Chapter 1

I looked down at my current state. My hands were bound behind my back. A self-mocking laugh escaped me.

All along, I believed that Whitney Evans and I truly loved each other. Alas, it was now clear to me that I was the only deluded idiot who believed that.

Since Kelly Stone and Whitney cared so damn much about Samuel Gibson, they'd better make sure they spent all their time protecting him. After all, I was going to be doing everything in my power to destroy him.

I tried to twist my wrists around, and the clink of metal echoed through the empty room.

The sound of approaching footsteps rang out, and a pair of legs stopped in front of me. When Whitney saw that I was awake, she cried out with faux concern, "Caleb! You're awake! You fainted from exhaustion just now, so we had no choice but to delay the signing of the acquisition for the time being."

I stared at her with bloodshot eyes and shook my wrists, the chains rattling noisily. "Explain this, then."

Whitney had prepared for that. In a tearful voice, she told me, "You got drunk last night and tried to harm yourself. I had no choice but to resort to this."

Not noticing the scornful gaze in my eyes, she kept the act going.

"Caleb, promise me that you'll tell me if something's wrong, okay? Don't carry all the burdens by yourself. What am I supposed to do if you take your own life? Even the psychiatrist said that your mood is extremely volatile right now. He says it's best if you stay like this a bit longer."

I looked at the woman standing in front of me right now. My own wife was spouting all those lies to me, acting like a complete stranger to me.

"Is that so? Here I was, thinking you're illegally detaining me for Samuel's sake. In that case, I promise I won't drink anymore. Now undo these chains."

All at once, the tender concern in Whitney's expression vanished, replaced by a sinister coldness that I'd never seen before.

"So you heard what we said."

She slowly crouched down and grabbed me by the jaw, squeezing so hard that it felt like she was trying to crush my skull.

"I'll be honest with you, then. From the day I first greeted you back in college to all those times I stayed up late at night while you worked on starting your company… Every single time I tried to help you with your clients and celebrated your successes over the last three years, it was entirely for Sam's sake.

"Your love, trust, and reliance have been nothing but burdens to me. You should've just handed over the company shares without a fuss, Caleb. You should never have tried to make things difficult for Sam!"

With bloodshot eyes, I glared at her and used every bit of my strength to struggle against the chains as I shouted, "I trusted you completely this whole time! Why are you doing this to me?"