Chapter 865

Today was their anniversary.

Since he and Claire had never held an official wedding ceremony, they didn’t have a traditional wedding anniversary.

But every year, Claire treated the day they signed their marriage certificate as their special day.

In the past, Claire was always the one to bring it up. Knowing how busy Felix was, she would remind him half a month in advance.

And back then, Felix had always found it incredibly irritating.

He thought anniversaries were pointless.

But his grandmother had warned him that women cared about these details.

So, he humored her and agreed to celebrate.

Yet, over the past five years, he had stood her up four times.

The one time he actually showed up, he had rushed off halfway through dinner- before they even cut the cake—because Madeline had called.

It wasn’t that Felix hadn’t seen the crushing disappointment in Claire’s eyes.

He just hadn’t cared enough to prioritize it. Afterward, he would simply have his secretary send over a jewelry set as a careless apology.

This year, he assumed Claire would want to celebrate like always.

But she hadn’t mentioned it once.

It was as if she had completely forgotten.

Ironically, the man who had never cared to remember was the only one thinking about it now.

Felix rested his hand on the velvet box sitting on the seat beside him.

Inside was a custom emerald jewelry set he had ordered a month in advance.

In the past, his secretary had picked out all her gifts.

They were always the most expensive, trendiest pieces of the season.

But Claire had never worn a single one of them.

She clearly didn’t like them.

This time, he had paid attention.

He remembered catching her staring longingly at a set of emeralds in an auction catalog, so he had commissioned a piece just for her.

The car was dead silent.

Mr. Yates carefully brought the Maybach to a stop and was just about to breathe a sigh of relief.

Then Felix spoke from the back. “Take me to the marital estate.”

He meant the house his grandmother had bought for them when they got married.

Mr. Yates was stunned.

Felix rarely went there.

In the past, it took intense pressure from Old Mrs. Quigley just to get him through the door.

To voluntarily go there now—especially knowing Claire wasn’t home—was practically unheard of.

But having learned his lesson, Mr. Yates didn’t ask questions and smoothly drove to the house.

The property was located in a

premium, ultra-expensive neighborhood not far from the Quigley family’s main estate.

It was a sprawling, standalone villa featuring gorgeous landscaping. Naturally, it cost a fortune.

Neither of them had set foot in it since Claire demanded a divorce.

This was Felix’s first time entering the house while she wasn’t there.

It was suffocatingly quiet.

He had never realized how massive and empty the place felt.

Everything was exactly the same as before; the only difference was that one person was missing.

But the absence was deafening.

He sat alone in the living room for a long time, his gaze tracing every inch of the space.

He was desperately searching for traces of her.

Finally, his eyes landed on a row of potted succulents lining the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Neglected for too long, they were overgrown and messy.

Some hadn’t survived the brutal summer heat and lay withered in their pots.

Claire had bought every single one of them.

bet

She used to joke that she had a black thumb and killed every flower she touched, but succulents were stubborn enough to survive her.

Every time he used to visit, he would see her bustling around the plants

before serving him a hot,

homescoed meat