At three in the morning, in the dissection room.

I was about to prepare pathological slices from a cadaver when the medical pod issued a vibration anomaly alert.

Checking the surveillance feed on my phone, I saw my husband, Giovanni, passionately entangled with Lianna inside the pod.

Lianna laughed boldly. "Doing this right under your wife’s nose... It's so thrilling!"

Giovanni’s voice was hoarse as he said, "You’re getting better at this."

"Unlike her—always dealing with corpses. What would she know about romance?" Lianna sneered and rolled her eyes.

I glanced at the message Giovanni had sent me not long ago, and my heart sank to the depths.

[Honey, pulling an all-nighter must be so hard on you. My heart aches for you.]

At that moment, an unknown number called. "Project X has been activated. Evacuate within 48 hours."

I watched the two entangled figures on the screen and calmly replied, "I’ll disappear completely once the mission is over."

Giovanni didn’t know—I was a secret agent.

——

The scene on the screen was enough to make anyone’s face flush.

Giovanni’s voice was raspy. "Babe, am I good or what?"

Lianna giggled. "Your wife’s invention adds a nice touch of romance."

Though I had discovered their affair long ago, my chest still tightened painfully.

A year ago, Giovanni had an acute appendicitis attack. I drove through the night to rush him to surgery. The attending surgeon happened to be Lianna.

Giovanni’s medical research company was renowned in the industry, and from that day forward, Lianna became a frequent guest at his side.

It wasn’t long before they ended up in bed together, shamelessly.

At the time, I was working tirelessly, developing the most advanced medical pod for Giovanni.

Naively, I thought his late nights were all due to business engagements.

I never imagined his only "engagement" was with Lianna.

On the screen, Giovanni and Lianna were still tangled up in each other.

Two hours later, Giovanni got dressed and expertly prepared to delete the medical pod’s usage records.

Immediately, Lianna pouted. "Don’t delete them!"

"Imagine how thrilling it’d be for Alice to find abnormal data—doesn’t she analyze data all day?"

Giovanni’s face darkened. "Enough. Don’t destroy my family."

Lianna raised her eyebrows. "Oh funny, you weren’t thinking about your family when you kissed me."

"Men like you are all the same—so bad!"

What Giovanni didn’t know was that I held the highest-level control over the medical pod. Any abnormal operation immediately triggered an alert to my phone. I had also secretly installed micro-cameras inside the pod.

By morning, I was recording the previous night’s pathological data when I suddenly felt arms wrap tightly around my waist.

Giovanni embraced me from behind, his warm breath brushing my ear.

"Babe, I missed you."

He pressed me onto the lab table, impatiently unbuttoning my clothes.

The scenes from the night before flashed in my mind, and my stomach churned.

The scratches on his back likely hadn’t faded yet.

Suppressing my nausea, I casually made an excuse to evade him.

"I have experiments to run soon."

Instead of getting upset, he gave me a doting smile.

"Then at least let me join you for breakfast, okay?"

At the dining table, I deliberately served him a piece of braised pork.

Sure enough, the thought of the cadavers in the dissection room sent him rushing to the bathroom to vomit.

When Giovanni returned, he put on his usual facade of concern.

"Babe, is the experiment going well? I feel terrible seeing you working so hard and staying up all night."

"Once this busy period is over, let’s go abroad for a vacation and get some proper rest."

"Oh, by the way, the first surgery with your intelligent medical pod is scheduled for tomorrow night."

I lowered my head and took a sip of soup, replying indifferently, "Yes, I know."

"Congratulations! The new device is finally in use. It won’t be long before it’s mass-produced and hits the market."

Tomorrow night's surgery will be led by none other than Lianna.

Giovanni had given her access to the best medical equipment, including the medical pod I developed—worth billions.

But he didn’t know that I had tampered with the device to monitor Lianna.

Giovanni, what kind of expression will you have when you see my life end during this surgery?

I can’t wait to find out.

After much effort, I finally sent Giovanni off.

Using an encrypted channel, I transmitted the collected data to the international organization.

Suddenly, I remembered that a portion of the files that were still locked in the safe in Giovanni’s office.

Giovanni’s office was on the 18th floor, two floors above mine.

As I sifted through the documents, soft laughter drifted in from outside the office.

"Alice spends all her time with corpses and machines. She doesn’t even bother to dress up."

"Dr. Lopez, on the other hand, is so much more feminine. No wonder Mr. Collins is drawn to her."

The glass door reflected my image: no makeup, dressed in a white medical coat.

My grip on the files tightened, and I let out a bitter laugh.

Just as I turned to leave, Giovanni’s tall figure appeared at the door.

"Does everyone here have too much free time?"

"Do you all have no idea how much effort Alice has poured into the company’s R&D?"

"Unlike you, she doesn’t waste her time preening in front of a mirror."

The room fell silent. Those people paled, their heads lowering in embarrassment.

After a pause, Giovanni softened his tone. "The company’s success, and my happiness, wouldn’t be possible without Alice."

I froze. It had been a long time since Giovanni defended me like this.

Everyone else stared in shock, unable to believe that the usually aloof Mr. Collins would publicly profess his feelings.

I overheard an older employee mutter under their breath, "I told you to keep quiet! Alice is the boss’s treasure. Be careful, or he’ll fire you."

Once, Giovanni truly did love me.

In college, he survived on plain buns for two months just to buy me the camera I wanted.

I felt so bad for him that I secretly took on tutoring jobs. With my first paycheck, I treated him to a fancy dinner.

But no matter how beautiful our love story once was, from campus to the wedding aisle, it eventually decayed.

—

The noise from the neighboring office interrupted my thoughts, snapping me back to reality.

Through the frosted glass, I saw two blurred figures entwined—Giovanni and Lianna.

Lianna’s voice was low but perfectly audible to me.

"I’m so nervous about tomorrow’s surgery. It’s incredibly complicated..."

Giovanni’s tone was laden with insinuation. "Don’t worry, babe. You’re the best."

"How about...?" Lianna giggled, her voice dripping with sweetness.

My hand trembled, and the pen I was holding slipped from my grasp, hitting the floor with a crisp clatter.

Giovanni turned and saw me, his expression instantly panicked, his voice faltering. "Uh... Dr. Lopez, regarding the surgery arrangements for tonight, I think..."

I calmly closed the folder and walked to the elevator without a backward glance.

Behind me, Giovanni stumbled over his excuses.

"I was just discussing the surgery with Dr. Lopez..."

This pathetic performance failed to stir any emotion in me.

It didn’t matter anymore. Tomorrow, I’d be gone forever, and none of this would mean anything.

After work, I opened the door to find Giovanni already at home waiting for me.

He was busy arranging the study, his tone ingratiating. "I got you a brand-new ergonomic chair and an eye-protection desk lamp."

"I also got your favorite milk and snacks." Giovanni smiled.

I glanced at the unusually cozy study but didn’t step inside.

Giovanni looked at me expectantly. "Honey, I bet you’ll love it."

I responded flatly, "Hmm, I like it."

Then I turned and walked into the bathroom. Warm water cascaded over my weary body, but my memories ran uncontrollably backward.

When the company was first starting, Giovanni was nearly at his wits’ end. The newly hired researchers all refused to perform pathological dissections on cadavers, quitting one after another.

I took on all the dissection work myself, reassuring him, "As long as I’m here, you can rest easy."

We made it through those tough times. I thought life was finally on the right track—until I discovered Giovanni’s clandestine meetings with Lianna.

Forget it. Let it end here.

As I stepped out of the bathroom, I froze.

The dining table was set with steak and red wine, a trail of rose petals leading the way.

Giovanni stood holding a sheer black silk robe, adorned with delicate sparkles.

"Honey, I made this for you with my own hands."

"You’d look stunning in it. I’d love for us to enjoy this together."

He leaned close, his breath hot against my ear. "You smell so good. I’ve missed you so much."

Was this his way of compensating for betrayal?

Feigning ignorance of his insinuation, I silently distanced myself and turned on all the lights. "Let’s eat. Finish up and get some rest."

After all, tomorrow I needed to check on the progress of the data uploading, which was important for the smooth execution of Project X.

Giovanni didn’t get angry. Instead, he asked softly, "Not feeling well lately?"

I forced a faint smile.

Some wounds can never be healed, no matter how hard you try to make amends.

The sharp chime of the doorbell interrupted us. Standing at the villa entrance was Lianna.

Her face darkened at the sight of the candlelit room and scattered roses. She deliberately emphasized each word, "I’m here to deliver a special research report to Mr. Collins."

"He needs to return to the company immediately to personally inspect this batch of medical equipment."

I lowered my gaze. It seemed they couldn’t bear to be apart for even a moment.

Giovanni quickly changed and left with her. "Dr. Lopez has an important surgery tomorrow night. I need to check all the medical equipment."

I didn’t respond, silently watching them leave.

After he was gone, I pulled out my phone and checked the surveillance feed.

On the company’s heavy-ion radiotherapy machine, a red ribbon fluttered in the air.

One end was tied to the equipment, the other around Lianna’s waist.

As for Giovanni, he looked utterly content.

My phone buzzed again. The caller ID displayed that familiar unknown number.

"The black-market evidence chain is complete. Target for this operation: Lianna, female, 28 years old."

"Over the past six months, 12 cadavers have been sent to her secret lab without any proper documentation."

I gazed at the city lights outside the window and calmly replied, "I guarantee the mission will be completed on time."

—

The next day, Giovanni followed me to the dissection room.

He was acting oddly today—clinging to me like a shadow.

As I organized materials, he volunteered to sort the documents.

When I cleaned the instruments, he eagerly handed me cleaning supplies and clothes.

Even when I went to the restroom, he waited outside the door.

Just as I was reaching my limit, Giovanni leaned against me like a spoiled puppy, brushing his shoulder against mine.

"Honey, I want to stay by your side forever."

"You’re the love of my life. I can’t live without you."