Chapter 2

2

I waved a weak hand. "Wait... please. Drop me off at a pharmacy. I need to pick up my prescription."

Rachel's expression soured instantly, full of disgust.

"Neil, what is your deal? Do you really distrust your own wife this much?"

"I am heading out for work, and you insist on tagging along? You are suffocating me."

"Marriage requires trust, understanding, and tolerance. But you? You are always so damn selfish."

I had no strength left to argue with her twisted logic.

"Just drop me at the corner pharmacy. Where you go afterward is your business."

"Is that... really too much to ask?"

Rachel checked her watch, clearly unwilling to waste time arguing.

She finally agreed to let me ride along.

Instead of stopping at the pharmacy near our house, she drove fifteen minutes across town before pulling over.

As I struggled to step out of the car, she called out impatiently.

"Neil, wait for me here after you get your pills. I will be right back."

I watched her speed away without saying a word.

Inside the pharmacy, I bought strong painkillers along with the specialized medication prescribed by my doctor.

The doctor had instructed me to take this medication to stabilize my condition first.

Once my vitals improved, the surgery would have a much higher success rate.

After paying for the pills, I stood outside the pharmacy entrance for three full hours.

Rachel never showed up.

Eventually, the pharmacy closed its doors and turned off the lights.

I let out a bitter, self-mocking laugh and began the long walk home.

Misfortunes truly never come alone.

The moment I stepped onto the sidewalk, the sky opened up into a violent downpour.

I chose not to call an Uber. Perhaps letting the freezing rain soak me would wash away the lingering illusions in my head.

By the time I stumbled through the front door, I took a quick shower and collapsed onto the couch.

Even with the painkillers kicking in, the dull ache lingered, and I drifted into an exhausted sleep.

Suddenly, the front door was kicked open with a loud bang.

I startled awake, only to find Rachel glaring down at me in fury.

"Neil, do you have any idea what you have done? Why didn't you call me when you got home?"

"Do you know I was driving around looking for you for two whole hours?"

"It was pouring rain outside! I almost got into a terrible car accident because of you!"

"When did you become so heartless? Do you have any conscience left?"

Rachel assumed I had walked straight home after buying my pills.

She did not realize I had waited for her in the cold for three hours.

The walk back had taken me over forty minutes.

Where exactly had she been looking for me for two hours?

Clutching my aching side, I smiled faintly.

"If you really searched for two hours, you must have driven in the wrong direction."

"Then again, with rain that heavy, it makes sense that you couldn't see clearly."

A flicker of guilt flashed across Rachel's face. She muttered something under her breath and rushed to the bathroom to shower.

At that moment, my phone lit up with a notification from Chase's social media.

The photo showed him cuddling a woman in bed under silky sheets.

The woman's face was blurred out.

Yet I could recognize Rachel's silhouette in an instant.

Worse than the picture was Chase's nauseating caption:

【Drifting together in the ocean of love. You nourish me, I water you, and our souls blend as one.】

The words were so sickening that bile rose in my throat.

Things had reached the point of no return; my marriage with Rachel was officially dead.

However, I was not going to walk away empty-handed.

Everything that rightfully belonged to me, I would take back!