Chapter 1

My wife had left a box of oddly shaped meat in the fridge, and for over half a year, she hadn't touched it.

Curious about this precious meat, I secretly took it for testing. The result? It was a two-month-old embryo.

Back home, I tore through drawers and cabinets until I found it: an abortion record.

On the record, my wife's name was signed, alongside another man's.

My wife had secretly aborted someone else's child, right under my nose.

Five years of a perfect, inseparable marriage – it all became a cruel joke in that single moment.

When Chloe returned, the box of meat in the fridge was gone.

She rushed into my study, her voice laced with panic. "Adam, have you seen that box of meat I put in the fridge?"

I looked up at her, my fists clenched so tight my knuckles turned white. I wanted to scream, to demand why she had betrayed me.

But in the end, I just lowered the book in my hands, feigning a casual nonchalance. "Oh, that weird-looking stuff? I fried it with some chili for lunch. Surprisingly, it tasted pretty good."

"What?! You ate it?!" Chloe's eyes widened in horror. "Adam, are you out of your mind?!"

I sneered. "It's just meat. Why are you making such a fuss?"

Her eyes instantly welled up, her voice trembling as she accused me. "How could you eat it?! That was mine! You ate my stuff without permission! Have you become so disrespectful of me?!"

"Eating a piece of meat is being disrespectful?"

"It wasn't just a piece of meat!" Chloe's face flushed crimson, her chest heaving with rage.

I just found it hilarious.

"Then what was it?"

She bit her lower lip hard, a flash of grief crossing her face. She looked like she wanted to say more but held back her tears. Finally, she choked out, "Nothing… I'm not feeling well tonight. I'll sleep in the guest room."

With that, she turned and disappeared into the guest room.

Five years of marriage, and this was the first time she had ever yelled at me. It was also the first time we'd slept apart.

I found it utterly ironic.

If she cared so much about that box of meat, why had she aborted it in the first place?

For five years, Chloe had always been the perfect wife in my eyes.

She was gentle and considerate, meticulously taking care of my every need, managing every household detail. I had stomach issues, and she’d meticulously research special recipes for me. When I had business dinners and drank too much, she’d always thoughtfully prepare a hangover cure.

In public and private, she was the ideal partner.

But how could such a wonderful woman get pregnant with another man's child?

I couldn't believe it, couldn't accept it.

My heart felt like it had been viciously stung, the pain piercing me to the bone.

I recognized the name on the abortion record: Liam Scott. He was a guy who’d pursued Chloe relentlessly back in college.

Liam had chased Chloe for years. Even after Chloe and I got married, he still shamelessly clung to her for several more years.

For her, he'd cried, begged, even jumped into a river and cut his wrists, trying every desperate stunt imaginable.

But Chloe always claimed she found his advances repulsive.

She'd constantly complain to me about how annoying Liam was, how his pursuit bothered her, how she didn't like him at all and got irritated just seeing him.

Later, I took a few of my buddies and went to find Liam.

Under the cover of darkness, my friends and I ambushed Liam on his way home. We beat him senseless, leaving him with a bloody, swollen face.

I warned him to stay away from my wife.

After that night, Chloe never mentioned Liam again.

I thought he'd finally heeded my warning and stopped bothering her.

I never imagined that a year later, his name would appear in the "partner" column of her abortion record.