Izzy’s POV

“Bro, are you really planning to never touch Izzy again? You’ve been with her for five years, and she’s gorgeous, too. You really believe you can hold back?”

Gavin’s buddies’ teasing voices drifted through the door that hadn’t been shut properly. The moment I heard them, my hand froze around the divorce papers.

Gavin replied casually, “I promised Frankie. As long as she doesn’t agree, I won’t touch Izzy.”

That voice—so familiar—sent a chill straight through me.

Five years of marriage, and he’d barely touched me. So this was why. Every time he did, he had to report it to Frankie.

Frankie let out a soft laugh, her hand sliding along Gavin’s arm, her face full of smug arrogance.

“Gavin, look at them—they don’t even believe you. Why don’t you just find some people to take care of Izzy for you? You don’t even like her anyway. Let someone else enjoy her. Who knows—maybe Izzy would love that.”

As she spoke, she gently brushed his cheek and giggled. “You wouldn’t feel bad about it, right, Gavin?”

For a moment, he fell silent.

My heart leapt into my throat. I gripped the divorce papers even tighter.

Seeing he didn’t answer, Frankie tugged at his sleeve coquettishly. “Hey, didn’t you say you only like me? It’s just letting someone satisfy Izzy. Are you really going to embarrass me in front of your friends?”

The next second, Gavin sighed helplessly.

“Fine. Whatever you want.”

My breathing stopped. And then, tears burst from my eyes.

Meanwhile, the private room exploded with laughter. Frankie kissed Gavin, smug and pleased.

“Then let it be that group in the middle of the bar. Might as well—Izzy should feel lucky.”

That group in the middle of the bar was clearly a bunch of thugs.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I rushed toward the door.

Before I even made it home, Gavin called. It was eerily quiet on his end—only his usual gentle voice.

“Izzy, aren’t you still in the hospital? I sent my men to take care of you, but the hospital said you already checked out. Where are you now?”

I dug my nails into my palm.

He actually sent those fucking thugs to the hospital!

He really listened to Frankie. He really wanted to destroy me completely!

I bit down on my lower lip. The taste of blood forced me to calm down.

“I’ve been discharged. I’m out right now. I don’t need anyone taking care of me. If you have nothing else to say, I’m hanging up.”

I rushed to end the call.

But I heard him chuckle. “Izzy, the villa security said they saw you. Don’t worry. I’ll have someone pick you up. They’ll take very good care of you.”

With that, he hung up.

My eyes widened in terror, and I sprinted toward the villa.

Panic made me careless. Just before reaching the entrance, I tripped over a stone and slammed hard onto the ground.

The next second, several shadows appeared behind me.

Terrified, I didn’t even dare turn around. I crawled desperately toward the villa.

But in the end, my legs were yanked back violently.

The thugs’ disgusting laughter rang out behind me.

“Hey, beautiful… If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for being out so late.”

I clawed at the ground with all ten fingers and screamed, “How much did they pay you? I’ll give you double!”

But no one answered.

I fought with everything I had, but it only made them rougher.

Beating. Tearing. My clothes were ripped apart and scattered on the ground.

Countless dirty hands roamed over my body.

My terrified cries and helpless sobs were completely smothered by a large hand clamped over my mouth.

Not far away, the lights of the villa suddenly went out. I heard the housekeeper’s sigh.

“Ma’am… Please don’t blame me. Sir Gavin told me not to save you…”

At that moment, my tears poured out uncontrollably.

And the very last trace of love I had for Gavin vanished… completely.

Izzy’s POV

I thought I wasn’t going to make it out.

But then, very quickly, I heard the police shouting behind me. The thugs panicked and scattered in all directions.

Someone helped me up. The torn pieces of clothing on the ground were draped back over me again, as if nothing had ever happened.

But only I knew—something inside me had completely died.

The police spoke to me with concern, but their voices sounded distant, like there was a layer of glass between us.

Those disgusting men were arrested soon after. After all the procedures were finished, I returned to the villa in a daze.

The moment I stepped inside, I heard laughter coming from the living room.

Frankie was sitting in Gavin’s arms, holding a wine glass, acting as if nothing had happened at all.

While they were enjoying a candlelight dinner, I had been assaulted not far from this very villa.

And the real culprit was now brazenly occupying my home.

The instant they saw me, their expressions changed.

Gavin frowned reflexively.

“Why are you back so late? And why do you look like such a mess?”

How could he pretend so naturally—like none of this had anything to do with him?

I clenched my teeth hard, forcing the hatred in my eyes back down.

Before I could say anything, Frankie stood up and walked toward me with a bright smile.

“Izzy,” she said softly, malice hidden in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I was busy ‘punishing’ Gavin, so I didn’t go to the hospital to see you. Weren’t you discharged already? Why are you only coming back now? And what happened to you…?”

She reached out to touch me, but I immediately stepped back.

Her smile stiffened for a moment, then she spoke with deliberate cruelty.

“You’re in such a mess. Don’t tell me you were assaulted by a group of men?”

After saying that, she covered her mouth, looking shocked.

“Oh, Izzy, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I was just joking. You don’t mind, right?”

She reached out again, trying to grab me.

This time, I slapped her hand away.

“Don’t touch me!”

She stumbled back a couple of steps. Gavin immediately stood up and caught her, then shouted at me angrily, “Izzy! Are you crazy? Frankie was just joking! Or what—were you actually assaulted?”

“What if I was, huh?!” My sharp voice echoed through the villa as I stared straight at him.

His body stiffened for a split second. Then he put on an angry act.

“Who dared to lay a hand on you? I’ll make sure they pay for it! Izzy, don’t worry. Even if you were assaulted, you’re still my wife. I won’t let this get out.”

He looked at me with nothing but tenderness. Anyone else would’ve been deeply moved by his words.

But the one who actually arranged for me to be assaulted was him.

I looked at him with something like a smile, but my eyes were frighteningly red.

“No need. I’ve already sent those people to prison. I believe it won’t be long before the monster who sent them is caught, too.”

With that, the smile on his face froze instantly.

He pulled out his phone.

“They actually dared to hurt my wife. I’ll make sure they rot in prison. Izzy, don’t worry. I’ll find the mastermind behind this right now.”

With that, he hurried out.

Once he was gone, the smile on Frankie’s face completely faded. She tilted her head lazily and looked at me.

“Izzy, you know, I used to really envy you. You had such a good husband. But slowly, I stopped envying you. After all, my lover would never make me sign a forgiveness letter for the real culprit.”

She looked at me, her eyes filled with a twisted sense of satisfaction.

A fake, pitying smile appeared in her eyes.

“Hey, I can’t drink chowder soup lately. I might be pregnant. Your child had such a short life… You couldn’t even give birth to it. So… this bowl of soup should go to you instead.”

“But don’t worry,” she added. “My child will be your child. I’ll make sure it takes good care of you.”

At that point, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I grabbed the bowl of soup from the table and dumped it straight over that bitch.

The next second, hurried footsteps sounded from outside.

Gavin took in the scene before him and let out a furious roar.

“Izzy!”

Izzy’s POV

“Gavin, I only said I couldn’t drink soup. And then Izzy just…”

Frankie immediately turned to Gavin, crying as she complained.

The look in his eyes when he turned to me went ice-cold.

“Izzy! What exactly are you trying to do?” he demanded, frowning hard.

Frankie clutched his arm and spoke timidly. “Maybe it’s because she was assaulted before, so she’s more sensitive. I really didn’t mean anything by it.”

Gavin’s brows knitted tightly. “That was just your bad luck. How can you blame Frankie for that? Izzy, when did you become this vicious?”

He stepped forward and grabbed my arm tightly. “Apologize to her.”

I yanked my arm free. “I won’t apologize. That’s not what she said at all. She mocked me for having a miscarriage—”

But he didn’t even look at me before cutting me off. His voice was firm and cold.

“Apologize to Frankie. Don’t make me say it a third time.”

I stood there, silent, refusing to speak.

Seeing how pale I was, he sighed, as if he was about to step closer and take my hand.

But in the next second, Frankie suddenly clutched her stomach and cried out in pain.

“Ugh! My stomach hurts so much, Gavin… I think Izzy scared me. Can you take me to the hospital first? It’s okay if she doesn’t apologize.”

Hearing that, Gavin looked at me with disappointment.

He picked her up and walked out. As he passed me, he didn’t even notice when I was knocked to the floor.

I fell hard, a dull pain spreading through my abdomen.

I stayed silent, watching him walk away without ever looking back.

He didn’t care about my injuries.

He didn’t care about my explanation.

In his eyes, I was practically invisible.

Bone-deep exhaustion swallowed me whole. I wanted to scream, to tear apart every fake mask they were wearing.

But in the end, all I did was slowly and painfully walk back to the bedroom.

The moment I pushed the door open, my breathing stopped.

Everything that belonged to me was gone.

My clothes. Our wedding photos. The intimate pictures by the bed. The gifts he gave me every anniversary.

Everything—gone.

In their place were Frankie’s clothes and her makeup.

In just one day, her perfume had completely taken over the room.

The sheets on the bed were wrinkled and messy.

They had actually slept together in my bed.

My hands shook violently. I wanted to rip everything to shreds.

Just then, my phone rang. Another message from my fake best friend popped up.

[Sorry, Izzy. I punished Gavin a little too late last night, so I ended up sleeping in your room. You don’t mind, right? As for your stuff, the housekeeper probably put them in the storage room. You can look for them yourself.]

Attached was a photo of Gavin gently feeding her chicken soup.

I could almost see the smug look in her eyes.

I had the urge to expose everything, to tear off her fake, innocent mask so she could never pretend again.

But in the end, I held myself back.

After retrieving my clothes from the storage room, I threw all the keepsakes and wedding photos into the fireplace.

The flames quickly devoured everything.

It wasn’t until after midnight that Gavin and Frankie returned to the villa.

Maybe they thought I was already asleep because they became completely uninhibited.

Frankie’s moans woke me up.

I got out of bed and looked toward what used to be my bedroom.

Her eyes were seductive, her arm draped over Gavin as her nails dragged deep scratches down his back.

“Gavin, do you like me more, or Izzy?” she asked softly. “Can she ignite your passion more than I can?”

Gavin let out a low laugh, full of mockery.

“Don’t mention her at a time like this. Izzy isn’t even clean anymore. How could she possibly compare to you?” he said. “Even before, she was like a dead fish in bed. You’re the only one I’ve ever truly liked.”

He kissed her deeply, and the two of them fell back into another wave of frenzy.

I knew he wasn’t the same man he used to be.

But hearing him say those words still made my chest ache unbearably.

Just as I turned my gaze away, my eyes met Frankie’s.

The look in those eyes… was full of provocation.

Clearly, she had known all along that I was standing there.

I bit down hard on my lip until the taste of blood filled my mouth.