Chapter 1

I was on the brink of death after a horrific car crash, while my girlfriend was at the beach watching the sunrise with her ex.

Right before I was wheeled into the emergency room, the surgeon dialed my emergency contact. All that came through the speaker were her delicate, breathless pants.

"I’m just watching the sunrise with Kyle! Do you really have to ruin this for me right now?"

Kyle’s raspy voice drifted through the line. "Even if you want Scarlett to come back, you don’t have to make up such a pathetic excuse, man."

Scarlett snapped, furious and defensive. "Only useless men cling to women like parasites! If you want to die, just go ahead and die already!"

I clutched the hospital bedsheet with white knuckles, my chest heaving violently.

Amid the doctors' frantic shouts, clarity hit me like a slap to the face. Seven years of devotion. This pathetic game of love was officially over.

Seven days after the surgery, I was still lying in the hospital bed, pale, frail, and utterly exhausted.

Scarlett finally made an appearance. She was dressed in a stunning, high-end outfit, her skin glowing. The second she saw me, her face twisted in annoyance.

"Ethan! I came all the way back into town, and you didn't even pick me up? You didn’t even answer my calls!"

"And now you're lying here playing sick? You think you can fool me with this act? Get your ass out of bed right now!"

I stared at her in silence. I was so weak I could barely form words.

Beside me, the nurse who was swapping out my IV spoke up on my behalf.

"Ma'am, Mr. Vance was in a serious car accident. The hospital and Mr. Vance have been trying to reach you for days."

"It seemed like you had his number blocked."

The nurse looked at me with open pity.

Scarlett’s eyes flashed with anger.

"This is between me and Ethan! Who the hell asked for your opinion? Mind your own business!"

The nurse scoffed in disgust and walked out of the room.

Watching Scarlett's temper flare, I spoke in a hoarse, cold whisper.

"When I first called you, Kyle answered your phone. I really want to know... what exactly were the two of you doing out by the ocean?"

Scarlett froze for a second, but her face darkened immediately.

"What right do you have to interrogate me? If you weren't such an incompetent loser, would I have had to wait until now just to take a beach trip?"

"You should be thanking Kyle! Thanks to his success and worldly experience, I actually got to enjoy myself. Kyle is an executive at a major corporation. Unlike you, he’s not a useless mooch who sits around doing nothing all day."

Her words pressed down on my chest like a lead weight.

A useless mooch?

Did Scarlett really forget why I quit my job to stay home in the first place?

Years ago, we joined the same company together. Back then, her position was far below mine.

I hated seeing her cry from stress, so I handed all my project credits and bonuses to her, paving her way straight up the corporate ladder.

Later, she complained that takeout tasted like garbage and that nobody was taking care of the house. She whined and begged me to stay home and look after her.

My heart broke for how hard she worked. To give her peace of mind, I decisively walked away from my career just to manage our domestic life.

Over the past few years, I kept our place immaculate. Every time she came home, a hot, gourmet dinner was waiting on the table.

Yet, she grew to despise me more and more. She mocked me for having no ambition, refused to take me anywhere, and excluded me from her social life.

The irony was almost laughable.

Seeing my silence, Scarlett assumed I was guilty.

"What? Cat got your tongue? You know you have no comeback, don't you?"

"If I hadn't wasted my youth dating you, wealthy trust-fund guys would've been lining up around the block to be with me! You want to know why I’ve refused to marry you all these years? Because you're a deadbeat!"

A wave of suffocating rage surged through me. My fists clenched into the sheet, then slowly uncurled. My gaze locked onto the faint red marks scattered across her neck.

"So that's why you threw yourself at Kyle?"

"What kind of sick bullshit are you talking about?!"

Scarlett screeched defensively. "Kyle and I are completely innocent! Don’t project your filthy, perverted thoughts onto us! Who do you think you are? You aren't even worth Kyle's pinky toe!"

Embarrassed and enraged, she swung her hand to slap me, but I caught her wrist mid-air.

"Ethan, do you have a death wish?! How dare you raise a hand against me!"

"Why wouldn't I?"

I glared straight at the hickeys on her collarbone. "You slept with another man. Why the hell should I respect you?"

"Slept with him?!"

My piercing stare shook her. A flicker of panic flashed across her face, and she hastily pulled her collar tight.

"You're hallucinating! Those are mosquito bites from the beach!"

My grip on the sheets tightened until my knuckles turned white. "Must've been one hell of a mosquito."

Fury twisted Scarlett’s face. She yanked her hand free and struck me hard across the cheek.

"Smack!"

"Ethan, cut the sarcastic bullshit!"

"I already explained it to you! What more do you want?! Have I spoiled you so much that you've forgotten your place?!"

I turned my face toward the window, fighting down the burning rage and the stinging pain on my skin.

Scarlett was breathing heavily, acting like the victim. "I’ve treated you way too well over the years! You’ve completely lost your mind!"

"You eat my food, live on my dime, and have the audacity to accuse me? Fine! Lie here and reflect on what you did!"

Right in front of me, she pulled out her phone and canceled the debit card she gave me for household groceries, completely ignoring the fact that I was in a hospital bed with medical expenses piling up.

"When you finally realize you're wrong, maybe I'll come back. Until then, figure out how to pay your own damn hospital bills!"

This was her favorite game—financial threats.

In the past, because I loved her, I always backed down. She mistook my love for helplessness.

Seeing that I didn't say a word, she let out a cold laugh.

"Without my money, Ethan, you're literally nothing."

With a harsh slam of the door, she stormed out.

I stared at the closed door, my gaze chilled to ice. Then, I reached for my personal phone from the drawer and dialed my executive assistant.

The call connected within two rings.

"Claire," I said calmly. "Come pick me up. And cancel the proposal ceremony scheduled for tomorrow."