Chapter 1

On our wedding anniversary, I wanted to give my wife a surprise, so I invited our friends and colleagues over for a house party.

Everyone waited all evening, but she never showed up.

Around midnight, I initiated a FaceTime call, only for her boy toy to answer completely naked.

"Shh... she is fast asleep."

Through the screen, she was lying in bed wearing nothing but her lingerie, her cheeks flushed with afterglow.

I ended the call, sent every guest home, threw the flowers and cake into the dumpster, and texted her a divorce agreement.

She tore the papers to shreds the moment she walked through the door. "You are thirty years old. What can you even do without me? Be a kept man? Do you still have what it takes?"

I chuckled. A man in his thirties might lose his youthful stamina, but he gains the courage to hit restart.

At thirty, you learn when to walk away.

Say goodbye, and never look back.

1

Audrey Prescott sat on the sofa, picking up the torn divorce agreement between two fingers and waving it lazily.

"A divorce? Is this the only pathetic trick you have? How childish."

She did not offer a single word of explanation. Perhaps she did not care to, or perhaps she felt I was beneath receiving one.

Audrey reeked of alcohol, her high heel dangling loosely from her toes as she glanced around the empty living room and smirked.

"You are thirty years old, Jesse. There is no need to throw a tantrum just because a party was canceled."

"You can throw as many parties as you want. Now go to the kitchen and brew me some hangover tea."

In my wife's eyes, everything I had carefully planned was nothing more than a joke.

To her, lying in bed wearing lingerie beside her childhood best friend―a scene witnessed by all of our coworkers―was completely normal.

I stood there with my arms crossed, not moving an inch. In the past, I held her on a pedestal, waiting on her hand and foot whenever she came home drunk.

Those days were long gone.

Seeing that I did not move, Audrey furrowed her brows.

"Are you deaf? Do you really think this little stunt threatens me? Ridiculous."

My voice was dry and rough. "I already signed it. Since there is no love left, there is no need to torture each other. I am stepping aside so you can be with your precious boy toy."

Audrey curled her lips in sheer contempt.

"A divorce? Fine by me."

She kicked off her heels and walked toward me barefoot in black stockings, looking down at me with cold disdain.

"I will have Chase draft a prenup settlement where you leave without a single penny. If you have the guts to sign that, I will sign this."

I nodded without any expression. Ever since Chase became her executive secretary, I had known this day would come.

"Fine. I keep my word."

Audrey did not lose her temper. Instead, a mocking smile crept onto her lips, as if she had anticipated my response all along.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I am adding another clause to the agreement. You must give up all custody rights to Leo."

I snapped my head up to glare at her, the rage I had suppressed for years threatening to shatter my sanity.

"Never!"

The smile vanished from Audrey's face instantly. She shoved a finger hard into my chest, her voice rising sharply.

"Then you stay right here in this house and play the good house husband!"

"You are thirty years old. Even if you wanted to be a sugar baby, look in the mirror! You have nothing left to offer!"

Her finger dug directly into the spot where my old chest injury lingered, and the sharp agony sent me stumbling back onto the sofa.

Audrey lit a slim cigarette and looked down at me coldly.

"We are all adults here, Jesse. There is no need to play these petty mind games."

"You just want to force my hand, do you not? You want a divorce to take half my wealth. Let me make this crystal clear: not a chance."

"The fortune and the boy both carry the Prescott name, and that is how it will stay."

I dug my fingernails into the leather armrest, enduring the pain while staring at the woman I had shared a bed with for eight years. She felt like a complete stranger.

The kind, sweet Audrey I once knew was dead.

Just like our eight-year marriage, withered down to dust.

Audrey glanced at me and tossed a black credit card onto the coffee table.

"If you want cash, that is easy. As long as you behave yourself, I might let you see our son tomorrow."

I picked up the card, snapped it in half, and hurled the pieces into the trash can alongside the gifts she had brought back.

"I am seeing Leo this afternoon."

Audrey let out a soft sneer, spun on her heels, and walked into the bathroom to wash up.

From beginning to end, she acted like a ruthless queen who would never lower her noble head, not even offering a single apology.