Chapter 6

When Zeke opened his eyes again, he was lying in a hospital bed. His mouth was painfully dry. He forced himself upright, and his phone immediately lit up with taunting messages.

One of them was a video. In it, Calvin was curled up in Ruth's arms, eating the peeled grapes she was feeding him.

"Ruth, Zeke was so fierce just now. Do you think he's serious about wanting to kill me?" he asked.

Ruth tapped his nose, her eyes full of indulgence. "Of course not. No one gets to bully you as long as I'm around."

Calvin let out a long, gloomy sigh and said, "But I don't wanna be some dirty little secret for the rest of my life. Can't you at least give me a wedding, Ruth? Let's register our marriage!"

Zeke's hand clenched tightly around his phone, a sharp pain stabbing through his chest.

A second later, Ruth spoke up hesitantly, "Cal, I can't promise you that. Zeke is still my husband, and no one in the Jensen family has ever gotten divorced. If I divorce him, it'll hurt the company's reputation."

Calvin instantly choked up. "So what, I'm supposed to stay in the shadows for the rest of my life?"

Ruth went quiet for a moment, then finally gave in. She said, "I'll give you a fake wedding."

"That's not enough! It's far from enough!" Calvin shouted, throwing a fit.

Ruth soothed him, rubbing his back. "I'll divorce him and marry you. We'll have a baby together. After the baby's born, I'll marry him again."

Calvin huffed. "And you have to promise you'll never have kids with Zeke. After our baby's born, you're getting an IUD!"

The second those words left his mouth, the room went dead silent. Just when Zeke thought Ruth wouldn't answer, she said in a low voice, "Okay."

The video ended there. Zeke was still wrapping his head around it when, the next second, Ruth walked into his hospital room. She held a stack of papers disguised as a property purchase contract, but it was actually their divorce agreement. She sat down by his bed.

"Zeke, I bought you a house out in the suburbs. Sign this. Once your grandma's better, we'll move there with her." She quickly added, "Don't get the wrong idea. I only treat Calvin well because I see him as a little brother. As long as you stop getting jealous and throwing fits, we can still live a good life together."

Zeke signed his name, feeling numb. He pretended not to see the words "Divorce Agreement" on the page.

Honestly, this worked out for him. It saved him the trouble of approaching her and getting her to sign the divorce papers.

Ruth sighed in relief. She even reached out, wanting to ruffle his hair affectionately, but he tilted his head just enough to dodge her touch.

"Don't bother," he said. "Go keep your 'brother' company."

She froze, a hint of annoyance creeping into her tone. "Fine. Remember that you're the one who pushed me away."

She closed the door behind her as she left.

Zeke sat on the bed and let out a cold, bitter laugh. This was ridiculous. She used to complain that he controlled her too much, but now that he didn't care anymore, she couldn't stand it.

People were just born ungrateful.

…

Over the next few days, Ruth left Zeke in the hospital to rest and recover, then used a business trip as an excuse to parade Calvin all over town.

Zeke checked his phone. A headline shot to the top of the trending list.

"CEO of Jensen Group, Ruth Jensen, Proposes to Her Boyfriend and True Love!"

In the video, Ruth kissed Calvin in a rose-filled villa, slid a custom-made diamond ring worth millions of dollars onto his finger, and even transferred assets worth over a hundred million dollars so he'd be set for life.

The comments were full of people squealing over how romantic it was. No one cared about Zeke, the husband she had cast aside.

Zeke's heart had long gone numb. He even left a comment under the post. "Wishing you both a lifetime together."

Right after that, Calvin texted him. "See that, Zeke? Ruth's first choice will always be me."

Zeke replied, "Congratulations. Now, can you give me my grandma's ashes back?"

Calvin, however, insisted they meet in person first.