My wife, Vivian Moon, was pregnant with her lover’s child.

At our daughter’s funeral, she leaned against him and looked down at me, saying, “Jason is kind-hearted. Despite the bad luck, he still came to pay his respects in person. If your daughter’s spirit is watching from heaven, she’ll surely bless the child in my womb to be safe and healthy.”

I said nothing, quietly removed the wedding ring I had worn for six years and walked calmly out of the mourning hall.

The elders tried to mediate, but Vivian sneered with disdain. “Don’t bother with him. After all that fuss, he’ll still end up bowing his head and apologizing to me.”

Upon hearing that, her family burst into laughter.

They shamelessly used me as the subject of a billion-dollar bet, betting on when I’d finally break down and grovel at Vivian’s feet, begging her to give me another child.

But what they didn’t know was that the private jet arranged by that person was about to land.

In three hours, I would be leaving Harbor City and I would never return.

——

As I packed my things at the villa, Vivian unexpectedly came home.

Ignoring what I was doing, she calmly took off her coat and said, “Ethan, Jason wants to have deer antler soup.”

I thought of the last time I refused to pour coffee for Jason at the company and was forced by her to kneel all night in front of everyone.

I zipped up my suitcase and obediently walked to the kitchen.

Ten minutes later, upon hearing Jason praised the dish as delicious, the coldness on Vivian’s face eased slightly. “Ethan, as long as you treat the child in my belly as your own, I can agree not to divorce you.”

In the past, whenever Vivian mentioned the word “divorce,” I would start breathing heavily, filled with fear and anxiety.

But now, I calmly took out the divorce papers I had long since prepared.

I softly said to her, “Sign it.”

Without even glancing at the document, Vivian raised an eyebrow and sneered. “Ethan, do you really think such a petty tactic of retreating to advance will work on me?”

"On the day we got married, I made it clear to you. The only reason I agreed to marry you was because you resembled Jason a little. If you're still planning to cause trouble now, I'll just send you abroad and let you fend for yourself out there."

Before I could even respond, Jason suddenly let out a sharp cry.

Vivian immediately rushed to his side, her face filled with concern. "Jason, what’s wrong?"

"Vivian, I feel really itchy all over..."

Even though Jason’s acting was laughably poor, Vivian still flew into a rage and stormed over to me, demanding to know in a harsh voice what harmful thing I had put in the deer antler soup.

Before I could explain, her expression turned cold as she forced the remaining soup into my mouth.

Allergic to deer antler, I soon collapsed to the floor, gasping for air.

When Vivian saw the disgusting red rashes spreading across my body, she frowned in disgust and kicked me away from Jason.

Half an hour later, after returning from the emergency room, I heard heated sounds of passion coming from the master bedroom.

“Vivian, don’t twist around so much, be careful of our baby...”

“Don’t worry, Jason. I’m exactly three months along today. It’ll be fine.”

Three months ago was my wedding anniversary with Vivian.

So her so-called overtime that night had just been an excuse to secretly meet Jason.

I walked into the study and shredded the family portrait Vivian had placed on the desk, then threw the pieces away.

I found the safe, entered Jason’s birthday and smoothly retrieved my identification documents.

Without looking back, I walked out the front gates of the villa.

At the security booth, the guard dutifully asked, “Sir, where are you headed? I’ll arrange a driver to take you.”

I shook my head. “No need. The car I called is already wait…”

Before I could finish my sentence, the phone inside the security booth suddenly rang, sharp and unexpected.

Half an hour later.

Bound to a hospital bed with restraint straps, I heard Vivian arguing outside the door with her doctor friend, Jenna Deale.

“Vivian, even if you never had real feelings for Ethan, he still worked hard without complaint, handed over his salary and took care of you and the child for six whole years. How could you tie him up and force him to donate a healthy kidney to Jason just because he ruined his kidneys from drinking too much? You have to understand, losing a kidney can severely affect a man’s health and vitality. Ethan’s body was already in poor condition after that car accident when he saved you. This surgery might leave him permanently infertile due to the complications!”

"Wouldn't it be perfect if he lost the ability to have children?" Vivian said coolly and indifferently. "The death of our daughter proves Ethan is unfit to be a father. Removing his kidney will also kill any delusion he has about me ever bearing him another child. A shallow, useless husband like him was clinging to power and willing to do anything he's told, as long as he's guaranteed a lifetime of food and comfort."

Hearing the door open, I quietly closed my eyes.

My cheek felt a slight tickle. It was Vivian brushing the messy hair from my forehead.

"Ethan, as long as you obediently cooperate and get this little surgery done, I can give whatever you want."

After all these years of marriage, it was the first time she had ever spoken to me so gently. But I completely ignored her and calmly looked straight at Jenna:

"Dr. Deale, please proceed with the surgery as soon as possible. I have things to take care of later."

"Something to take care? What could a married man possibly have to do this late at night?"

With her red lips slightly parted and her expression cold, Vivian seemed like she had more to say, but her phone rang at that very moment.

It was Jason’s custom ringtone.

“Jason, don’t be scared. I’m coming to be with you right now.”

Watching her hurry away, Jenna’s eyes filled with even deeper sympathy for me.

“Ethan, if you regret it now, it’s still not too late to stop.”

I thought of how Vivian had covered my father’s cancer treatment expenses for ten years. With a faint smile, I shook my head at Jenna and simply said, “Dr. Deale, I’d like to ask you for a favor...”

Two hours later…

As I slowly woke from anesthesia, the first thing I saw was Vivian sitting by the bed.

Seeing the bright satisfaction on her face, it was obvious that Jason's transplant surgery had gone smoothly.

“Ethan, you still haven’t told me what reward you want?”

I lazily blinked once and replied, “Then I’ll trouble you to peel me an apple.”

My polite and courteous tone made Vivian pause in slight confusion.

After a few seconds of thought, assuming I must be starving, she ordered takeout from several of my favorite restaurants.

But even faced with a table full of my favorite dishes, I didn’t so much as lift a spoon.

Seeing this, Vivian, who rarely sat down to eat with me, frowned and quietly set down her plate and spoon.

"Ethan, if the food on the table doesn't suit your taste, you can tell me what you want. I'll have someone...”

“It’s fine, I’m not hungry at all.”

As soon as I finished speaking, my phone rang. The caller ID was 10086.

I picked up the phone and walked into the bathroom. As soon as I answered, I heard that person's voice, filled with a pitiful tone, asking, “Ethan, I’ve already arrived at the airport in Haventon, but I didn’t see you. Are you... still unable to let go of her?”

“No, I just ran into some unexpected issues on the road. It caused a delay.”

“What happened? Are you hurt? Send me your location, I’ll come right over...”

Interrupting their overthinking, I simply said…

“I can handle it myself. So, can you wait for me?”

Upon receiving an unhesitating affirmative reply from the other side, I lowered my head, barely touching my lips, when Vivian suddenly barged in without a sound.

“Ethan, who are you hiding in here talking to on the phone?”

I swiftly ended the call, then calmly met her gaze. “A friend.”

A friend? What kind of friend would need to hide from their wife to make a phone call?

Vivian sneered, about to speak and question me, but at that moment, a sudden, thunderous sound rang out from outside the window.

At the sound, Vivian immediately strode toward the VIP ward.

Ever since we got married, whenever she would leave me behind to comfort Jason, who was scared of the thunder, I would throw a fit and refuse to let him go.

But now, halfway down the hall, the woman suddenly realized I hadn’t chased after her. A strange, sour feeling surged in her chest, causing her to instinctively furrow her brows.

However, she didn’t think much of it and simply assumed I was being unexpectedly well-behaved.

As a reward, when I was discharged from the hospital the next day, she wasted no time in dragging me to the shopping mall, allowing me to follow behind her and Jason like a lapdog, accompanying them as they went shopping.

Even though all the sales girls in the mall knew I was Vivian’s legal husband, when they saw her clinging intimately to Jason, they still obsequiously handed the shopping bags to me, thanking me for “honoring” their store with my presence.

As I staggered from the weight of the bags and fell down the escalator, Vivian was in the baby store with Jason, picking out children’s items.

When Jason hesitated between pink or blue, she fondly pulled out her black card and bought out the entire store.

Just as I, battered and disheveled, walked into the store, I heard the shop assistant say to Jason with heartfelt admiration.

“Mr. Woods, you’re so lucky to have such a wonderful wife. The baby’s not even born yet and it already has the most loving mother in the world.”

Staring at the little star-patterned hair tie around my wrist, I suddenly recalled that day when our daughter, Yura, was rushed into the ER with acute meningitis.

I had called Vivian 199 times. Her phone was on, yet she didn’t answer even once.

Inside the emergency room, our daughter whispered to me, her voice as faint as a mosquito’s, “Daddy, I won’t sneak milk candies anymore.”

I cried as I gently stroked her face. “Why would you say that, baby?”

“Because… Mommy must be mad if I wasn’t obedient… That’s why she doesn’t want to come see me. Dad… I’m sorry… I'm such a useless child. I couldn’t help you get Mommy’s love.”

As my daughter lay dying, I knelt with no dignity at the doorstep of Jason’s apartment, begging him to let Vivian come with me to the hospital just for a moment.

What I got instead was Jason summoning bodyguards to pin me to the ground and slap me over and over.

By the time the doctor called to say my daughter had passed, Vivian had just woken up and slowly opened the door.

She looked at my swollen face, too bruised to form words and said indifferently, "I told you not to bother Jason. This is the price you pay for not behaving yourself."

Snapping out of my thoughts, I dropped all the shopping bags and turned to leave. But Vivian coldly grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the luxury watch store on the top floor.

"Ethan, haven’t you always been whining about wanting a watch?"

Watching her grip my wrist and casually start picking out watches for me, Jason quietly clenched his jaw.

He squeezed in between Vivian and me, wrapped his arm around her waist and gave me a mocking smile.

"Ethan, if it weren't for your selfless kidney donation, my body might’ve already collapsed. Vivian, how about we treat Ethan to a nice dinner tonight to show our thanks?"