Chapter 1

My fiancee’s childhood friend, Harold Herb, loved playing pranks.

Once, he dyed my custom-made suit fluorescent green.

He blinked innocently.

“Weston, I just thought white looked boring, so I wanted to add a little color for you.”

The second time, he tampered with the engagement invitations. The wedding venue was changed from a five-star hotel to a cemetery on the outskirts of town.

When I caught him, he said it was all about aesthetics. The eerie, spooky vibe would help the guests beat the heat.

The third time, he slipped a powerful hair-removal cream into my shower gel.

A week before the wedding, almost all my hair and eyebrows had fallen out.

Each time, my fiancee would comfort me, saying he just liked to joke around and meant no harm.

I put up with it all because I loved her.

On our wedding night, Harold brought over a stained sheet as a gift.

Lana Sidney brushed it off with the same old line, telling me not to take it too seriously.

The moment I saw her standing in front of Harold to protect him, I knew it was time to put an end to this relationship.

Chapter 1

The stains on the sheet were still fresh.

Just as I tossed them aside, Lana Sidney walked in wearing a crumpled wedding dress, surrounded by a crowd of people.

The man with his arm around her was none other than Harold Herb.

I hurried forward. Just as I was about to take Lana from him, she instinctively pulled away.

Lana realized what she had done and offered an awkward explanation.

“You reek of alcohol. It’s better to let Harold take care of me.”

Hearing that, I laughed bitterly.

After the wedding, I had been plied with alcohol by a group of people who were close to Harold.

As my wife, it was bad enough that she was not there. She actually had the nerve to look down on me.

I lowered my gaze and keenly noticed that Lana’s legs were weak and unsteady. Her eyes were glassy.

She clearly looked like someone who had just been up to no good.

Combined with that stained sheet that had not even dried yet, I suddenly realized what Lana had been up to during those few hours she had been missing. She had been fooling around with Harold!

“What were you doing just now?”

I held back my anger and wanted to give Lana a chance.

She pursed her lips. Just as she was about to speak, Harold beat her to it.

“You’ve only just gotten married, and you’re already bossing Lana around! Do you really need to be so controlling?”

Lana never liked it when someone interrupted her while she was speaking.

Back when I went to the company to find her, I had forgotten to knock on the door. She had lectured me for a full half hour.

After that, she gave me the silent treatment for half a month.

But when Harold spoke for her, she did not get angry. Instead, she pinched his nose affectionately.

“Oh, you! You’re always defending me. Be careful. Weston might hold a grudge against you.”

Harold shot me a defiant look.

“Who even is he? This wedding is just a business arrangement. Even if you were married, you’d only have eyes for me anyway!”

As he spoke, he pretended to reach into his pocket for a cigarette but actually pulled out a pair of stained lace panties.

“Lana, don’t forget to take your things with you, or someone’s going to give you a hard time again.”

Lana blushed as she tossed the panties onto the bed, then pouted playfully. “Harold, if you say things like that again, I’ll get angry.”

Her light fist landed on the man’s chest.

This was not a punishment at all. It was blatant flirting.

Harold seized her hand and playfully planted a kiss on her fingertips.

“Lana, you’re the best! You took pity on me for never having been in a relationship and finally let me experience what a woman feels like.”

Lana did not see anything wrong with fooling around with another man on her wedding night.

She tilted her head back to look at me. “Don’t give me that look. It’s our wedding day. I don’t want to fight with you.”

“Is that so?”

I stared at the hickies on her neck. My eyes were red with rage.

“Did I ask for a fight? Today is our wedding day, yet you ran off to another man’s bed to fool around. Do you even treat me like your husband?”

Lana did not take my outrage seriously.

Chapter 2

She frowned impatiently. “What era are we living in? Is that flap of skin really that important to you?

“If it bothers you, I’ll just go to the hospital right now and get one put in.”

At her nonchalant attitude, I was deeply disappointed.

Back then, she was the one who said people in our circle were too promiscuous. She wanted a “pure” marriage.

That was why, during our three-year relationship, I never once tried to touch her.

“If you put it that way, this wedding isn’t that important either. Since you don’t care, just find someone else to marry!”

Hearing this, Harold immediately put on a holier-than-thou act.

“Don’t fight over me. If it comes to it, I’ll leave right now.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he headed for the door.

He did not forget to deliberately bump me aside with his shoulder as he left.

With a loud thud, the door slammed shut. Lana slapped me across the face in frustration.

“Have you had enough? Must you drive Harold away before you’re satisfied?

“Do you have any idea how heartbroken Harold is because I’m marrying you?

“He already made sacrifices for us. Can’t you be a little more gracious?”

My throat tightened, and my face began to burn.

At that moment, I could not understand how the innocent young woman who used to smile so sweetly at me could have turned into such an unreasonable person.

Lana grabbed her phone and turned to leave.

Before she left, she said threateningly, “I’m warning you. If you want me to keep living with you, you’d better stop picking on Harold!”

After Lana left, the once-lively room suddenly fell silent.

Her parents, having heard the news from somewhere, rushed over.

When they saw that I was alone, her father, Mr. Sidney, could not hide his frustration.

“Weston, I failed to raise my daughter properly. Just wait. I’ll call her back right away.”

I looked up. “No need. The marriage between the Sidney and Lobell families is off.”

Mr. Sidney nearly collapsed to the floor.

Everyone in our circle knew I had been pursuing Lana for three whole years.

Whenever a handbag made its global debut, she was always the first to get her hands on it.

When she wanted to hold an art exhibition, I bought the most luxurious exhibition hall in the museum.

When she wanted to act in a movie, I bought an entertainment company to serve her alone.

To be with her, I did not hesitate to shift the company’s focus to Riverville.

I even did business with Sidney Corporation at a loss just to win over my future in-laws.

With my support, Sidney Corporation leaped from an obscure small company to become one of the nation’s top 100 enterprises.

I believed I had done my absolute best for Lana, yet there was always Harold by her side.

When I met her parents, Harold walked straight out of Lana’s bedroom in shorts.

He sat on the sofa with his legs crossed and casually asked, “Lana, how long are you planning to drag this out?”

The way he acted indicated that he did not care about me at all.

When Lana introduced me as her fiance, Harold’s gaze toward me turned particularly icy.

Ever since, Harold had relentlessly targeted me.

When I went on dates with Lana, he secretly slipped me food I was allergic to.

He would watch my face swell up and laugh his head off.

He even went so far as to pretend he was having heart pain when Lana was about to take me to the hospital, insisting that she take him for a physical instead.

Every time he pulled one of these pranks, Lana would say it was just Harold’s way of showing he liked me.

Even when my brake lines were cut, or when glass shards were slipped into my shoes, Lana still stuck to her story.

I kept telling myself that once we were married, she would realize that men and women need some polite distance between them.

Unfortunately, Lana mistook my tolerance for indulgence and completely crossed the line.

I called my secretary.

“Cancel all collaborations with Sidney Corporation and withdraw our sponsorship from this family.

“From now on, whenever Sidney Corporation wants a project, snatch it away at any cost.

“As for the Herb family’s company, I want to hear that it’s gone bankrupt within three days.”

Chapter 3

After hanging up, I took a photo of the bed.

I posted it on my social media.

[Many thanks to my ex-fiancee’s childhood friend for the wedding gift.]

The next second, my phone was flooded with calls.

Most of them were from Lana.

She usually would not reply to messages for a whole week, yet when it came to Harold, she acted like an overprotective mother hen.

“What did you mean by that post?

“Don’t you know Harold is applying to the top university around the world? What you posted could get him rejected!”

I did not reply. I hung up and blocked her number instead.

At 3 a.m., I tossed and turned, unable to sleep. So, I decided to scroll through my Stories.

The most recent post was a photo Harold had uploaded from a bar. It had a caption.

[Is getting married more important than me?]

The woman who had gotten into a huge fight with me last night was leaning against Harold’s shoulder with cheeks flushed.

The comments praised her loyalty for making time to be with a friend even on her wedding day.

Some mutual friends could not stand it anymore and pointed out that Lana was already married. They urged Harold to show some restraint.

Before he could reply, Lana jumped right into the comments herself.

[I’m just having a drink with my friend. Weston isn’t that petty.]

[If he can’t even handle that, then I’ll just skip it.]

I liked the post with a blank expression.

I was so focused on blocking her phone number that I forgot she was still on social media.

After taking a few sleeping pills, I finally started to feel sleepy.

Just then, my phone rang.

“Weston, it’s bad.

“Lana’s being harassed at the bar. Can you come help her?”

My head was spinning a bit, so it took me a moment to process what he was saying.

“I’m not going. What good am I for this? Just call the police.”

“If you don’t come soon, Lana’s going to get hurt.”

Lana’s screams came through the phone.

Even though I had already decided to cut off all contact with her, we had been in a relationship after all. I could not just stand by and watch her get hurt.

I climbed out of bed, grabbed the keys to my Mayvoche, and rushed toward the bar.

The moment I pushed open the door to the private room, a bowl of red wine rained down from above.

As the leader, Harold saw how disheveled I looked. He doubled over in laughter.

“Weston, you’re so stupid. We just made up some excuse, and you’re here!”

Lana sat on the sofa as she raised an eyebrow confidently.

“Harold, I told you. Weston is that clingy guy you can’t get rid of.

“No matter how badly I treat him, he’ll never bring himself to leave me.”

Harold sat back down next to Lana. “I lost. How are you going to punish me?”

A crowd of people started cheering. “What else could the punishment be? Why don’t you show us a kiss?”

“Just think of it as a dare!”

Lana blushed. “My husband’s right there. You guys are going too far.”

Though she refused verbally, she leaned against Harold anyway.

I stepped forward and poured the champagne from the bottle I had just opened right over their heads.

Lana screamed and looked at me. “Weston, have you lost your mind?!”

I sneered. “You two were kissing so passionately. I thought I’d add some water so you could take a romantic bath together!”

Harold’s curly hair was dripping wet and sticking to his forehead. He looked just like a drowned rat.

Lana reached for a tissue to wipe him down.

She looked up abruptly and locked eyes with me.

“Weston, Harold is just being playful. He didn’t mean any harm!

“You’re a grown man. Is it really necessary to pick on a kid?”

I snorted derisively. “Is that your excuse for sleeping with him?”

Lana’s face flushed crimson. Finally, she stood up and shoved me toward the door.

The neatly arranged champagne tower crashed to the floor. I fell onto the broken glass. A sharp pain stung my back.

“Enough already! Is it any fun to interrogate me like a madman?”

Leaning on the wall for support, I watched Harold lean affectionately against Lana’s shoulder.

Suddenly, I felt utterly disillusioned.

Chapter 4

I did not want to back down.

“What? You’re bold enough to cheat on me, but you don’t have the guts to let me call you out on it?”

Harold tugged at the corner of Lana’s shirt. He looked utterly wronged and pitiful.

“Lana, just let it go! It’s just wine, after all.

“It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have joked around with Weston.”

I was doused with red wine, but Lana laughed it off as a prank.

In contrast, Harold’s hair was only a little wet, but Lana could not help admonishing me for him.

Lana looked at me in disappointment.

“Look at Harold! Not only is he younger than you, but he’s also kinder and more generous than you!

“Can’t you learn from him?”

I sneered. “Learn what? Learn how to steal someone’s partner, or how to be a homewrecker?”

Before I could finish, Lana slapped me so hard my mouth filled with blood.

Compared to the slap she had given me that night, she was clearly furious this time.

“Apologize to Harold! Delete that post right now.”

I swallowed the metallic taste. “In your dreams!”

Harold pretended to be startled and took a few steps back.

“Weston looks so aggressive! I hope he doesn’t resort to domestic violence later on.”

He continued, “Lana, since my buddies are all here, how about I show Weston what it means to back down?”

Lana gave a barely perceptible nod.

The next second, fists rained down on me.

Back when we first got together, I had only suffered a small cut from a fruit knife. Yet Lana had rushed me to the hospital in a panic.

When she saw the blood from the wound, tears of worry streamed down her face. She seemed to be in more pain than I was, even though I was the one who was injured.

She cradled my wound and swore she would never let me get hurt again.

But this time, she had given Harold the right to hurt me. She let him hurt me time and time again.

Harold stomped on my face and leaned down to whisper in my ear.

“Weston, what does it matter that you’re married to Lana? The only person who truly matters to her is me.”

I said nothing. My gaze was fixed on the pendant around Harold’s neck.

I had one just like it, although mine was just a cheap rosary.

When Lana gave it to me, she said she had begged for it by performing feats of devotion after a long and far walk to the cathedral.

I treasured it and kept it close to my heart.

But it seemed that the gift was not just given to me alone.

Harold picked up the car keys from the ground and said in a playful, whiny tone, “Lana, I haven’t had a car to drive lately, so I’m just going to take this Mayvoche.”

Lana nodded and completely ignored me when the car belonged to me.

Over the years, whenever Harold asked for something, I had to hand it over, even if it was my favorite stuff.

I pushed myself up against the wall, intending to take my keys back.

Lana thought I was going to hit Harold. So, she kicked me and sent me crashing back to the floor.

My head slammed into the corner of the table. My vision was tainted red.

Seeing this, Lana panicked and lunged toward me. “Weston! I…”

To my surprise, Harold stepped in to block her with dramatic flair.

“Weston, you’re scheming, aren’t you? You poured red wine on yourself just seconds ago, didn’t you?

“Lana, don’t be fooled. He’s just putting on an act.”

Lana actually believed him and stopped in her tracks.

“Weston, you’d better watch your step. Stop resorting to these underhanded tactics!”

With that, she led her group straight out of the private room.

I lay in a pool of blood. Waves of dizziness washed over me.

I picked up my phone and dialed a number.

“The video we filmed earlier. It’s time to release it…”