Chapter 1

Kenneth's POV:

A thunderclap exploded in my ears, and my throat seized as if it had been filled with wet cement. I whipped my head around and stared at her in disbelief.

Adele Bellamy lowered her voice. "Cyrus is down there. You know what state his mind is in. He's convinced you came between us back then, that you're the homewrecker who stole me from him. Denying it will only set him off and make things worse.

"He's like a brother to me, nothing more. Just hang in there a little longer. Once he's better, I'll tell everyone the truth, that we fell in love, got married, and had a child like any normal couple."

Hang in there a little longer? A bitter smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.

I had been hanging in there ever since Adele rescued Cyrus Wakefield from his kidnappers a year ago.

His memories were scrambled, and he remembered me as the homewrecker who had torn them apart. Nine out of ten times he saw me, he beat me.

He also confused dreams with reality and believed my wife was his. I even had to give up the master bedroom to him, and Adele stayed by his side every night until he fell asleep.

Even my own daughter, Matilda Linwood, became his daughter whenever he had an episode. For six whole months, I could only see her in secret.

Today, Matilda asked me to my face whether I was a homewrecker. I was not!

It was true that I had secretly loved Adele for years, but I had never once thought about breaking her and Cyrus up. They were childhood sweethearts, and from the moment I met her, the two of them were already the most famous couple on campus.

From school uniforms to a wedding gown, everything had gone smoothly for them, and all I could do was quietly wish them well.

No one could have predicted that on their wedding day, Cyrus would run away from the ceremony.

His excuse was that a childhood sweetheart could never compare to someone who swept into his life out of nowhere. He had met his true soulmate.

The future heir to the Bellamy Group, owned by the richest family in Marlow Bay, was left standing alone at her own wedding in utter humiliation.

Without missing a beat, Adele gripped the microphone, her face blank. "Is anyone willing to marry me?"

Plenty of men in the room were tempted, but I was the only one who acted. I stood up and married Adele without a moment's hesitation.

At first, Adele was polite but distant with me and showed no affection at all.

That changed after an accident. I had gone to pick her up from the airport when we were caught in a car crash and I threw myself in front of her without a second thought.

I was unconscious for seven whole days.

When I finally opened my eyes, she was holding my hand.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because I love you," I said. "I've always loved you."

I loved her so much that she mattered more to me than my own life.

That night, Adele stood on the balcony and smoked until dawn.

The next day, she wrapped her arms around my waist and said in a hoarse voice, "Kenneth, let's have a baby."

From then on, she was no longer polite and distant with me, and she often replied to the good morning and good night texts I sent her. On every anniversary, she even had her assistant prepare a gift for me. Whenever she worked late, she would let me know ahead of time.

I thought she had finally come to love me, at least a little.

That lasted until a year ago, when Cyrus called her. "Adele, I've been kidnapped. Please, help me."

Only then did Adele learn what Cyrus had been through all those years. He had gone abroad with that woman, only to be sold to a trafficking ring that planned to harvest his kidney. By sheer luck, he escaped and dialed Adele's number.

In all those years, Adele had never changed her phone number.

After she got his call, Adele completely forgot it was our wedding anniversary and dropped everything to rush to Cyrus' side.

Back then, I still clung to one last shred of hope that she was only looking after him out of the affection she had for him as a brother.

Only now did it hit me that even my own daughter had nearly become Cyrus' daughter.

With a loud thud, Cyrus' fist slammed into my face and dragged me back to the present.

That was when I noticed he was wearing a suit that matched Adele's. He glared at me and spat insults. "Doormat! Trash! Of all the things you could be, you had to be a gold-digging homewrecker!

"What right do you have to stand on this stage? Someone throw him out!"

A second later, security guards rushed onto the stage and pressed a stun baton against my lower back.

Matilda glared at me too. "Bad man! I don't want a homewrecker for a daddy!"

She hugged Cyrus' leg tightly, her eyes full of disgust and contempt.

People in the audience hurled water bottles and balled-up tissues at me without a second thought.

I stumbled backward and looked at Adele, but all I got was a flat, "Please escort Mr. Linwood out."

As I was carried out and tossed from the venue, I saw Adele slip her arm through Cyrus'. She looked at him as if he were a rare treasure. That was a look I had never once received.

I slumped to the ground, utterly humiliated. Closing my eyes, I forced my tears back down.

I had been living in a beautiful dream for seven years, and now, I had finally woken up.

I lowered my head and texted my lawyer: [Please draft a divorce agreement for me. I don't want custody of the child.]