Anna's expression changed drastically at my apology. Before she could say anything more, Josh's exclusive ringtone sounded from her phone.

As soon as the call connected, Josh's excited voice came through immediately.

"Anna, I got the professor position! Come pick me up from the campus later, and we'll celebrate properly tonight!"

Anna instinctively looked at me.

I smiled and said, "Go ahead. I'll take a taxi home."

With that, I quickly got out of the car. Even though I knew her gaze was fixed on me, I didn't look back even once.

I had just gotten home when I received a message from Anna. She said she would come home early tonight and that I absolutely had to wait for her because she had something to tell me.

However, I waited the entire night, and she never came back.

Actually, before Josh returned to the country, Anna and I did have a sweet past together. Back then, she hadn't yet developed her terrible sense of direction.

Every weekend, she'd take me to various popular tourist spots to take photos. She'd also accompany me to eat all the snacks I craved.

Knowing I loved superheroes, she specially chose the Heroes Campus as our wedding venue.

She confessed to me loudly in front of everyone, "Claude Huffman, no matter how bustling and prosperous the city is, without you, it's just an empty city. A place without you is not a home, so starting today, I have a home."

I was so moved, I spun her around in circles right there on the spot.

She also loudly vowed to me, "I, Anna Fulton, will love only you in this life. I will only ever be good to you alone. I hope you will take care of me for a lifetime."

Back then, how could I have ever imagined that her "lifetime" would last merely a few short years?

Before we got married, I did know she had a childhood sweetheart.

But at that time, she told me Josh had settled abroad and probably would never come back. Besides, she also said she only ever saw him as a neighbor she grew up with.

Who would have guessed that Josh would suddenly return to the country shortly after our wedding, and with Anna's help, even become my colleague? Meanwhile, she herself had started to "forget" the way home.

When I confronted her, she retorted, "Do you think I wanted to suddenly become directionally challenged? It's because you're always making a fuss over nothing, keeping me on edge all day, that I ended up developing this rare condition.

"And of course, I helped Josh when he came back looking for a job. Claude, you're a college lecturer, so can't you keep your thoughts from being so twisted? Since when can't men and women have a purely platonic friendship?

"Just because you don't have a childhood sweetheart doesn't mean I can't have one! If I'd known you were such a jealous man, I never would have married you in the first place."

If I had walked away the moment I heard her say all that, perhaps many things that followed would never have happened. But in this world, there was no such thing as "if".

Still, maybe this was for the best. After experiencing hurt and heartache time and time again, when the moment came to truly let go, it wouldn't be so agonizingly painful.

Right now, I was waiting for the right moment to let go while slowly weaning myself off her. However, I never expected that moment to come so soon.

That day, I was teaching my class as usual when suddenly a crowd of reporters burst into the classroom with cameras, snapping photos of me frantically.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Claude Huffman?"

I nodded with a frown, then asked sternly, "Who are you people? I'm in the middle of a class right now. Please leave."

But instead of leaving, those reporters shoved their microphones right in my face.

"Mr. Huffman, do you have anything to say about the accusations of academic fraud and plagiarizing someone else's thesis?"

"Did you deliberately skip this year's professor selection because you have a guilty conscience?"

"Do your students know that you're actually a fraud who faked your academic research?"

For a moment, I even wondered if I had misheard. But when I met the suspicious gazes of the students down in the lecture hall, I knew I hadn't misheard.

I looked at the reporters in front of me, who were clearly ill-intentioned, and loudly denied, "I did not commit academic fraud, let alone plagiarize anyone else's thesis!

"If you keep spreading rumors and causing trouble, I will definitely sue you for defamation!"

The moment I finished speaking, someone in the crowd suddenly let out a sneer.

"Mr. Huffman, stop trying to deny it. Your wife has already issued an apology on your behalf."

That thesis was something I spent half a year on, poring over countless sources to complete.

Anna knew this too. So, I called her frantically, wanting to ask her what on earth was going on. But her phone just kept ringing with no answer.

And so, I was forced to be suspended from my position.

That night, Anna finally came home. The moment she walked in, I hurled our wedding photo at her feet.

"Anna, I already gave up the professor position to Josh, so why did you still have to help him frame me? Why are you doing this to me?"

Anna looked at the broken glass at her feet. Instead of getting angry, she chuckled softly.

"Claude, I knew it. Your sudden magnanimity and understanding about me spending time with Josh these past few days was all an act. See? One little test and your true colors come shining through."

My eyes reddened as I looked at her in disbelief. "So, you destroyed my career just to expose my true colors? Anna, you are absolutely insane!"

She shook her head. "That's not the whole reason. Josh just got promoted to professor and needs a high-quality thesis to solidify his standing, and your paper just happened to be a perfect fit.

"Don't look at me like that. The fact that I considered your work worthy is a compliment in itself. Sure, this situation has put you through a bit of trouble. But don't worry, I'll make it up to you later. Think of it as a chance to take a real break and recharge."

I was shaking with rage, but she hummed a little tune happily as she went into the room.

Before long, her voice drifted out from the bedroom. "Don't worry, Josh. I've already taken care of things on Claude's side. He won't cause you any trouble.

"Just focus on preparing for the international symposium next week. Rest assured that as long as I'm here, I won't let anyone hurt you."

As I listened to her soft, tender words, threads of hatred quietly began to take root within me.

Just then, my phone chimed with a message from Josh.

"Thanks, Claude! Your thesis was really well-written. But whether it's the thesis, the professorship, or Anna—whenever I set my sights on something, you never stand a chance.

"So, if you have any self-awareness left, just piss off on your own. Don't wait until the end when you've lost both your reputation and your dignity."

In that moment, I completely lost all reason and immediately forwarded the chat history to the president of the college, Glenn Tanner.

Then, I called him. "Mr. Tanner, you saw it, right? Josh admitted to plagiarizing my thesis. He's the real fraud here! I want the college to immediately issue a statement online and revoke Josh's professorship!"

But before Mr. Tanner could even speak, my phone was snatched away by Anna.

Right in front of me, she said to him, "Mr. Tanner, Claude has been under too much mental stress lately, so he's developed delusions. Those screenshots are actually all photoshopped by him."

"I plan to take Claude to Alpenland for treatment, so he probably won't be able to work for a long time. Sorry for the trouble this has caused you and the college.

"To express my apology, I'll donate two more research buildings to the college. Please take good care of Professor Lowry."

After hanging up the phone, Anna slapped me hard across the face and said coldly, "Claude, didn't I make it very clear that I'd make it up to you? So, why won't you just behave?

"You've really disappointed me. Since that's the case, don't blame me for being heartless."

The woman who once vowed to love me forever had just locked me in a basement so dark I couldn't even see my own hand in front of my face.

To punish me for my disobedience, Anna instructed the bodyguards to give me spoiled, rotten food. This, however, gave me the perfect opportunity to fake a stomachache and escape.

After finally shaking off the bodyguards chasing me, I tried to hail a taxi to my parents' house. They were the only people I had left to trust.

But after going a week without a shower or clean clothes, the smell coming off me was unbearable. Thus, not one driver was willing to take me.

In the end, I had to rely on my own two legs. I was exhausted and starving. If it weren't for the indelible hatred burning inside me, I probably would've passed out by the roadside long ago.

I walked for nearly three hours before finally reaching the neighborhood where my parents lived and immediately spotted my father, Eric Huffman, standing right downstairs from our building.

In that moment, my eyes stung with tears, and the fear that had gripped my heart finally eased, if only for a while.

But before I could step forward, I suddenly noticed there was someone standing in front of Dad. It was Anna's assistant, Saul Wade.

I instinctively ducked into the stairwell of the next building and pressed my ear tightly against the wall.

"Tell Anna not to worry. If Claude contacts his mother or me, we'll let her know right away. He's been out of line, and we'll make sure to discipline him when the time comes. As for his younger brother's job…"

Those few sentences were like a blade, piercing straight through my heart and leaving me in unbearable pain.

So, even my closest family could abandon me without a second thought for just a tiny bit of personal gain. Then who in this world could I still trust? No, I couldn't trust anyone except myself!

I would not let Anna and Josh have their way. Even if it costs me my life, I'd expose their true colors in front of everyone.

With that thought, I turned around and ran without hesitation. This time, my destination was the college where I worked.

If I remembered correctly, today was the day of the International Symposium's opening ceremony.

As the youngest professor at the college, Josh was scheduled to give a speech on stage. At the same time, the college was also going to take advantage of this rare opportunity to officially present him with his letter of appointment.

Moreover, Anna was the special guest invited by the college to present the letter of appointment.

For them, today was a day of great celebration, a chance to gain both fame and fortune. But for me, it was my only opportunity to prove my innocence and make them pay.

I sneaked into the lecture hall.

At that moment, Josh stood at the podium in a finely tailored, expensive suit, speaking confidently while holding the thesis he had stolen from me.

Under the stage, the college's management and guests looked at him with admiration in their eyes. Among the students, too, there was nothing but respect and envy.

As for Anna, the adoration in her eyes was impossible to miss.

At the sight, I clenched my fists tightly as a blaze of anger consumed me from within.

Just as Anna took the letter of appointment from the emcee and was about to hand it to Josh, I suddenly stood up and shouted with all my might, "He's a thief! He isn't worthy of being a professor!"