Chapter 1

After my wife's third accidental miscarriage, the doctor said another one could cost her life.

I loved her too much to take that risk, so I worked up the courage to get a vasectomy.

I took a part-time job as a delivery driver after work so I could earn more money to buy her supplements and help her recover.

My very first order was to pick up a medical examination report from a hospital for a client.

The doctor handed me the report, then scolded me.

"How many times do we have to tell you? Your wife is three months pregnant, so you can't have overly rough sex. Why can't you show some restraint?"

I smiled and explained that I was only there to pick up the report for a client.

When I delivered it to the designated villa, a man in an expensive suit opened the door.

I tactfully passed along the doctor's warning.

He scratched his head with a laugh.

"I can't help it. My wife has a pretty high sex drive. I'll be more careful from now on."

I nodded and was about to leave when I saw a gigantic wedding portrait hanging on the living-room wall.

The woman in the photo looked exactly like my wife.

"How is she? My wife's beautiful, right?"

Ethan Carter handed me a glass of lemon water and followed my gaze toward the photograph.

I stared blankly at the enormous wedding portrait on the wall, my entire body frozen in place.

I had been married to Claire Bennett for three years, yet we didn't even have one decent photo together.

Every time I brought up taking wedding photos, she always said, "They're too expensive. We should save the money for the mortgage."

I had always felt guilty, thinking I was simply incapable of giving her the ceremony she deserved.

But that wasn't the reason.

She had already taken wedding photos with someone else.

Ethan was incredibly friendly, and he immediately began telling me about his love story.

"To be honest, brother, I was a little afraid to get together with my wife at first. She's so rich, drives a Maserati, and lives in a waterfront villa. How could an ordinary office worker like me ever be good enough for her?"

"She sent me gifts every day, booked restaurants, and drove luxury cars to pick me up after work... What man could resist that?"

He glanced around the living room, unable to hide the pride in his eyes.

"This villa was her proposal gift to me. You're doing pretty well yourself, brother. Don't sell yourself short. Sometimes, when you meet a rich woman, who cares whether it's love or not? At least the material side is taken care of. Life is comfortable."

My hands trembled.

I couldn't believe he was talking about Claire.

The Claire I knew came from an ordinary family. She had even needed to work to pay her own tuition.

"Your wife treats you really well."

I forced a faint, bitter smile and spoke with self-mockery.

"She really does." Ethan sighed. "You have no idea. Rich women can be hopeless romantics too."

"She's had three miscarriages in a row. The doctor said another pregnancy could put her life in danger, but she still insists on trying again. Right after the last miscarriage, she grabbed me and said we should keep trying for a baby. I couldn't talk her out of it."

My fingernails dug deeply into my palms.

Every time she was wheeled out of the operating room, I was the one who stayed outside all night.

Even when I had to go to work the next morning, I did it willingly, despite collapsing at my desk several times from exhaustion.

I didn't hesitate even when the doctor told me another pregnancy could cost her life.

Without telling her, I went and had a vasectomy.

The surgical wound became infected and I developed a fever, but I gritted my teeth and endured it for three days without letting her find out.

Yet right after her latest miscarriage, she couldn't wait to have someone else's child.

A strange pain rose in my chest.

I took out my phone and called her, wanting to demand an explanation.

She didn't answer.

In the end, I received a text from her.

"Babe, I'm taking pictures right now. Let's video-call later."

To help her relax after the miscarriage, I had specifically booked plane tickets and a five-star hotel so she could travel with her best friend.

Could I have been wrong?

Maybe the woman in the photo only looked a little like Claire.

Clinging to my last bit of hope, I was willing to trust her one more time.

I was just about to reply with an "Okay" when the door opened from the outside.

A woman came skipping inside with a bouquet of flowers in her arms.

She leaped onto Ethan like a human backpack.

"Babe, we've been apart for less than two hours, and I already missed you. I just ordered you a Mercedes!"

The two of them were still lost in their happiness.

I froze completely.