Chapter 1

Even the colleagues at work, whose names I barely knew, were secretly mocking me in the work group chat.

After my best friend, Peggy Turner, learned about the incident, she surprisingly refused to take my side and instead harshly rebuked me.

"You should be thanking your lucky stars that you even married someone as good as Johann, Nancy Castro! Don't you know that you're being an ingrate and a bastard by doing this to him?

"If I were you, I'd immediately fall to my knees and beg him for forgiveness without a second thought! You're going to regret this sooner or later!"

At this point, my husband, Johann Garner, was just sitting by the side, silently enjoying my public disgrace and downfall. He seemed to really enjoy watching me getting attacked by everyone, judging from the faint smile playing on his lips.

Everything was within his control, after all.

In everyone else's eyes, he was always known as the mature, stable, gentle, and considerate businessman, who was also very successful and thus the dream husband of every woman who ever met him.

However, it wasn't until after I married him that I realized how much of a serial gaslighter he really was.

When in front of outsiders, he would behave in a very refined and polite manner, winning their praises left and right. However, when I was his only audience, he would verbally and emotionally abuse me relentlessly.

He especially loved pushing my usually silent self to the limit, watching me struggle against his suppression.

And when he finally provoked me into lashing out at him, losing control of my emotions, he would then tell all of my friends and family how unreasonable I was, so that they would all condemn me like I was some heinous criminal or something.

Each time, I would fall for his manipulative gaslighting and end up apologizing to him, begging him for forgiveness. He would then feign tolerance with an air of superiority and say, "See? I'm the only one who can put up with you because I love you so much."

Over the next few years, everyone thought that I was the ungrateful, unreasonable ingrate in this marriage.

Even if I had evidence of Johann's affair with his secretary, Eva Ford, he still managed to turn the tide against me and make everything out to be my fault instead.

I read the smears and insults thrown at me in the work group chat and felt my hands trembling. Then, I left the chat, feeling my heart fill with despair.

My brain felt as though it was about to explode at any time. It was such a complete mess and gave me a headache.

Later that night, the door to our home was suddenly flung open, and Johann stormed in, reeking of alcohol.

He sat on the couch, his leg crossed over the other, while staring at me with anger and disdain in his eyes.

"How dare you refuse to answer any of my calls! You're getting bolder and bolder now, aren't you? Who do you think you are to treat me like this?"

He kept pouring more alcohol into his glass while glaring daggers at me like he was staring at a disobedient toy.

"So you sent the photos. Don't you think it's about time you stopped? A good girl knows when to stop."

His leisurely tone and provocative gaze were like those of someone telling off a misbehaving little puppy.

The old me would probably have immediately dropped to the floor and begged for his forgiveness when faced with such a condescending attitude from him. However, this time, I felt a deep resolve within me. I wanted to see how far I could push him.

I scoffed coldly and said, "And what if I don't? What can you do to me, then?"

Johann grabbed me and slammed me hard against the couch, pinning me down. He was so strong that I couldn't fight him off.

"Trying to negotiate with me, are you? Why don't you look at yourself in the mirror first?"

Come to think of it, I never really asked him for a lot anyway.

I had always put up with his insults at home, hoping that I could exchange them for his love and a warm home for me.

However, he refused to give any of that to me. He was much more protective of Eva because he loved her.