Chapter 1

The flight back was five hours shorter than planned. I finished the project ahead of schedule, a rare win in the world of architecture. The first thing I did was turn off my phone's airplane mode. I wanted to tell my husband, David.

I wanted to surprise him.

For ten years, no matter how late, he would wait up for me. No matter how far, he would come to pick me up.

I imagined his happy face when he saw me. A smile appeared on my own.

I called our driver, Uncle Bob, instead of David.

"Uncle Bob, I'm back early. Can you pick me up at the airport?"

Uncle Bob was happy to hear my voice. "Of course, Sarah. I'll be right there. Does Mr. Thompson know? He'll be so pleased."

"Don't tell him," I said, my voice full of excitement. "I want to give him a surprise."

"Young people and your romance," Uncle Bob chuckled. "Alright, I'll keep it a secret."

When I got in the car, I sent David a message.

"Just landed. The project went perfectly. I miss you."

I expected him to call me immediately, like he always did. But this time, my phone stayed quiet.

After a few minutes, a text came back. "Good job, honey. I'm with a few friends discussing a new venture. It might go late. Don't wait up for me. I love you."

I frowned slightly. It was unlike him. But business was business.

"Where to, Sarah?" Uncle Bob asked from the driver's seat.

"Let's go to the St. Regis," I said. "I remember David mentioning his friends always book the suite there for their meetings."

I wanted to see him. Even just for a moment.

The hotel was grand and quiet. The receptionist recognized me and smiled. "Mrs. Thompson, good evening."

"I'm looking for my husband, David Thompson. He's with some friends. Can you tell me which room they're in?"

She checked her computer. "One moment. Yes, they are in the Presidential Suite, on the top floor."

I thanked her and took the private elevator up. The hallway was silent, covered in thick carpet. As I approached the suite, I heard laughter from inside. The door was slightly ajar.

I heard a familiar voice. It was Mark, David's best friend.

"David, you're a lucky man! Thompson Corporation is about to go public, and now you've got a baby on the way. You're winning at life!"

My heart stopped.

Baby?

Another voice, a woman's, giggled. "It's all thanks to David. He's the best."

I knew that voice. It was Emily, David' s assistant.

My hand froze on the door. My whole body went cold. I couldn't breathe.

Then I heard my husband's voice. A voice I loved for ten years.

"It's nothing," David said, his tone light and casual. "Emily is a good girl. She deserves it."

"But what about Sarah?" another friend asked. "How are you going to explain this to her?"

David laughed. It was a sound that made my stomach turn.

"Sarah? She's too delicate. The doctor said her health isn't good for having kids. It's been a sore spot for her. This is perfect. Once the baby is born, I'll tell her we're adopting. She'll be so happy to be a mother she won't ask any questions."

He continued, his voice smooth and confident. "She' ll love this child as her own, and my family line continues. Everyone wins."

The world went silent. The laughter, the voices, they all faded away. All I could hear was the blood pounding in my ears.

Delicate? The reason we didn't have children was because he said he loved me too much. He said he didn't want me to suffer the pain of childbirth. He said my body was frail since childhood, and he couldn't bear to see me in any pain.

He said he was fine without children, as long as he had me.

It was all a lie.

The love of my life, the man who was my everything, was a liar. And his friends, our friends, were all in on it.

I felt a wave of nausea. I leaned against the cold wall, trying to hold myself up.

My perfect marriage was a joke. My perfect husband was a monster.

I backed away from the door, silent. I couldn't let them see me. Not like this.

I stumbled back to the elevator, my body numb. I couldn't feel my legs.

Back in the car, Uncle Bob saw my face and was alarmed. "Sarah? What's wrong? You look so pale."

I shook my head, unable to speak. The words were stuck in my throat.

He didn't ask any more questions. He just drove.

We arrived at our home, a beautiful villa I had designed myself. Every corner of it was filled with memories of David and me. Now, it felt like a prison.

I walked through the rooms in a daze. His pictures were everywhere. Our wedding photo was on the wall. We looked so happy.

I picked up my phone to call him. I don't know why. Maybe I wanted to hear him lie to my face one more time.

He answered on the second ring. "Honey? Is everything okay? Why are you calling so late?"

His voice was full of fake concern.

"I just... couldn't sleep," I managed to say, my voice trembling. "I miss you."

"I miss you too, my love," he said softly. "I'll be home as soon as I can. Just a little more work. Go to sleep. I'll be right there with you in your dreams."

I hung up.

A few seconds later, another text from him. "My world is empty without you in it. Hurry back to me. ❤️"

I stared at the message, and a bitter laugh escaped my lips.

I remembered how we met. I was an orphan, raised by a distant relative who didn't care for me. I worked hard, got into a top university for architecture, but I was always alone.

Then David appeared. He was the sun. He was warm and bright, and he chased away all the darkness in my life. He pursued me for two years. He learned everything about me. He knew I loved stargazing, so he built a small observatory on the roof of his company building just for me.

He knew I had a poor constitution, so he learned about traditional medicine and made me nourishing soups every day.

Everyone said I was the luckiest woman in the world. My own assistant used to say, "Sarah, Mr. Thompson loves you more than life itself."

I believed it. I truly believed it.

I believed him when he said he didn't want children because it would be too hard on my body. He held me and said, "You are my only child, Sarah. I just want to take care of you forever."

I cried in his arms that day, feeling like the most cherished person on earth.

What a fool I was. Ten years of my life, built on a mountain of lies.

My heart felt like it had been ripped out of my chest, stomped on, and thrown in the trash. The pain was unbearable.

In that moment, standing in the cold, empty house I had designed for our love, I made a decision.

I would disappear from his life. But not before he paid for what he had done.