Chapter 1

On the day I was discharged from the hospital after my major surgery, Chloe promised she would come to pick me up.

But I waited at the hospital curb for what felt like an eternity. As I watched Ubers and taxis pass by one after another, I realized she was never coming. Eventually, I had to hail a cab and head home by myself.

When I finally unlocked the front door and sat down, I opened Snapchat. That was when I saw the story she had posted an hour ago.

It was a photo of a thumb wrapped tightly in bandages, tied with a cute little pink bow.

Her caption read: “Someone actually complained that my bandaging skills are ugly. Humph, I’m mad now!”

My heart sank. I dialed her number.

The call went through, but the voice that answered wasn't my wife's. It was Austin, her ex-boyfriend, his voice dripping with mockery.

"Hey Chloe, your husband is checking in on you again. Does he ever leave you alone?"

It was always like this.

Every single time I needed my wife, Austin would conveniently have an emergency.

He would get a minor scratch and need her to nurse him, or he would suddenly feel deeply depressed and lonely because he had "no other friends."

And every single time, Chloe would choose him without a second thought. She rushed to his side, leaving me behind as if I were the intruder in her life.

I slumped onto the sofa, completely drained.

Looking around the quiet, empty house and recalling everything that had happened over the past few years, I finally made up my mind. I pulled out my phone and messaged my lawyer.

I was done. I wanted a divorce.

My lawyer messaged me the draft of the divorce agreement. I stood up and walked over to the desk, the silence of the empty house pressing down on me.

The dozens of pages of legal text felt like a cruel joke, laughing at the three years of marriage I had poured my heart into.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed. It was a FaceTime call from Chloe.

"Hey, babe, I'm so sorry," Chloe said as her face appeared on the screen. She looked stunning. She was wearing a tight, sexy slip dress with perfect makeup, though her expression was dismissive.

"Something urgent came up, so I couldn't make it to the hospital to pick you up. Are you home?"

Her tone was perfectly casual, as if she hadn’t just been laughing at me with her ex on the phone minutes ago.

"Yeah," I replied quietly. I didn't know what else to say. I had heard the same excuses too many times.

I was completely numb.

Sensing my cold silence, Chloe tried to explain. "Austin was doing some home remodeling today and accidentally crushed his thumb. I was just so worried, so I..."

"So you abandoned your husband of three years on the operating table to rush to an outsider?" I snapped, my voice cold and sharp.

Chloe froze on the other side of the screen. When she found her voice, her tone immediately turned defensive and loud.

"Don't talk about Austin like that! He is not an outsider, he's my friend! Besides, your surgery was a success, wasn't it? You're fine!"

"Ethan, can you stop throwing a tantrum over nothing?"

I wanted to laugh, but my chest just felt tight.

What kind of "friend" was more important than her own husband?

"Who is the one throwing a tantrum here? A friend? Chloe, do you share drinks and eat from the same plate with a regular 'friend'?”

“Does a 'friend' call you in the middle of the night and make you run to him instantly? Does he only call you when he's drunk? I am not an idiot!"

"Austin gets a tiny scratch on his finger, and you lose your mind. I was literally throwing up blood in the hospital from a severe stomach ulcer, and you didn't even send a single text!"

"It's always like this, Chloe. What am I to you?"

I stood up too fast, and a sharp, stabbing pain shot through my surgical wound. Dizziness washed over me, and I had to grip the edge of the sofa to keep from collapsing. My lips must have turned completely white.

But Chloe didn't even notice. Her voice grew sharper, filled with utter annoyance. "I told you, we are just friends."

"If you want to think of it in such a dirty way, there's nothing I can do."

My burning anger felt like a heavy fist hitting a soft pile of cotton. It did nothing but leave me feeling exhausted.

"I'm not coming home tonight," Chloe announced flatly. She held up a small mirror, adjusting her lipstick.

As her phone tilted slightly, the camera caught a glimpse of the background. A man was standing there, wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.

I clenched my fists so hard my knuckles turned white. "Are you spending the night with your 'good friend'? Sharing the same bed?"

"What is wrong with you? Why do you always have to make our friendship sound so disgusting? Ethan, your own mind is dirty, so you think everyone else is dirty too!"

She was clearly flustered now, dropping her lipstick and yelling into the camera.

I mocked, "Oh, really? What a pure, innocent relationship you have with your ex-boyfriend!"

Suddenly, Austin leaned into the screen, pressing his shoulder tightly against Chloe's.

"Ethan, please don't be mad at Chloe. It's all my fault," Austin said, his voice soft and apologetic, but his eyes were filled with smug provocation.

"If I hadn't been so clumsy and hurt my hand, Chloe wouldn't have rushed over out of worry. I didn't mean to cause a fight between you two."

"It's just... I don't really have any other friends in this city. Chloe is the only one who cares. She's such a sweet girl, always helping me when I'm down..."

As he spoke, he looked at me through the screen like a predator enjoying his victory.

"Ha," I let out a dry, cold laugh. "Right. You've been broken up for years, yet you still only run to your married ex-girlfriend whenever you stub your toe. Pathetic."

Chloe’s expression darkened instantly. She stepped in front of the camera, shielding Austin behind her. "Ethan! Don't you dare bully him!"

As she moved, the angle of the camera shifted. I saw it clearly now. Underneath her slip dress, Chloe was wearing provocative, matching lace lingerie.

And her thigh was pressed firmly against Austin's hip. Austin was subtly rubbing against her.

It was so intimate it made me want to throw up.

This woman, whom I had loved deeply for seven years, now felt like a complete stranger.

From falling in love with her at first sight in our youth, to being bruised and battered in this marriage.

I had walked this path in excruciating pain.

I had risked everything for a happy ending, only to end up with nothing.

"If you have nothing else to say, I'm hanging up," Chloe said, her breathing sounding slightly shallow. She reached for the screen to disconnect.

"Chloe," I interrupted, my voice barely a whisper. "How can you look at yourself in the mirror?"

Years ago, Chloe and Austin had a passionate, high-profile relationship.

But in the end, Austin was only after her family's money.

He embezzled a massive portion of the Vance family's business funds and fled the country. The company's cash flow broke, and Chloe's father aged overnight.

Her father had to sell their properties to pay off the debts. He had to beg and bow to former partners for loans.

Some creepy, wealthy investors tried to prey on Chloe, but her father blocked them with everything he had.

Her father worked day and night without sleep, eventually suffering a fatal heart attack. Chloe had claimed to hate Austin with every fiber of her being.

"Do you even remember that I gave up everything to move here with you?" I asked.

During her darkest hours, I was the one who stayed by her side, pulling her out of the abyss.

When she drowned her sorrows in alcohol every night, I was the one who took care of her, cooked for her, and encouraged her to rebuild her life.

I gave up a promising career and a prestigious graduate school offer in my hometown. Without a second thought, I followed her to this city, three thousand miles away.

I worked four jobs a day. I stayed up all night with her to help her relaunch her father's company.

Four years later, we got married. Chloe cried tears of joy, saying that meeting me was the luckiest thing that had ever happened to her.

Her company grew bigger and more successful.

And then, Austin suddenly showed up again.