Chapter 1

"Ms. Sinclair, please confirm one last time if you want to initiate the identity erasure service. Once it begins, it cannot be terminated. There will be no room for regret."

I didn't hesitate for a single second. I picked up the pen and signed my name on the contract.

"The service will take effect on the first of next month. Every trace of your existence as Rainie Sinclair will be wiped clean. Rest assured, we will handle all the loose ends."

As I walked out of the office building, I saw my husband on the giant mall screen. He was the man I couldn't reach for days, now professing his undying love for me in front of a camera.

The people around me were whispering about the beautiful romance between Jasper Sterling and his wife. They truly believed he loved me more than life itself.

But the reality was a nightmare. Every night I needed him, he was busy tangled in another woman's sheets.

In countless videos I'd found, he whispered sweet promises to her.

"She's just a tool to maintain my public image. If the company didn't need her, I wouldn't keep such a pathetic, love-sick woman around."

"Lyra, I promise you, one day you will be my only wife."

I quietly began destroying every trace of our life together. That included the tiny life growing inside me.

Yet, the moment he laid eyes on my cold body, the man who claimed to loathe me went completely insane, ready to follow me into the grave.

"Oh my god! How can a man like Jasper Sterling even exist?"

"If I could find a boyfriend like that, I'd gladly give up ten years of my life! Look, he's only been on a business trip for a month, and he's already confessing his love on the news!"

Listening to the young girls' envious chatter in the elevator, I looked down to hide the sorrow in my eyes. I practically ran back to my house.

The moment I stepped through the door, Jasper followed right behind me.

"Did you go out? You should have told the housekeeper if you needed something. It's freezing outside, what if you caught a cold?"

"Besides, you're carrying our baby."

His eyes were so tender, and his love seemed so overwhelming. I couldn't understand how a person could use one heart to love two people so convincingly.

When I didn't speak, Jasper thought I was upset. He knelt on the floor and began to coax me gently.

"It's my fault for being away so long. I didn't consider your feelings. Please, don't be mad at me, okay?"

In that moment, it felt as though his love had never changed. I nodded like I was under a spell.

Jasper pulled me into a joyful hug. Then, he added casually, "By the way, my mom hasn't been feeling well lately. Why don't you go over and stay with her for a few days?"

So, that was the real reason for the affection.

I agreed with a raspy voice. Jasper instantly looked relieved. He gave me a perfunctory kiss on the forehead and headed straight into the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

The lingering warmth of his lips on my skin felt repulsive. Sudden, disgusting images flashed through my mind.

A second later, I ran to the bathroom and threw up until my stomach was empty.

Jasper and I were childhood sweethearts.

After my parents' messy divorce, I was the unwanted child left out in the cold. Jasper was the one who found me curled up on the side of the road during a torrential rainstorm.

With red eyes, he pulled me into his arms. "Rainie, as long as I'm here, you'll always have a home!"

Our love had been loud and unapologetic.

On our wedding day, knowing I loved roses, Jasper had 9,999 of them flown in from Damascus. They lined the entire path to the altar.

He said they symbolized our love lasting through three lifetimes.

I still remember how his hands trembled when he slipped the ring onto my finger.

He cried as he kissed me, swearing he would never betray me. He begged me to grow old with him, hand in hand.

I really thought we would grow old together. That was until two months ago, when I received graphic photos from an anonymous address.

It turned out that every time he claimed to be on a business trip, he was sleeping with another woman.

Lyra Rossi, his senior from college. I had treated her like a sister.

My heart felt like it had been carved out with a dull knife. It was a bloody, suffocating pain.

I opened the window, and the biting wind made me shiver.

A memory of fifteen-year-old Jasper flashed in my mind.