Chad pulled me to my feet. "Come on. I'll take you home."

The whole drive, I kept scrolling through the chat history with Doug, over and over, desperate to find some proof that he hadn't fallen out of love with me.

But the further back I went, the clearer it became. The earlier the messages, the more he loved me.

By the time we reached the villa we had lived in together for eight years, it finally hit me. I answered Chad a beat too late.

"This isn't my home. It wasn't before. It won't be in the future, either."

Chad simply said, "I'm giving you three days to clean up your mess. After that, I'll come back and take you."

The butler came up to me, trying too hard to sound casual. "Ms. Sowle's been kidnapped again. Mr. Graham is already on his way to rescue her."

A laugh slipped out of me before I could stop it. "I know."

The staff all looked at me differently. Some with mockery, some with pity. Everyone could see it for what it was.

Everyone except me, clinging to that last scrap of love, blind to everything else.

The butler handed me a map, his tone firm, leaving no room to refuse.

"Go wipe out the Chandlers' operations on Moonfall Island. Go alone."

My whole body tensed. The Chandlers had been working with the Grahams. Why turn on them all of a sudden?

I took the map back to my room, and only then realized that the files from the jobs I had handled for Doug over the past three months were stacked nearly three feet high.

My body was worse. Old injuries were layered over new ones, one on top of another.

I dug through the pile until I found the marriage certificate I had been holding onto like it was the only thing keeping me standing.

The dark ink used to feel sacred. Now, it just looked like a joke.

I would help him this one last time. Consider it as buying out the last eight years of my life.

It was time to wake up.

I tossed and turned all night. Just as I was finally drifting off, my bedroom door opened.

It was Doug.

My whole body went rigid. His lips brushed down against me, soft and familiar, his breath warm and close.

"Why are you shaking?"

His voice was gentle, as if the impatient and distracted man who was cheating on me a few hours ago didn't exist.

I had always been like this. One moment of tenderness, and I would forget everything else. Until reality came crashing down again.

I pushed Doug away without thinking. "The maid's room is freezing."

He froze for a second, then rushed to explain.

"If I treat you too well, people will get suspicious. I didn't want you getting kidnapped by those people, so I had you stay in the maid's room. We can warm up pretty quick if we just..."

His lips pressed in again, lingering, but the faint scent of Lindsey's perfume clinging to him hit me all at once. I couldn't hold it back and gagged.

I couldn't understand how a man juggling two women could pretend this well.

Doug went pale right away. "Are you pregnant again? We need to check right now!"

The moment he mentioned the baby, it felt like a blade drove straight through my chest all over again.

My body had always been different. The day I found out I was pregnant, Doug was over the moon. He fumbled around in the kitchen, trying to make me some kind of nourishing soup.

He pressed his warm cheek against my still-flat stomach, his voice soft. "Let me hear it. What's our kid saying?"

I laughed at him, called him childish. The baby wasn't even formed yet. How could it say anything?

Not long after I started showing, Lindsey shoved me down the stairs.

"You're pregnant and still hanging around Mr. Graham every day? You're just hired muscle! You really think you can sleep your way up?"

After that, Doug moved me into the maid's room on the ground floor. He kneeled in front of me, slapping himself again and again.

"I'm sorry! I didn't protect you or the baby. I won't let Lindsey get away with this. The more spoiled she is now, the worse it'll be when our enemies get their hands on her."

I swallowed the bitterness and disappointment and accepted it.

But now, I knew. Those so-called kidnappings were nothing but their twisted game.

The thought hit me so hard that I shoved him away with everything I had.

"We're not having a child. Ever."

Doug froze for a long moment, then something in him snapped. He raised his hand and slapped me across the face.

"I've had a long day. Who the hell are you giving attitude to? You've climbed way above your station just being with me! What more do you want?"

Lindsey's voice drifted in from outside, shaky and soft. "Doug, I'm back. I was so scared."

He pushed me aside without a second thought and walked out, leaving me standing there, one hand pressed to my burning cheek.

My left hand slammed into the corner of the bed. The old injury from taking a blade for him flared instantly, pain shooting straight through me.

Lindsey's sweet, clingy voice carried through the wall. Weren't they done with this kidnapping game yet?

My pillow was soaked with tears again. I cried without a sound, barely able to breathe.

On the other side of that door, Doug gave her a brand-new sports car, prime land, and even the gold bracelet his mother left him.

Every memory of loving him felt like a dull blade carving into me, over and over, slow and relentless.

I knew there was no way things between us would end on good terms.

Back then, plenty of men wanted me, but I never believed in love. To win me over, Doug had gone to insane lengths.

That kind of obsession wouldn't just disappear. He would never let me go easily.

The next morning, I placed the divorce papers in front of him.

"I'll take down the Chandlers for you. Sign it."

Doug was on the phone, speaking gently to Lindsey, not even glancing at the document as he signed his name.

"You must've been terrified of getting grabbed by the Chandlers yesterday, huh? I'll send people to deal with them right away."

My chest tightened anyway. There was no kidnapping. He lied like it was second nature.

After hanging up, Doug rubbed his temples, and the first thing out of his mouth was a scolding.

"Lindsey is acting as your shield. She got tied up and whipped all night, and didn't ask for a thing today. Can you not be so materialistic and be a little more reasonable? Every time you do something for me, you act like you deserve the world."

I used to be worth millions per job. I had stayed with him for eight years and risked my life without a single complaint.

Meanwhile, Lindsey had over a dozen sets of jewelry worth hundreds of millions, and he actually thought that the divorce agreement was me asking for money.

A wave of helplessness crashed over me, but before I could say anything, my teammates were already crowding around, pulling me toward the helicopter.

"What are you standing there for? Let's go to Moonfall Island."

"I heard the Chandlers' cat scared Ms. Sowle, and she threw a tantrum over it."

"Still, they shouldn't have kidnapped her over that. That's just petty."

I closed my eyes, pain tightening in my chest as the truth pieced itself together.

Lindsey wasn't satisfied, so Doug decided we should risk our lives to make it up to her.

Moonfall Island was a death trap. A bullet tore through my left leg, the pain exploding through me like fire.

It spread through my entire body. One by one, I watched my teammates drop.

Despair gave way to numbness.

I had underestimated how ruthless he could be. I had bet wrong on his love.

If I didn't leave now, I would end up just like this, dying for him somewhere no one would ever know.

When I made it back, I was the only one left, the most capable among the group.

Fireworks burst across the river, lighting up the sky. On the two tallest buildings downtown, massive screens looped the same message over and over.

[Lindsey, happy 100 days, my princess. Love, Doug.]

I stood there covered in wounds, not even given the chance to mourn the people who died.

A broken sound forced its way out of my throat. I clutched the divorce papers he had signed that morning and went straight to the courthouse.

The place had just opened. I pushed the still-new marriage certificate through the window and spoke each word like it was carved out of me.

"I want a divorce."

The clerk glanced at the bruises and dried blood on my face, sympathy flickering in her eyes.

"If you're being abused, you should really seek legal help…"

I let out a hollow laugh. I couldn't even cry anymore.

Doug lied to me, used me, and treated human lives like props in their twisted games. That went far beyond abuse.

The next second, the clerk frowned. "Wait… This certificate is fake. You should take it back."

Everything in me went cold. I stared at her, unable to believe it.

"How is that possible?"

So, the one thing that had held me together all this time was fake, too.

I couldn't tell if my heart hurt more or my body. I laughed and cried at the same time as I walked out.

That marriage certificate was just like his love, a lie from the start.

And I had never questioned it.

The river wind howled through the early morning, cutting straight through me.

From the very beginning, Doug never planned to marry me at all. He just wanted both sides, lying his way through everything, taking whatever he wanted.