Chapter 1

Timothy's POV

Renee Fuller, my wife, looked up at me, her eyes filled with despair. "You're too unpredictable. I'm done gambling because I can't afford the stakes. You and I should just leave things as they are for the rest of our lives, Timothy."

Those words alone—"just leave things as they are"—left me rooted to the spot, looking like a fool.

Renee never said the word "divorce", but every single thing she uttered dripped with resentment. Those lifeless eyes cut right through me like a knife. She hadn't changed her mind, nor had she seen the light; she was just scared out of her wits and caving in.

I suddenly realized I was done living this miserable, hopeless life.

Upon seeing that I was still frozen, Renee didn't bother coddling me the way she usually did. She calmly picked up her purse, masking any trace of her earlier lapse, and spelled out her schedule with clinical precision. "I'll be at the office by 2:00 pm. I'll have a meeting at 3:00 pm that will last two hours."

She made it halfway before spinning back around. "Oh, and I won't be able to pick up my phone or hop on a video call while I'm busy. If you don't believe me, just come wait outside the entrance."

Every single word was measured and detached.

I hadn't even had time to react before she closed the car door. I watched the car disappear into the distance, as if the gap between us were growing with every passing second. I finally broke down in tears.

I lost my mind on the day I caught Renee and Edward Chester, her assistant, sleeping together at a hotel. I forced her to wash with disinfectant every day and went over her entire body with a UV light. I'd lose control and drag everyone in the office down to get DNA tests whenever I found a single strand of hair.

She begged me to believe that they'd been set up and slipped drugs, pulling up the surveillance footage and lab reports, but I couldn't stomach her betrayal.

That was until the day Renee slid the divorce agreement across the table to me for the first time. "I'll give you 80% of everything we have, so let's get a divorce. I can't keep living like this anymore; I'm completely worn out, Timothy."

That night, I climbed up to the rooftop, something I'd never done before.

Renee lost her mind. She lunged forward to pull me back from the edge as she broke down, sobbing and screaming. "I'm sorry! I was wrong! You can punish me however you want; just don't hurt yourself! I won't survive without you!"

Renee was the one who said she couldn't live without me, but later on, she kept pleading with me over and over to let her go for Edward's sake.

It started raining again. I had an umbrella with me, but I'd forgotten to use it. I guess I'd become too dependent on Renee. I'd spent the past ten years getting used to her looking after me and checking on me.

Renee would get me something warm whenever I was cold and massage me whenever I was tired. She worried I'd be disappointed if I caught nothing when I went fishing with friends, so she paid a fortune to reserve the entire lake for me.

In the blink of an eye, everything was gone. It felt like my entire chest had been hollowed out, leaving an empty space for the freezing wind to howl right through. I couldn't even tell whether my face was wet from the rain or from crying.

I developed a fever after getting home.

In my half-conscious state, I knew Renee was right beside me the entire time. She repeatedly wiped me down with warm water to lower my fever and took my temperature every 15 minutes. She would snap at the assistant, who would call and remind her that she had a meeting to attend, and tell them to get lost.

She always got this anxious whenever I was sick, her hand holding mine undeniably warm.

Yet, despite everything, I couldn't stop my body from trembling.

That phone kept ringing, and for some reason, Renee wouldn't answer it. That ringing was so obnoxious that it finally forced me to open my eyes.

I rolled over, only to find the room empty. It was my own phone buzzing away. Renee was never by my side to begin with.

I forced down the taste of blood rising in my throat and picked up the phone. "Ms. Fuller never made it into the office today, Mr. Gunther."

I was stunned.

The private investigator went on with his report. "Ms. Fuller went to Greenmount Sanatorium shortly after returning to the office. She has been there for over two hours and still hasn't come out."

I instantly felt my stomach churn with a violent wave of nausea. Greenmount Sanatorium was the private sanatorium where Edward was staying.

Renee's words from before she left kept echoing in my mind. "If you don't believe me, just come wait outside the entrance."

How was she so certain I wouldn't be there? She said those same words every time she informed me of her whereabouts. I'd never taken her word for it and had always gone to wait outside. I had finally believed her this time, but I'd made the wrong choice.

I glanced at the time—it was already 6:00 pm. Renee was always home by 5:30 pm on the dot. If she wasn't going to show up, I'd go to her myself.

In the past, whenever I tracked her down, she'd immediately pull out the divorce agreements right in front of me, but this time, I had taken the initiative and signed them ahead of time