Chapter 1

The day after our anniversary date.

A paparazzi snapshot of me and my celebrity wife walking away hit the trending page on social media.

Ignoring how I felt, she immediately posted an intimate photo with her first love, practically going public with him.

He reposted it with the caption:

“I will always be by your side, past, present, and future.”

Every mutual friend who knew about our marriage started blowing up my phone, asking what was going on.

I simply posted an update on my feed: “If a dog wants a piece of trash, let him have it.”

1.

After posting that update, I pulled the blanket over my head and drifted into a heavy sleep.

I did not know how much time had passed before my phone began vibrating frantically.

The caller ID read “Wife.”

I thought she had finally come to her senses to discuss this with me.

Instead, a storm of fury exploded through the speaker the second I answered.

“Gavin, what kind of disgusting garbage did you just post?”

“You know Heath has been targeted by haters in the entertainment industry for years, so he’s extremely sensitive! Do you really want to drive him to death before you’re satisfied?”

“I already told you that there is nothing between Heath and me. Stop using your dirty mind to judge us!”

Hearing Chloe’s voice, I actually felt like laughing.

“So what? Did you call me just to scream at me about this?”

She paused for a second before yelling even louder.

“This is serious! Do you have any idea? Because of your stupid post, Heath almost jumped off the roof!”

I could not help but let out a dry laugh. “Almost jumped? Which means he didn’t.”

“He threatens to take a leap and you blame me? Why don’t you call the construction company that built the building and blame them too?”

Before I could finish, Heath’s voice came through the line.

A grown man playing the fragile victim was truly an art form for him.

“Gavin, please don’t blame Chloe. She’s just worried about me. It’s all my fault. My years in the industry made me too fragile.”

Chloe immediately softened her voice for him. “How could it be your fault? It breaks my heart to see you like this.”

Then she turned back to me with a cold command.

“Gavin, delete that post right now. Then record a video apologizing to Heath and send it over.”

I hung up the phone instantly.

An apology video? Not a chance in hell.

And I was never deleting that post either.

My phone buzzed again.

I thought it was Chloe calling back to nag, but the caller was my mother’s doctor.

The doctor’s voice was heavy with sympathy. “Mr. Miller, your mother went into cardiac arrest ten minutes ago. We tried to resuscitate her, but she didn’t make it. Please come to the hospital right away.”

Without a second thought, I rushed out, hailed a ride, and raced to the hospital.

My eyes were bloodshot as I stared at the doctor. “How is this possible? Just two days ago, you told me her condition was improving!”

The doctor shook his head grimly. “From what we can tell, she suffered severe emotional shock that triggered sudden heart failure. Her condition was already fragile.”

In a daze, I walked into my mother’s empty hospital room to pack her final belongings.

Underneath the hospital bed, I found her phone.

I unlocked the screen.

The display was still frozen on Chloe’s trending post with Heath.

I let out a bitter, broken laugh.

No wonder she was shocked. No wonder her heart gave out.

This was our fourth year of marriage, the infamous itch where relationships tended to crumble.

Because of Chloe’s public career, I had walked on eggshells, desperately trying to keep our marriage alive.

Then Heath returned from overseas as a rising star.

The first thing he did was corner me, begging me to give Chloe back to him.

Before I could even process it, Chloe threw her arms around him right in front of me.

From that day on, I ceased to exist in her eyes.

Chloe claimed that Heath suffered from mild depression because he was heavily criticized while training abroad.

I nodded along, trying to tolerate the intruder who had suddenly wrecked our quiet life.

Chloe came from a wealthy family and possessed striking beauty.

The elite university she had gotten into with ease was something I had spent years of sleepless nights striving to reach.

She never knew that I had fallen irrevocably in love with her bright smile back in high school.

I worked relentlessly to follow in her footsteps, getting accepted into the same college even though I knew her heart belonged to someone else.

I had intended to quietly watch her find happiness from afar.

But Heath rejected her confession back then and fled the country.

Seeing my chance, I poured every ounce of my heart and energy into pursuing her.

Right before graduation, she finally accepted my proposal.

I genuinely thought we would live happily ever after.

Until Heath came back.

His return proved to me just how laughable and pathetic my dreams were.

When someone no longer loves you, clinging on only turns you into a clown performing in a circus.

Everything you do becomes a joke for others to laugh at.

Stepping out of the hospital into the blinding afternoon sun, I pulled out my phone and texted Chloe.

“Let’s get a divorce.”