Chapter 1

The consequence of eating an entire table of food alone was indigestion.

At two in the morning, I was so bloated that I felt awful, so I shuffled into the living room in my slippers, found the medicine kit, and swallowed a few digestion pills with warm water.

While waiting for the medicine to take effect, I realized Claire still had not come home.

I opened my phone without thinking, and there were no new messages either.

I opened Moments, and my wife’s male secretary had posted a new update three hours ago.

This time, the background had changed to a hotel room, and although there was no one in the photo, half of a black stocking was faintly visible in the lower right corner.

Moonlight poured through the glass and fell across the living room, and even though the windows were clearly shut tight, I felt as if a hole had opened in my chest, with cold wind howling through it.

The pain went so deep that I could hardly breathe.

I sat on the sofa for a long time, and after I felt a little strength return to my body, I moved to the study.

I turned on the computer, dragged an email out of the trash folder, stared at it quietly for a moment, then left-clicked and replied.

“Professor, I’ve thought it through, and I’m willing to go to America for further study.”

Ding-dong!

Because of the time difference, it was afternoon in America, and as soon as I sent the email, I received a reply.

“Oh my god, that’s wonderful, I knew you would agree. You’re a genius in woodcarving, and as long as you put your heart into it, you’ll definitely become a top international master one day.”

Even through the words, I could feel my professor’s excitement, and bitterness filled my heart.

“I’m sorry…”

During ten years of marriage, I had given up woodcarving because of Claire, but my professor had never given up on me.

When I received disappointment after disappointment from Claire, wasn’t I also giving my professor disappointment again and again?

“Professor, this time I won’t let you down again!”

Looking at the reply email on the computer, I fell asleep with my head on the desk.

When I woke up in the morning, I walked out of the study in a daze, and Claire was already sitting on the sofa in the living room.

When she saw me come out, she questioned me with an unpleasant expression, “Ethan, I didn’t come home last night, so why didn’t you call me?”

“Weren’t you afraid something might have happened to me?”

With someone keeping her company, what could possibly happen?

Besides, she had often stayed out all night in the past, and it wasn’t that I had never called to make sure she was safe, but every single time, she complained that I was meddling and nagging.

“You were celebrating with someone, and I didn’t want to disturb you.”

I lowered my eyes, and my gaze fell on her legs.

Sure enough, the black stockings she had worn before leaving yesterday were gone.

Maybe some word had hit a nerve, or maybe my attitude had provoked her, but Claire’s brows shot up and she stood up angrily.

“Ryan made a contribution to the company, so what’s wrong with me celebrating for him as his boss?”

“You’re a man, so can’t you be a little more generous and stop getting jealous over every little thing?”

I replied calmly, “Yesterday was our wedding anniversary.”

Claire’s tone froze, and she turned her head away awkwardly, “I’m so busy every day, how could I remember such a small thing, so I’ll make it up to you later, okay?”

Last year it was overtime, the year before it was a party, and the year before that it was a business trip…

In ten years of marriage, we had never celebrated our wedding anniversary even once, and every time she said she would make it up to me, it always ended with nothing.

There would be no need to make it up in the future either.

I did not answer her and turned toward the storage room.

I had kept my old works and tools in the storage room, and after not touching them for years, they already felt unfamiliar, so I needed to practice several times before school started.

But the moment I opened the box, I froze.

The tools that had originally been neatly arranged were scattered everywhere, most of the packaging around the woodcarvings had been torn apart, and the oil coating on some areas was gone too.

I even saw mold in some places.

“Ryan was curious before, so I opened it and let him take a look, but he accidentally spilled some water on them…”

Claire followed me inside, and at first, her tone was still careless, but after seeing my dark expression, her voice grew lower and lower…

But when she saw that I still said nothing, she quickly became impatient again.

“Enough, aren’t they just a few broken woodcarvings?”

“Haven’t you always wanted to go to Celeste Restaurant? I’ll go with you today, okay?”