Chapter 3

The moment I reached home, I kicked the front door wide open. The scene before my eyes made my blood boil!

On the couch, Tyler was sitting with his back to me, his hands cradling Chloe's cheeks. Even an idiot could tell what kind of intimate pose that was!

"You bastard!!"

The fury accumulated during the entire journey erupted like a volcano. Roaring, I lunged forward, grabbed Tyler by the collar, and jerked him backward.

Caught off guard, he stumbled hard.

Before he could regain his footing, my fist smashed square into his face!

"Argh!"

Tyler cried out in agony, crashing heavily onto the floor, curling up and clutching his jaw.

"Ethan!"

Chloe sat frozen in shock. Only when Tyler's screams filled the room did she snap out of it.

Horrified, she scrambled over to Tyler's side, frantically trying to help him up.

"Tyler! Tyler, are you okay? Does it hurt?"

Tyler winced, his face twisted in pain. "It hurts like hell... I think my jaw's broken..."

Chloe whipped her head toward me, glaring with sheer indignation. "Ethan! How could you beat him like this?! You're out of your mind!"

Watching her protect another man right in front of me, I let out a bitter, furious laugh. "I'm out of my mind? You two were making out right in front of me! Who's the crazy one here?!"

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

Chloe shrieked back, sounding completely righteous:

"I got dust in my eye, and Tyler was just blowing it out for me! We didn't do anything inappropriate!"

"I can't believe your mind is so filthy! Punching someone without even asking questions—I really misjudged you!"

"Then what about the photos and videos?!"

I bellowed, "Chloe, I tolerated your sick, twisted tests over and over again! But I never dreamed you'd actually cheat on me, film it, and shove it in my face!"

"What, were you showing off? Rubbing it in?!"

The moment I brought up the pictures, Chloe's eyes flickered, and her aggressive tone suddenly softened. She hurried to explain:

"You misunderstood! Those photos were made with AI!"

She shoved her phone into my hands. "Look for yourself!"

I snatched it and scrolled through.

Sure enough, inside an AI generation app, there were detailed text prompts instructing the engine to generate explicit bedroom scenes, along with the raw image files.

The undeniable evidence that had blinded me with rage and cost me the biggest project of my career was nothing more than high-tech fabrication!

"See? It's all fake!"

Noticing my shifting expression, Chloe thought she had the upper hand again. Her voice shot up an octave, dripping with grievance:

"Tyler only helped me because he wanted to test if you really love me! To see if you'd drop your work and rush straight home to me! It was his idea!"

"He did it out of the goodness of his heart..."

Hearing those words, my knuckles cracked as I clenched my fists. A crushing, suffocating sense of powerlessness seized my chest, far worse than the blind rage from before.

Another test!

For her pathetic, goddamn test, she ruined the biggest career opportunity of my life, trampled on my trust and dignity, and used the filthiest trick imaginable to push my limits!

And to her, all of it could be brushed off with a simple "it was just a test"!

Seeing me stand there in silence, Chloe seemed to assume the storm had passed.

She glanced down at Tyler, who was still groaning on the floor, her eyes full of pity. Then she looked at me with an entitled frown:

"Now that everything's cleared up and it was just a misunderstanding, hurry up and apologize to Tyler! Look at what you did to him!"

Not a shred of remorse. Instead, she demanded I apologize to the very scumbag who fed her the sick idea and acted in her twisted play?

I laughed from sheer rage.

Before Chloe could react, I raised my hand and slapped her across the face with everything I had!

Slap—!

The sharp crack echoed violently through the living room.

In our entire marriage, it was the first time I had ever laid a hand on her.

"Ah!!"

Chloe shrieked, staggering back a few paces and nearly tumbling over.

Clutching her reddened cheek, she stared at me in absolute disbelief. "You... you hit me?"

Seeing this, Tyler forced himself up, supporting Chloe while glaring at me with faux righteousness. "Ethan, you've crossed the line! She's your wife!"

"Wife?"

I let out a cold, venomous sneer. My eyes swept over Chloe's swelling face and Tyler's hypocritical mask. The very last shred of affection in my heart snapped cleanly in two.

I said each word with crystal clarity: "Not anymore."