Chapter 1The Clean Break

On New Year's Eve, I was scrolling through my phone when I stumbled upon a livestream from a local news drone.

Fireworks were exploding over the river, painting the night sky in brilliant colors. And there, under the vibrant lights, was my husband of five years, passionately kissing his childhood sweetheart.

I calmly closed the livestream and dialed his number.

It rang for a long time before he picked up. The background noise was deafening.

"Where are you?" I asked.

A brief silence followed before he answered, "At the office. I told you I was working overtime."

"Working overtime with your childhood sweetheart?"

The silence on the other end stretched longer this time.

I heard my own voice, terrifyingly calm.

"You always do this. whenever you face a difficult question, you just stop talking."

"Well, from now on, you don't have to answer anymore."

I hung up. The apartment was suffocatingly quiet.

On the dining table, six dishes and a soup had long since gone cold.

I stared at the spread for a long time, suddenly feeling exhausted.

Five years ago today, Liam was cooking hot pot for me in our cramped rental apartment.

Suddenly, he pulled out a velvet box.

"Chloe, marry me."

"I can only afford silver right now, but I promise, one day I'll replace it with diamond."

His eyes shone brighter than any gem when he said those words.

I still wear that silver ring. Even though it's tarnished now, I couldn't bear to take it off.

He said he'd give me the best life, and I believed him.

When we first started our company, it was just the two of us.

He handled the tech; I handled finance and sales.

During the day, he coded and I met clients. At night, we packed orders together, squatting in the hallway eating instant noodles.

Once, to meet a bid deadline, I slept only eight hours over three days and fainted at the print shop.

Liam carried me to the hospital on his back, trembling the whole way.

His eyes were red. "Let's quit. I'll get a regular job. I can't let you suffer like this."

I shook my head. "No, we're almost there. I can hold on."

And we did it.

The day we got our first round of funding, Liam spun me around the office.

Then he suddenly crouched down and buried his face in my chest.

I felt my shirt getting wet.

He said, "Chloe, I'll be good to you for the rest of my life."

By the third year, the company was on track.

We bought a house, upgraded our car.

In the fourth year, he knelt on one knee and replaced the silver ring with a diamond one.

"Wifey, let's have a baby."

I touched my belly and smiled, nodding.

I had just secured my position as CFO, but seeing the hope in his eyes, I handed in my resignation.

Two months into the pregnancy, my morning sickness was so severe I was hospitalized.

Liam ran between the company and the hospital every day, the dark circles under his eyes deepening.

I touched his face. "Let's hire a nurse."

He shook his head. "My wife, I take care of her myself."

Back then, I thought this was what happiness looked like.

Until six months ago, when his childhood sweetheart, Sophie, returned from abroad after her divorce.

Liam picked her up from the airport.

He came home late that night, smelling of unfamiliar perfume.

Taking off his coat, he said:

"Sophie came back alone with a kid. It's tough for her. I helped her find a place."

From then on, "pitiful" became Sophie's label.

Her car broke down? Liam went to fix it.

Her kid got sick? Liam went to the hospital with them.

She was sad? Liam drank with her until late at night.

I went from asking to questioning, from questioning to arguing.

Liam said, "Chloe, you weren't like this before."

I said, "Liam, you weren't like this before either."

Eventually, he stopped talking.

No matter how much I screamed or cried.

He would just watch quietly, then turn and leave.

Leaving me alone, feeling like a lunatic.

Even tonight, on New Year's Eve, he didn't bother with a convincing lie.

He just said he was working overtime.

While kissing another woman on a livestream.

The front door opened.

Liam walked in, saw me and the table full of food, and paused.

"Still awake?"

I didn't speak.

He walked over, the scent of perfume making me nauseous.

"Something urgent came up at the office..." he started.

I cut him off. "Prenatal checkup tomorrow. 8 AM."

Liam opened his mouth, his prepared excuse dying in his throat.

I stood up to leave, but he grabbed my wrist.

"Chloe, I'm sorry."

His voice was low.

"Just this year. It won't happen again. Once Sophie is settled..."

I gently pulled my hand away. "No need to wait. Liam, let's get a divorce."