Chapter 1

On the day of our fifth wedding anniversary, my husband’s best friend leaned toward him with a grin and asked in French,

“So? How did your little assistant taste?”

My husband calmly placed a slice of my favorite cantaloupe on my plate—the perfect picture of a devoted husband.

Then he answered in the same language, as casually as if they were discussing the weather.

“Young. Tender.”

“Remember to keep it from my wife. If she ever finds out, she’ll leave me.”

The entire group burst into laughter, each of them promising to keep his secret.

I stood beside them, gripping my wineglass so tightly that my knuckles turned white.

They thought speaking French made them safe.

They were wrong.

I understood every word.

And this wasn’t even the first time I had learned about my husband’s mistress.

But I didn’t confront him.

I didn’t cry or make a scene.

Instead, I quietly submitted my application to a classified national research institute.

In three days, I would make his greatest fear come true.

I would leave him.

And once I disappeared, he would never find me again.

——

From the corner of his eye, Logan Miranda noticed that I hadn’t touched the cantaloupe.

Concern immediately filled his eyes.

“Baby, what’s wrong?”

The concern looked real.

That was the cruelest part.

Only moments ago, he had been discussing his mistress with his friends. Now he was looking at me as if I were the only woman in his world.

How many times had he looked at me like this while lying straight to my face?

“Nothing.” I forced my voice to remain calm. “What were you talking about just now?”

Logan gently pinched my cheek and smiled with the same practiced tenderness that had fooled me for years.

“Some overseas business. You don’t like hearing about work, so we switched to French.”

He must have been so lost in his affair that he had forgotten I once studied in France as an exchange student.

The air in the ballroom suddenly felt too thin.

I pushed him away.

“Carry on. I need some air.”

Without waiting for his answer, I walked straight toward the doors.

Whispers followed me across the banquet hall.

“That’s Mrs. Miranda. She’s so lucky. Their wedding made headlines around the world, and Mr. Miranda still holds a grand celebration for her every anniversary.”

“I know. Why couldn’t I meet a man like him?”

Once, hearing people envy our marriage would have filled me with happiness.

Now, their words sounded like a cruel joke told at my expense.

No one knew that the man who supposedly loved me more than life itself had already betrayed me.

Just yesterday, I had planned to give Logan his fifth-anniversary present early.

I went to his office without telling anyone, hoping to surprise him.

Instead, he surprised me.

I had nearly fallen asleep while waiting inside the storage closet when a series of breathless sounds jolted me awake.

I opened my eyes.

The man who had sworn he would love only me had his young assistant, Angela, pressed against the floor-to-ceiling window.

Their bare bodies left streak after streak across the spotless glass.

They stayed tangled together for three full hours before finally getting dressed and leaving.

Three hours.

I no longer remembered how I survived them.

I only remembered the despair that broke over me at first.

Then the pain slowly faded.

By the end, I felt nothing.

The moment I walked out of that building, I knew my marriage to Logan was over.

My phone suddenly rang, pulling me out of the memory.

“Arissa, I’ve submitted your name to the research institute. Someone will come to pick you up in three days.”

“You can use these next few days to say goodbye to your family.”

My fingers tightened around the phone.

Family.

Four years ago, my parents died in an accident.

Since then, Logan had been the only family I had left.

But a man who could betray me was no longer my family.

Which meant I had no family left at all.