Chapter 1

I died in Jimmy’s nursery. I had wanted to stay as close to him as possible.

Joan opened the bedroom door. When she found me absent, she assumed I had not come home yet.

She turned and took Randy by the hand. Then, he pulled him down onto our bed.

With an indifferent tone, she said, “He probably fell for another swindler’s tale and ran off to some godforsaken wilderness.”

Randy laughed loudly.

“It’s not even the first time. I’ve never seen anyone so gullible. He believes everything every fraudster tells him. I remember that time he ran off into the mountains and nearly did not make it back. When the police finally found him, his clothes had been torn to pieces. He was standing there with a knife in his hand, completely out of his mind. Three men were lying on the ground beside him. Nobody ever found out what happened.”

As soon as he said that, Joan’s expression darkened. She shoved him away coldly.

Realizing he had misspoke, Randy immediately wrapped an arm around her neck and pressed a kiss to her skin.

“I’ll stop. Joan, it’s been so long since we last did it.”

Joan reversed their positions and pinned him beneath her. Her lips curled into a mischievous smile.

“Don’t mistake this for jealousy. I just find him pitiful. Had he only turned a blind eye back then, I would never have treated him like this. But he has blood on his hand. Those sins are his to bear. He has no one to blame but himself.”

After that, their clothes fell to the floor.

Upon that very bed where we had made love countless times, they lost themselves in each other.

I had thought death would leave me incapable of feeling pain, yet my heart ached like it had been stabbed.

She was the one who had hugged me tightly and begged me that year. No matter how I tried to push her away, she would not let go.

“Steven, please don’t leave me. I was drunk that night. I thought he was you. I’ll get an abortion. Please believe me.”

When I refused to forgive her and insisted on getting a divorce, Joan had panicked. She even dragged Randy before me and made him apologize to me.

Then, she underwent the abortion herself.

In the end, I caved in. After months of struggling with the decision, I chose to forgive her.

The price I paid was four years of being played for a fool.

Their muffled moans continued late into the night.

Breathless and spent, Joan finally seemed to remember me. She frowned and glanced toward the front door.

“Where on earth is Steven? If he’s not coming home, the least he could do is send a message.”

With that, she dialed my number.

After a few seconds of dead silence, a ringtone echoed through the house.

Joan went rigid. Her gaze shot straight to Jimmy’s nursery.