Was this some kind of joke? I had only been collecting that million-dollar salary for a month. I had not even made enough, but she had woken up.

She could have stayed in that coma a little longer. I was not ready to lose my job.

I was screaming inside, but I kept a straight face and stuck to the loyal-husband script. “B-Babe, you’re awake! That’s amazing. I’ll tell your mom right away.”

Before I could move, Thea stopped me. “Stay right there.”

I froze and turned to look at her.

“You’re Xeno Walker?” she asked.

I nodded. “I’m your husband.”

Right after I said that, I heard a voice inside my head.

‘Where did Mom find this ugly, dumb guy?’

My eyes went wide. What the hell? I could hear her thoughts.

She could call me dumb, but insulting my looks? That was crossing the line. Every time I looked in the mirror, I would appreciate how good-looking I was.

I looked her up and down. No matter how I saw it, she did not seem like someone who had just woken up from a coma.

“Have you been faking being in a coma this whole time?”

Thea let out a cold snort. “Guess you’re not that dumb.”

I finally exhaled. It seemed I would not be fired just yet.

“Why would you fake it in the first place?”

“You don’t need to know. Just make sure you keep your mouth shut,” she said with a straight face.

She thought, ‘A dumb guy like you doesn’t deserve to know anything about me.’

This time, I was absolutely sure I could hear her thoughts.

Of course, nothing nice ever came out of her thought.

“I don’t see why I should listen to you.”

She shot me a glare. “Do you want to keep that one-million-dollar salary a month or not?”

Yes. Yes, I did.

I zipped my lips with a finger. “You have my word. I won’t say a thing.”

Just like that, we had an agreement. She would keep pretending to be in a coma, and I would keep covering for her while collecting my paycheck.

Honestly, having her awake was more trouble than it was worth. She had a complaint about everything.

I had to pick out every tiny fish bone before she would eat. Her water had to stay exactly at 98.6°F. Even a wrinkle in the sheets would keep her up all night.

She made that princess from the fairy tale with the pea seem easygoing.

After a week of this, I was more exhausted than a college student during finals week.

Then one night, while I finally got some sleep, she woke me up.

“I want penne.”

Still half-asleep, I mumbled, “Okay. I’ll tell the maid to make you some tomorrow.”

“I want it now, and I want you to cook it,” she replied.

I checked my phone with a scowl. “It’s past midnight. You want penne right now?”

I turned my back to her. “No way.”

Seriously, who demanded penne in the middle of the night? She was making my head hurt.

Just then, I heard a sound that made my heart skip a beat.

“You’ve received 10,000 in your account.”

My eyes flew open. I gave her my best smile to suck up to her and sweetly asked, “What kind of penne, babe?”

She was a sweetheart whom everyone adored.

I was feeling pretty pleased until I heard her thoughts. ‘Hmph. What a money-hungry idiot.’

However, I swallowed my pride.

One day, once I had saved enough, I was going to walk out on her.

“Penne with tomato sauce,” Thea said casually.

How basic.

Nonetheless, I smiled like a bootlicker. “Coming right up.”

I got out of bed and headed to the kitchen.

Thank God the fridge was fully stocked. I grabbed what I needed and got cooking.

Who even craved penne at 3 a.m.?

I would never understand the rich.

She had one plate, while I inhaled two.

After I took the dishes back downstairs, I came up and caught her doing yoga. My face burned.

No wonder she had that body. She had been working out in secret.

Honestly, I was dying to get my hands on her.

She glanced at me. “Wipe your mouth.”

I coughed and wiped the corner of my lips. “Hey, you know you’re not supposed to exercise right after eating.”

She stood up and walked past me. At that moment, I heard her thoughts again.

She was thinking, ‘Greedy and lustful. What a combo.’

Something snapped in me, and I shoved her onto the bed.

Thea was stunned.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

I opened the drawer and tossed our marriage certificate in front of her. “Doing what husbands do.”

Thea stared at me in shock. “Xeno, are you out of your mind?”

I was just gearing up for a dramatic move when my phone started ringing.

It was my buddy, Leo Vance. He said he had just been dumped, and he was bawling his eyes out.

I quickly got off Thea and went to console him. Friends always came first.

The next day, while I was giving Thea a fancy foot soak with my 100,000-dollar paycheck, Laura walked in with a middle-aged man.

He turned out to be her brother, Andrew Bennett, which made him Thea’s uncle.

After Thea’s accident, he had taken over the responsibility of running Spencer Corp.

Andrew appeared grim. “How’s Thea doing lately?”

Inside, Thea was thinking, ‘Come on, you idiot. Tell him I’m doing terribly.’

I let out a long sigh. “Still the same. A few days ago, the doctor said her chances of waking up were slim.”

Then, I grabbed Thea’s hand and squeezed out a few tears.

“You have to wake up, babe. Please…”

Big, dramatic tears rolled down my face.

I was impressed with my own acting.

I did not know why Thea was pretending to be in a coma, but I was starting to think something bigger was going on.

Laura started crying too. She pulled a gold bar out of her bag and slipped it into my hand. “You’re a good man. With you by her side, she’s bound to wake up.”

As soon as I saw the gold bar, my tears dried up on the spot, and I gave a hard nod. “She will.”

Laura was so sweet, yet Thea was still faking a coma. What a terrible daughter.

After they left, I asked, “Don’t you get along with your uncle?”

Thea’s tone went flat. “Don’t ask questions you shouldn’t be asking.”

I rolled my eyes at her when she was not looking.

Like I was dying to know… If she did not want me involved, maybe she should not have dragged me into her little performance.

She then pointed at her feet. “Keep washing.”

My luxury life depended on her, so I kept scrubbing.

Once I was done, she said, “Make me some black coffee.”

I held out my hand in response. “Add it to the bill.”

She thought to herself, ‘All this guy ever thinks about is money. He’d probably marry a dollar bill if he could.’

In the end, she still transferred the money.

I looked at my account balance and grinned like a kid on Christmas morning. A few more months of this, and I would be set for life.

“Thanks, babe.”

She glared at me. “Try again.”

“Thanks, boss.”

Thea was at a loss for words.

Barely two days later, Thea was back to her usual antics. She made me wheel her outside to get some sun.

I did not blame her. After almost two years in bed, it was a miracle that she had not started growing moss.

So, I found a wheelchair and took her for a spin.

After a while, I started feeling thirsty. I leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Stay here. I’ll grab some water.”

There was a small shop ahead, so I went over and bought a bottle of water. The moment I stepped back outside, I saw two men standing in front of Thea.

My chest tightened, and I sprinted over. On the way, I grabbed a brick and hurled it at them.

“Touch her and see what happens.”

Thea was my golden goose, and I could not let her lose a single strand of hair.

The moment those two men saw me, they took off.

I quickly looked Thea over. She seemed okay, though her ears were a little red.

‘This idiot actually cares about me. He’s not that bad,’ she thought.

Please. She was my walking ATM. Of course, I cared.

Worried that something else might happen, I wheeled her straight back home.

When we got back, I had the maid help her upstairs. Meanwhile, I sat down and had some of Laura’s homemade soup.

The rich really knew how to live. No wonder Laura had such good skin and still looked like she was thirty.

After the meal, I headed back upstairs. Just as I got to the door, I heard Thea on the phone.

“When is Hunter coming back?”

That name sounded familiar.

Then, it hit me.

A few days ago, I saw a photo in Thea’s study. Curiosity got the better of me, so I brought the frame to Laura and asked her about it.

She told me that the guy’s name was Hunter Lowe. He was Thea’s childhood friend and ex-boyfriend.

They had a fight two years ago, and Thea got into a car accident while chasing after him.

This guy was no good for her, and he brought her bad luck.

However, based on all the romance novels I had read, once the childhood sweetheart showed up, the husband would usually get kicked to the curb.

Fine by me. I had already made over three million dollars anyway.

Once she hung up, I quietly walked in and pulled out my suitcase.

She looked at me and asked, “Where are you going?”

Her voice pulled me back to reality.

Right. What was I doing? We had not even talked about a breakup fee yet. Why was I packing? I kicked the suitcase back under the bed.

“Nothing. Just wiping the dust off it.”

Thea said, “I’m going out tonight. Cover for me. Don’t let my mom find out I’m gone.”

She was clearly off to see Hunter. Did she even remember she had a husband?

I snapped. “So, what’s in it for me if I cover for you?”

She gave me a look. “Is money all you ever think about?”

“Not true. I was actually wondering if you could share a few of those gold bars in your safe.”

Thea was speechless.

She thought, ‘This idiot only cares about money. Doesn’t he even want to know where I’m going tonight?’

She was going to meet her ex, obviously. What else?

Maybe it was the thought of losing my meal ticket, but I was in a weird mood that evening. So, I dragged Leo to a bar.

Laura always went to sleep early. Therefore, she would not notice that Thea was not in her bed.

After a few drinks, I was about to head out. But I stopped in my tracks when I passed by a private room.

My eyes widened. It was my rich and clueless boss… No, my wife.

She had a baseball cap on, but I recognized her right away. It was hard not to when she practically sparkled.

There were no guys with her, just another woman I had seen at the house once. I assumed she was her best friend.

“Xeno, what’s up?” Leo asked.

I said nothing, but suddenly, I felt this weird heat rush through my body.

Was there something wrong with the drinks?

Sensing something was off, I turned to Leo. “Take me to the—”

Before I could say the word “hospital,” I saw Thea walking out of the room.

My eyes locked on her lips, and then, like an uncaged beast, I lunged at her.