Chapter 2

The moment I hung up, the hospital door was pushed open. Ethan, still wearing that ridiculous pink bunny headband from the video, rushed in.

He was holding Melody's hand, looking frantic as he knelt by my bed.

"Chloe, why didn't you tell me you were having surgery?"

I didn't tell him? I had sent him over a hundred messages. He just didn't care enough to look.

Seeing my silence, a flash of guilt crossed his face.

"It's my fault. I shouldn't have been so busy. Does the incision still hurt?"

Busy? He had all the time in the world for Melody, but not a single second for me.

I looked at him with cold sarcasm.

"Your first love's comeback concert is obviously way more important than my life. I don't blame you."

Ethan froze, panic flickering in his eyes.

Before he could explain, Melody interjected in her sweet, high-pitched voice.

"Chloe, please don't get the wrong idea. Ethan was just helping me out. I was so nervous about my show."

"If it bothers you, I won't ask him for help ever again."

Her faux generosity made me look like the petty, jealous wife.

I sneered.

"Did I ask you?"

Melody's sweet smile stiffened. Her eyes welled up with tears instantly, looking like a kicked puppy.

"I know you're mad at me for taking up Ethan's time. Fine, I'll stop seeing him altogether."

"Ethan, I'm clearly not welcome here. I should just go back to Europe."

With that, she turned and ran out.

Ethan's eyes went red. He quickly grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

"With me here, nobody dares to make you feel unwelcome."

He whipped his head back to face me, his brow furrowed in anger.

"What is wrong with you? I just went to a concert! Why are you throwing a tantrum over nothing?"

The stitches in my abdomen throbbed, sending a jolt of pain through my nerves. I couldn't hold back my pain and anger anymore. I screamed at him.

"Ethan, don't you dare yell at me!"

I had never raised my voice like that in our entire marriage.

Ethan, who was gently wiping a tear from Melody's face, paused. He looked like he wanted to say something.

But a second later, Melody's soft, fragile voice pulled his attention right back.

"Ethan, Chloe is just emotional right now. Don't fight with her because of me."

"Actually, some fans wanted us to take a couple of backstage photos. Let's do that first and come back to see Chloe later, okay?"

Ethan glanced at me instinctively, then grabbed her hand and walked out without looking back.

The empty ward was silent, save for the dripping sound of my IV.

This wasn't the first time Ethan had abandoned me for Melody.

Whether it was something as big as her having a mild fever, or something as trivial as her cat running out of food or her faucet leaking...

Ethan would always choose her without a second thought.

Just two nights ago, I had a severe allergic reaction to mangoes and ran a dangerously high fever.

Meanwhile, Ethan was sitting in a movie theater with Melody, watching a romance film.

I once asked Ethan to go bungee jumping with me, but he refused, claiming he was terrified of heights.

"Chloe, you should go with your friends. My vertigo is too bad for that kind of stuff."

Yet, I saw countless photos on Melody's Instagram of Ethan bungee jumping with her.

They were pressed tightly against each other, and Ethan had the most genuine, blissful smile on his face.

It turned out he wasn't afraid of heights.

He was just only willing to conquer his fears for her, not me.

When Ethan and I first got together, he was the one who chased me.

He knew I loved Ed Sheeran, so he practiced guitar for days and nights just to play for me.

He knew I was allergic to pollen, so he hand-crafted 999 paper roses for my birthday.

For him, I defied my family and moved to New York all by myself.

I truly believed Ethan loved me with all his heart, just like everyone said.

Until one day, I found a locked notebook in his study.

I remembered the silver necklace Ethan always wore, the one with a scratched-up pendant of numbers that he never took off.

Using those numbers as the code, I opened the notebook.

Inside were hundreds of photos, and every single one was of Melody.

Crying, laughing, sleeping, eating. He had documented every moment of her life.

As it turned out, the pendant he never took off was their couple's necklace from college.

No wonder he was so reluctant when I wanted to buy matching wedding bands.

"What's the point of wearing those? We're already married."

That was the moment I realized...

It was Melody who loved Ed Sheeran.

It was Melody who was allergic to pollen.

Even the love Ethan showered me with was just a cheap imitation. He only loved me because I shared some similarities with Melody.

He married me simply because Melody had moved abroad, and he felt it didn't matter who he ended up with.

I didn't throw a fit back then.

We had been married for eight years. I believed even the coldest stone could be melted. I was confident I could make him love me.

But today, as I lay dying in a hospital bed, Ethan's heart was entirely with Melody.

He took me for granted because he believed I would never leave him.

That was why he was so shameless.

Thinking about this, my heart felt like it was being pierced by a thousand needles.

I knew it was time to step off the stage.

I called my brother, Sebastian.

"Sebastian, I want the Miller Group bankrupt within three days."

Ethan, I don't think I ever told you. My father is the most ruthless billionaire tycoon in New York.