Chapter 1

1.

"I want a divorce."

I said it across the dining table of our Manhattan penthouse, to the man I'd been in a contract marriage with for the past year.

He just glanced up at me before setting down his black coffee.

"Alright," he said, his voice as calm as if he were discussing a corporate merger. "I'll have my legal team draft the asset division documents. We'll sign after the one-month cooling-off period."

Clean. Efficient.

But that night, as I was killing time scrolling through Reddit, I stumbled into r/relationship_advice. A new post with an "Urgent" tag caught my eye.

Title: My wife wants to divorce me. I have one month to win her back. How do I do it? Waiting online, it's urgent.

And the most crucial part...

The poster's profile picture was identical to my husband's―the same husband who was always so cold and detached, he might as well have been a robot.

I stared at the avatar on my phone screen.

It was a deeply artistic photo: a dark blue night sky, with clusters of white dogwood blossoms hanging at the edges. It looked serene and melancholic.

I zoomed in, took a screenshot, and cross-referenced it with my iMessage history. It was a perfect match.

So... Julian Thorne, the "cold-hearted tyrant" who controlled half of Wall Street, used moody art photos he found online as his avatar?

The thought almost made me laugh, but I couldn't.

If this wasn't a coincidence, then it had to mean one thing: the man crying for help online was my husband.

With a storm of emotions swirling inside me, I clicked on the post.

Poster: u/Desperate_Husband_NYC

Title: My wife wants to divorce me. I have one month to win her back. How do I do it?

[Post Content]

My wife and I married for business reasons under a prenuptial agreement a year ago.

We went to the same private prep school on the East Coast. I've had a crush on her for years, and I'm still madly in love with her.

I know she's always had a "one that got away," and she only married me for my trust fund and family connections to save her company.

But I don't care. Just seeing her at home every day feels like a gift from God.

But I don't know what I did wrong. She suddenly brought up divorce at dinner tonight!!!

I managed to get the lawyers to drag the process out for a month, but I have no idea what to do now.

The problem is: I'm great at business, but I have absolutely no idea how to handle relationships. This isn't my area of expertise.

I'm not even sure if she knows I like her―because I've never told her.

Can anyone on Reddit help me analyze this? I'm willing to pay a high consultation fee or donate to a charity of your choice!

The post ended there.

It was new, so there were only a few replies.

I went through them one by one and discovered this "Desperate Husband" was earnestly replying to every single one.

u/Alpha_Wolf_99: Bro, you sound like a total simp. Have some self-respect. She's got another guy on her mind, what are you waiting for? Plenty of fish in the sea, man. Wanna hit the club? I got you.

u/Desperate_Husband_NYC: Thank you, but I don't want other fish. I just don't want a divorce. And I don't go to clubs. They're too loud, and I don't like talking to strangers.

u/Gold_Digger_Hunter: What do you mean she married you for family connections? Sounds like a gold digger to me. Women like that are easy, just buy her a few Birkin bags or write a check and she'll shut up.

u/Desperate_Husband_NYC: Please retract your malicious speculation, or I will have my legal team contact you and track your IP address. She is not that kind of person. She is smarter, harder-working, and more principled than anyone I have ever met. My money is her money. It's my honor if she's willing to spend it.

u/Sassy_Babe_NYC: This guy is a lost cause. Hopeless romantic. Let's bounce, everyone. Hope you two are locked in forever.

u/Desperate_Husband_NYC: Thank you for your blessing. "Locked in" sounds very romantic. I like it.

I scrolled down. Most people weren't offering advice; they were just telling him to sign the papers and enjoy the bachelor life.

After reading everything, I felt a rare sense of confusion.

The username, the avatar, the timing, the story details―it all lined up.

But the tone was like it was coming from a completely different person.

And he went to my prep school? I had no memory of him. And who was this supposed "one that got away"? Gavin?

These questions brought me back to my senses.

...Maybe it was just a coincidence. New York is a big city, full of them.

I tried to comfort myself with that thought, closing Reddit to read a few pages of Businessweek.

But a nagging feeling, like a feather tickling my heart, wouldn't go away.

Finally, ten minutes later, I made a decision.

I created a burner account, chose a professional-looking male avatar, and changed my username to Relationship_Guru_X.

Then, I went to the poster's DMs and sent my carefully crafted message.

[Struggling in the whirlwind of love? Losing sleep over a marital crisis?

I am Relationship_Guru_X, a senior relationship consultant who has successfully helped over 500 elite New York couples navigate their emotional challenges.

If you're ready to change your situation and win back your true love, reply now!

Let me customize a unique relationship strategy for you and unlock the code to happiness!]

Two seconds later, the message was marked as "Read."

I stared at the screen, a little unsure. A cheesy sales pitch like this... could it really work?