Chapter 2

As I watched Mia bustle around the room, I almost convinced myself that everything I saw last night was nothing more than a nightmare. But the messy bed and the hickeys on her neck shattered every illusion. This woman had betrayed me, undeniably and completely.

When she went into the kitchen, she forgot to take her phone with her. It vibrated a few times, and the screen showed a message from Jackson Cabot.

"Tsk, such a teasing little jinx. Remember to miss me."

I frowned and locked the screen.

After Mia finished reheating breakfast, she finally realized she had left her phone behind and walked over, clearly nervous. When she saw the dark screen, she quietly let out a sigh of relief.

I watched her every move, sneering inwardly.

As I stared at the pancakes in my hand, hot on the outside and raw within, my thoughts drifted back to the days when Mia and I first got together.

Back then, I was a serious, hardworking senior in college, with good grades and no dating history.

Mia, on the other hand, was the famous social butterfly from the vocational school next door.

When we first started dating, no one believed we would last. Yet I was determined to stay with her. At the time, I thought she was innocent and gentle. I believed all the rumors swirling around her were nothing more than envy-fueled lies.

Every day, when I came home from my internship, a steaming meal would be waiting for me.

It was only after we got married that I learned that those meals had all been ordered in advance as takeout.

Even so, I never complained. Instead, I was moved, convinced that she loved me without holding anything back.

"Owen, I have good news for you."

She suddenly looked at me shyly and held out a pregnancy test.

"You're going to be a dad."

I stared at the two lines on the stick. Thinking of what she had said to Jackson last night, a cold smile tugged at my lips.

I was an orphan. Growing up, I had desperately wanted a family of my own. After marrying Mia, I had actively tried for a baby, but the first pregnancy ended in miscarriage.

I wanted a baby badly, but I could not bear to let her take that risk again. After the miscarriage, I went and had a vasectomy on my own.

I never imagined that she would end up pregnant with another man's baby.

How could she be this cruel?

I clenched the pregnancy test in my hand and curved my lips slightly. "Yes. That really is good news."

"Then when are we going to sign the paperwork?" Mia snatched the test back, looking up at me with a smug look. "You promised before that you'd transfer this apartment in my name."

I froze for a moment. After her miscarriage, I had been beside myself with grief. No matter what she asked for back then, I agreed to everything. That included transferring the apartment I had worked for five years to pay off in her name.

At the time, I believed that if we were spending our lives together, it didn't matter whose name the property was under.

Now it was clear. She was trying to swallow my assets and leave me with nothing.

As the saying went, time would reveal a person's true nature. Perhaps I was finally starting to see what she was really like.

"There's no need to rush. We'll do the paperwork."

I tightened my grip on her wrist and smiled meaningfully. "I just hope that when you see the documents, you'll be just as eager as you are now."

…

That afternoon, I drove to my childhood friend's place.

"Well, if it isn't Mr. Brooks, the one I failed to recruit."

Mason Hayes laughed the moment he saw me, slinging an arm over my shoulder.

"Showing up with whiskey out of nowhere. What is it? Finally had a change of heart and decided to join my company?"

A year ago, as the head of another major company in the industry, Mason had tried every possible way to poach me. Back then, I had refused because I couldn't bear to leave Mia.