Chapter 3

After finally convincing Vivian's mother to leave, a friend sent word that the man wanted to meet me.

Sawyer—the young man who'd taken my wife to the hospital that year. Now that she was pregnant, I was afraid he might get hurt during our meeting, which would look bad. I refused without thinking twice, but my friend said Sawyer was determined to see me. He was waiting at a café right now and wouldn't leave until he saw me.

These two really were the bane of my existence. I cursed all the way to the café and immediately spotted Sawyer sitting by the window when I walked in.

Actually, thinking about it carefully, I didn't have any deep grudge against Sawyer.

Some friends called Sawyer someone who stole another man's wife, but I said the fault ultimately lay with Vivian.

Sawyer was pretty innocent if you thought about it—he did a good deed by taking an injured person to the hospital, then got struck by love at first sight through no fault of his own.

And I understood what Vivian was capable of doing for a man. She was attractive enough on her own, and Sawyer was a young man fresh out of school. With all her sweet words and grand gestures, even a heart of stone wouldn't stand a chance.

Sawyer wore a light-colored shirt. His neat short hair looked gentle and clean in the sunlight, though his complexion wasn't great.

"Adrian, thank you for coming." His voice was as mild as his appearance.

People who knew us said Sawyer and I were complete opposites. He studied art, had a gentle personality, and looked refined. When he stood somewhere, he looked like the classic male lead.

Before I met Vivian, I was a botanist who spent years trekking through forests. Because I became a team leader at a young age, my personality was inevitably strong-willed. Back then, Vivian hadn't fully taken over the company yet—she was still a thrill-seeking heiress who spent who knows how much money following our team on expeditions. Along the way, I scolded this rich girl countless times for lacking wilderness survival knowledge.

When she first pursued me, I refused. I loved the days of adventuring through rainforests and deep mountains. Being a rich man's husband might be many people's dream, but it wasn't mine.

But Vivian really knew how to win people over. She showed me things I'd never had—the warmth of parents and family. Her parents were truly wonderful, treating me like their actual son. And she promised me marriage wouldn't tie me down—she'd be my support.

All lies. When we first got married, I didn't give up my career. Not until she said she wanted children did I consider temporarily transferring to a laboratory. Then, while I was processing the paperwork, the accident happened. She lost her memory.

My vows wouldn't allow me to just abandon her, so I went to the laboratory and continued my research through the three years of her constant divorce demands.

Thinking about it now, it was time to let her go. I was starting to miss my pre-marriage life.