Chapter 1

In the study, Owen Wright, my father-in-law, asked again, "What about Joel? He just had surgery."

Calista Wright didn't answer immediately. Eventually, she said, "I'll make it up to him."

Owen sighed. "That's not the same as love."

Calista's voice remained even as she declared, "All he wants is to be the Wright family's son-in-law anyway."

I braced myself against the wall, my fingers slowly turning cold.

So, in her eyes, the three years I'd spent waiting for her were nothing more than a display of my materialistic greed—that I simply wanted to be associated with the Wrights.

Instead of barging into the study, I turned around and went back to the bedroom. On the nightstand lay the notice for my follow-up appointment at the hospital, which I'd picked up earlier that morning.

The doctor's note read, "Poor recovery following gastric perforation surgery. Patient is advised to return to the hospital for examination, accompanied by a family member."

Calista didn't know about this. On the day of my follow-up appointment, she spent all her time accompanying my brother, Tyler Wright, on his apartment hunt.

At 11:00 pm, she opened the bedroom door and frowned when she noticed I hadn't turned off the lights.

"Why aren't you asleep yet?" she asked.

I looked at the watch on her wrist. "Did your heart rate spike today?"

Her hands paused in the middle of removing her earrings.

"What was that?"

I picked up my spare phone and pulled up a screenshot of the data from her fitness watch.

"136. 132. 140," I read out before asking Calista a question. "Calista, doesn't your heart get tired whenever you see my brother?"

Calista's eyes flashed with an emotion, but it wasn't panic—it was displeasure.

"You went through my things?"

"I heard you."

After two seconds of silence, she asked, "How much did you hear?"

I pointed at my own chest. "Enough for my heart to feel dead inside."

Calista sat down in front of me. "Joel, the situation back then wasn't as simple as you think."

"How complicated was it?"

"Your family couldn't have stayed afloat for much longer."

"So you chose to marry me?" I asked.

"I've also done my duty as your wife," she said.

I slapped the follow-up notice down in front of her. "So as my wife, your duty was to let me go to the hospital for my follow-up appointment alone while you shopped for apartments with my brother?"

Calista glanced at the notice before quickly averting her gaze. "You didn't tell me about it."

"I didn't tell you that I needed to go for follow-up appointments after my gastric perforation surgery?"

When she said nothing, I continued, "When I was in the middle of surgery, your heart rate remained at 68. Was that also because I didn't tell you how much pain I was in?"

Frowning, Calista snapped, "Joel Manning! Stop using your surgery to start a fight with me."

"Weren't you the one who signed the consent form for my surgery?" I pointed out.

She swallowed hard, and after a long pause, she finally said in a quiet voice, "It's all in the past now."

The silence in the bedroom grew deafening.

At that very moment, her phone rang, and Tyler's name appeared on the screen. She glanced at it, then swiftly took the call.

I couldn't hear what he said, but her brows creased as she said, "Don't panic. I'll be right over."

She ended the call and picked up her coat.

"What's going on with him?" I asked.

"He's feeling unwell because of his low blood sugar."

"Were you this worried about me when I was in surgery?"

Calista turned to look at me, her eyes slightly weary. "Joel, you used to be very thoughtful and understanding."

She came back over and reached out to cup my cheek. "I know you can handle the pain. It's not the same with him."

I dodged her hand. "You know what I find most disgusting about you, Calista? It's the fact that even when you're showering all your love on him, you expect me to preserve your dignity for you."

Her expression turned cold. "We'll talk when I get back."

The door closed with a soft click. I sat on the bed, completely wide awake.

Ten minutes later, Tyler posted on social media. It was a photo of him sitting in Calista's car with a cup of hot chocolate in his hands.

Calista was in the driver's seat, her side profile looking perfectly calm. Her wedding ring was also clearly visible on her finger.

The caption read, "Some people never profess their love, but they will always show up."

I tapped on the like button.

Three minutes later, Tyler deleted the post and messaged me.

"Please don't misunderstand, Joel. Since I just moved back here, there was no one else I could turn to for help."

I replied, "There's nothing for me to misunderstand. You've always had people to fuss over you."

The notification at the bottom kept showing that Tyler was typing, but I didn't bother looking at the chat again.