Theater: NovelMaster | Language: English | NEW
Synopsis
Prologue
Henry was planning a second wedding, and I wasn't the bride.
When he hired Chloe as a surrogate to carry his child, I swallowed my pride and endured it.
Now, he wanted to give her my place as his wife, too.
Only then did I realize that six years of marriage had just been my own foolish, one-sided delusion.
I stopped fighting. I stopped waiting. I applied for a permanent residency visa to Germany, packed up all my things, and prepared to vanish completely.
Just as I asked for a divorce, Chloe publicly announced her pregnancy.
Yet Henry grabbed my hand tightly, begging me not to leave.
Too late.
This time, I didn't want him anymore.
Vivian’s POV
Henry was planning a second wedding.
I wasn't the bride.
When he hired Chloe to have his baby through a surrogate, I stayed silent.
Now, he was ready to give her my title as his wife.
I wasn't going to stand in his way anymore.
I dug out my passport and made up my mind to move to Germany for good.
That afternoon, I came home early.
I pushed the door open to find Henry standing in the living room, trying on a groom's tuxedo.
Four of his best friends were gathered around him, pulling at his collar and adjusting his cuffs.
On a rolling rack nearby hung eight neatly pressed groomsmen suits.
When he married me, he only had four groomsmen in total.
Everyone had their backs to the door, so none of them heard me walk in.
I stood in the entryway, holding the heels I had just slipped off.
Years ago, Henry refused to have a baby because he was terrified I would die in the delivery room.
His own mother died during childbirth having him. He never talked about it out loud, but I always knew.
Then, before his grandfather passed away, the old man insisted that the family needed an heir.
Henry immediately had people vet over a hundred young women before finally settling on Chloe.
Chloe went to the same grad school I did, and from behind, she looked remarkably like me.
Only later did I realize that a man's greed only grows, step by step.
When my parents flew into New York to visit, he was with Chloe.
The night of my company's crucial funding gala, he was still with Chloe.
On my way home from work, when a crippling stomach spasm had me doubled over on the sidewalk, he only bothered to send a driver to pick me up.
A few days ago, the power went out in my office building's elevator, trapping me inside. I called him seven times in a row, and he declined every single call because he was accompanying Chloe to her prenatal checkup.
Back when I got promoted, Henry bought a car and parked it outside my office building. He pressed the keys into my palm, swearing he would spend the rest of his life treating only me this well.
I believed that promise for six whole years.
Even while trapped in that pitch-black elevator pushing the emergency call button, those words still echoed in my head.
"You're back?"
The friend holding a bottle of wine turned around and froze. He nearly dropped the bottle onto the floor.
The laughter in the living room vanished in an instant.
The smiles on all four faces stiffened awkwardly.
Henry turned, his hand freezing mid-air as he fastened his cufflink.
"Just walked in," I said, calmly placing my shoes into the cabinet.
The friend closest to the door swallowed hard, forcing a tight laugh. "Hey, don't read into this! A buddy of ours out of state is getting married next month and can't make it back in time. Henry's about the same build, so we just roped him into trying the suit on for him."
Another friend quickly piped up, "Yeah, seriously, just checking the fit so it's not off when the time comes."
I glanced at the impeccably tailored tuxedo on Henry. "Fits great."
Henry stared at me for two seconds. His shoulders relaxed, and he looked down to finish fastening his cufflink.
He actually bought that I believed them.
Once upon a time, if I so much as knitted my brow, Henry would notice from across the room.
Now, standing just six feet away with my palms drenched in cold sweat, he didn't notice a single thing.
His friends didn't linger. They quickly cleared out.
Only the two of us were left in the living room.
Henry stepped forward, reaching out to touch my cheek, but I turned my head away.
He didn't seem to care and pulled his hand back. "You called me so many times the other day. I was tied up with an emergency and didn't hear the phone."
"I dialed the wrong number."
I looked up into his eyes. "Don't you need to be over at Chloe's tonight?"
Henry's tone hardened. "She's just a vessel to carry my kid. Why do you keep comparing yourself to her?"
He said it without a second of hesitation.
Back when he used to praise me for being so understanding and gentle, he probably had that exact same look on his face.
I grabbed my purse. "I'm heading out."
Henry picked up his car keys. "I'll drive you."
The car glided onto the bridge.
Henry steered with one hand. "There's a new French place that opened uptown this weekend. I'll take you there. After dinner, we can stop by the mall and grab that bag you've had your eye on."
In the past, sweet promises like these would stay in my phone's notes, keeping me happy for days.
Now, I just stared at the stream of cars in the side mirror, completely silent.
While we were waiting at a red light, the phone screen on the center console lit up.
A message popped up from Chloe: "Henry, I picked out the jewelry you asked me to choose. Twenty-two pieces in total, and the boutique has them in stock today. I'll wait for you at our usual spot."
Henry glanced at the screen. He immediately flipped on his hazard lights, pulled over to the curb, and killed the engine.
"Something urgent came up at the office, I have to run. Call an Uber, or just wait here in the car for me to get back."
He pushed the door open, slammed it shut, and jogged over to the curb to hail a yellow cab without looking back once.
I sat in the passenger seat, watching the cab merge into the traffic.
The words about taking me out for French food this weekend hadn't even faded from the air.
With a single message, he didn't even bother coming up with a convincing lie before he bolted.
I opened the door and slid into the driver's seat.
I hit the gas, pulled a U-turn, and drove straight to the visa application center.
At the counter, I submitted my application for a long-term residency visa to Germany.
By the time I walked out, the sky was completely dark.
I folded the confirmation receipt and tucked it into the hidden compartment of my purse.
Henry was hiding his wedding from me, and now I knew everything.
I was going to disappear from his life forever, and Henry had no idea.Vivian’s POV
After submitting the visa paperwork, the approval would still take two weeks.
I set a clear goal for myself: the moment that visa was in my hands, I would book a flight and leave immediately.
First, I cleared out the master walk-in closet.
Over the years, the clothes, shoes, and bags Henry bought me took up three entire walls.
Back then, I thought this was proof of how much he cared. He was never one to say "I love you," but he never hesitated to spend money on me.
Now, those things were only good for turning into cash.
I called a luxury consignment service. A representative showed up with three movers to box everything up. It took three van loads just to empty it all out.
All that remained were a few worn-out shirts Henry gave me back when we first started dating, items the resale shop wouldn't take.
I pulled a pair of scissors from a drawer, sat on the floor, and shredded every single piece into ribbons.
The vows he whispered when he pressed those car keys into my hands were cut down into useless scraps in a trash can.
Over the next few days, Henry only sent two text messages, both claiming he was working late at the office and telling me not to wait up.
It wasn't until the night of the fourth day that he finally came home. As he swapped into his slippers by the door, he casually asked, "Why are all the shelves empty in the closet?"
"Changing out the season," I replied evenly. "I packed everything into storage."
Henry gave an offhand grunt, asking nothing more, and tossed his wallet onto the entryway table.
It was a brand-new black leather wallet with a gleaming metal logo.
The old wallet I bought him with my very first paycheck had long since been thrown away.
How long ago he tossed it, I didn't know, and Henry never once mentioned it.
Henry came out of the master bathroom after his shower and sat down next to me on the bed. "Next Wednesday is your birthday. I rented out a grand ballroom at the hotel and invited everyone from our circle. I'm going to throw you a proper birthday party."
He looked at me with complete focus when he said it.
In all the years we had been married, he had never thrown me a celebration like that.
My heart sank, heavy and dull.
I had already made up my mind to leave, yet hearing this still tasted like bitter irony.
"Okay," I nodded.
The night of the party, the hotel ballroom was laid out with a plush red carpet.
I walked in with my arm looped through Henry's. Glancing over at the head table, my steps froze.
Chloe was sitting right in the most prominent seat.
She wore an off-white gown, her hair swept up elegantly, chatting and laughing with the guests around her.
A few familiar business acquaintances walked over with their drinks to greet her, casually calling her "Mrs. Miller."
Chloe neither denied it nor agreed; she merely covered her mouth, giggling with obvious delight.
Henry's brow furrowed, and he started to pull away to walk over, but I clamped my hand down on his wrist.
"You brought her here?"
"She's just a student. I wanted her to get some exposure. I specifically had her seated in the corner—she won't cause any trouble."
Henry pried my fingers off his arm and hurried toward her.
I stared at that seat right in the middle of the head table, sneering inwardly.
That was the most eye-catching spot in the entire ballroom.
Henry stood by Chloe's side, his hand resting protectively against the small of her back as he helped her make small talk with the older executives.
A familiar business partner approached, glass in hand. "Henry, you and your wife look wonderful tonight."
Henry kept his arm around Chloe's shoulders without letting go, turning to wave at me where I stood a short distance away. "Mr. Lewis has got it wrong—this over here is my wife. The lady sitting here is my wife's relative. She just moved to New York for grad school, so I brought her along to see how things are done."
Every pair of eyes in the hall snapped directly toward me.
With a single sentence, Chloe became my family.
From now on, whenever high society ran into this woman, they would politely call her "Mrs. Miller's relative."
He was using my birthday party as a stepping stone to introduce Chloe into his world.
I stood rooted to the spot. Raising my glass, I offered Mr. Lewis a polite nod, going along with the lie.
If I made a scene, it would only turn the Miller family into a laughingstock for the entire room.
I wasn't about to lose my mind in public over the two of them.
The guests immediately swarmed over with practiced smiles.
Henry guided Chloe around, table by table, introducing her to everyone.
Chloe clung tightly to Henry's arm, smiling at every face, and murmurs about how well-suited the pair looked rippled through the room.
A few socialite acquaintances approached me, champagne flutes in hand, keeping their voices low as they whispered.
"I ran into Henry at the dealership the other day. He bought two luxury cars straight off the floor. Said the red one was for family—turns out it was just a daily driver for your relative."
"Last week my husband and I were dining at that Michelin-starred spot, and we saw Henry escorting a young lady into a private room. So that was your relative, too."
"And that luxury baby boutique downtown—last month when I was ordering a custom crib, I ran into Henry helping this very lady pick out nursery items."
The dealership, the fine-dining restaurants, the baby boutiques.
I had never been taken to a single one.
Every piece of the lavish new life Henry was carefully building outside our home was now poured into my ears through the gossiping mouths of these women.
My fingers dug into the stem of my glass until my knuckles turned stark white.
Someone stepped up to wish me a happy birthday.
Without letting my expression waver, I clinked my glass against theirs, tipped my head back, and swallowed the rest of the chilled wine in one gulp.Vivian’s POV
Those words pierced through me like needles, leaving my head pounding.
I told the people near me that I needed to touch up my makeup and slipped out through a side door.
At the far end of the quiet hallway, a floor-to-ceiling window let in a cold draft through a slight gap, chilling my face numb.
I leaned against the wall and stood there for a very long time.
He had a mistress on the outside—I had known that for a while, so I wasn't out here struggling to process the affair itself.
What I had to stomach was something else: every single guest in that room saw right through the truth, while I was the one kept in the dark, forced to smile and cover for them both.
I turned to head back.
Right next to the ballroom was a dimly lit private lounge. The door stood half open.
As I reached the doorway, my feet froze.
Henry and Chloe were standing pressed against each other inside, neither of them looking back.
"What's the rush? It's not like we can't see each other tonight," Chloe purred, her voice soft and playful.
"I haven't seen you in days. I missed you."
Standing in the doorway, waves of cold washed over me. My legs refused to move.
"So when are you going to let me move out of the dorms? I can't keep staying on campus forever."
"Don't worry. Once the baby is born, that apartment right next to your campus is yours. It's close to your classes, and convenient for me to drop by after work."
"And what about your wife? What if she doesn't agree to it?"
"Her? In the middle of the night, the only person on my mind has always been you."
I didn't stay to hear the rest.
All these years, he had been so attentive to me: remembering I hated parsley, remembering I needed warm water during my period, keeping track of every single small habit and preference I had.
When he stopped being as passionate as before, I told myself that was just how marriage went over time.
Now I finally understood.
He remembered those things only because it took zero effort, and it never got in the way of whatever else he wanted to do.
Whatever love he had for me was long dead. That lingering attentiveness was nothing more than an easy routine to placate me.
I turned around and walked back to the ballroom alone.
The reception was still ongoing. Glass in hand, I went back to entertaining the guests who approached me, my smile flawless and without a crack.
Nearly half an hour later, Chloe returned.
Her gown was crumpled, her collar askew, several strands of hair loose around her shoulders, and her face flushed an unnatural red.
She marched directly up to me. "Vivian, could I borrow your jacket? The AC is blowing right on me, and it's a bit cold."
Without a word, I slipped off my blazer and handed it to her.
As Chloe reached out to take it, she caught her heel on some spilled wine. Her body jerked, and with a shrill scream, she pitched forward, clutching my arm with all her weight.
The two of us crashed heavily onto the floor together.
Chloe landed entirely on top of me. My wrist slammed violently against the sharp edge of a nearby table, and the blinding pain made my vision go black.
"What happened?!"
Henry rushed over, immediately pulling Chloe up into his arms. "Chloe, are you okay? Where are you hurt?"
The entire ballroom turned to stare. Some assumed he was fussing over his wife, chiming in, "As long as she's not badly hurt, don't panic too much."
He didn't spare a single glance for me down on the floor.
I tilted my head back, watching his hands cradle her arm so gently, so carefully.
From this moment on, if anything ever happened to me out in the world, this man would never come running.
Lying on that floor, the realization cut through me far deeper than the pain in my wrist.
"Henry, my ankle hurts..." Chloe whimpered, tears pooling in her eyes.
"It's okay, I'll help you upstairs."
Henry supported her by the waist and walked her toward the exit. At the door, he paused to look back down at me on the ground. He hesitated for half a beat, but his feet never stopped.
I saw that look clearly. He saw me. He knew I fell. And he still walked away.
The tower of birthday presents near the door had been knocked over in the scramble. Boxes were scattered everywhere across the carpet, trampled flat by passing feet.
Using my good hand against the floor, I pushed myself up. My left wrist was badly swollen, throbbing at the slightest movement.
I didn't call for help. Leaning against the wall, I slowly made my way down to the hotel's on-site clinic.
The nurse gasped when she saw my wrist. As she iced and wrapped it, she asked, "Ma'am, where is your family? Why isn't anyone down here with you?"
"He's busy."
"No matter how busy he is, he should come check on you. Your wrist is swollen like a balloon."
"I can handle it on my own."
The words slipped out so smoothly that I even surprised myself.
I couldn't count how many times I had given that exact same answer over the past few years.
Once the wrap was finished, I remembered the hotel had prepared a change of clothes for me in an upstairs suite.
I took the elevator up. Just as I walked down the hall, I noticed a door left wide open, warm light spilling out onto the carpet.
Henry was sitting on the edge of the bed, Chloe's foot resting gently on his lap, staring down at a minor scrape on her knee.
It was barely a patch of red, yet he had already called the house doctor up twice, his brow locked in a tight frown the entire time.
"Does it still hurt?" he asked softly.
"It hurts..." Chloe dragged out the word, pouting.
"Sir, you take such good care of your girlfriend," the housekeeper remarked with a polite smile as she tidied the room.
Henry didn't deny it. He merely offered a quiet hum, his gaze never leaving Chloe's knee.
I stood out in the hallway watching the scene.
A tiny scrape warranted two doctor visits.
My wrist was swollen beyond recognition, and he hadn't asked a single question.
In his eyes, whether I was hurting simply didn't matter.
I looked down at the tight layers of gauze around my wrist, turned around, and pressed the button for the elevator going down.
Whatever faint shred of hope I had left for this man burned out completely that night.Vivian’s POV
For days afterward, Henry didn't come home. Where he was spending his time was clearer to me than anything.
My visa arrived during that stretch. A thin envelope sat waiting on the entryway console. I glanced at it once and slid it straight into my purse.
Once the bruising on my wrist faded to a faint shadow of green, I headed out to run some errands and made a detour through the campus of the university we both attended years ago.
It was mid-afternoon. The walkways were quiet, covered in fallen autumn leaves.
When Henry courted me, it was during an autumn just like this. He would wait outside my dorm every single day, bringing hot lattes and fresh croissants, refusing to leave even when the biting cold turned his ears bright red.
I took this detour today just to reassure myself that the man who once loved me truly had existed.
Laughter drifted from the tree-lined path ahead. I looked up, and my steps ground to a halt.
Henry was riding a white bicycle. Chloe sat on the rack behind him, arms wrapped around his waist, her face pressed against his back, laughing brightly.
The bike coasted to an easy stop outside the dining hall.
Henry reached back and swung Chloe down from the seat with effortless familiarity.
He carried her backpack, squeezing into the queue at the counter alongside her.
Chloe stood on her tiptoes pointing at the menu items, telling him what she wanted, while he tilted his head to listen, smiling nonstop.
"Being with you is the only time I actually feel young again, like I've found the person I used to be."
Those words drifted on the breeze, landing squarely in my ears.
All those years with me, he had been steady, careful, and flawlessly responsible.
I always thought that just meant he had grown up.
Turns out, in his eyes, that was just growing old. That was losing himself.
Now he was jostling through a crowd of college kids, smiling just like them—except the person beside him wasn't me anymore.
The years we spent together had been dismissed by his single comment into a life he never truly wanted.
I didn't want to watch another second. I turned to walk away, only to come face-to-face with Chloe heading back from the drink cooler.
Holding two bottles of water, her face instantly went white. "Vivian? What are you doing here?"
"Am I not allowed to be here?"
"No... Henry just happened to drop by to see how I was settling in. He was worried I wouldn't be used to campus life alone. Please don't get the wrong idea..."
"I don't have the wrong idea."
"Really, he's only staying for a little bit. He's leaving right after lunch..."
"Go ahead and eat. I just came back to take a walk."
Suddenly, frantic bicycle bells rang out from behind, accompanied by a delivery courier's panicked shout: "Look out! Brakes failed! Look out!"
I turned around just as an electric scooter came barreling down the incline, veering erratically straight toward me.
Before I could react, Chloe grabbed my arm and yanked violently to the side.
I stumbled hard onto the roadside grass.
When I looked up, Chloe was down on the pavement, her forehead slammed against the curb. Blood streamed down her face, soaking the front of her white dress.
"Chloe!"
Henry came charging over from nearby, shoving past the gathering crowd of students. His furious eyes landed instantly on me standing to the side.
Without a word, he swung his arm and slapped me across the face.
The sharp crack echoed in the air. The surrounding students froze, dead silent.
The force threw my head to the side, splitting my lip. The metallic tang of blood spread across my tongue.
Slowly, I turned my head back to look at the man before me, his eyes bloodshot with rage.
"Vivian, how can you be so vicious! Why do you have to target her?!"
"She pulled me."
"She pulled you?! Then why is she the one lying on the concrete bleeding? Do you think I'm blind?! If anything happens to her, I will never forgive you!"
He scooped Chloe up off the asphalt and sprinted toward the campus gates, never sparing me another glance.
I stood there in the quiet, the blood from my lip dripping onto the pavement, spreading into a small crimson stain.
He never asked if I was hurt. He never asked what really happened.
To him, there was no need to investigate. I was guilty by default.
I hailed a cab and followed Henry's car from behind.
He sped and blew through red lights the entire drive. By the time he reached the emergency bay, the car slammed directly into the guardrail.
He kicked the door open and rushed into the ER carrying Chloe, blood dripping down from a cut on his own forehead without him even bothering to wipe it away.
Nurses came to tell him six times to get his own wound dressed, but he ignored every single one. He stood vigil outside the trauma room, staring relentlessly at the glowing red light above the doors.I stood at the other end of the hallway, watching his silhouette for a long time.
So, he actually was capable of panicking.
He truly did have someone he would protect without any regard for his own life.
All these years, he had never lost his temper with me. I used to think he was just naturally composed, but now I knew how wrong I was.
By the time Chloe was out of danger, dawn was breaking.
The moment Henry heard the news, he swayed on his feet and collapsed to the floor.
The gash on his forehead had gone untreated, and his chest was badly bruised from slamming against the steering wheel. He had held on through sheer willpower all night.
I called the doctor over to dress his wounds, then pulled up a chair to sit beside his bed.
I treated this night as my final goodbye to him.
From here on out, he would have nothing to do with me.
Just as morning broke, my phone rang. It was the agent helping me find an apartment in Germany, asking for my exact arrival date so they could have the place cleaned and ready.
Afraid of waking Henry, I kept my voice down: "I haven't set the exact date yet. Once it's confirmed, I'll head over and message you."
When I hung up and turned around, I met Henry's open eyes.
He had heard every word.
Chapters (4)
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Watch & Promotions
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