Chapter 1

Natasha's POV

It wasn't until I dropped my ring onto Levi Hoffman's desk that he finally deigned to look up at me with an impassive expression on his face.

"It's just a single photograph, and you think it's worth taking off your wedding ring for that?"

"Yes," I replied calmly, looking into his eyes. "It's also worth ending the marriage over."

A flicker of emotion finally crossed his face. He stared at me and said, "Natasha Bowen, you aren't behaving the way a proper Mrs. Hoffman should."

My tears gushed forth at once.

"Mrs. Hoffman?" I gritted my teeth, trying to suppress the sharp pang in my heart. "What kind of Mrs. Hoffman do you want? The kind who's been married to you for three years but doesn't even own a single photo of you?"

Levi's expression darkened further.

"I told you that I hate taking photographs. And it's already been three years. What are you still harping about after so long? Did you marry me? Or did you marry a photograph?"

Tears continued streaming down my face. I felt like I was suffocating when I looked at him now.

I still remembered the day when we registered our marriage at the town hall. After the registration was over, the staff asked us if we wanted to commemorate it with a photo. However, at the mere mention of it, Levi suddenly threw up next to me.

He told me that he despised having his photo taken, and he would never be able to face the lens of a camera for as long as he lived.

He apologized to me for it, and I chose to trust him and understand him unconditionally.

But everything changed the moment I saw him in that photo with that young woman at the mall. They'd stood so close together in the photo, and they'd also taken so many different shots at once in that singular photograph that was printed out.

And yet, there wasn't even a single couple's photo between the two of us. I felt utterly hollow and absurd about the entire situation. That was also the reason why I was done with him and didn't want to put up with it anymore.

"Mr. Hoffman! Do you think I look better in yellow or—"

The office door was suddenly pushed open, and a young woman in a bright yellow dress flitted in like a beautiful flower in spring.

It was Levi's assistant, Viola Spears. She was also the young woman who had appeared in the photograph alongside Levi.

"Mrs. Hoffman!" she exclaimed the moment she saw me. She immediately lowered her head timidly and caught sight of the photograph and the wedding ring on Levi's desk. She got flustered and quickly explained herself.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Hoffman! I didn't mean to pull Mr. Hoffman in for the photograph! I was just treating him like an elder brother and just wanted to joke around with him… Why did you take off your wedding ring? Did I cause a misunderstanding between you both?"

I didn't say a word.

Viola's voice began to tremble. Her eyes welled with tears as she looked at Levi with pitiful eyes.

"Natasha," Levi called out to me sternly. "Apologize to Viola."

I couldn't believe my ears.

"Apologize?" I echoed with a cold sneer. "What for?"

"Because your baseless suspicions hurt her."

I felt as though my heart had been plunged into a bucket of ice water.

Levi lost his patience with me when he realized that I was being stubborn about not apologizing. He shifted his gaze to Viola and spoke to her gently, "Don't worry. That's not a wedding ring. I just found it inside my drawers and took it out. If you like it, you can have it."

Viola looked at the dazzling, radiant diamond on the ring, let out a loud cheer, and threw her arms around him.

"Thank you, Mr. Hoffman!"

She then slipped the ring onto her own finger, beaming in delight.

I just turned and walked away without a backward glance, but he called out to me again.

"Natasha. I'll order another new ring for you tonight—"

I slammed the door shut with a loud bang. Then, I rushed into the bathroom and threw up until I nearly lost consciousness.

I groggily made my way back home after that. Sometime in the evening, Levi really did send over a new ring with a bigger, more expensive diamond set into it, but I tossed it into the trash without even bothering to look at it.

I collapsed onto the bed and stared soullessly at my phone screen, doomscrolling until I suddenly came across a very familiar photo.

It was a photo of the ring I'd taken off today. But now, it was on another woman's finger.

"I'm so in love with the new ring my boyfriend gave me today!"

I felt my heart drumming in my chest as I tapped on the profile picture of the original poster. At once, I was met with an endless stream of photos on her profile.

It was Viola's social media account. She had posted every single day on her account, and in every single tightly packed 20-photo Instagram post she published online, I saw traces of my husband in them.