"What?" L.Joe stared at Mihye in disbelief. All that was happening in the surroundings faded in the background. He couldn't hear the reporters out there shouting to request for interviews, he couldn't hear the maids chattering in the background, he couldn't hear his phone ringing incessantly as his parents tried to call him.

All he saw was Mihye.

"What do you mean divorce?" L.Joe asked in an unusually high voice. "We can't just divorce!" he protested. "I won't let that happen!"

Mihye shook her head and paced around. "You don't understand, Byunghun sshi." she sighed. "This is the only way that they're going to believe the decisions that we made when we were the presidents of MO and WO are fair and just. This is the only way that they're not going to grumble and mind our marriage. And the solution is to destroy it."

L.Joe shook his head as well, his face pale with shock. "You can't just do that, Mihye. What will happen to me?" he whispered brokenly. "I only just found out it was you.." he gazed at her longingly.

Mihye closed her eyes for an instant and felt regret washing all over her. She didn't want this. She wanted to stay by L.Joe's side even if he didn't love her. At least she was his wife, at least she had a place in his life.

But she had to do this. For him.

"You return to your original life, Byunghun sshi." Mihye forced a smile. "The life that you've been living peacefully before I came. The life that you must miss very much. The life where you have the freedom you need."

"Byunghun sshi already?" L.Joe growled angrily. "I haven't even agreed to this and you're already distancing yourself from me?" he shook her shoulders. "I won't let you go, Mihye!"

Mihye looked at him emotionlessly. "If you won't agree to a peaceful break up, then I'll go myself." she stated. "I think you do understand that this is the only solution for this mess, Byunghun sshi. And yes, we should start distancing ourselves from now on."

Mihye walked up the stairs. "I'll start packing." she murmured, masking the hurt she felt under the veil of emotionless.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Mihye?" Jiyeon asked carefully. "You love him. Why are you leaving him? You shouldn't base your relationships on right and wrongs. Can't you just consider your feelings for once and not everyone out here?"

Mihye shook her head. "I'm sure this is what I want, Unnie." she whispered. "I know it will hurt. I know that I'm going to cry myself to sleep everyday if I leave him. I know I'm going to die everytime I see him on the television. But can't you see that this is the way  we have to solve this problem? This is the way he can return to his glory again, to defeat his wife."

"What do you mean, defeat his wife?" Qri narrowed her eyes. "You are still going to be the president of WO after the divorce aren't you?"

Mihye avoided Qri's eyes. Qri let out a yell of anguish and shook Mihye's shoulders. "You're going to give him up, and give up the Organization as well?"

"Not the organization!" Mihye defended. "You guys can run the place well without my lead. There's no need for me to be around. Don't you see? If Byunghun oppa and me get divorced, and I immediately retire from my role as the Queen, the public will think that I'm scared of Byunghun oppa. He'll regain his respect and position, isn't it killing two birds with one stone?"

"But what about you?" Hyomin asked painfully, her eyes shining with tears for her friend. "What about you, Mihye? While the WO and the rest of the women are getting their rights back again, while Byunghun gets his status up, what are you going to do? Suffer alone?"

Mihye looked away. "It's worth it, unnie. It's worth it."

Mihye looked up at the sky and sighed to herself. She didn't want to return to the Mansion yet. Her things were all packed up and she was ready to leave anytime soon, but if she went back the final goodbye would come. She wanted to delay it's arrival as long as possible, even if it was very childish of her to do so.

Her phone vibrated and it showed a message from L.Joe. She opened it gingerly, her heart pounding.

To: Miss Apple

Hey Apple. I know you didn't reply my message the other time, but I really hope you reply this one. Things are mad around here. I don't know what to do.
Can you please reply me to at least tell me you're okay first?

From: L.Joe

L.Joe sounded so broken that Mihye found herself typing back a reply.

To: L.Joe

Hey. I'm sorry I didn't reply. It slipped my mind I guess. I'm alright.
What's the problem?

From: Miss Apple

To: Miss Apple

I'm in a fix right now. Things are going really bad and people are starting to doubt me and the motives of my actions when they're all good intentions.
But the worst of all is that this girl, she's leaving me. She says it's the answer to all this trouble, and I know somehow it solves things a bit. But doesn't she feel a little reluctance to leave me at all? Why must she do this? We can solve this together, not like this.

From: L.Joe

Mihye choked back a sob. *I don't want to leave, Byunghun oppa.*

"But since I'm already leaving, I guess it doesn't hurt to tell him the truth." she whispered.

To: L.Joe

L.Joe, sometimes when people leave, it's not because they detest you or they want to distance themselves away from you as soon as possible.
Sometimes, it's because they love you. Because they love you too much, that's why even if they're going to cry and feel like they're dying inside a million times, they'll still leave.

From: Miss Apple

L.Joe read the message and shook his head. "I don't think that's the correct answer for once, Miss Apple." he muttered. "Mihye doesn't love me, I'm sure of it."