Chapter 2

2

That evening, when Valerie finally returned home, I was lying on the couch staring blankly at the ceiling.

She glanced toward the kitchen. "Why isn't dinner ready?"

Throughout our seven years of marriage, a hot meal was always waiting on the table whenever she stepped through the door.

Even when I was held up by overtime or business dinners, I made sure her favorite takeout arrived before she got home.

This was the first time she had come home to a cold, dark kitchen.

She expected me to jump up and start cooking right away. Instead, I said flatly, "If you're hungry, make it yourself."

Valerie frowned and handed me a small bag.

"I remembered you had an upset stomach today, so I bought you some heating pads."

I turned my head and met her gaze. "I don't need them. Give them to someone who does."

What she didn't know was that ten minutes ago, Brody had posted a picture in their friend group showing a heating pad on his stomach.

The hand applying it was Valerie's left hand, complete with her wedding ring.

Though the photo had been quickly deleted, I knew these pads were merely Brody's leftovers.

Just like Valerie herself―she only came back to me when Brody didn't need her.

Valerie tore one open, stubbornly trying to stick it onto my abdomen.

I shoved her away with force, causing her waist to hit the edge of the coffee table. Her face twisted in pain.

"Damian, what is your problem? Brody has a chronic stomach disease, while you just had an upset stomach from bad food! Can't you tell which one is more serious? Do you have to throw a tantrum over this?"

I met the fury in her eyes with total composure. "Valerie, I didn't have an upset stomach. My stomach was perforated."

Valerie froze.

After a moment, she let out a mocking laugh. "Is this your new trick to get my sympathy?"

"Damian, don't forget we get annual checkups. I've seen your medical reports. Don't you feel disgusting making up such jinxed lies about your health?"

There was a time when I desperately wanted to build a warm, secure home with Valerie and give her a comfortable life.

That was why I fought so hard in the business world, often downing glasses of hard liquor in one gulp just to seal a contract.

And that was precisely how I had burned a hole straight through my stomach lining.

All of that sacrifice had only earned a happy romance for Valerie and Brody.

Perhaps this was the final sign that our marriage was over.

I sat up. "Believe whatever you want."

Tossing the fallen heating pad into the trash can, I put on my jacket and headed for the door.

Valerie demanded, "Are you running away from home?"

I replied casually, "A friend moved into a new place. He asked me to crash there for a few days."

Valerie rushed after me, her brows knit tight.

This was the first time she had ever tried to stop me from walking out.

In the past, she would just watch coldly, knowing that no matter whose fault it was, I would come crawling back within two days to beg for forgiveness.

This time, I was done.

I stepped past her into the elevator and hit the door-close button.

Half an hour later, I arrived at my best friend Austin's apartment.

When I told him about my emergency surgery, his jaw dropped in utter shock. He immediately bought a pile of supplements and sat with me, chatting for hours.

During that entire time, I didn't send Valerie a single text, though she sent me a solitary question mark.

I ignored it. The next morning, another message popped up on my screen.

【The breakfast outside tastes awful.】

Austin looked at me still sitting calmly at the dining table, eating my breakfast, and gasped, "Holy shit, man! You didn't sprint right back home to cook for her!"

I gave a helpless shrug and let out a quiet, "Yeah."

Once upon a time, a single word from Valerie would make me drop whatever I was doing to put her first.

Now, I was just tired.

Austin said with sincere relief, "Good for you. You're finally finding your spine."

I stared up at the ceiling and stayed quiet for a long while before speaking. "Austin, you're a divorce lawyer. What advice do you have for me if I want to end it?"

Austin sprang to his feet and began rattling off a dozen legal clauses and procedures.

When he saw my blank look, he waved his hand dismissively. "Alright, alright, don't stress about the details. Just leave everything to me."

I stayed at his place in peace, without replying to a single word from Valerie for the next several days.