Chapter 1

My wife intentionally left me to rot with a 104-degree fever.

She locked me in a damp, freezing storage room just to let her childhood best friend vent his frustrations.

I begged her for just one pill through the door.

She only gave me a cold, heartless refusal.

"If you hadn't insisted on winning that violin competition against Silas, he wouldn't have run away in the rain and caught a cold," she barked.

"Whatever pain he suffered, you're going to feel it ten times worse!"

I drifted into a coma for three hours before she finally hauled me to the hospital.

When I woke up, the memories I had lost years ago flooded back.

I realized the wife I loved so deeply was nothing more than a cheap substitute for my dead soulmate.

1.

The day I was discharged, the house was already buzzing with noise.

I leaned against the wall, my vision swimming.

The aftereffects of the high fever hadn't fully faded.

In the living room, Fiona Pendleton was wearing the champagne-colored silk gown I had bought her.

She looked radiant.

Silas Sterling sat beside her, their shoulders touching like they were the ones who were married.

Their friends were laughing and drinking, making themselves right at home.

"It's Silas's birthday today, so everyone make sure to have a great time!" Fiona announced.

She raised her glass, her smile brighter than I had seen it in months.

One of her friends joked, "Fiona, you clearly love Silas more. Why don't you just divorce that loser and be with him already?"

Fiona sighed, her tone dripping with annoyance.

"You guys don't understand. Our families have too many business ties," she complained.

"My mother won't let me bring up a divorce. Let's not talk about him, he's such a buzzkill."

Another voice chimed in mockingly, "It's not like Liam Montgomery would ever leave you anyway."

"Even if you and Silas were caught in bed, he wouldn't dare say a word."

The room erupted in laughter, all of them mocking me, the 'pathetic husband.'

I didn't feel the usual sting of heartbreak.

I just walked straight into the living room.

The noise stopped instantly.

Every eye in the room turned toward me.

Fiona didn't even look guilty.

She just gave me a flat, commanding look.

"Since you're back, go to the kitchen and whip up some appetizers for the party," she ordered.

Silas smirked and walked over to me, his tone dripping with fake politeness.

"Hey, Liam, sorry to bother you. I always loved the lunches you packed for Fiona," he said.

"Too bad she never wants to cook for me herself."

His eyes were full of triumph, practically begging me to snap.

Everyone waited for me to lose my mind.

They expected me to scream at Fiona like I used to.

They wanted to see me get humiliated again.

But this time, I felt nothing.

"I'm not feeling well. I'm going to my room," I said calmly.

Silas stepped in my way, pretending to look remorseful.

"I'm so sorry, Liam. I shouldn't have told Fiona I was upset," he whispered.

"Then she wouldn't have locked you in that storage room. I didn't realize she cared about me that much."

"Whatever. It doesn't matter," I replied, brushing past him.

He looked disappointed that I didn't explode.

Before he could start another round of taunts, I walked into the guest bedroom and shut the door.