Chapter 1

The moment the marriage certificate landed in the trash, the entire room went silent.

Everyone knew how close my wife and I were. Back when we first got together, I had even given up the chance to study abroad for her.

After a long pause, my wife, Vanessa Reed, was the first to react. Her face tightened with irritation.

“Enough, Ethan Carter. Tyler only made a few offhand comments. Do you really have to take it this far? No one even needs dinner anymore. They’re already full from watching your attitude.”

One of Vanessa’s close friends quickly stepped in to smooth things over, smiling as she tried to lighten the mood.

“Oh, come on. He’s only acting like this because he loves you too much. He’s jealous, that’s all. Honestly, I wish I had your touch when it comes to keeping a husband in line. Mine could never...”

The men at the table all turned to look at me and laughed, clearly ready to brush the whole thing aside.

But Tyler Wells, the college student Vanessa had been sponsoring, still looked completely unbothered.

“Look at you, Ethan. I can smell the jealousy from across the table. You’re a grown man, yet every word out of your mouth sounds bitter and passive aggressive. What, am I wrong? A woman like Vanessa is way out of your league. You should be grateful she even married you.”

After saying that, Tyler gave me a contemptuous once-over, then laced his fingers with Vanessa’s under the table.

I watched the two of them play off each other and let out a cold laugh.

Only five years had passed, yet Vanessa and I were no longer the people we used to be.

There had been a time when I was the only person in her eyes.

Back then, I cared about nothing but studying. I barely paid attention to how I dressed or looked.

The first time I met her family, many of her relatives looked down on me.

They even mocked her for having such terrible taste and choosing a boyfriend like me.

Vanessa had only gripped my hand tighter, her face full of anger as she snapped back at them.

“In my eyes, he is the best. I like him no matter what he is like. If anyone says one more word against him, get out.”

All those years, whenever we were in front of other people, she protected me like a little firecracker. She never allowed anyone to say a bad word about me.

But after Tyler came into our lives, she changed.

She stopped caring about me.

She stopped speaking up for me.

She even helped Tyler mock and humiliate me in front of everyone.

Especially in the past few years, after Vanessa quit her job and said she wanted to be a full-time wife, I had been working two jobs by myself just to barely keep up with her reckless spending.

I used to think that as long as I worked hard and gave her a good life, she would remember what I had done for her, and we would be happy together forever.

But I realized I had been wrong.

Today, to celebrate Vanessa’s birthday, I had spent every penny I had saved to buy her the most expensive and beautiful necklace I could afford.

Tyler had thrown it straight into the trash.

In the past, I might have lost control and had a huge fight with Vanessa.

But now, I only felt exhausted.

I did not want to care anymore.

With that thought, I stood up and said flatly, “You’re right.”

Then I looked at Vanessa.

“I’ll give you the divorce papers in a few days. Remember to sign them.”

This time, everyone froze completely.