Chapter 2

Claire threw her arms around me, overjoyed.

She cried out, "Thank goodness, Louis. You're finally awake! If you didn't make it, I wouldn't want to live either. I don't care that my legs are paralyzed. As long as I could save you, nothing else matters."

In the face of disaster, people were usually selfish, yet Claire had sacrificed her legs for me, and the media praised her selfless true love endlessly.

Later, to inspire hope and prove that love still existed in the world, Claire was even chosen as one of the winners for that year's National Inspiration Awards.

Everyone was waiting for our happy ending. The media ran our stories daily, hoping we would get married. The whole country wanted to see the lovers end up together, and they wanted to see me show gratitude for Claire's sacrifice and return her devotion.

Even my own parents said that if I betrayed Claire, they would disown me.

Under everyone's expectations, I married Claire. However, three months into the marriage, Claire's true colors started showing.

When our neighbor from downstairs gave us some fish her husband had bought, Claire poured scalding fish stew over my head.

If I took out the trash for a neighbor once, she would smash every piece of furniture in the house.

She said she felt insecure, that seeing other people give me things hurt her feelings. She said seeing me help other women made her jealous, and that she was just terrified of losing me.

I tolerated her insecurity in our marriage, blaming it all on the earthquake. If she had not lost her legs, maybe she would not be like that.

However, she became worse and worse.

Finally, one night, she came at me with a needle aimed at my groin. "If you can't perform anymore, you won't be able to go after other women."

I endured the pain in my lower body as I realized with horror that the woman in front of me was insane.

After I got back from the hospital, I asked for a divorce.

What Claire was doing to me was domestic violence.

For men and women alike, domestic violence would never be a one-time thing. It would be either zero or endless.

However, my family and neighbors tried to talk me out of it, and the local women's rights group criticized me. Even the doctor who examined my injuries barely glanced at me and said it did not even count as minor harm.

I went to the court to file for divorce, but the clerk kept saying the printer was broken or that the network was down.

My parents stood before the media, tears streaming down their faces.

They said, "We failed to raise our son right. We won't let him go through with this divorce. Claire is such a wonderful girl."

Because of Claire, they had a daughter-in-law who was a nationally honored hero, and Dad walked tall at work. My younger brother, Ryan Sterling, even found himself a girlfriend from a well-off family.

Over the years, I had tried to divorce her countless times, but I never succeeded.

Perhaps it was because she knew I would never be able to leave her.

One night while I was asleep, she tried to castrate me again. I was terrified and tried to run. However, she got to the door first and locked it.

In the darkness, I stared at her perfectly fine legs.

She held up a knife, cackling. "Honey, where do you think you're going? Once you're broken, you'll be mine forever."

She did not castrate me that night, but the incident left me traumatized.

That was also the night I learned the truth that Claire had been faking it all along. She said she did it because she loved me, because she was afraid I would break up with her.

Claire's heroic act of saving me was already etched in everyone's minds. If I told everyone that she was not actually paralyzed, no one would believe me.

I had bought a pack of rat poison that day. Since I could not leave her, I would just take her with me.

However, an opportunity had presented itself.

I glanced casually at the hidden camera.

I had heard it was being livestreamed to the entire internet. As long as Claire stood up in front of all those viewers, I could finally get my divorce.