Chapter 1

In the middle of the night, my phone buzzed with an urgent call from Gavin Yates.

He was panting heavily, his voice dripping with panic.

“Tessa, the downtown plaza is on fire and I’m trapped inside! Please, come save me!”

I didn’t even change out of my pajamas before speeding into the raging inferno.

Even when a collapsing wooden beam shattered three of my ribs, I refused to stop searching for him.

When the firefighters finally dragged me out, I screamed and sobbed, begging them to go back in for Gavin.

Right then, my phone chimed with a text from his executive assistant, Rhea Larson.

【To be honest, Gavin was never in the fire. He only said that as dirty talk to spice things up in bed with me!】

Attached was a photo of Gavin lying naked beside her, his neck and chest covered in fresh hickeys.

Without a single second of hesitation, I agreed to relocate across the country with my best friend.

1.

The phantom scorch of the flames still seemed to burn across my back.

The doctor told me I was lucky the fractured ribs hadn’t punctured my lungs, assuring me that rest would heal the damage.

Armed with heavy burn ointments, I checked out of the hospital.

The moment I stepped through my front door, my best friend Simone Croft called.

“Have you really made up your mind to move with me? If you’re certain, I’ll start finalizing your paperwork.”

I answered in a flat, quiet tone. “I’m certain.”

“Good. Settle everything on your end, and I’ll book our flight tickets.”

Simone had noticed my lingering depression six months ago, eventually discovering the disgraceful things Gavin had been doing behind my back.

She had begged me to divorce him and leave this city.

Back then, I foolishly thought Gavin’s affair with his assistant was just a fleeting chase for novelty.

I never imagined my devotion would become a prop for their sick bedroom foreplay.

After hanging up, I swallowed a sleeping pill and fell into a heavy, dreamless slumber.

Sometime past midnight, a shrill ringtone ripped me awake.

This was the first call Gavin had made to me in the entire two weeks I had been hospitalized.

“Babe, the clients forced too much liquor down my throat. I think I’ve got alcohol poisoning. Can you come pick me up?”

In the background, the deafening thrum of a nightclub and high-pitched female giggles were unmistakable.

I let out a cold, bitter sneer.

“Gavin, even your lies should have a limit.”

He went silent for two seconds before groaning as if he were truly in agonizing pain.

“I’m not lying to you this time. The second they dragged me to the lounge, my stomach gave out, so I called you right away.”

His breathing was heavy, words practically grinding out through clenched teeth.

My heart tightened as a memory surfaced of his early startup days when he actually drank himself into acute poisoning during client negotiations.

My hands clenched into fists, hesitating before the instinctual worry took over.

I stood up, grabbed my coat, and spoke into the receiver.

“Where are you? I’m coming to get you right now.”

Suddenly, a burst of mocking laughter erupted on the other end, mixed with men and women howling in amusement.

The phone was snatched away, and a familiar feminine voice purred through the speaker.

“Oh, Tessa, Gavin just made me mad earlier, so he dialed you like this just to cheer me up! He’s completely fine, so don’t bother running over like an obedient little lapdog!”

I knew that voice all too well. For an entire year, she had been the one answering Gavin’s phone whenever I called.

Her tone carried the exact same smugness, disdain, and arrogance as always.

Cruel jeers echoed around her in the lounge.

“Damn, Gavin, your wife really is head over heels for you. One word and she’s running around in circles!”

“Seriously, what’s the difference between her and a loyal stray dog? I’m almost jealous.”

Then came Gavin’s lazy, derisive chuckle.

“She’s way easier to handle than a dog,” he drawled. “If Rhea and I ever run out of condoms, one phone call and she’d deliver them right to our bedside.”

His voice wasn’t loud, yet every word landed like a sledgehammer against my ears.

My fingernails dug deep into my palms until skin broke and blood seeped out, but I felt no physical pain.

Numbness and suffocating emptiness crashed over me, leaving me gasping for air in the quiet room.

My trembling fingers lost their grip, and the phone plummeted to the floorboards, its screen shattering into pieces as the call abruptly ended.

The world finally fell dead silent.

I looked around the house at our matching slippers, matching robes, the massive framed wedding portrait on the wall, and the platinum band on my ring finger.

In the photograph, the two of us looked so perfectly matched, and Gavin was smiling with pure, radiant joy.

Every single relic of our past stood as a cruel dagger, twisting into my chest.

I truly could not comprehend how the man who once loved me so fiercely had morphed into such a monster.

When Gavin spun his cruel lies to pamper Rhea Larson, he must have forgotten the sacrifices of our past.

He forgot how he once drank himself into the emergency room until two in the morning just to close a contract and buy us this house.

Back then, I rushed through the night to take him to the hospital for a stomach pump.

The doctor told me that if I had arrived any later, Gavin might not have survived the night.

I remember holding his cold hands in tears, begging him never to push himself so recklessly again.

He had merely smiled gently, cupping my cheek to wipe away my tears.

“Tessa, don’t cry,” he had whispered softly. “The deal is done. We finally have a home of our own.”

Because of that night, his stomach was permanently ruined.

I knew he bore those health issues for the sake of our future, so I spent years carefully nursing his diet and health.

Yet he had completely forgotten it all.

Now, he used that very same trauma as a cheap party trick to mock me like an animal.

Walking over to my laptop, I quickly sent a message to my attorney, asking him to draft an electronic divorce settlement.

For the rest of the night, I couldn't close my eyes again.