Chapter 1

Back when love felt pure and simple, Chloe was dumped by her first love. Seeing her hit rock bottom, I fell for her without a second thought.

I stood by her, helping her crawl out of that heartbreak.

Step by step, I stayed with her from her days as a nobody to the height of her success.

She became a high-flying CEO, and I gladly stayed in the background to support her.

Even when she said we had to keep our marriage a secret so it wouldn't hurt her business, I never complained.

Until her first love came back from abroad, and they flaunted their romance openly.

Time after time, she handed him the career achievements I had bled for just to build his reputation.

And I was expected to take the fall for his endless screw-ups.

In the end, I simply refused to play along.

She threatened me with divorce.

What she didn't know was that a month ago, we had already signed the papers.

On our third anniversary, Chloe brought her ex, Lucas, to the private clinic.

"Everyone, hold on for a second. I have an important announcement."

"This is Lucas, a top plastic surgeon who just returned from abroad. It took a lot of effort to bring him on board, and he will be our new head of plastic surgery. Let's give him a warm welcome."

She led the applause, her eyes dripping with affection.

The staff looked confused, whispering among themselves.

"Lucas? Who's that? Never heard of him."

"Yeah, stepping straight into the department head role? Is he Chloe's..."

Exchanging meaningful looks, they wore smirk-filled expressions.

The intern standing next to me nudged my elbow and lowered his voice.

"Dr. Hayes, everyone knows how much you've done for this place. Your stats and your skills speak for themselves. By all rights, that position should be yours. What's going on?"

I just shook my head coldly.

Once the welcome ended, a few female nurses shifted into gossip mode, whispering near the corner.

"Figures. Hard work doesn't beat bedroom work. Did you see the way Chloe looked at him? Her eyes were practically glued to Dr. Vance."

"They're definitely not just friends. You could cut the sexual tension with a knife."

Their chatter felt like a knife digging straight into my chest, making every breath ache.

Chloe and I had been married for three years.

Yet she never made our relationship public.

Her excuse was always that workplace romances ruined professional boundaries.

And a month ago, she had already moved out of our home.

That was the exact time Lucas returned.

At first, when I caught them coming and going together, she still threw out excuses.

"Gavin, you disgust me. Not everyone has your filthy, twisted mind."

"We grew up together. What's the big deal if we crash in the same place?"

Eventually, she stopped bothering to pretend.

She flaunted their time together all over Snapchat.

The pictures were bold enough to make anyone blush.

Piece by piece, I finally learned the truth: Lucas was the one that got away, the first love she could never get over.

Only then did I realize that when Lucas walked away years ago, she used me. Maybe to nurse her broken heart, or maybe just to spite him.

And I had foolishly loved her for all those years.

I stayed by her side from having nothing to having everything.

I handed her the credit and happily worked myself to the bone for her.

Even staying her secret husband, I never uttered a word of complaint.

Turns out, the joke was on me the whole time.

Chloe's sharp, impatient voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Gavin, what are you zoning out for? Lucas just got back. Look out for him, and do whatever he tells you to do!"

Before I could answer, she walked gracefully into Lucas's office.

She shut the door behind her and pulled down the blinds.

The staff gasped in hushed excitement.

"I knew it! They're totally sleeping together!"

A colleague who had always been close to me gave me a sympathetic look.

"Gavin, you see that? If you'd crawled into the boss's bed, that title probably would've been yours. Now look at you—you're just his sidekick."

Who said I hadn't crawled into her bed?

More than once, actually.

Too bad she never loved me.

If this were before, I would've kicked the door down and beaten the hell out of that bastard.

Now, though? I didn't care.

Because Chloe and I were already divorced. The waiting period would be up in just a few days.