Chapter 3

I heard Chloe reply dismissively, "I just treat him like a free live-in maid. I got bored of him ages ago."

She forgot that back in college, I was the aloof golden boy everyone admired.

Countless girls tried to get close to me, but only Chloe refused to give up, chasing me tirelessly even when I gave her the cold shoulder.

How did I become this out-of-shape, exhausted man? I did it all for her.

After that night, Chloe forbade me from ever coming to her firm again.

I thought she was embarrassed of my appearance.

So I started working out late into the night, fixing my diet and refining my style.

Once my abs were back, I got a fresh haircut, bought a bouquet of flowers, and went to her office to surprise her.

Instead, I saw her laughing and chatting intimately with Justin as they walked out together.

I casually asked someone from her firm's legal team about the man. They said he was Justin, a brilliant game designer freshly returned from studying abroad.

Studied abroad? He really had the nerve to lie.

"Don't they look great together? A true power couple," the colleague remarked, not recognizing me. "Way better than Attorney Campbell's loser of a husband."

I threw the bouquet into the trash can and drove home alone.

That evening, Chloe came home in remarkably high spirits. She wrapped her arms around my neck. "Why does my husband look so handsome today? How do you want to celebrate your birthday next week? Anything you want, I'll say yes."

"How about Iceland, like you always wanted? They say if you make a wish under the Northern Lights, it always comes true."

I believed her. Going to Iceland had always been my dream—and my late mother's.

I meticulously planned the entire itinerary and booked flights for the day after my birthday. Chloe promised she had taken ten days off work to be completely with me.

On my birthday, I prepared a lavish dinner, along with the homemade noodles she had cooked for me the year we started dating.

I waited from five in the afternoon until midnight.

She never showed up.

Sitting on the porch all night in the freezing wind, my body burned up with a fever.

Choking down the cold, rubbery noodles, I saw Justin's new Instagram post.

It was a photo of him and Chloe right after landing at the airport.

Caption: *In Iceland with my girl. Pure bliss.*

No wonder none of my frantic calls went through.

Then, a text from Chloe popped up: *An urgent case came up overseas. Leaving for a business trip right now.*

She didn't even bother putting effort into her lies anymore.

Over the next week, Justin posted on Instagram every single day—following the exact itinerary I had spent weeks crafting.

Like a rat in the sewers, I watched their romantic getaway unfold on my screen.

Whale watching, snorkeling, chasing the aurora.

Whenever I had begged her to do those things with me, she had always complained it was too exhausting.

I spent several days in bed battling the fever, hugging Lucky. It was Lucky who brought the pill bottle to my bedside in his mouth.

When Chloe finally returned, she collapsed onto the couch without noticing my hollow, pale face.

She groaned that she was exhausted and demanded a shoulder rub.

Her wedding ring was gone from her finger.

I massaged her shoulders as usual and asked flatly, "Did you have fun in Iceland with my brother?"

She bolted upright. "He's your brother?!"

She really knew how to pick the right detail.

"Don't read into it. We're just colleagues," she said defensively. "Besides, when he was a kid, he saved me from a kidnapper."

Chloe explained that she had finally tracked down the boy who pulled her out of an abductor's car years ago—it was Justin.

She felt indebted to him, and since he had just returned to the country, he needed help settling in.

"He told you that?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I saw he was wearing the exact same jade pendant as that boy. I asked him, and he admitted it."

Chloe continued casually, "Don't be so petty. A real man wouldn't make a fuss. Now that he's your brother, there's even less reason for you to be jealous."

I didn't bother telling her that Justin had tormented me my whole childhood. Otherwise, how could she have been married to me for three years without knowing he existed?