least respect what I want?" "I don’t care what you want! Keep those thoughts to yourself!" Emma warned. "If you don’t help me, fine! But you better show up at the banquet and make sure Victoria doesn’t steal the spotlight. You need to remind everyone who Mrs. Hudson really is and keep Easton in check!" The way Emma commanded her, it felt as though she was some kind of obedient pet, expected to follow orders without question. Ellis knew she couldn’t rely on Emma to respect her wishes, so she stayed silent. Thankfully, Maya, sensing the tension, came in to "rescue" her and gently guided Emma out of the apartment. Even though Emma had left, Ellis still felt suffocated.Maya studied Ellis’s expression for a moment before saying, "Ms. Emma is really difficult." Maybe it was because Emma had been speaking so loudly, or maybe it was because the apartment’s soundproofing wasn’t great, but Maya had overheard parts of their conversation. Ellis sighed, "She’s more than difficult." She was downright impossible to deal with. … The day before Scott’s birthday banquet, Emma started panicking at the thought of Ellis not showing up. The idea of Victoria attending the banquet, possibly acting like the future Mrs. Hudson, nearly gave her a heart attack. So she called Ellis, issuing a cold ultimatum:If I don’t see you at the banquet tomorrow, don’t ever call me again!" When the call came, Ellis was busy working with the lawyer who had helped her and Easton draft their prenuptial agreement. She had just found the electronic copy and sent it to Maya. As Emma hung up abruptly, Ellis could only focus on Maya’s reaction. She couldn’t figure out the meaning behind Emma’s words, so she impatiently asked, "What do you think?"