Chapter 1

On our wedding night, Evelyn Carter brought her male secretary into our brand-new penthouse.

She let him wear the pajamas I had just bought and lie on the king-sized bed I had meticulously decorated.

All because the secretary, Julian Hayes, looked strikingly like her deceased first love.

When I confronted her, Evelyn looked disgusted.

"What's wrong with finding someone to take care of you? You really don't know what's good for you, do you?"

Yet, the moment I asked Julian to pour me a glass of water, she snatched it and threw the scalding water straight over my hand, her face dark with impatience.

"Who gave you the right to order my people around?"

"If your mother hadn't guilt-tripped me on her deathbed, do you honestly think I would have ever agreed to marry you?"

Looking at her cold, arrogant face, an overwhelming exhaustion washed over me.

Evelyn truly believed I couldn't live without her. What she didn't know was that everything she possessed today was something I had handed to her.

Evelyn's words left me frozen where I stood.

Even with the scalding water dripping from the back of my hand, I could barely feel the pain.

I looked down. The shattered glass near my feet reflected the harsh overhead lights, glaring and sharp.

It was just like my relationship with Evelyn.

Beneath its glamorous exterior, it was already bruised and rotten to the core.

I took a deep breath, looked at the indifferent woman in front of me, and asked coldly, "Are you sure you want him to stay?"

Julian was the first to head toward the foyer, his voice dripping with faux consideration.

"I'm so sorry, Logan. I didn't mean to ruin your wedding night with Evelyn."

"I truly had no other intentions. Evelyn has always been particular about everything, and I was just worried you wouldn't take proper care of her. Please don't be mad. I'll leave right now."

Evelyn rushed over, shielding him behind her back.

Without a second thought, she turned on me, her voice cutting like a whip.

"Who the hell do you think you are? You eat my food, spend my money, and I paid for this place! What right do you have to tell me who I can bring home?"

"I already kept my promise to your mother and went through with the wedding. Don't push your luck."

The sheer contempt in her voice hit me like a slap. In that moment, the last lingering hope in my heart vanished.

I pulled the wedding band from my ring finger and set it gently down on the coffee table.

"In that case, I'll give you two some space."

There was no point in forcing an ill-fated relationship any longer.

Just as I turned to walk out, Evelyn called out after me, her tone slow and mocking.

She picked up the ring I had abandoned, twirling it between her fingers as she stepped closer.

She let out a dry sneer.

"If you want to leave, leave the keys."

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing. You think this playing-hard-to-get routine will actually work on me?"

Without waiting for her to finish, I pulled the keys from my pocket, dropped them onto the entryway console, pushed the door open, and walked out.

Down in the lobby, the security guard stared in shock when he saw me leaving in only light indoor clothes.

He seemed to remember the handsome man Evelyn had escorted upstairs just an hour earlier, and whatever question was on his lips died unspoken.

I even caught a flicker of pity in his eyes.

I didn't care to explain. I hailed a cab and headed straight for the old house where my mother had lived before she passed away.

During her life, my mother had adored Evelyn. She gave Evelyn the best of everything, terrified of falling short in any way.

Six months ago, during a sudden fire, my mother had thrown herself into the blaze without a second thought to drag Evelyn out.

When they brought her out, she ignored her own severe burns, frantically asking the paramedics about Evelyn's condition.

In the end, my mother didn't make it. She passed away in the back of the ambulance. Right before she took her final breath, she clasped our hands together, pleading for us to get married and build a life together.

I still vividly remembered kneeling beside the stretcher, begging the paramedics to keep trying.

Back then, Evelyn held me tightly, her face drenched in tears, whispering:

"Logan, I won't fail your mother's wish. We'll get married by the end of the year. I'll spend the rest of my life making you happy."

Yet in just six short months, everything had changed.

A life-saving sacrifice was now a "deathbed guilt-trip" in Evelyn's mouth.

Three years of devotion meant nothing to her compared to the few months she had known Julian.

I had once thought Julian was merely a passing distraction, something that wouldn't shake the foundation we built.

Little did I know, from the moment he appeared, I was already walking down a one-way street toward heartbreak.

It was nearly midnight by the time I unlocked the door.

This apartment had originally been left to me by my mother as our marital home.

Evelyn had despised it, claiming the neighborhood was run-down and filthy. What she didn't know was that just last week, the city had approved a massive urban redevelopment project for this entire district.

The buyout compensation for this property alone was estimated at over five million dollars.

Now, whether she ever found out didn't matter anymore.