Chapter 1

When popular actress Ruby's secret Instagram account was exposed, hundreds of love letters made her the number one trending topic on social media overnight.

She wrote: "The man I love became someone else's husband."

Her fans all felt sorry for her:

"You're so devoted!"

"These love letters are so touching! I'm crying!"

I was lying in bed scrolling through my phone when I casually commented:

"How can someone make falling for another woman's husband sound so innocent?"

One minute later, Frederick's call came through:

"Ruby didn't do anything wrong. Saying that will cause her trouble."

I froze for a moment, then suddenly laughed.

So in a relationship between three people, the extra one had always been me—the wife.

The man Ruby couldn't have in her posts was my husband of nearly three years, Frederick.

I opened my mouth, wanting to explain I'd only commented casually.

But the words that came out were: "How did you even see it?"

Silence on the other end for a few seconds.

I suddenly understood.

With tens of thousands of comments on the trending topic, Frederick—currently on a business trip abroad—had spotted my account among all those comments at a glance.

Not because I was important to him, but because he'd been following Ruby's every move.

He'd even scrolled through every single comment.

"Serena, delete the comment first."

Frederick's tone softened slightly from before.

"I'll handle things with Ruby. You don't need to worry about it."

I bit my lip.

"Sorry. I didn't know those love letters were written to you. I'll delete it."

He paused.

As if he wanted to say something more, but in the end just hummed in acknowledgment.

The call ended.

I pulled the phone from my ear and stared at the screen for a few seconds.

Frederick had always been gentle and courteous with me. This was the first time he'd confronted me like this.

I set my phone face-down on the nightstand and lay back down with my face mask on.

Fifteen minutes later, I went to the bathroom to wash my face.

The person in the mirror looked normal, except her eyes were a bit red.

I leaned in for a closer look. Probably some mask serum had gotten in my eyes.

After washing up, I reopened that trending topic.

All the posts were titled "Letters to Mr. F."

Documenting Ruby's years-long obsession with a man.

I found my comment, clicked on it, and deleted it.

When I exited, the number one trending topic had already changed.

"Who Is the Man in Ruby's Love Letters?"

I scrolled past it and closed the app.

My phone stayed quiet. It didn't ring again.

I turned off the light and lay back in bed.

In the darkness, I suddenly remembered something.

The prenuptial agreement between Frederick and me had a three-year term.

Only two months remained.