Chapter 2

After I got home, I dug out the property deed to the villa Julia had spent over a billion dollars building—our marital home.

"Hello, is this Ms. Smith, the real estate agent? Yeah, I'd like to list a property for sale."

The next morning, I was still asleep when Juliet suddenly returned. She rushed in like a storm, damp and chilled, not even bothering to change out of her wet clothes.

Instead, she hurried over to me and, while shaking, asked, "Hugo, did you put our villa up for sale?"

The villa was in my name. Juliet had arranged it that way, so any listing wouldn't notify her. That was, unless she had gone to the real estate office herself.

I didn't answer right away. Instead, I questioned, "You went to the real estate office?"

She froze for a moment, her gaze flickering. After a few seconds, she replied, "A friend wanted to buy a villa, so I went with them to give some advice…"

Was it a friend, or was it Luke?

It seemed she really liked that "wedding gift" he had prepared, enough to bring him along first thing in the morning to look at villas.

I did my best to keep my emotions in check, my voice steady. "Yeah. I've needed some money lately."

The assisted dying service required a huge payment, and besides, I figured my heart was worth that much.

Juliet's expression visibly relaxed. "I was just worried you didn't like it. I didn't sleep all night because of that."

The dark circles under her eyes and the faint red veins in them proved she hadn't rested. When she moved, however, the dense hickeys scattered across her skin stood out far more, jarring against everything else.

"Luckily, you'd only just listed it. I bought it back right away!" she said. "I poured everything I had into building that villa for us. It's proof of how much I love you. Hugo, if you need money, just go straight to the company's finance department."

As she spoke, Juliet called her assistant. "From now on, any expenses my fiance makes are not to be questioned. No need to report them to me either."

She looked back at me, her voice softening. "Do you have any idea how scared I was when I saw the listing? I thought you were selling it because you didn't want to marry me anymore."

She took my hand and pressed a light kiss to my fingers.

Oh, Juliet. I wondered how she could act so convincingly.

Just moments ago, she had rushed back from another man's side. Now, she was playing the part of my devoted fiancee.

"I needed money because… I wanted to prepare a wedding gift for you," I said.

Juliet's eyes lit up immediately. "Really? I'll look forward to your surprise, honey."

I hoped she would like it when the time came.

In the following days, Juliet didn't come home. Luke's messages to me, however, never stopped.

In a Maybach that had been chosen as our wedding car, the leather seat was stained with large, damp patches. A video showed the area beneath the seat was littered with torn condom wrappers.

Luke's tone was smug. "I honestly didn't expect her to be that insatiable. We tried over ten different positions in the car alone."

I didn't reply. I was busy clearing out everything in the villa that had anything to do with me. If I were going to disappear, I would do it cleanly.

Three days before the wedding, I received the bill for the assisted dying service. It was expensive, but the company offered strict confidentiality agreements.

If Juliet ever found out I was using assisted dying as a way to fake my death and disappear, knowing her, she would never let it go.

The payment from the villa sale hadn't come through, so I had no choice but to go to Juliet's assistant, Bailey Henderson. When she saw the payee's name, Dignity in Passing, she looked up at me in surprise.