All the paparazzi in Glorisia knows that Wanda Foster would rather sleep with an escort from a nightclub than with me, her legally-wedded husband.

The daily question they ask is, "When will Mr. Gulliver give his precious first time away?"

When faced with the paparazzi's cameras, Wanda turns to look at me arrogantly.

"We can just lead different romantic lives on our own. If you don't like how I act, feel free to sleep with someone else too."

After that, Wanda turns to leave.

That night, the spicy photos of her and her latest beau go viral on the news once again.

Just when everyone thinks I will spend yet another sleepless night agonizing over the news, I contact some paparazzi and place a reservation on a spot for sensational news.

Then, I strip down and mess up the bedsheets before taking a nude photo of myself from another person's POV.

After that, I use an unknown number to text Wanda.

"Oh my, James is seriously amazing in bed! Let me know when you're going to divorce him!"

James' POV

Feeling satisfied upon seeing the topic I had paid for shoot up the trending chart, I prepared to turn in for the night.

Not even 30 minutes later, Wanda Foster's hurried and heavy footsteps sounded outside the room.

"Is this your way of getting revenge, James Gulliver?" she demanded. "Who is she?"

She then threw a photo in my face.

One half of the photo showed a flirtatious image of me as I lounged on the bed, while the other half of the photo showed my brother, Mason Gulliver, pressing Wanda against a window in an explicit position.

It was the same photo that I had sold to the paparazzi. They had then posted it online with the caption, "The Fosters Reach a New Agreement: They'll Leave Each Other Alone and Have Their Own Fun."

I sat on the edge of the bed and lit a cigarette.

"Isn't this what you wanted? The one thing you shouldn't have done was trample over my pride and fool around with my father's bastard son!"

Wanda's breath hitched in her throat. Instead of continuing the conversation, she gritted her teeth and repeated, "Who is she?"

"You don't need to know. It's only fair that way."

In the past, I swore to myself that I would learn everything about her lovers no matter the cost. I was still young back then and couldn't stand not knowing.

However, I realized later that she changed her lovers before I had a chance to take action. It was why I gave up on my endeavors a long time ago.

Wanda suddenly let out a sinister cackle.

"You have some nerve, James!"

Her gaze fell on the scratches on my shoulder before she pounced on me and pinned me to the bed.

Caught completely off guard, I couldn't stop her from stabbing a sharp blade into my shoulder, covering up the scratch marks with blood.

"Have you lost your mind, Wanda?" I roared.

Wanda's eyes were completely bloodshot as she pressed her weight down on me. A vein in her forehead pulsed rapidly.

"This will be your first and last time! I'm going to bury that trending topic. You better return to normal before I lose control."

Wanda's definition of "normal" was the way I didn't even flinch when explicit photos of her and her lovers spread like wildfire online. I also simply accepted all the items that they sent me, including used condoms and stained pants.

Wanda's dark eyes bore into mine for a long time. She only released her hold on me when she saw the sheen of sweat beading across my forehead from the immense pain. Then, she pulled out a roll of bandages from the bedside drawer.

"Don't touch me!" I snapped as I shoved her away.

Wanda got off the bed, her expression darkening. "You only put up an act to piss me off, didn't you? Why are you still pretending? You're willing to discard your pride just to catch my attention. What else can you possibly do, James?"

She accidentally cut my arm with the knife as she was ranting, causing blood to soak the silk sheets.

I gritted my teeth in pain, but the ache in my heart overshadowed everything else.

Wanda didn't even blink as she stared at me. Her gaze was nearly devoid of emotion when she said, "Mom was right. A man like you who crawled your way up from the bottom of the food chain will never do anything worthwhile or be presentable.

"Why did you even bother to find someone to put on this act? Just divorce me if you actually have the guts to do it! Your brother is a thousand times better than you anyway!"

Wanda stormed out of the room without sparing another glance at me after she was done speaking.

A few moments later, a divorce agreement bearing her signature was sent to my phone. In the agreement, we would split our assets 70 to 30, with me receiving the bigger portion.

Wanda was still convinced that I wouldn't leave her.

I penned my signature on the document before dialing a number and confirming my time of departure.

As I did so, I wondered why Wanda was so confident that the woman I slept with didn't actually exist.

James' POV

The tight coil in my heart finally unraveled when I hung up.

I recalled how the entire world had been against Wanda's stubborn decision to marry me. Her parents looked down on me because of my regular family background, and Wanda herself was nearly expelled from Glorisia Business Association.

However, Wanda had shouldered the pressure of public opinion and married me in a grand wedding ceremony.

Everyone said that I was the luckiest man in Glorisia. However, I wasn't the only one attracted to Wanda, who seemed like a goddess in real life.

After receiving a call during our wedding night, she disappeared and didn't return.

I sat in front of the floor-to-ceiling window and smoked through an entire pack of cigarettes.

Wanda reeked of alcohol when she finally stumbled back in the early hours of the morning. She calmly patted my head and asked, "Do you know what the cutest thing about you is? You're mature enough not to cause any trouble. The Fosters need a head of the family like you."

At that moment, the anger I had been suppressing in my heart was completely extinguished.

I learned to behave and not cause a fuss, becoming her perfect trophy husband.

However, Wanda got involved with the man I hated the most in my life, Mason.

I recalled how Dad tried to force Mom to acknowledge Mason as her son when he brought Mason home for the first time.

At the time, Mom, who had always been a headstrong woman, simply hugged me without saying a word. Instead of acknowledging Mason, she gave Dad two options—he could either send Mason away, or she would take me and leave the Gulliver family.

Dad didn't give her an answer. He stood on the balcony and allowed the biting winds to blow past him. Only when he returned to his room did he realize that Mom had jumped out from the window and fallen to her death.

It was a stormy night, and the rain washed away the blood on Mom's corpse.

Wanda had rushed over to hold me. She allowed me to punch her over and over again as she repeatedly murmured, "It's okay…"

However, the same Wanda was also the one who chose Mason as her new lover, destroying what little pride I had left as the head of the Foster family.

…

Wanda didn't return again that night.

The trending topic that I had paid for was completely buried, disappearing without a trace.

Meanwhile, Wanda proudly took Mason with her while she attended banquets, letting him replace me as the CEO's husband.

She also made a show of inviting everyone in Glorisia to attend Mason's grand birthday party the next day even though she knew that his birthday was also Mom's death anniversary.

It was clear that Wanda wanted me to come to terms with reality and accept that someone like me could never stand a chance against someone like her.

She had also asked her personal doctor to tend to the deep gash on my shoulder.

"Ms. Foster still cares about you. You have to remember that your body isn't like everyone else's. Your injuries don't heal as easily."

I barked out a self-deprecating laugh but didn't say anything else.

In the next second, I received a video from an anonymous sender.

The video showed Mason, who looked like he was having an emotional meltdown.

"When I tried to convince Mrs. Gulliver to accept me as her son that night, she beat me and told me that I didn't deserve it. I accidentally pushed her out of the window during our scuffle, but I only did it out of self-defense. Dad, Wanda, what should I do?"

Mason then slapped his own mouth over and over again, blabbering about how sorry he was toward me.

There was a loud buzzing in my ears. I felt as if my entire world had been turned upside down.

Dad slapped Mason before clutching his chest in anger.

"How on earth did I end up with a son like you? You killed my wife!"

There was a bright red handprint on Mason's cheek as he turned to stubbornly stare at Wanda's back.

"You'll help me, right?" he asked. "You care about me, don't you?"

The silence stretched on for a long time.

My heart leaped into my throat.

I couldn't make out Wanda's expression in the video, but her voice was firm and calm when she said, "You need to go into hiding for the time being. I'll handle the police."

James' POV

Every word that Wanda uttered rang clearly in my ears, cutting me deeply.

Everyone in the world had chosen to keep me in the dark regarding Mom's death, including Wanda, the one person I trusted unconditionally.

That night, I had run through the rain to get to the police station. Wanda even got into a car accident when she chased after me. She mustered all her strength to crawl out from under the car and grabbed my ankle with her bloody hand.

"Go home, James. I'll handle the rest."

I naively believed that she would seek justice for me and Mom. I refused to believe that Mom would take her own life and leave me behind.

I never would have guessed that my own father and wife would betray me.

…

The next day, I showed up at Mason's birthday party in a disheveled state.

Mason had one arm intimately wrapped around Wanda's slender waist as he excitedly showed off the gold ring she had given him. It was a family heirloom that had been passed down in the Foster family for generations.

The way he behaved made it seem as if he was Wanda's actual husband.

Everyone turned to look at me when I stepped into the hall. Some looked at me with disdain, while some looked at me with a mocking glint in their eyes.

Meanwhile, Wanda looked completely at ease. She spread her arms in my direction, probably assuming that I was there to pathetically beg her for reconciliation.

Unfortunately for her, she would be disappointed.

"Wanda, was Mason the one who killed Mom? You're his accomplice, aren't you?"

Wanda's breath hitched in her throat, but the remorse in her eyes swiftly disappeared.

"It's Mason's birthday today! Don't cause any trouble."

Dad also rushed down the stage and slapped me hard across my face.

I finally accepted the truth when I saw them exchange cautious glances with one another.

Everything in the video had been real.

Just then, Mason threw himself at me with bloodshot eyes.

"James, I know that Mrs. Gulliver hated that she couldn't kill me while she was alive, but we're supposed to rely on each other for the rest of our lives. I'm begging you. Please don't hurt me anymore. I'll forget about how you tortured me in the past. I'll be good and listen to everything you say."

He revealed the scars on his arms as he spoke, looking pitiful.

Wanda's heart ached terribly when she saw the scars. She frowned deeply and shot a disappointed look at me, snapping, "He's your brother, James. How could you abuse him like that?"

The guests inhaled sharply and began discussing among themselves.

"James' mother tried to murder Mason, but she ended up killing herself instead. She got what she deserved."

"I had no idea that James was such a shameless man. He hurt Mason just because he wanted Wanda all for himself. Old virgins like him are always causing problems."

"He and his mother must have gotten used to harassing others to get their way. In the end, they're just despicable people who came from the sticks. They'll never change their terrible ways."

The image of Mom falling from the window flashed through my mind as the guests bombarded me with a barrage of criticism.

I couldn't take it anymore. When I finally snapped back to my senses, I realized that I had clamped my hands around Mason's neck.

"I'm going to make you pay with your life!"

Mason thrashed wildly in my hold.

In the next second, a massive force roughly shoved me aside.

Wanda raised a trembling hand and slapped me with all her might.

"What do you think you're doing, James?" she roared. "I want you to tell everyone the truth now! You're the one who slandered Mason! You and your mother were the ones who harassed him! If you don't…"

She suddenly lowered her voice. Her tone was gentle yet immeasurably cruel when she said, "If you don't, I'll destroy your mother's grave. It's her death anniversary today, isn't it?"