After the divorce, I became the heartthrob of the handsome pilot.

Joyce Holt was a brilliant engineer. She fell for Zayne Miller the moment she laid eyes on him.

To be with him, she gave up a lucrative job.

She was isolated by her colleagues at the base, demoted, and nearly ruined her own hands.

She had thought that her sacrifices would move Zayne.

But he pursued the base's most sought-after woman, Kacie Jenkins, with fervor, as he enjoyed taking the challenge.

He even put Joyce in danger for Kacie's sake.

After narrowly escaping death, Joyce finally gave up.

If he no longer loved her, she didn't have to hold on.

...

Amidst the blaring alarms of the plane crash, Joyce pressed her lips together and glanced at Zayne on the other side of the plane. He was helping Kacie into a safety vest. The bitterness in Joyce's heart nearly consumed her.

After securing their safety, Zayne tenderly reassured Kacie. "Kacie, I know you're afraid of heights. I'll jump with you later. Don't worry. I'll keep you safe. Just hold on tight to me."

Kacie frowned slightly and pushed Zayne away, creating some distance. She turned to Joyce, who was standing nearby. "Mr. Miller, we are in a life-and-death situation. Shouldn't you protect your wife now?"

A flicker of hope rose in Joyce's eyes, but Zayne only cast a hesitant glance at her. "Joyce, you've parachuted before and have experience. Don't worry. I'll find you once we land. I will ensure you're safe."

With that, he wrapped an arm around Kacie's waist and quickly moved toward the cabin door. Then they leaped out.

Watching their figures plummet rapidly, Joyce felt a searing pain in her heart. She gave a bitter smile.

She had parachuted before, but how could she survive a plane without a parachute?

Wiping the tears from her face with the back of her hand, she suppressed her pain and walked to the cockpit.

Now, she had no choice but to attempt a forced landing.

She gripped the controls tightly, and the sound of alarms filled her ears.

The aircraft plummeted rapidly and finally crashed into an ancient tree with a loud bang.

Joyce struggled to crawl out of the wrecked cabin, covered in blood and clinging to the black box. She leaned against the tree nearby, and her thoughts drifted back to the day she first met Zayne.

As a genius engineer, she had been occupied with airplane parts and formulas since she was a little girl.

She had never thought she'd fall in love until she met Zayne at the base.

He had outstanding professional flying skills and good abilities to handle emergencies. So he caught her attention immediately.

She turned down a military offer and chose to stay at the base in the hope of spending every day at the training ground just to exchange a few words with Zayne.

On the day Zayne was promoted to captain, she gifted him a custom-built aircraft she painstakingly made over a year for him. It was unique in the world.

Her love was blunt and bold, yet Zayne had always remained consistently indifferent toward her.

Zayne's plane had an accident one day, and Joyce, ignoring the risk of explosion, dug him out of the wreckage with her bare hands. But she insisted the rescuers save him first.

When Zayne woke in the hospital, Joyce proposed to him.

He didn't refuse.

It was the happiest day in Joyce's 25 years of life.

Their married life was simple yet filled with subtle happiness.

She thought they could be together forever like that, but everything changed after Kacie arrived at the base.

Kacie was beautiful and aloof. She became the most sought-after woman in the base.

Initially, Zayne disliked her for being aloof, but over time, his gaze at her turned to admiration. He began to lavish attention on Kacie, much like Joyce had done for him back then.

He'd bring her food, and when she refused, he'd try different ways to persuade her to have some.

He'd accompany her in research, bending over backward to get the data she needed, even if it meant owing favors.

Joyce once asked him why he was so good to Kacie.

He told her that it was necessary to look after her since she was new to the base.

But the events in the aircraft exposed that Joyce was so stupid as to believe his lies.

A tear slipped down Joyce's cheek as her consciousness began to fade.

...

In a heated argument, Joyce was jolted awake.

Her vision was still blurry when Zayne's familiar, urgent voice pierced her ears.

He was desperately pulling a doctor toward Kacie's room. "Doctor, please, save Kacie now."

The doctor frowned and pointed to Joyce on the bed. "Mr. Miller, Joyce's blood is nearly gone, and you want me to save Kacie, who fainted due to acrophobia?"

"It's better to save one person than to lose both," Zayne blurted out instinctively.

But he quickly realized his mistake and turned stiffly to look at Joyce, who looked so miserable on the bed.

He rushed to her side and saw her covered in blood. His eyes were filled with pain and hesitation. But soon, he regained his resolve. "Joyce, you're an indispensable expert at the base. They'll do whatever it takes to save you."

He avoided her pained gaze and pried her blood-stained fingers off him.

"But Kacie is different. She only has me. I must ensure her safety. You understand me, don't you?"

Did she understand him?

How could she understand him? Her husband took the life-saving doctor away to save another woman, but she herself was in danger.

Joyce didn't know what feelings she should have and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Zayne, oblivious to her distress, carried the doctor to Kacie's room.

Watching his anxious figure, she tried to smile, but blood welled up in her mouth.

Mustering the only consciousness she had, she turned to the nurse beside her. "Tell the chief engineer, Mrs. Gerald Quinn, I'm willing to accept the military's offer and join the classified military organization. But I have one condition—I want a divorce from Zayne."