Chapter 2

After thanking Clara, I called Dr. Harris, my lab director.

I accepted his previous job offer to return to the headquarters and asked for an advance on my salary.

Dr. Harris was shocked when he heard my story. "Is this the wife you cherished for ten years?"

It wasn't just ten years.

Before going abroad, Chloe and I had been together for three years.

We were high school sweethearts who got married right after college.

I never imagined that she would be the one to kill my mother.

But now, any love I had for her was completely dead.

That evening, Chloe called and ordered me to cook dinner for them.

"Logan is on a strict diet. Don't put too much seasoning in the beef..."

She gave me a long list of demands but didn't mention my mother's ashes or the money.

When I asked her to wire me some money for groceries, she scoffed.

"As a top scientist at a national lab, you can't even afford groceries?"

I patiently explained that I was broke.

Chloe didn't believe me. "Ethan, are you stupid? Who doesn't keep some emergency cash for themselves?"

Yes, I was that stupid.

I trusted her 100%, and now I had nothing.

Eventually, Chloe transferred some money, but immediately after, she posted on Instagram to mock me.

[My husband has been working abroad for ten years. Now that he's back, the first thing he does is beg me for money. I seriously doubt he actually worked at all. He even asks me for grocery money.]

In her video, Chloe played the victim perfectly, looking exhausted and mistreated.

The post went viral. Thousands of netizens started attacking me in the comments, calling me a parasite and urging Chloe to divorce me.

Chloe pretended to take their advice. [Yeah, we're getting a divorce. The paperwork is being processed. But since he didn't contribute a single dime over the years, shouldn't I sue him for alimony?]

[Absolutely!] the netizens cheered.

Overnight, I became the ultimate deadbeat husband.

Some internet sleuths even doxxed my research institute.

Soon, our lab's social media accounts were flooded with hate comments.

Dr. Harris called me, sighing over the phone. "Ethan, can you handle this?"

"Yes, I can."

The only reason I was still putting up with Chloe's antics was because I hadn't found solid proof of how they killed my mother.

According to Clara, my mother's death was highly suspicious.

As her son, I had to get justice.

"Alright, I'll give you two weeks," Dr. Harris said.

After hanging up, I searched the house for evidence.

But I found nothing.

When Chloe and Logan returned and saw the table empty, Chloe flew into a rage. She slapped me twice across the face.

"Do you not want your mother's ashes anymore?!"

"Ethan, you really are a piece of trash. You don't even care about your own mother," Logan mocked.

The two of them beat and kicked me. I took it all without fighting back.

Only when they were tired did Chloe order me to start cooking.

Later, when I went to the bedroom to call them for dinner, I caught them having sex again. Quietly, I pulled out my phone and recorded the entire thing.