Chapter 1

After a seven-year marathon of love, I thought Quinn and I would be happy forever.

But in the second year of our marriage, Quinn suddenly suggested an open relationship.

I was devastated and refused. She just looked at me with a cold, blank face.

"I feel nothing when I touch your body anymore," she said. "We're too familiar. I need some excitement."

"My heart will always be yours. If you can't accept this, then let's just get a divorce."

That very night, she brought home a young, pretty boy.

I endured it in numb silence, hoping she would change her mind.

But then I saw her at the hospital, walking into the OB-GYN clinic with her new lover.

Suddenly, I was just tired. I asked for a divorce.

She looked confused. "Why? You've accepted this for years. Why now?"

I gave her a small, bitter smile. "Because now, I feel nothing when I look at you."

So, Quinn, let's end this right here.

1.

Quinn and that boy, Caspian, walked out of the exam room. They were excitedly discussing when the baby would be born and what its zodiac sign would be.

I followed them from a distance. A surgical mask covered most of my face, hiding my expression.

Caspian looked at Quinn with fake concern. "Will Alistair be upset if he finds out?"

Quinn waved her hand dismissively. "It's fine. If I start showing too much, I'll just go to Europe to have the baby."

She paused and added softly, "As long as you're happy. I'll do anything for you."

Quinn used to say those exact words to me.

Back then, her eyes were only for me. Every smile she gave me was filled with light.

Now, that light was shining on someone else, and it burned my eyes.

A gust of wind blew a piece of paper to my feet.

I leaned down to pick it up. It was Quinn's ultrasound. Eight weeks pregnant.

Eight weeks. Two months.

Our "sexless" marriage had been going on for three years.

I had stepped back and compromised over and over again, just to keep this broken marriage alive.

My only boundary was that she couldn't have a child with another man.

She promised me she wouldn't. Now, she had broken that promise too.

Quinn, you really didn't keep a single word you said to me.

When I got home, the two of them were cuddling on the sofa as if I didn't exist.

Quinn glanced at me and spoke like she was talking to a servant. "Caspian wants creamy mushroom soup, and I want pan-seared sea bass."

"You're late today. Go make it now."

Caspian pressed a kiss onto her cheek and turned to me with a smirk.

"Sorry to trouble you, Alistair."

His tone made it clear he saw me as nothing more than the help.

I didn't acknowledge them. I walked straight to my room.

Quinn followed me in, sounding slightly annoyed.

"What's wrong with you? Are you mad because you think I forgot our anniversary?"

She tossed a beautifully wrapped box onto the bed in front of me.

"Here. I picked it out a long time ago. It's a gift."

I opened the box. It was a luxury watch, the exact same model she gave me last year.

In the past, she would hand-make gifts for every anniversary or plan a romantic surprise.

Now, it was just a chore to her. A box to check off.

What was the point of remembering the date? What was the point of the gift?

When love is gone, it's gone. These gestures felt like insults.