Chapter 1

I was in the middle of an executive board meeting when I got a call from Mason, my childhood friend who worked as a doctor at the city hospital.

"Man, your wife was pregnant. Why the hell were you two going so rough in bed?"

"The damage is done. After losing the baby like this, the odds of her ever conceiving again are practically zero."

I froze, the world spinning around me.

Too rough in bed? Lost the baby?

I had been out of town on a business trip for two straight weeks.

Without a second thought, I booked the first flight back home.

......

1

"Going too hard in bed... lost the baby."

Those words echoed relentlessly inside my skull.

I felt like I was drowning, completely starved of air.

"Hey, Holden, are you still there?"

Mason's voice crackled through the speaker.

I could barely remember how I ended the call.

On my frantic drive back from the airport, I desperately tried to convince myself it was a mistake.

Maybe it was just a sick joke.

Maybe Mason mixed up the patient files.

Maybe this was all just a terrible misunderstanding.

The moment I pulled up outside my house, my last shred of hope shattered into pieces.

Through the second-floor bedroom window, two silhouettes were tangled together in raw passion.

Even with the sheer curtains drawn, the woman's outline was unmistakable.

It was my wife, Rosalie.

Five years of love and devotion turned to ash in a single second.

Memories of our life together flooded my mind, stabbing straight through my chest.

I remembered asking her once if we could try something adventurous by that very window.

She had lashed out in outrage, calling me disgusting and berating me for hours.

Back then, I assumed she was just traditional and modest.

I never dared to bring it up again out of respect for her.

Now I realized her modesty was reserved only for me.

The shadowy figures moved against the glass for half the night.

I sat in my car like a hollow corpse, drained of every ounce of life.

I was paralyzed, watching the hours slip away into darkness.

It wasn't until the early hours of the morning that the front door finally opened.

Rosalie stepped outside, her arm linked tightly around a man's waist.

Their fingers intertwined as he pinned her against the porch railing.

They shared one last lingering kiss before he finally waved goodbye.

My heart went completely cold.

I didn't even have the urge to jump out and confront them.

I just stayed frozen in the driver's seat, watching the sun rise.