Do not abuse the power to punish for rights that were never granted.

This single sentence struck everyone present and, at the same time, brought a sense of shame to those watching the scene on the StarNet.

Those who had once scorned them couldn’t help but fall silent.

Indeed, Blue Star had only been part of the Alliance for a few years. Why did they feel they had the right to so brazenly use the Alliance’s current standards to judge their pasts?

This was especially true after someone posted a long, clearly well-researched informational thread on the StarNet.

The number of replies to this thread grew explosively. In just half a day, it shot to the top of the headlines with a “trending” tag.

The citizens of the Alliance, having been thoroughly educated by the post, came to understand the hostile environment for women in Ji Changqing and Qiao Nansheng’s home country, the disregard for minority sexual orientations… and finally, they correctly saw this relationship not as one between an unmarried Alpha and a married Omega, but between an unmarried woman and another married woman, who was mired in a difficult divorce and being deliberately held back.

The highly empathetic citizens of the Alliance, deeply moved, imagined a tragic love story of two oppressed women, carefully warming each other.

Someone had subtly guided the public’s line of thinking, leading people to transpose the two individuals’ roles into an era when AO relationships were at their most distorted.

Once they made this substitution, everyone suddenly felt that their situation was truly tragic.

Imagine wanting to escape a marriage, but the law offers no protection, your family gives no support, and all of society sees a happy, wonderful union, deaf to your inner torment and struggle.

Ultimately, Qiao Nansheng’s petition to have her marriage annulled was unsuccessful. The verdict specifically stated that her marriage had lasted for over ten years before Blue Star joined the Alliance. Before its inclusion, any actions by either party that violated Alliance laws could not be prosecuted under Alliance standards.

It was recommended that she file a separate divorce lawsuit.

Qiao Nansheng readily agreed, stating she would file for divorce as soon as she returned.

Everyone had become numb to her hardcore maneuvers.

The Alliance’s divorce proceedings were actually very simple and fast. They wouldn’t make you take a divorce test or write an essay, nor would there be any presumptuous attempts at mediation. You file, they accept. After accepting the case, both parties would be sent a notification of acceptance, along with a reminder of relevant matters.

This included the date from which all assets under both spouses’ names would be temporarily frozen, with single expenditures over a certain amount prohibited; the date from which subsequent income would no longer be considered joint marital property; and the requirement for both parties to list their assets. During the subsequent division of property, if any undeclared assets were discovered, it would be considered concealment and transfer of assets.

It would also thoughtfully remind both parties to sign and confirm receipt of the case acceptance notice; failure to respond would be treated as tacit agreement.

After acceptance, a hearing would generally be held within seven days. If the plaintiff did not withdraw the suit, the divorce would be granted, signifying the end of the marital relationship.

Only then would a professional team begin the process of calculating and dividing the couple’s joint assets.

Of course, if the divorcing parties reached an agreement on their own, they only needed to sign a property division agreement. As long as it didn’t violate the law, the assets would be divided directly according to their wishes, without the need for a professional team to investigate, analyze, review, and then divide.

In any case, the priority was to free the individuals from the marriage first, then promptly divide the assets.

It was exceptionally people-oriented.

Thanks to this verdict, she and Ji Changqing easily won their joint lawsuit against those on the StarNet who had slandered and insulted them. The financial compensation wasn’t much per person, but the number of defendants was enormous, so the small amounts added up to a considerable sum.

With that, the biggest scandal of the year finally came to a close.

Ji Changqing’s lawyer had filed a flurry of lawsuits, suing everyone they possibly could, without caring whether they would be convicted or could pay compensation.

The effect was also obvious.

Ji Changqing’s popularity remained high, but her public reputation was like a roller coaster, plummeting from the highest peak to the lowest valley before slowly climbing back up thanks to Qiao Nansheng’s incredible maneuvers.

People now had complex feelings about her, mostly tinged with regret.

And this year’s league champion became the most unremarkable champion in the history of the competition. Although there was no direct evidence linking him to Ji Changqing’s string of lawsuits, the people of the StarNet declared that they had cleverly seen through everything!

Even Qiao Nansheng, who had been dragged into the mess and forced into the spotlight—nicknamed “the most Alpha Omega”—had far more attention and a better reputation than him.

By the time Qiao Nansheng became a free woman, the prison where Ji Changqing would serve her sentence had finally been decided.

Before she was transferred, Qiao Nansheng went to see her.

As she was still in custody, Ji Changqing hadn’t been issued a uniform yet. She was still in her own clothes, with a small vest over them to indicate her prisoner status. Her long-unattended hair had grown out, the bangs obscuring her eyes and brows, making her look particularly dejected.

Her circumstances certainly warranted such dejection. To fall from a child of heaven to a prisoner overnight—anyone with a slightly weaker disposition would have broken down.

The two of them sat opposite each other, a table between them.

Ji Changqing kept her eyes lowered, her gaze fixed on the tabletop, not saying a word.

Qiao Nansheng watched her intently, her lips pressed together stubbornly, also silent.

They faced each other in a silent standoff, neither willing to speak first.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes…

Ji Changqing fiddled with her fingers, unconsciously pushed her bangs aside, and cleared her throat. “I’m sorry for dragging you into this. I told my lawyer to give all the compensation money to you…”

“I don’t need it,” Qiao Nansheng interrupted. “Those things really happened. I’m not innocent.”

Ji Changqing just said, “Oh,” with a “whatever you say” expression, and began to play with her fingers out of boredom.

Tears suddenly welled up in Qiao Nansheng’s eyes.

They had once been so familiar. Every time Ji Changqing gave her advice and was rebuffed or scolded, she would adopt this exact same attitude.

It clearly conveyed one message: I’ve already given you what I believe is reasonable advice. If you won’t listen, then do as you please.

During that heart-wrenching, agonizing period of struggle, she had been the only salvation, and in the end, she also became the only sacrifice.

“I’ve always wanted to say I’m sorry to you,” Qiao Nansheng said, turning her face away, her voice trembling slightly.

Without looking up, Ji Changqing replied, “There’s no need.”

“I know you can’t forgive me…”

“That’s not it.” This time it was Ji Changqing who cut her off. She finally looked up at Qiao Nansheng, but her face showed no emotion at the sight of the beauty’s tears. She just said flatly, “That was your life. You had the right to choose. You don’t need to apologize, and there’s no question of forgiveness.”

“I’m divorced.”

A sarcastic curve formed on Ji Changqing’s lips. “Oh? Should I congratulate you in advance on your second child?”

Qiao Nansheng’s heart felt as if it were being twisted by a knife, and the tears finally fell.

She had once betrayed Ji Changqing’s trust and trampled on her pride.

She knew that if given the choice, Ji Changqing would never have seen her again.

Before they had even started, when they were just friends who told each other everything, she had once said that in the world of relationships, there were only two lines she would not cross:

One, not getting involved with married people.

Two, one act of infidelity means it’s over for good. Betrayal is the one thing that is never worthy of forgiveness.

It was only because she had told her she was separated and in the process of divorcing that she had hesitantly begun.

The Ji Changqing of back then, with no experience in marriage, must have thought that divorce was a very simple matter, something that could be settled in three to six months.

In the end, she broke her own principles, only to be hurt.

Her family and friends verbally supported her decision to divorce, but whenever there was a gathering or family day, they would intentionally or unintentionally ask, “Why didn’t you bring him along?”

After hearing her mention this a few times, Ji Changqing told her very seriously that, in reality, no one around her truly supported her divorce.

If they truly supported her divorce, their actions would be different. If they saw her attend with her partner, they would be surprised and quietly ask, “Why did you still bring him?”

Instead of intentionally or unintentionally asking why she didn’t bring him.

And how had she reacted at the time? She had said her family and friends definitely supported her, and they only asked because they weren’t used to it yet.

Her father and aunt, one after another, asked if they could borrow a large sum of money from her for things like buying a new house or car.

When she told Ji Changqing about this, feeling immense pressure, she had said that buying a house or a car were major events, but not so urgent. Knowing she was preparing for a divorce, if they truly wanted her to be at ease and without worries, they should have held off, or at least asked about her plans after the divorce before bringing it up.

At the time, she had berated her, and then thought that Ji Changqing—who was still in her startup phase, only drawing a living stipend each month and even carrying huge debts to pay her team’s salaries—was simply too poor. If she had enough money power, why would she herself be so exhausted?!

Her mother, who was firmly against the divorce, would insist on coming to stay with her during every holiday, forcing her to return to that so-called “home” and share a room with her legal spouse.

This happened again and again, until Ji Changqing’s dislike for her mother went off the charts. She had once said incredulously, “What era is your mother living in? Are you her daughter, or is he her real son? Doesn’t she know you’re unhappy?”

She had explained that her mother had once insisted on divorcing her father, but later regretted it. By then, her father had remarried and was doing well, which made her mother feel she shouldn’t have divorced him, and she was afraid her own daughter would follow the same path.

Ji Changqing had tried to persuade her then, saying that although there was the illogical old saying, “You’ll suffer if you don’t listen to your elders,” times had changed. “You’ve received a higher education and the world you’ve been exposed to is completely different from hers. So, are you really going to let an old woman with a middle school education, who was laid off early and has lived her entire life in a small county town, guide your marriage and tell you how to live your life?”

At the time, she had felt that she was looking down on her mother, and slapped her.

After that, she fell silent, rarely expressing her opinion, always saying things like, “As long as you’re happy,” or “Whichever you want to choose is fine…”

After her family found out about Ji Changqing’s existence, her grandmother, who had been lovingly married to her grandfather for a lifetime, was also brought over. She said that while they didn’t oppose her divorce, they were firmly against her being with Ji Changqing.

Later, for reasons she herself didn’t understand, she told Ji Changqing about this. She was silent for a long time before saying very calmly, “Choosing this path will always be accompanied by a great deal of misunderstanding and disapproval. Those who are not strong enough inside won’t be able to persevere to the end.”

That night, as an exhausted Ji Changqing came off her, she gave her a gentle kiss and a tight hug, and said, “If one day, you feel too tired and can’t go on, just tell me you’re leaving. I won’t cling to you, and you don’t have to feel like you’ve wronged me in any way. Everyone has the right to choose a better life.”

Her tears fell on her shoulder.

Because their relationship was not one that could be out in the open, she had never proactively mentioned it to anyone. Ji Changqing always appeared in the capacity of a friend.

If someone guessed and quietly asked for confirmation, she wouldn’t deny it.

The most scathing thing Ji Changqing ever said was when she cursed out all of her family and friends at once.

“Damn it, they’re just a bunch of short-sighted, blindly-following crabs in a basket! They’ll never be content to let you lift the lid of divorce and run towards a new world. They only want to drag you back down to sink with them!”

Looking back now, she realized that Ji Changqing had truly thought about spending her life with her back then.

Her assessment of her family and friends had, in fact, been correct.

In the end, it was indeed the actions of that group of family and friends, who only paid lip service to supporting her divorce, that caused her to drift away from Ji Changqing. She had let go of the hand that tried to pull her from that swamp, sinking deeper under the delusion that she had made a wise choice, until she could no longer struggle at all.

She also gradually understood why Ji Changqing had told her back then that if she felt tired and didn’t want to go on, she just had to say the word.

We are powerless to hold on to those who bid farewell midway.

When you reach a fork in the road, a gentle goodbye is enough.