Chapter 1

My wife's male best friend lost a game and was dared to choose a woman present to grind against face-to-face for ten seconds.

Without hesitation, he chose my wife.

"We're most familiar with this position, aren't we?"

I froze, thinking he was joking.

Just as I was about to speak, Colton had already pushed my wife down.

Seeing my face turn ashen, he explained nonchalantly:

"Oh, the night before you two got married, she got blackout drunk and was acting wild. I helped her out."

"Don't worry, it was just some rubbing. Nothing actually happened, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to marry her the next day."

I let out a cold laugh.

"Of course."

And punched him right in the face.

"You should have told me sooner. Otherwise I wouldn't have married a used-up slut!"

The private room fell instantly silent.

Sophia's hands, which had been involuntarily wrapped around his waist, suddenly jerked back.

She pulled him into her arms protectively, looking at me furiously:

"James, are you insane!"

"Colton already explained! It was an emergency and she had no choice but to ask him for help. What right do you have to be angry!"

"Besides, I went to him purely out of friendship. That's better than going to some random guy, right? Instead of being grateful, you dare to hit him!"

With that, she gently stroked Colton's face, her eyes full of heartache.

And I stood to the side, my heart growing colder bit by bit.

Three years of marriage, and whenever she mentioned Colton, her most common phrase was that he was her best friend regardless of gender.

Eating from the same bowl—best friends.

Sleeping in the same bed—best friends.

And now even "sleeping together" was just best friends.

I looked up, carefully examining Colton with his eight-pack abs and six-foot-two frame.

Nothing about him looked remotely like a "woman."

Thinking about it carefully, it was just an excuse she made to placate me.

I laughed coldly, saying expressionlessly:

"You call this friends helping each other out?"

"Fine, then find someone else here right now and show me how they can 'help' you!"

Sophia's face instantly paled.

"What are you implying! Are you suspecting us?!"

"James, I've told you a thousand times that Colton and I grew up together. If there was anything between us, we would've been together long ago. You wouldn't have had a chance!"

"Everyone rarely gets together like this to celebrate our wedding anniversary, and you insist on making such a scene and embarrassing everyone!"

She frowned, looking at me with barely concealed disgust.

But she was the one who did something wrong.

Yet somehow I was the one being unreasonable.

I smiled bitterly, staring hard at Sophia:

"So you do know Colton is a man."

"I thought you didn't realize."

Sophia froze, instinctively blurting out:

"Of course I know..."

Halfway through her sentence, she caught herself.

"I'm warning you, don't try to change the subject. You must apologize to Colton today!"

I looked up in disbelief, the bitterness in my heart suffocating me.

Suddenly finding it all pointless, I got up and headed for the door. Just as I reached it, I was yanked back hard.

"James, I'll say it one more time—apologize!"

My groin slammed hard into the corner of the table, pain shooting through me in cold sweats.

But I still gritted my teeth, raising my head and enunciating clearly:

"Never!"

The atmosphere instantly froze.

Seeing this, people around started trying to mediate.

"Come on, Sophia, James didn't mean it."

"Right, right, don't be so angry."

But no matter what others said, Sophia continued gripping my arm tightly, her eyes cold in a way I'd never seen before.

Until Colton walked over and hooked her palm.

"Sophia, what have I always taught you? You need to be patient with your husband. You're not being gentle at all!"

Then he looked at me:

"James, let me apologize on her behalf. My friend is great in every way, except she can't stand seeing me bullied since childhood, so that's why she lost her temper with you."

"Don't worry, I'll educate her properly when we get back."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sophia released her grip.

All the malice in her eyes vanished completely.

In three years of marriage, I'd never seen her eyes turn red.

Even during our honeymoon when I got into a fight with someone, afterward she just casually had the other person apologize.

I always thought she was naturally cold, but now I finally understood—she did have someone she cared for deeply.

Unfortunately...

That person wasn't me...

In my daze, Colton picked up a wine glass and walked over to me.

"James, this drink is for you. Let's just put this behind us."

He shoved the glass into my hand. I found it disgusting and resisted, but in the struggle, he suddenly let go.

Red wine spilled all over his clothes, and the glass shattered on the floor.

Sophia immediately became angry.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you!"

With that, she shoved me to the ground. Glass shards embedded themselves in my arm.

Blood flowed down my arm. Sophia froze, instinctively wanting to help me up.

But Colton behind her suddenly sneezed.

"I'm a bit cold~"

Without a word, Sophia took off her jacket and draped it over him.

She turned to look at me as if I'd committed some heinous crime.

"Are you satisfied now that things have gotten this far?"

With that, she put her arm around Colton and headed for the door.

Suppressing the pain, I said trembling:

"Sophia, if you dare walk out that door today, we're done."

She paused, but ultimately didn't look back.