Chapter 2

Through the thin curtain, I heard Adrian's voice, mixed with heartache and reproach:

"Why didn't you call me immediately? Is the number I gave you just for show?"

Vanessa struggled to sit up, her face the picture of obedience.

"You said your wife only gave you three chances. I didn't dare..."

"What three chances?" Adrian's emotions flared. "If you need me, call me! What would I do if something happened to you?"

I listened quietly from the next bed, my vision blurring.

When the accident happened, I was conscious. I called him first.

Twenty-six calls in a row. No answer.

Vanessa called once. He picked up instantly.

Because Adrian knew I had no one else. No matter how long it took, I'd wait for his delayed callback.

Just then, a doctor came in to change my bandages.

The moment the curtain opened, Adrian's anger toward me—the driver who'd hit his mistress—vanished from his face.

He froze, but the words that came out were:

"Did you secretly investigate Vanessa? Did you hit her on purpose?"

I hadn't expected his first reaction wouldn't be checking if I was injured, but accusing me.

Ever since I discovered his affair, he'd been fiercely protective of any information about Vanessa.

"Her background isn't great. If you dig it up, it'll affect her."

But my orphan status? He'd broadcast it to everyone in our social circle.

Just to make sure everyone knew how much I needed him.

I swallowed the bitterness in my throat and gave a bitter laugh.

"That's four times now. You broke your promise."

When I'd insisted on divorce, he'd climbed onto the rooftop of our home.

"If you divorce me, I'll jump! I can't live without you. I told you—you're the only person I'll ever love!"

My heart had softened then. I gave him three chances to end things with his mistress.

He'd cleaned up all traces of the affair. I'd naively thought I'd won this battle for my marriage.

But today, cruel reality had slapped me hard across the face.

"What's the difference between three times and four? She was in an accident. Are you really heartless enough to expect me to abandon her?"

Adrian kept his voice low, afraid the girl would hear.

What could I say?

That I was also in an accident? That she only had a scraped knee while my shoulder required ten stitches?

Vanessa suddenly called out to him.

"How did the negotiation go? Do we have to pay damages?"

The man rushed to soothe her anxiety.

"That person's fine. Just focus on recovering."

I lay in my hospital bed listening to that mocking term—"that person"—and I laughed.

Even though my wounds hurt, it was nothing compared to one ten-thousandth of the pain in my heart.

Adrian's only act of mercy was signing a stack of hospital bills on the table while I slept.

If he'd cared about me at all, if he'd actually read what he was signing...

He would have seen the divorce papers I'd signed, tucked among them.