Chapter 1

My wife was an absolute drama queen. Every few days, she’d come up with some twisted, agonizing way to test my love.

One day, she hired a stunning model to lure me to a hotel room while she hid under the bed, listening in.

The next, she showed me a forged medical report claiming she had contracted HIV, only confessing the truth three days later.

Later, she dressed a mannequin in her clothes and threw it off a balcony, staging her own suicide. My heart nearly stopped, and the whole neighborhood ended up laughing at me.

I was already pushed to the brink of utter exhaustion.

Then came today. She sent me a photo of her in bed with her male best friend.

That was the final straw.

"Chloe! You've gone way too far this time! Faking a pregnancy test?!"

I gripped the prank test stick tightly, glaring down at my wife curled up on the couch. My chest heaved with boiling rage.

A few hours ago, she had sent me a picture of two pink lines. I had been over the moon, asking her again and again if it was real.

She swore it was. Said she was already two weeks along.

I thought no one would ever joke about something so sacred. So I believed her, immediately calling my grandmother to share the incredible news.

On the phone, Grandma laughed with pure, childlike joy. She kept repeating how wonderful it was, having waited so long for a great-grandchild.

Who could have guessed that after rushing home with a heart full of excitement, I'd be greeted by such a sickening prank?

Chloe clung to my arm, her voice soft and whiny.

"Babe, I just wanted to test you, okay? To see if you really love me."

"Besides, I was scared. What if you turned out to be one of those deadbeats online who forces his wife to get an abortion...?"

She shook my arm playfully. "Don't be mad anymore, please? Forgive me?"

Hearing those same worn-out excuses for the hundredth time, I went dead silent. Exhaustion washed over me like a tidal wave.

Honestly, after putting up with her ridiculous antics over and over again, my patience was at its absolute limit.

Deep regret clawed at my heart. How blind had I been to fall head over heels for a woman this toxic?

Back in high school, Chloe had been the campus crush, every guy’s dream girl.

After graduation, I chased her relentlessly. I went to the same college just to be near her, spending five grueling years pursuing her. Finally, after countless sleepless nights of sheer persistence, I got what I wanted and married her.

I thought she was my forever dream girl, my guiding light. But married life shattered that fantasy into dust.

Chloe was a nightmare.

Every few days, she had to stir up drama, inventing bizarre, suffocating tests to measure my loyalty.

Last month, she tricked me into a hotel room and hired a gorgeous girl with an insane body to seduce me. The setup was textbook, and the girl threw herself at me. Almost any guy would have folded.

But I had morals. I flat-out refused.

Then Chloe crawled out from under the bed, clapping her hands and calling it a "test."

Another time, she produced a fake lab report showing she was HIV positive, sobbing her eyes out and saying she had somehow contracted the virus.

My heart sank into an abyss, but I still wrapped my arms around her. "Don't be scared. We'll face this together."

Two sleepless nights later, she handed me her real, clean lab report with a playful grin: "Congratulations, you passed the test!"

The absolute worst incident happened last month. She dressed a mannequin in her favorite red dress and pushed it off our second-floor balcony, staging a horrific fall.

I walked home from work and witnessed it firsthand. My heart nearly exploded.

Seeing what looked like her body lying in a pool of fake blood, I scrambled over on hands and knees, wailing hysterically. The whole neighborhood came running outside.

When she stepped out from behind the door giggling, my legs gave out, and I collapsed onto the pavement, completely speechless.

Her tests drained the life out of me.

And now, she had weaponized a pregnancy. How was I supposed to face my elderly grandmother now?

Remembering Grandma's fragile, overjoyed voice on the phone made me feel like I was suffocating.

"Babe, I really know I messed up."

Chloe buried her face in my shoulder, her voice trembling with tears. "I swear, this was the last test."

"After everything, I finally believe you truly love me. Now I can safely have your baby."

Looking down at her tear-streaked face, I took a deep, shaky breath, forcing down the overwhelming helpless rage inside me. "Chloe, you said it yourself. The last time."

She nodded vigorously, raising three fingers. "I swear! It will never, ever happen again!"

I chose to believe her. Or rather, I gave myself one last excuse to hold onto this marriage.

Naively, I assumed that since she had even crossed the line with a fake pregnancy, she had finally run out of crazy ideas.

I was wrong.

Peace lasted less than a week before Chloe pulled another stunt.

And this time, she shattered a boundary I could never forgive.