Chapter 2

Briar came home at eight tonight. Usually, she worked late into the night, and lately, she’d been using "busy with work" as an excuse to not come home at all.

I bet she wasn't busy with work; she was busy trying to conceive with Julian Vance!

Briar hugged me from behind. It was the first time she’d initiated affection in ages.

Her arms wrapped around my waist, her voice dripping with flattery:

“Honey, there’s truly nothing going on between Julian and me. This is just about helping him have a child. You know he’s in the late stages of ALS. I promise, as soon as I’ve seen him through the last chapter of his life, I’ll cut him out of my life for good!”

I brushed her hands away, turning to face her, my voice cold and laced with sarcasm: “And then what? So you expect me to be a cuckold, raising your kid with him?”

My attitude instantly ignited her displeasure:

“I’ve explained everything, what more do you want? Can’t you be a man instead of acting like a lunatic? You’re such a disappointment!”

“Didn’t you say you loved me? If you love me, why can’t you accept even this? Besides, you can’t have kids anyway, wouldn’t it be better to just treat our baby as your own?”

She rattled on, as if I were the villain tearing them apart.

I forced myself to suppress my anger: “I had a vasectomy, but it can be reversed! I’m not infertile!”

“And why did I get one in the first place? Because you were frail, and I was worried about an accidental pregnancy causing you suffering!”

Briar, enraged and humiliated, slammed the door shut and stormed out.

Briar was gone early in the morning. I printed the divorce papers and went to her company, but couldn't find her.

Her assistant said she hadn’t been to work for days.

So, she wasn’t out early and back late for work, but to care for Julian.

I went to the hospital for my shift as usual. Before heading home, I walked past the OB/GYN department and saw Briar and Julian in the hallway.

She was clutching Julian’s arm, her perfectly sculpted brows furrowed. “Are you stalking me?”

I looked at Julian beside her. His gaze didn’t waver, meeting mine with a defiant challenge.

He even feigned intimacy, playfully rubbing Briar’s earlobe.

“Baby, don’t think that about Noah. Why would he stalk us? There’s nothing going on between us. Noah will understand.”

I scoffed. Huh, I’d been married to Briar for years, yet she didn’t even know where I worked.

“Oh yeah, you two are so innocent. So innocent you ended up in the OB/GYN department.”

Seeing me expose their affair, Briar furiously shoved me.

“If you weren’t stalking us, why are you here? Are you really so intolerant?!”

I’d been so busy all day I hadn’t even had a drop of water, and I’d just finished a four-hour surgery.

Feeling dizzy and disoriented, I was unprepared for her push and my body slammed against the corner of a counter behind me.

Briar looked momentarily guilty.

Julian immediately came over, feigning concern to help me, chiding Briar, but a triumphant smirk played on his lips.

I pushed him away in disgust. Unexpectedly, he collapsed directly to the floor.

Briar rushed to cradle Julian, looking at me with loathing: “Don’t you know he’s in the late stages of his illness?! If anything happens to Julian, I swear I’ll never forgive you!”

I watched helplessly as my wife left with another man.