Chapter 2

I sat motionless in the living room for the entire night.

Overnight, news of Shannon’s new lover had made the entertainment headlines.

The internet was flooded with reports about it.

There were photos of the yacht Shannon had spent a fortune buying for her new lover, along with footage of the two of them speeding across the river bridge.

Even netizens were discussing it.

[No matter how much people love each other, it always ends the same way.]

[How many rich people are actually faithful? Having new lovers is hardly unusual. I just never expected Shannon Jervis to be like this.]

[I heard she loved Jude Stafford so much back then that everyone knew it. The fireworks on their wedding never stopped.]

[They spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on fireworks every fifteen minutes, and the display lasted for three full days and nights.]

It felt as if Shannon had intentionally made sure those news reports reached me.

The countless comments made my chest tighten.

Back when Shannon’s company was relisted on the stock market, she stood before the press, holding my hand as she made an announcement.

“This is my husband. He’s my first love and the man I’ve loved for more than a decade. He stood by me through the hardest period of my life. Without him, the Jervis Group you see today probably wouldn’t exist.”

She linked her arm through mine, smiling so happily that her dimples deepened.

That same day, she made me a promise in front of the cameras.

“I will love Jude for the rest of my life.”

The interview was still online, having become a celebrated love story in others’ eyes.

People said only a love that deep could ever lead to marriage, but Shannon’s “forever” had lasted only ten short years.

The person standing beside her had become someone else.

Just as she had once treated me, she stepped in front of the reporters with a faint smile on her lips.

“Micah is still in college. If you have any questions, ask me. He’s young, so don’t make things difficult for him.”

My vision blurred as I forced myself to watch the news interview over and over again, almost as if I were punishing myself.

I only stopped when Shannon called. Her voice was as gentle as ever.

“You saw the news, didn’t you? Everyone online is already wondering whether we’re divorced. After all, it was only a matter of time.

“If you’ve thought it through, you can sign the papers right away, or would you rather see it for yourself?”

She sent me an address.

I tightened my grip on the phone until my knuckles turned white.

I could not tell whether it was the faint hope I still held onto or my unwillingness to accept it that drove me there, but I headed to the location Shannon had sent me.

Before I even reached the door, I heard laughter spilling out from the private room.

“Shay, if you do this, what about your husband at home?”

Through the crack in the door, I heard Shannon answer with indifference, “He’ll be my ex-husband soon.”

My hand curled into a fist at my side as I pushed open the private room door.

In an instant, every pair of eyes in the room turned toward me.

The first person I saw was Micah Snook, the college student Shannon had been seeing.

He was exactly as she had described him: young, handsome, and arrogantly defiant.

When he saw me, he raised his brows provocatively and wrapped an arm around Shannon’s waist.

“Shay and I made a bet, Mr. Stafford. If you showed up today, you’d have to drink this. You wouldn’t refuse to show me some respect, would you?”

My breath caught as I looked up at Shannon.

Her silence was an obvious acknowledgment of the bet.

“I don’t drink.”

I rejected the offer coldly and stared directly at Shannon.

“I have something to say to you.”

She only sighed and looked at me with a hint of exasperation.

“Jude, you’ve always been so boring. It’s just a little alcohol. You act as if I’m asking you to risk your life.”

I pressed my lips together as sharp pinpricks of pain spread through my chest.

Right in front of her, I downed the entire bottle of liquor.

The smile on Shannon’s face faltered.

She had clearly forgotten that, back then, I drank for her until I ended up having half my stomach removed.

Shannon had been allergic to alcohol since childhood.

However, when it came to entertaining clients and securing business deals, drinking was unavoidable.

I refused to let her touch even a drop.

I attended her business dinners, secured her partnerships, and drank recklessly with clients to bring in deal after deal.

In the end, I had half my stomach removed, and my body was completely worn down.

“Can we talk now?”

My voice came out hoarse as a sharp pain twisted through my stomach and darkness crept into my vision.

Only moments before I lost consciousness did I see the color drain from Shannon’s face.