Chapter 3

By the time I finished dealing with the company’s business, it was already well past midnight.

My friends invited me out for drinks.

I agreed without thinking.

There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone.

“Well, this is rare. We’ve invited you out every New Year’s before, but you always said you had to stay home with your wife. What happened this year? You don’t have to keep her company anymore?”

The moment I arrived, they began teasing me.

I briefly explained what had happened, and they all urged me to think carefully.

“We’ve known about the problems between you two for years. If you’re really determined to do this, who knows how ugly Emma will make it? Aren’t you afraid that once she signs the divorce papers, there’ll be no way back?”

“As your friend, I want you to be free. But I also don’t want to watch you suffer through a divorce. Other people might not know how important Emma is to you, but the rest of us can see it. Don’t do something you’ll regret.”

“If you wanted a divorce, you would’ve done it years ago.”

“This time, I want to see it through.”

After saying that, I downed a glass of liquor.

When I walked out of the bar, I saw Emma dancing in the middle of the hall with a tall, muscular foreign man.

She was smiling brightly.

It felt like I hadn’t seen her smile at me that way in years.

“Isn’t that your wife?”

“She won’t be for much longer.”

The moment my friend finished speaking, Emma looked over.

The smile on her face instantly froze.

“You followed me?”

“Ethan, don’t you think your suspicious and controlling behavior is terrifying? You’re making me feel unsafe.”

“We’re married, but we’re still two independent people. We need to give each other space.”

I looked at her furious expression and felt completely disappointed.

I should give her space.

“You’re right. After tonight, you’ll be completely free.”

The foreign man beside her looked confused. He wrapped an arm around Emma’s waist and spoke to me.

“Don’t misunderstand. This is just a dance party. I don’t know the rules in your country. If you don’t like it, I can keep my distance from your wife in the future.”

I let out a cold laugh.

No country in the world expected a man to tolerate his wife cheating on him.

Besides, I had already investigated Donis. He had been in town for quite some time. Saying something like this to me was nothing but a blatant provocation.

“Yes, different places have different cultures. I understand. I won’t interfere anymore.”

After all, Emma and I would be divorced very soon.

My friends were furious and wanted to stand up for me, but I stopped them.

If they beat up a foreigner, the consequences would be troublesome. It wasn’t worth getting our hands dirty over someone like him.

I pulled my friends away and returned home. That same night, I packed my belongings and moved to another property under my name.

From that moment on, I no longer wanted anything to do with Emma.

Unexpectedly, Donis called me in the middle of the night and asked me to pick her up.

He spoke in English. The gist was that my wife was drunk at the bar where they had met and asked whether I wanted to come get her.

When I didn’t answer, he assumed I couldn’t understand him.

He cursed, “Idiot. If you don’t come soon, I’ll sleep with her.”

Then he let out a cold laugh.

“Do whatever you want,” I replied before hanging up.

The company had recently taken on a new project, and I planned to handle it personally and inspect the site.

I had originally intended to go after the holiday.

But now I changed my plans and told my assistant to book me the earliest flight.

I don’t know how much time passed before Emma somehow found out where I was staying.

She guessed the door code on her first try.

That was when I remembered that after we got married, every password I used had been her birthday.

Before I could leave, Emma forced her way inside.

She cornered me against the wall and rose onto her toes, trying to kiss me.

I dodged her.

“Ethan, are you even capable of being a man?”

Emma used to provoke me like that all the time. I had always treated it as part of the intimacy between husband and wife.

But now, when I heard those words and remembered that post, I felt sick.