Chapter 1

Ever since my wife, Chloe, had a miscarriage, her emotions had been completely unstable. She needed to see a therapist regularly.

Every single time, I drove her there and waited outside, never once allowed into the session room.

Seeing the smiles slowly return to her face, I thought she was finally healing.

I never expected that today, the moment she walked through the front door from her appointment, she would lunge at me and wrap her hands around my throat.

Her eyes burned with pure malice. "You're not my husband! Who the hell are you? What did you do to Ethan?!"

I was choking, on the verge of blacking out, when my in-laws rushed over and dragged her off me.

No matter how I tried to explain, she refused to believe I was her husband.

Every time she laid eyes on me, she tried to kill me.

Left with no choice, I went to see her therapist.

The second I walked into that office, everything clicked.

No wonder she thought I wasn't her husband.

I had always assumed Chloe's therapist was a woman. I never imagined he was a young, sharp-looking man.

Dr. Lucas Vance looked younger than both Chloe and me, which made me blurt out, "How long have you been practicing?"

"A little age bias, Mr. Walker?" Lucas asked with an amused smirk.

Realizing I was being rude, I quickly apologized.

Lucas didn't seem genuinely offended, so we got straight to the point.

"To be honest, Mrs. Walker hasn't shown any real improvement despite all the sessions."

"No improvement?"

I froze.

From her very first session, Chloe had looked me in the eye and said, "I feel so much better."

Her behavior changed dramatically every time she came home.

Her parents and I could see it with our own eyes—she seemed happier, calmer.

If she hadn't tried to strangle me today, I would have never doubted the therapy's success.

Seeing my confusion, Lucas pulled out a thick stack of session notes. "Take a look."

"Actually, I've asked Chloe multiple times to bring you in," he continued. "I felt that her emotional knot was tied to you. Every time she mentioned you, she had an extreme reaction. At first, it was disgust. Then, it turned into pure hatred. And lately..."

Lucas paused, hesitating as he looked at me.

Finally, he said, "She believes you aren't her husband. She thinks you're a monster who stole Ethan away."

I flipped through the files while listening to him, feeling as if reality were tearing apart at the seams. "What triggered this?"

Lucas shook his head. "I can't reach her core trauma. Chloe is completely guarded. She won't let me close."

"Then what do I do?"

Lucas hesitated for a long time before replying, "Play along with her for now. Try to open her heart. Also... I need to evaluate you. Are you really Ethan Walker?"

"You doubt me, too?"

I shot to my feet, staring at him in disbelief.

Seeing how agitated I was, Lucas quickly raised his hands. "Chloe told me a lot of things. If what she said is true, then there's no way you could be Ethan."

My curiosity flared through the anger. "What did she say?"

"She hates coffee more than anything, yet you constantly brew it for her."

I was stunned.

That was ridiculous!

Ever since her miscarriage, Chloe was the one who kept asking for coffee.

I had even asked her about it: "Since when do you drink coffee?"

She had snapped back coldly, "What, am I not allowed to drink it?"

I had scrambled to explain: "No, of course you can. I just thought your tastes changed suddenly."

"Can I drink it or not?"

"Yes, of course."

So I started making coffee for her every day.

And now that was somehow my fault?

Besides, could a person's tastes really change that drastically overnight?