Chapter 2

Vivian POV

My brother Derek's body was still cold in the morgue, while his killer laughed openly in court.

"Vivian, sign this settlement agreement and this case ends here."

A deep, cold male voice sounded in my ear.

I stared at the man before me.

He was the all-powerful tycoon of this city, and also my husband of three years in a secret marriage. Ethan Sinclair.

At this moment, he stood beside the defendant's seat, his gold-rimmed glasses reflecting cold light as he pushed a document toward me.

"Ethan, have you lost your mind?"

I trembled all over.

"Stella was street racing and ran a red light. The surveillance caught everything! Derek was only nineteen. He was thrown over thirty feet! And now you want me to sign a settlement?"

Ethan frowned slightly, his tone impatient.

"The surveillance has been destroyed. No one can prove Stella was driving. Vivian, stop making a scene. Stella has depression. She can't handle imprisonment."

"She has depression, so my brother deserved to die?!"

I stood up, my nails digging deep into my palms.

I couldn't understand.

Three years ago, Ethan loved me to the bone.

If I casually mentioned wanting to see snow, he'd cancel a billion-dollar merger and charter a private jet to take me to Switzerland.

When I injured my wrist while painting, this powerful CEO would humbly apply warm compresses and massage it for me every day.

To marry me, an orphan with no background, he convinced all his relatives and even took a beating for it.

But ever since six months ago, when his childhood friend Stella returned from abroad, everything changed.

He said Stella once saved his life, and he owed her an enormous debt.

So he could indulge Stella's arrogance, and now, he was even using my brother's life to cover for Stella!

"Vivian, my patience has limits."

Ethan looked at me coldly, his eyes devoid of warmth.

"Your grandmother is still lying in the ICU. Her heart transplant surgery is scheduled for tomorrow. As long as you sign, the surgery proceeds as planned. But if you refuse..."

He paused, his voice cruel.

"That heart will immediately go to someone else."

I felt like I'd been struck by lightning, my mind going blank.

"You're threatening me with Grandma's life?"

I cried.

"Ethan, are you even human!"

"I only care about results."

Ethan remained unmoved.

"You have one minute. Sign or don't sign?"

The courtroom fell deathly silent.

Stella sat in the defendant's seat, provocatively curling her lips at me.

Looking at Ethan's familiar yet strange face, my heart felt like it was being ground in a meat grinder.

I had no way out.

My brother was already dead. I couldn't lose Grandma too.

With trembling hands, I picked up the pen and signed my name on the settlement agreement.

Every stroke felt like it was cutting my flesh.

"Satisfied now?"

I slammed the pen onto the table.

Ethan collected the documents, handed them to his lawyer, and said indifferently.

"That's better. Go see your grandmother at the hospital. I've already paid for the surgery."

Then he turned and walked toward Stella, removing his designer suit jacket and draping it over her shoulders, his voice sickeningly gentle.

"It's over. I'm taking you home."

I collapsed powerlessly into the chair, watching their intertwined figures leave, tears falling silently onto my hands.

Ethan, you've personally killed the last trace of my love for you.