Chapter 3

“Babe, look at this!”

Chloe shoved her phone in front of my face. On the screen, an influencer was bragging about her new luxury electric SUV’s self-parking feature. The steering wheel spun on its own, sliding the car perfectly into a tight spot.

“Look how smart these new EVs are! It parks itself! You know how much I hate parallel parking, Ethan. It literally gives me anxiety. Can we... buy one?”

Chloe leaned against me, looking up with big, puppy-dog eyes, her voice sweet as sugar.

I glanced at the screen. A Tesla Model X. Even the base model would run at least eighty thousand dollars.

I sneered internally. Quite an appetite. She must think I still have plenty of juice left to squeeze.

But honestly, this was exactly what I wanted.

I set my phone down and nodded earnestly. “Sure, let's get you the best one. I’ll have my accountant wire a hundred thousand to your account tomorrow. Let me know if you need more.”

Chloe blinked, clearly surprised by how easily I agreed.

A second later, she squealed and leaped onto my lap, wrapping her arms tightly around my neck. “You are the absolute best, Ethan! I love you so much!”

“I’ll go draw a bath for you!” She jumped down and ran toward the bathroom, turning back halfway to blow me a kiss. “Tonight... I’m going to give you a special reward. You can have whatever you want.”

Her attempts at seduction disgusted me. The moment I pictured her in that movie theater with Jax, a wave of nausea washed over me.

I forced a weary expression. “The company’s been super stressful lately, babe. I’m just too exhausted. I think I just want to crash.”

“Oh, then I’ll give you a massage later.” Chloe didn’t think twice about it and hurried to turn on the bathwater.

In the weeks that followed, Chloe asked for money more frequently, her excuses growing wilder by the day.

“Ethan, Ashley wants to put a down payment on a condo but she’s short on cash. I promised to lend her twenty thousand.”

“Ethan, you remember my cousin, Leo? He got mixed up with loan sharks and they're threatening him. He needs thirty thousand to save his skin.”

“Ethan, Grandpa Thomas had a heart scare. He needs surgery. It's going to cost fifty thousand.”

To every single request, my answer was simple: Yes.

Two months later, our personal savings were completely dried out.

My company's liquid capital was almost depleted, too.

But it wasn't enough. This amount was still far from what she needed to run away forever.

Besides, my body was running out of time.

During those two months, alongside playing my part, I had to deal with the agonizing reality of my disease.

Stage-four pancreatic cancer is brutal. At first, it was a dull ache. Then it escalated into a stabbing agony that would wake me up screaming in the dead of night.

I would bite down on my pillow, drenched in cold sweat, refusing to make a sound so I wouldn’t alert Chloe sleeping in the guest room.

During my checkup, the oncologist frowned at the scans. “It’s spreading faster than we projected, Ethan...”

In that case, I needed to speed things up for Chloe.

During dinner that night, I let out a heavy, dramatic sigh.

“What’s wrong, Ethan?”

Chloe asked with feigned concern. There was a flicker of wariness in her eyes—she was probably terrified I would cut off her cash flow.

I put down my fork and sighed. “There’s a massive logistics contract on the table. To secure it, I need to leverage the company to secure a two-million-dollar loan. But it’s risky. If it fails, the business goes bankrupt.”

She remained silent, her mind spinning as she processed this.

I grabbed her hand. “I was thinking... what if we get a strategic divorce? We sign the papers, and I’ll transfer all the loan money to your personal accounts. If the business goes under, I’ll take the fall alone. I hate to put you through a divorce, but it’s the only way to protect you.”

Chloe froze. She clearly hadn't expected me to hand her a massive fortune on a silver platter while taking on all the debt myself.

She desperately fought to suppress her grin, squeezing out a few tears instead.

“Ethan, don’t say that. Even if you lose everything, I will never leave your side.”

I almost wanted to applaud her acting skills right there.

If I hadn't seen those photos or her bank transfers, I might have actually believed her.

The paperwork went through incredibly fast.

Transferring the assets, securing the loan, changing corporate titles.

I cooperated eagerly with every step, signing my name wherever needed.

Once the dust settled, Chloe’s attitude changed instantly.

She started coming home late, her eyes growing cold whenever she looked at me.

Finally, one evening, she grabbed her purse and said casually, “Ethan, I’m going on a trip for a few days.”

“Where to?” I asked, pretending to care.

Chloe blinked. “I’m not sure yet. Just going where the wind takes me.”

My chest tightened with anticipation. I knew she was about to make her run.

“Sure, babe. Have fun.”

The next morning, Chloe dragged her suitcase out of the house.

The front door clicked shut.

Her footsteps faded down the hall.

The moment she left, I opened my eyes.

I closed my eyes and whispered in my mind:

“System, activate identity swap. Target: Jax Mercer. SSN: XXX-XX-XXXX.”