Chapter 1

As soon as Joshua Zeller signed the patent licensing contract, he went to my wife, Yvonne Zeller, to show it off.

Yvonne was supposed to be busy getting to know Tristan Moore, the scholarship student, but she started calling me repeatedly.

I ignored her calls.

That was how she always acted when she was mad at me.

She was so angry that she ran every red light on her way home and threw her handbag at me the moment she entered the house.

"How could you do this, Shane? You know Joshua and I are bitter rivals who would love nothing more than to destroy each other, yet you went and granted him the patent anyway!

"Are you trying to push me into a corner just because Tristan wanted to repay me and used your lab?"

Her hair was a mess as she tried to catch her breath. Her usual elegance as the Zeller family's heiress was long gone, and it was all because of another man.

I dodged the bag she threw at me and looked disappointedly at Yvonne. Her eyes were bloodshot as she was on the verge of a breakdown. "I still have plenty of patents. I'm giving you just half an hour. You know what to do."

Less than 20 minutes later, Yvonne sent me a video.

My lab was spotless. Someone was even reinstalling all the expensive equipment there.

I immediately called my patent agent. "Grant Yvonne licenses for two more patents."

Then, I sent her a video of my own.

The project proposal she thought was a sure win had been thrown into a shredder and reduced to scraps. Important company files had been deleted so thoroughly that they couldn't even be recovered from the recycle bin.

"This is just a taste of your own medicine, Yvonne," I spat. "Don't think I'm some useless freeloader. Here's a warning—don't push it too far, or you'll find out what regret really means."

Yvonne didn't reply, but I was certain that she was throwing things in anger somewhere.

She deserved this.

Back then, when she had nowhere left to turn, she came to me and told me that she needed my patents to fight her brother for the inheritance. In return, she would invest in my lab.

But I didn't need her investment. Her determination moved me, so I agreed.

Later, we fell in love and got married. I licensed all my patents to her for free, helping her go from someone who wasn't even allowed a seat at the table to someone who could overpower her Joshua.

At the time, she had hugged my neck and said, "Honey, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I love you more than anything."

She gave birth to our precious daughter, Kelly Zeller, and devoted herself to our family. I accepted it all willingly.

I thought this was the beginning of happiness, and that our family of three would stay peaceful forever.

But what she and Tristan did that night felt like a slap in the face. It completely shattered that illusion.

The only thing that didn't belong to her was my warning.

…

Yvonne hadn't come home for two days. It was the first time she had stayed out overnight despite not being on a business trip.

I knew this was her way of telling me she didn't think she was in the wrong and that she was forced to compromise about what happened in the lab.

I went straight to the Zeller Group building and took the elevator up to her office on the top floor.

The moment her secretary saw me, she panicked and dropped the files in her hands.

"Mr. Carter, Mrs. Carter isn't available right now!"