After He Faked His Death, She Unraveled

It was two in the morning, and Elena Sheridan was still slumped on the balcony, pouring one bottle of wine after another down her throat. Her eyes remained fixed on her chat with Jasper Smith as she muttered: "Be good, Jasper. I was wrong. Come back to me, okay? I'll divorce him right now and be with you. I'll give you the place you deserve, okay?"e words of comfort had already risen to my lips, but I forced them back down. There was a bitterness in my chest I couldn't hide. I was the one who was her lawful husband, and here I was, aching for the woman who cheated on me, and even wanting to comfort her too."Ugh..."She'd had way too much to drink and hadn't eaten anything all night, so she kept throwing up between swallows. A sour stench of vomit mixed with the reek of alcohol and hung over the balcony. Just like our love, already rotten through. It made me sick to my stomach.The floor was covered in broken glass from bottles she'd smashed without a second thought. When I went

At first, Elena would still admit that she was wrong, that she'd let her feelings wander somewhere they shouldn't have. She'd beg me to forgive her. But over time, that changed. It stopped being a request and became a notification.Every time we fought about it, Jasper would somehow always find a reason to call her away."Owen, Elena's drunk at a bar and threatening to kill herself. You need to go check on her."In front of other people, she never let me use any term of endearment for her. She wouldn't let me so much as touch her, wouldn't even walk beside me in public. To the outside world, she claimed we had nothing to do with each other.Only a handful of people close to her knew the truth. According to her, it was to protect my career, to avoid rumors.Jasper got the opposite treatment entirely. Elena didn't care who saw them holding hands or his arm around her waist. She didn't even flinch when paparazzi leaked intimate photos of the two of them, as long as it didn't hurt his

There wasn't anything left for me to bring along. The only love I ever had was completely used up by that point.I thought Elena wouldn't take things this far. I thought it really was just some fling, and once she got it out of her system, her heart would finally return to me.It didn't.I sat slumped in the back seat, feeling nothing but exhaustion. I bought a place near the ocean a while back, so I figured I'd stay there for a while. I barely had a few quiet days to myself when Zach came to me with shocking news.Jasper had faked his own death.The whole thing had been a setup he orchestrated against me, meant to drum up publicity and pressure me into stepping aside so he could take my place for good. What he hadn't counted on was me walking away on my own first.According to Zach, Elena already knew Jasper had faked his death but still hadn't found him. She abandoned her work and threw herself into the search, tearing the city apart to find him. When they finally tracked him d

So, for three years, I stayed quiet and devoted myself entirely to carving out a place for Elena in the entertainment industry. With me in the industry, she gained plenty of connections, resources, and even dirt on her competitors along the way."Flight C5716 is now boarding..."The boarding announcement cut through my memories. It was time to go. The plane took off, and I watched the city that held way too much heartbreak shrink beneath me.A few months into living abroad, plenty of friends reached out, asking how I was doing. Word that a top actor like me suddenly quit the industry had caused a real stir, trending online for days.As the actual person involved, I honestly didn't care anymore. I ate whatever I wanted and went wherever I pleased.I took Zach around the country and hit every spot worth seeing, splurging on a luxury suite for weeks at a time. We encountered a few fans along the way, and photographs they had taken of me while I was sightseeing occasionally appeared

I still went to visit Iris. Despite whatever else that happened, her kindness toward me had always been real.She pulled me close and looked me over from head to toe. "Let me get a good look at you. Have you lost weight?"I shook my head and smiled at her."I know you and Elena got divorced. I don't blame you for that. You deserve your own freedom, sweetheart. Don't let an old woman like me hold you back."She was still every bit as warm and gentle as she'd always been.On my way out of the hospital, I ran into Elena, who must have thought I finally changed my mind.She grabbed my hand, practically shaking with hope, her eyes filled with desperate pleading. "You still care about Grandma. That means you still care about me, right? You still love me, don't you?"I kept my expression cool and distant. "Ms. Sheridan, if you'd like to discuss a potential partnership, go through the formal channels. We're divorced now. Please keep your distance."She just stood there, frozen. After t