Chapter 3

Greg was right. If I'd listened to my family and gone abroad for college, I could have built a successful career by now.

Instead, I spent the past ten years helping Nick manage his company. I turned down countless offers from major companies, worked the longest hours for the lowest pay, and gave away the best years of my life.

I'm tired now. I just want to live for myself.

When I got home, I quickly packed my things.

Aside from a few personal belongings, I barely owned anything in the house. I had always felt more like a guest than a wife.

Nick kept all the valuables locked away. The property deeds were in a safe, while his suits and watches were kept in a locked closet. It was as if he were afraid that I'd steal them.

While clearing out my closet, I noticed a brown handbag tucked away at the very bottom, still sealed inside its dust bag.

Nick and I had bought it during the early days of our business. We'd made good money that year. Caught up in the excitement, I'd bought it as a reward for myself. It was from a lesser-known designer brand and cost around 2,000 dollars.

But I'd only carried it a few times before Nick accused me of being vain and materialistic. He said spending money like that was bad for the company.

He didn't like the bag, so I never carried it again. Instead, I started taking a plain canvas tote to work every day.

His word used to be law to me, but not anymore.

I pulled the bag out and held it up in front of the mirror. I even changed out of my work clothes and put on an old dress I'd stashed away to match it.

The bag and dress were the same ones from back then, but I didn't feel any of the excitement I'd felt when I first bought the bag. Just like my marriage to Nick, things could never go back to the way they were.

I put the bag back. Somehow, it no longer meant as much to me.

When I looked up, I glanced at my phone and saw that it was already past midnight.

After years of working late, my body was used to staying up. I wasn't even sleepy, but with an early flight the next morning, I decided to turn in.

Lying in bed, I started scrolling through my phone and saw Ruby's latest post.

In the photo, Nick was resting on a bench in the hospital hallway with his eyes closed. Ruby's fingers hovered just above his face, tracing his features.

The caption read, "Just feeling a little under the weather, and my boss came all the way to take care of me. Aren't you guys jealous?"

I laughed coldly.

She really never missed a chance to show off how close she was to Nick.

The old me would have been furious, but now, I felt no jealousy at all. If anything, I was relieved.

That meant Nick would be busy taking care of Ruby all night and wouldn't be coming home.

That was fine by me.

I plugged my phone in beside the bed and closed my eyes.

I fell into a deep sleep, but around three or four in the morning, the sound of the door opening jolted me awake.

A moment later, Nick's voice came from outside. "Chloe, I'm starving. Go make me something to eat."

In the past, no matter how late it was, I would wait up for him, fix him a late-night meal, run him a hot bath, and take care of him until he fell asleep.

That night, I just got out of bed and locked the door so he couldn't disturb me.

It was strange. Whenever Ruby had an episode, Nick would normally spend the whole night with her and never come home.

The first time he had stayed out all night, I thought something terrible had happened to him. I was frantic with worry.

I even had the police track his phone, only to find out he'd been at Ruby's house fixing a leaky pipe and doing all her housework for her.

When I confronted him, he frowned and said I was too controlling and paranoid.

I snapped out of my thoughts when Nick knocked on the door again.

"Chloe? Why is the door locked? Did you go to sleep without waiting for me?"

I could hear the disbelief and confusion beneath his calm tone, which only made the whole thing more ridiculous.

In the past, if I stayed up waiting for him, he'd say I was only awake because I wasn't giving my all at work. Then he'd warn me coldly to focus on my job instead of clinging to him.

Now that I was ignoring him, he was unhappy. He really was impossible to please.