Chapter 2No Longer Waiting for You to Change

Before I could say a word, Sophia grabbed her car keys and said, "Let's go. The victim has agreed to settle out of court, so I'll take you to meet her. Try to cooperate and watch your attitude."

As Ethan passed me, he deliberately bumped his shoulder against mine. It wasn't a hard hit, just a calculated little provocation delivered with casual contempt.

He glanced back at me with a smug grin that said, "I'm this close to your wife. What are you going to do about it?"

Then the two of them walked out of the office side by side, as if I weren't even there.

I went to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked down at the street below.

Sophia walked around to the passenger side and opened the door for Ethan. He even raised a hand to shield her head from the top of the door, then offered her his other hand to help her into the car. Only after she was comfortably seated did he close the door and walk around to the driver's seat.

The whole routine looked so natural, as though he'd done it countless times before.

In our three years of marriage, Sophia had never once let me drive her car, claiming I'd scratch it. She'd never even bothered to pick me up from work on a rainy day.

I turned away from the window and lowered my gaze to the wedding ring on the desk.

Three years ago, Sophia had bought it with what little money she'd earned as an intern. It was nothing more than a simple gold band, but back then, I'd treasured it as a symbol of our love.

I walked over, picked it up, and tossed it straight into the trash can. It landed with a dull thud. Just like that, three years of marriage came to an end.

I took a deep breath and opened my banking app.

Dad had lost 30 thousand dollars to a scam, but I couldn't bring myself to tell him that Sophia had refused to help. I knew he'd only blame himself for bothering his daughter-in-law and feel guilty about the whole thing.

So I decided to transfer the money from our joint account to him and tell him I'd managed to recover his losses.

That account held the emergency fund I'd been saving for Dad's heart surgery. He'd always had heart problems, and although he kept insisting he was fine, I knew better. The preion bottles in his desk drawer seemed to multiply every time I visited.

For three whole years, I'd set aside part of my income every month and deposited it into that account, determined to make sure he'd have the money he needed when the time came.

But when I logged in, the balance was zero. I stared at the screen in disbelief and refreshed the page three times. Nothing changed.

With a sinking feeling in my stomach, I opened the transaction history. Just half an hour earlier, the entire balance of 500 thousand dollars had been transferred in a single transaction to someone named Ethan Cole.

I bit down hard on my lip, my hands trembling as I called Sophia.

"What is it?" she answered impatiently.

"Where's the money in our account?" I demanded.

Sophia let out a cold snort. "The victim is demanding 500 thousand dollars in compensation before she'll agree to settle the case. Ethan doesn't have that kind of money lying around, so I'm lending it to him."

My whole body went rigid.

"Sophia, you know damn well that money was for my dad's heart surgery!"

Just then, Ethan's voice rang out in the background. "Sophia, don't fight with your husband because of me! I'll take responsibility for what I did. If I have to go to prison, so be it! Just don't let him get upset because of me!"

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

After snapping at Ethan, Sophia turned her attention back to me, her voice growing cold.

"Blake Morgan, why can't you be more understanding like Ethan? Does your dad really need surgery this very second? Can't it wait a few days? Is delaying it really going to kill him? But if Ethan goes to prison, his entire life will be ruined!"

I could hardly believe what I was hearing.

"You transferred half a million dollars to him without a second thought. Yet when my dad came to you for help after being scammed out of 30 thousand dollars, you wouldn't even look at his contract because you couldn't bill him for your time!"

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line, followed by a cold laugh.

"Are you seriously keeping score with me?

"Blake, if you think you're being treated unfairly, I can start paying you by the minute for all the housework you do, too."

Her voice dripped with mockery. "I can afford to pay my stay-at-home husband for his services, you know."

Then she hung up.

I closed my eyes, and tears finally fell. But beneath the pain, something inside me had gone completely cold. Whatever love I had left for Sophia died in that moment.

I didn't bother calling her back. Instead, I dialed another number.

"Hey, Jack. I need your help with a divorce case."

Jack Turner had been my college roommate and the second-ranked student in our law school class. I'd graduated at the top of the class, with him right behind me.

Now, he was the most sought-after and expensive divorce attorney in the business. And I was the fool who'd given up everything for this marriage three years ago.