After losing a bet to her adopted younger brother, Peter Conroy, my wife, Ruth Davis, divorced me for the ninth time.

I had told her then that if we remarried for a tenth time and divorced again, I would marry someone else.

She only laughed and said, “Will, you even donated part of your liver to me. How could you possibly marry anyone else? Besides, apart from me, who would want to marry a broke loser like you?”

On the day of our tenth remarriage press conference, Peter left her a key to a beach house and made a bet with her. If she could find him in three hours, he would stay and wish us a lifetime of happiness.

The moment Ruth saw the key, her expression turned hesitant. She tore up the remarriage statement and ran off without hesitation.

Three hours later, Peter posted a photo on social media. They were lying on a bed in the beach house and admiring the ocean view. I read the caption.

[If someone really cares about you, they will cross mountains and seas just to find you.]

Without telling Ruth, I withdrew the remarriage application and made a call I had not made in a very long time.

“Julienne, is your proposal from back then still valid?”

Her voice trembled with barely restrained excitement. “For you, it’ll always be valid.”

The guests at the venue exchanged uneasy glances.

“Ms. Ruth has gone too far. She is actually remarrying Mr. Will for the tenth time because of her adopted brother. How could she ditch him at a moment like this?”

“Exactly. Mr. Will treated her so well. He even donated part of his liver to save her. Old Mr. Dauchy practically disowned him over it.”

They looked at me with sympathy.

Even outsiders could tell that Ruth Davis had gone too far.

Her mother, Mallory Davis, quickly grabbed my arm and said anxiously, “Will, hurry and explain things to everyone. Ruth just went home to deal with a family matter. Just announce the remarriage first.”

As I looked at Mallory, the woman who had always claimed she treated me like her own son, I felt a surge of anger building in my chest.

“Mallory, do you really think everyone here is stupid? I’ve used that same excuse nine times. Do you expect me to say it a tenth time too?”

Mallory’s expression darkened immediately. She said with displeasure, “As you said, nine times. So, what is one more? You won’t even say something to defend Ruth. Is your love for her even real?”

She spoke as if the request were perfectly justified.

Over the past two years, ever since Ruth’s adopted brother, Peter Conroy, returned home, we had gotten married and divorced nine times.

Every single time, she gambled our marriage against Peter in some bet.

Every single time, she had lost without exception.

The first time, she lost a game and announced our divorce at my birthday party.

The guests at the celebration were stunned when they saw the divorce papers plastered across the entire hall.

The second time, she lost a street race and punished herself by speeding down a mountain road. She ended up in a car accident. Our remarriage had to be postponed yet again.

The third time…

Every single time, she would give me that troubled look and say, “Will, Peter just came back to the country. He doesn’t have any friends here. I’m as close to a sister as he can have. It’s only right that I keep him occupied.”

My chest tightened with pain as I recalled those events.

She lost every bet. Did they really think I was an idiot?

Last month, their bet had been about who could find a wedding ring first in a swimming pool barely one meter deep.

Ruth had been captain of her university swim team, yet right before reaching the ring, she suddenly resurfaced and claimed she could not breathe.

Peter grabbed the ring first and said with a grin, “Ruth, you lose to me every time. Are you secretly looking for excuses to divorce Will? Maybe you should let me wear the ring instead and see if it suits me.”

Ruth only smiled at him indulgently. “Fine. You won, so the ring is yours.”

That day, she told me it would have looked improper to remarry without a wedding ring, so we could only divorce first and buy a new one later.

However, she could have reached the ring with a simple stretch of her hand. We had only been one second away from not having to divorce at all.

Mallory was still trying to persuade me when Ruth walked in arm in arm with Peter.

“Will, it took me three hours and one minute to find Peter. A bet is a bet, so we should postpone the remarriage.”

Right in front of everyone, she took down our wedding photo and tossed it into the trash.

A wave of shocked gasps swept through the venue.

Her dismissive attitude instantly turned the crowd’s sympathy toward me into ridicule.

The dignified heir of the Dauchy family had somehow become a man others could humiliate without restraint.

Seeing the provocation written all over Peter’s face, I scoffed. “Ruth, how about we make a bet too? Let’s see whether you will lose our tenth remarriage. The wager is your family’s bankruptcy.”

Ruth’s face turned ashen on the spot. She slapped me.

“Will, how could you be this vicious? Just because we didn’t remarry, you’re cursing my family now? No wonder Peter has always said you are simple-minded and that all you know how to do is threaten me with your past favors.”

The anger I had been suppressing finally exploded. I kicked the table aside and shouted, “If you’ve slept with Peter, then just marry him out in the open. There is no need to come up with these ridiculous bets just to make me sick.”

Peter’s face flushed with a mixture of shame and rage.

“Will, Ruth and I were just playing games like normal siblings. Do you really have to be so disgusting as to slander our relationship? Since you’re so jealous, fine. Next time, I will let Ruth win the bet.”

Then, he lowered his voice beside my ear.

“Will, how do you still have the nerve to stand here barking like a dog? You’ve been abandoned ten times already. If I were you, I would’ve been too ashamed to show my face. Ruth got tired of a useless loser like you a long time ago. She herself said that only I could satisfy her.”

Then, Peter put on an innocent expression and said, “When Ruth lost a bet last time, she promised to use Will’s Saint Christopher pendant to make a collar for Buddy. I didn’t even take it seriously. Will, why do you have to make things difficult for Ruth?”

Ruth smiled at him indulgently.

“A bet is a bet. Just take it. I can’t exactly go back on my word with the person I treat as my little brother.”

I stared at them in disbelief. My heart ached.

She knew perfectly well that the pendant was the only thing my grandmother had left me before she died.

After the liver transplant, my health had steadily worsened. More than once, when I was dying, that pendant had been the one thing keeping me going.

Yet at this moment, she wanted to take away the one treasure I had just for Peter’s dog.

As if it was not a big deal, she looked at me and said, “Will, it’s just a pendant. Buddy got bullied by other dogs because he didn’t have a collar, and now he’s too scared to even go outside. Just give him the pendant.”

Before I could even speak, a vicious look flashed through Peter’s eyes as he grabbed my collar and yanked it open.

I struggled hard, but Peter was far stronger than I was. He tore the pendant chain clean off my neck.

Peter looked at it with obvious contempt.

“Ruth, didn’t you always say Will’s pendant was valuable? Looks like nothing more than a cheap rock to me. It’s not even good enough for my dog.”

Then, he casually tossed it onto the floor.

Right in front of me, the pendant shattered into pieces.

Ruth sighed with resignation and took his hand.

“Alright. Since you don’t like it, we’ll buy a better one tomorrow.”

Rage surged inside me. I grabbed a chair and smashed it hard against Peter’s head.

Blood splattered across my face instantly.

Peter collapsed to the floor at once. He clutched his head as he curled up in Ruth’s arms.

The scene had descended into complete chaos.

“Mr. Will just killed someone!”

I forced myself to steady my trembling body. I was breathing heavily as I stared at Ruth.

“Ruth, are you happy with this bet?”

Ruth held Peter tightly in her arms and frantically shouted for someone to call an ambulance.

Then, she turned toward me with pure disgust in her eyes and kicked me hard.

“Will, no wonder your dad tried to kill you, and your mom would rather jump to her death than stay with you. You ruin everyone around you!”

The words felt like ice water poured straight into my soul.

She felt so sorry for Peter that she did not hesitate to tear open the deepest wound I had.

At that moment, I finally broke. I collapsed to the floor in humiliation.

When the ambulance arrived, before leaving with Peter, Ruth coldly said, “Will, you assaulted him on purpose. This isn’t over.”

Right after she said that, the police arrived.

“Your wife filed a report accusing you of attempted murder. You need to come with us.”

At the police station, I told them everything exactly as it had happened.

Seeing the miserable state I was in, the officer looked at me with sympathy.

“Mr. Will, since she has fallen for someone else, why can’t you just move on?”

Why could I not move on?

That was because in the darkest time of my life, she had once been the only light I had left.

My parents had been trapped in a marriage of convenience. They hated each other for almost their entire lives.

During the first year of their marriage, my father’s mistress gave birth to a son only three days younger than me.

After my father brought his illegitimate son home, consumed by rage, my mother hired people to cripple the mistress. In return, my father beat her so brutally that twelve of her ribs were shattered.

In the end, when my father tried to kill me for the sake of his other son, my mother threw herself from the roof of the Dauchy Group headquarters to save my life.

From that moment on, my hatred for my father only grew stronger with each passing day.

When my half-brother had sat on top of me, punching and kicking me while calling me an idiot with no mother, I snapped his right arm and told him he was nothing more than a disgraceful illegitimate child.

That day, my father flew into a fury. He whipped me until I was barely alive, then threw me out into the freezing snow to reflect on my mistakes.

Ruth was the one who found me half-dead and saved me.

From that day forward, she became the person closest to my heart.

She was not only the woman I loved most, but also the only emotional anchor in my life.

Not long after, Ruth arrived with Peter.

When the police asked her for her statement, Ruth looked at me coldly and said, “He must be punished. We won’t accept a settlement. He has a history of violence. If nobody teaches him a lesson now, he’ll cause even more trouble sooner or later.”

The officer had turned to me with a helpless expression.

“Mr. Will, Ms. Ruth is your ex-wife. Just apologize to her and let this matter end here.”

I stubbornly shook my head.

The officer sighed.

“Mr. Will, don’t let your pride ruin your life. If they decide to pursue charges and you end up in prison, are you really sure you could survive there for a year?”

A chill ran through me.

A manipulative snake like Peter really might do something to me in prison.

In the end, I had no choice but to lower my head. Through gritted teeth, I said, “Peter, I’m sorry. I lost control. Please forgive me.”