Chapter 1

My wife suddenly told me to check her Instagram story.

It was a bold, public confession to her childhood best friend:

"You were once the dream I could never reach. Now, my sweetest dream has finally come true."

I glanced at the clock on the wall.

It was just past midnight, marking our exact sixth wedding anniversary.

I texted her: "Did it really have to be today?"

She replied instantly: "Of course. He only gets happy when you are miserable."

Happy? Then I was going to make sure everyone shared their joy.

I hit like and forwarded her post to every single family group, friend circle, and company chat.

Within seconds, she deleted the post and called me in a rage.

"Cole, you are so pathetic! How can you be this petty over a harmless joke?"

"I was just trying to cheer Brody up. Why do you always have to make a scene?"

Right at that moment, Brody started sending me their intimate bed photos one by one.

Then he sent a breezy text: "Oops, wrong chat. You don't mind, right?"

Of course I didn't mind.

My heart was already dead, cold and still without a single ripple left.

1

Kendra came home early in the morning.

The loud clatter of her kicking off her heels woke me up.

"Cole! Get out here right now!"

"I stayed out for just one night, and you start pulling this crap?"

I opened the bedroom door and glanced at the messy living room.

Takeout boxes were scattered across the coffee table.

Without a word, I turned around and headed to the bathroom to wash my face.

In the past, I never left a single wrapper out because I was terrified she would look down on me.

Seeing those photos of my wife in bed with Brody changed everything.

I had eaten whatever I wanted last night without worrying about keeping fit for her.

I hadn't stayed up waiting by the door like a loyal dog.

It felt surprisingly liberating.

"Are you deaf? Didn't you hear me talking to you?"

I wiped my face dry with a towel.

"If you don't like the mess, clean it up yourself. Otherwise, shut up and deal with it."

Kendra froze in place, her face pale with pure disbelief.

To my surprise, she actually risked ruining her fresh manicure to clear the boxes.

Then she noticed an empty bottle of vintage bourbon on the counter, and her face darkened.

"You drank this?"

I did not bother to explain.

We had bought those bottles together, agreeing to open one every couple of years after having kids.

Last night, I took a few sips of each bottle and dumped the rest down the drain.

It tasted bitter, sour, and utterly repulsive.

Seeing my silence, she stared at me in shock, assuming I was drinking to drown my anger.

"Fine. I bought some hangover soup on my way back. Drink it while I make you some oatmeal."

"Okay," I said flatly.

That was Kendra's usual game.

She loved giving me a slap and then tossing me a treat, treating me like a pet on a leash.

I did not call her out on it.

Instead, I walked over and dumped the entire container of soup into the trash.

Just before she walked in, Brody had posted a new update online.

"Big sister love. She knew I had too much to drink, so she ran out at dawn to buy me hangover soup and cooked for me. Blessed."

The photo showed Brody hugging a woman wearing an apron.

I recognized the wedding ring on her finger immediately.

For six years, I pampered my wife and never let her lift a finger in the kitchen.

Yet she happily played the devoted housewife for another man.

How pathetic.

Kendra turned around just in time to see the soup sliding down the garbage disposal.

"Cole! I went out of my way to buy that for you! Stop acting so damn ungrateful!"

She genuinely thought her cheap crumbs of affection would make me drop to my knees and beg for forgiveness.

I looked at her with a faint smile.

"How did you even know I drank last night? Did you plan that soup run just for me?"

Her flimsy lie fell apart instantly.

In the past, I kept quiet only because I chose to play along.

Her expression stiffened, and she snapped defensively.

"Soup is soup! It was the only thing open this morning. Why do you always have to overthink everything?"

Listen to that.

That was the woman I had been married to for six years.

She turned back to the stove to stir the oatmeal, her hands visibly trembling with guilt.

When she reached for her phone on the counter, a notification popped up, and I read it out loud.

"Kendra, you made me the happiest guy in the world today."

Her face twisted in fury, and she swung her hand across my face.

"Did I ever give you permission to look at my phone?!"

"Who the hell told you to read my messages?!"

I was caught off guard, stumbling backward until my head cracked against the sharp corner of the table.

Warm blood immediately gushed down my forehead.

I wiped the blood away with the back of my hand and sneered.

"Aren't you and Brody just good friends? What is wrong with reading a text from your best buddy?"

Kendra panicked at the sight of the blood and rushed to grab the first-aid kit.

"Are you an idiot? Why didn't you dodge?!"

"Throwing a tantrum just to get my attention is beyond childish!"

I didn't bother arguing.

If my old injury hadn't flared up, she wouldn't have landed a single blow.

She fumbled to stop the bleeding, but the blood kept soaking through the cotton pads.

She pressed a rough towel against my head and insisted I finish the hot oatmeal before leaving for the hospital.

All I wanted was medical attention, so I pushed the bowl away.

The boiling oatmeal splashed over her fingers, instantly raising red blisters on her skin.

She lost her temper completely and shoved me hard onto the floor.

"Did you do that on purpose?!"

"Don't you know I have an important business meeting today? How am I supposed to go out like this?!"

My vision blurred from the impact, and darkness crept into the edges of my eyes.

"Are we going to the hospital or not?" I asked coldly.