Chapter 3I Finally Let Go of My Lost Love

By the time I got back to our townhouse, the soles of my feet were covered in tiny, bleeding cuts from the pavement.

I sat on the edge of the tub, mechanically pouring rubbing alcohol over the wounds. As the sting subsided, I looked around.

This used to be our warm, private sanctuary. Now, without me even realizing it, the house was stuffed with Lily's belongings.

"Sundra, Lily gave me this plush bunny. Put it on the sofa. I want to see it every day."

"Sundra, Lily picked out this tie. Does it look good?"

"This is the diffuser Lily told me to use in the living room. She said it smells exactly like her."

Whenever I lost my mind and screamed at him over these things, the smirk on his face would only grow deeper. He loved watching me choke on jealousy.

It was as if my pain was the only metric he used to measure my love.

And his response was always exactly the same.

"Sundra, Lily and I just have a professional relationship. Stop being so pathetic and petty."

Day after day, ground down by this endless torture, I gave him exactly what he wanted. I stopped being petty.

I was even ready to hand over my title as his wife.

After wrapping my feet in bandages, I pulled out a suitcase and began packing what little clothing I had left.

Just as I was zipping up the bag, Chris walked in.

He reeked of expensive whiskey, his arm slung heavily over Lily's shoulder.

The moment he saw me, he instinctively dropped his arm and opened his mouth to explain. But then his eyes landed on the suitcase beside my leg, and his pupils dilated in shock.

At the exact same time, his inner voice roared.

[Wife, why are you packing? Are you seriously throwing me away?]

[I messed up. I shouldn't have brought Lily to the family dinner. I just wanted to make you jealous.]

[Don't leave. I absolutely forbid you from leaving!]

His face was ghostly pale. His mind was screaming with endless, desperate love, but the words that left his lips were colder than ice.

"Sundra, I suggest you think very carefully about what you are doing. If you walk out that door, there are a million women lining up to marry me. But if you leave me, who the hell is going to marry damaged goods like you?"

His arrogant, condescending tone blew away the very last speck of hope in my soul.

I gave him a tired smile. "Okay. Then go find those other women."

Chris's hands balled into tight fists. Suddenly, right in front of my face, he wrapped his arm around Lily's waist and pulled her flush against his chest.

"Maybe I will just marry Lily then."

"She is sweet, gentle, and way more competent than you. More importantly, unlike you, she actually has a working body. Six years and your stomach is still completely flat. She has plenty of time to give me an heir."

His provocative words made my breath shudder.

Everyone knew children were my ultimate forbidden topic.

Six years ago, Chris suffered a massive mental breakdown and ran off into a blizzard. While searching for him, I fell through the ice of a frozen lake. The damage to my body was permanent. Getting pregnant became an impossible dream.

But I still wanted a baby. Desperately.

To get pregnant, I drank horrible herbal brews every single night. I went through five agonizing rounds of IVF.

Chris knew this better than anyone on earth, yet he still chose to use a child as a weapon to gut me.

My eyes burned with tears. "Chris, you are a monster."

Seeing my tears, a flash of panic crossed Chris's eyes. He took a subconscious step forward.

But Lily suddenly clamped her hands onto his arm, pressing her chest against him. Her voice was sickeningly sweet. "But Sundra, Chris is just stating facts, right?"

"It has been six years, and you haven't produced a single thing."

"Any other man would have kicked you to the curb years ago. Chris put up with it for six whole years!"

"He hasn't even said he is tired of you yet, and here you are throwing around the word divorce and packing your bags. Aren't you being a little too selfish? You have zero appreciation for how much Chris tolerates you."

Chris froze in his tracks.

The panic in his eyes was rapidly replaced by a chilling detachment.

He agreed with Lily. He actually thought I was being selfish and ungrateful.

"Sundra, it seems I really have been too nice to you."

His gaze swept over my suitcase.

Before I could even react, he lunged forward, violently snatching the bag from my grip. He yanked it so hard the zipper busted open.

My clothes scattered all over the hardwood floor. He stepped directly onto my clean shirts with his leather shoes.

Then, with terrifying precision, he reached into the bottom of the broken suitcase and pulled out a velvet box. Inside was a vintage emerald bracelet.

It was my late mother's heirloom.

He looked down at me from his towering height.

"Sundra, do I need to remind you? I spent five million dollars getting this bracelet back from the auction house."

All the blood drained from my face.