Chapter 1

I was helping a client catch his cheating girlfriend. After I snapped a photo of her with another man, my client sent it to her and called her in a fury.

The next second, my wife's voice came through the phone.

"Aww, baby, don't be mad. You're the other man too!" Her voice was sweet and gentle, but the words carried a mocking edge.

My client froze. "What... do you mean?"

She answered with eerie calm. "There are seven men ahead of you. But I only have one husband, and his name is Theo."

Theo… That's my name.

Chapter 1

His hand trembled around the phone. "Other than me, you've been with seven other men. You have a husband, so why do you keep coming back to me?"

Audrey Harper let out a soft laugh. Her cool, detached voice carried a hint of indifference. "He's cold by nature. After being together for so long, things inevitably get boring. I like excitement. At least you're young and fun. It's just a little game."

The client suddenly laughed in fury. "His name is Theo, right? What do you think would happen if I told him you've been sleeping with eight men behind his back? Since you don't love me, let's burn everything down together."

Her voice turned bone-chillingly cold in an instant. "Baby, don't do anything that'll make either of us unhappy. Take advantage of your youth and make some more money off me instead. After all, once you're old and your looks are gone, I won't like you anymore."

The client gripped his phone and gritted his teeth. "You bitch!"

A low laugh came through the phone, followed by her calm voice. "If my Theo finds out you exist, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. I'll make sure you're blacklisted and driven out of the industry. From that day on, not a single director will hire you."

His body trembled violently, resentment blazing in his eyes.

After a long silence, he finally spat out, "You love your husband so much. You're so devoted to him. Then why don't you have his child? Why come to me for my sperm?"

"He's had a vasectomy!" Audrey's voice was frighteningly cold. "Besides, his children would probably be just as stiff and boring as he is. He's deaf in one ear, too. What if the child inherits it?"

My deafness wasn't congenital.

Back when Audrey was starting her business, one of her competitors had grown jealous and hired someone to kill her. I had sensed something was wrong and took the knife meant for her.

The blade had slashed across my ear and left me permanently deaf in my right ear.

At the time, she had cried and told me, "Theo, I'm sorry. I'll avenge you."

Years later, Audrey became powerful enough to shake the entire city of Ravenwood. The first thing she did was ruin the person responsible and leave them penniless and homeless on the streets.

Afterward, she wrapped her arms around me and cried like a child. "Theo, I've avenged you!"

I pulled myself back to the present and looked at the man before me. He was Connor Henderson, a rising young star in the entertainment industry.

"What about my status?" His eyes were bloodshot. "Do you want our child to be born out of wedlock?"

"Of course not. I'll keep the truth from him for the rest of his life. He'll willingly raise this child as his own!" Audrey sounded so nonchalant that she might as well have been discussing the weather. "You can tell my husband right now if you want. Go ahead and try."

Connor suddenly let out a cold laugh. "Between me and your husband, who do you love more? It's me, right?"

"Love you?" Audrey laughed mockingly, as if she'd just heard the funniest joke in the world. "If I loved you, would I refuse to give you a proper place in my life? If I loved you, would I keep you hidden away? If I loved you, would I let you be the other man?"

"So you love your husband more?" Hatred surged in Connor's eyes, but it quickly gave way to a smile. "You're generous with money, and you don't give me much trouble. I can't seem to find a reason to leave you. But do you believe me when I say I'll make you fall in love with me?"

"Do whatever you want. As long as you don't bring any of it to his doorstep, I don't care." With that, Audrey hung up.

I said goodbye to my client, then returned to the villa Audrey and I shared in a daze.

I took out my phone and sent her a message.

[Audrey, we need to talk.]

Her reply came almost instantly.

Audrey: [Okay, Honey. I just got off the plane. What does my darling husband want to talk to his baby about? I'm waitinggg.]

Several flying-kiss stickers followed, along with a photo of a tie from my favorite brand.

I clung to the last shred of hope and sent another message.

[You know about my condition. I can't go through another betrayal. The moment I find out you've betrayed me, I'll gradually lose every memory I have of you.]

A business partner had betrayed me once before, and I had nearly lost my life because of it. Ever since then, I had suffered from a psychological response to betrayal. If someone I loved ever betrayed me, I would gradually forget that person completely.

The moment I sent the message, the door opened, and Audrey's beautiful face appeared before me.

She walked over and pressed her face against the side of my neck. "Honey, your darling wife missed you so much."

I looked into her eyes and forced the words out one by one. "Audrey, do you love me?"

She nuzzled against me. "If I don't love you, who else would I love?"

"Then what about the other eight?" I stared at her and let out a cold laugh. "If you gave all your love to me, what are they supposed to be?"

Chapter 2

The surroundings seemed to fall completely silent.

After a long moment, Audrey finally raised her head, and the smile vanished from her eyes. "You know everything?"

I looked at her and kept my voice as calm as possible. "Why?"

She calmly sat down. "Because you're too rigid. Too boring. Women need to be pampered. They need surprises and excitement. It's as simple as that."

I picked up the fruit knife from the table. "When we got married, you said that if you ever betrayed me, I could kill you."

At that, she grinned faintly and spread her arms wide. "If it'll make you feel better, go ahead and stab me."

The fruit knife slipped from my hand and clattered to the floor.

I stared at her in confusion. "Why? If you want a child, I can give you one. Why do you have to look for someone else?"

She smiled indifferently. "Do you really need me to put it so bluntly? The truth is, I simply don't want to have your child. I want to cheat on you and have another man's child. Does that answer satisfy you?"

I stared at her, my expression unreadable. "I told you. Once you betray me, I'll leave you."

Physically and psychologically, I would leave her.

She spoke nonchalantly. "But, honey, both your parents are dead. You offended so many people because of me that the entire investment banking industry has blacklisted you. And you love me so much that I'm not afraid you'll leave. Because you'll definitely come back."

I looked up. For the first time, the woman before me felt like a complete stranger.

"But have you forgotten? I'm sick. If you betray me, I'll forget you!"

She slipped her arm around mine and affectionately kissed the side of my ear. "Then just forget that I cheated on you in the first place!"

After all these years, depending on me and acting spoiled around me seemed to have become second nature to her.

She kissed me on the lips. "You're not a child anymore. Don't try to fool me with stories like that. I'm only interested in them for a little while. No man will ever threaten your place!"

She kissed me passionately. "If any man ever dares to come before you, I'll abandon him without hesitation."

I looked at her, my voice frighteningly cold. "Even Connor?"

The smile on her face froze. "No. Because I'm pregnant."

"I haven't touched you in a year! Whose child is it?"

The last time she'd been with someone, she'd gone too far and ended up hurting herself. The doctor had warned her not to have sex for a year.

Hence, for the entire year, no matter how badly I'd wanted her, I hadn't touched her even once.

She rose to her feet and looked down at me. "Whose do you think it is? You know perfectly well, don't you?"

I looked at her and spoke each word with absolute resolve. "Audrey, let's get a divorce!"

She crouched down in front of me, and her eyes softened once more. "Don't be childish. I still love you. Once I get tired of playing around, I'll come back to you."

"No one will wait for you forever!" I turned away from her in disgust.

"But you will, won't you? Because you have nowhere else to go." Her tone remained indifferent.

I couldn't bear to look at her anymore. I turned and walked away without looking back.

…

That night, my entire body trembled with pain. I bit down hard on my lip and refused to make a sound.

I desperately tried to hold on to my memories, but one by one, they were mercilessly ripped away from me.

The next morning, I woke up with the strange feeling that I had forgotten something, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember what it was.

I walked into the living room.

Audrey was in the kitchen making breakfast, and she looked at me gently. "The divorce papers are on the table."

"You want to divorce me?" I froze and stared at her in confusion. "Why? What did I do wrong?"

She lowered her eyes and regarded me with faint amusement. "You forgot?"

Then, as if she suddenly understood, she nodded and picked up the divorce papers. "I wasn't planning to get a divorce anyway. Since you've given me an excuse not to go through with it, I'll take it."

With that, she tore the papers to pieces.

Chapter 3

I stared at Audrey in shock.

She stepped forward, wrapped her arms around my waist, and leaned in to kiss me. "I have something to do today, even though it's our wedding anniversary. I'll ask my best friend, Claire, to keep you company."

I grabbed her arm. "Where are you going?"

She laughed softly and gently shook me off. "You know where I'm going. I'll make it up to you tomorrow. I have a prenatal checkup today."

I stared at her in confusion. What prenatal checkup? Whose child was it?

She laughed again. "Look at you. Yesterday, you were the one insisting on a divorce. Now you're the one who can't bear to let me go. So stop making a scene. You're the one who won't be able to stand it if you leave me."

I had no idea what she was talking about. All I knew was that she called Claire Bennett.

"Yeah, we're not getting divorced anymore. He pretended to have amnesia and gave me an excuse to back down, so how could I not take it?"

Claire's voice came through the phone. "That illness is something you'd use to fool a child. Even if he really did forget, I'm an expert in this field. Can't I just treat him and make him remember?"

"I almost wish he'd really forgotten!" Audrey set a plate of pancakes in front of me. "That way, he'd love me a little less for now. Once I've had my fun and come back, he can remember me again. I'd get some peace in the meantime."

Claire teased her for dreaming. There was no such convenient condition that let someone forget whenever they wanted and remember whenever they pleased.

Before Audrey left, she reminded the maid to go easy on the maple syrup in my pancakes. I didn't like sweet food.

As I took in everything around me, I began to understand.

I must have lost some of my memories. But my memories had only begun to fade after Audrey stopped loving me. That meant she had betrayed me.

Just as the thought crossed my mind, Claire pushed open the door. "Hey, Theo. I brought you your favorite mulberry wine."

I headed downstairs.

Claire had always been good at reading people, and the moment she saw me, she deliberately began telling me exactly what I wanted to hear

"Back when you and Audrey were living under a bridge, you couldn't bear to see her suffer. When you were trying to get your business off the ground, you worked three jobs at once. Whenever you were exhausted, you loved having a glass of mulberry wine."

She poured me a glass. "It still tastes exactly like it did back then. The owner of the shop that used to sell it has already retired. Audrey actually paid him nearly 40,000 dollars to teach her how to make it herself."

I took a sip and immediately choked on the harsh burn.

"He didn't retire. His business probably went under because nobody could stand drinking this stuff!" I grumbled.

Claire froze, her eyes widening. "What did you say? This used to be your favorite wine. You said drinking it helped you remember a lot of things from the past!"

"Could you stop making me sound like the tragic male lead in some melodrama?" My gaze slowly settled on her. "Audrey has so much money. Were we really living under a bridge?"

Her eyes widened even further, shock written all over her face. "You didn't have any money when you first started your business. Audrey only became wealthy 10 years ago. The first thing she did after becoming successful was marry you. She said that without you, she never would have become the woman she is today."

"Audrey and I have only been married for 5 years! Where did 10 years come from?" I gave her an easy smile. "All right. I need to go to the hospital."

"No, that's not right. Something's wrong!" Claire blocked my path. "Theo, you really don't remember?"

I changed my shoes and replied helplessly, "I remember. I remember everything, all right? I need to go to the hospital for a checkup."

I ignored the panic in Claire's eyes and headed straight for the hospital.

The moment I got into my car, my client sent me a series of photos.

In them, Connor was supporting a woman outside a maternity examination room as she underwent a prenatal checkup.

I was about to congratulate him when I suddenly noticed that the hands holding her looked strangely familiar.

Connor: [She says you're like a dead fish in bed. Just looking at your face is enough to kill her mood.]

Connor: [I heard it's your wedding anniversary today. Happy anniversary. I'm borrowing your wife for the day.]

As I stared at the messages, the blood in my veins turned ice-cold.

…

I raced to the hospital like a madman.

The moment I spotted that familiar figure, my heart sank.

Connor nestled against her like a docile little wildcat. "Aren't you afraid your hubby will see us and divorce you?"

Audrey took the pen from the nurse and handed it to Connor. He wrote his name in the space reserved for the child's father.

Audrey smiled. "We've been together for 20 years. We're so used to having each other around that neither of us knows any other way to live. Where could he possibly go if he left me?"

"Twenty years of love, and you still betrayed him?" He tugged at her tie. It wasn't a question. He was deliberately provoking her.

Audrey pinched his cheek. "Still haven't heard enough? He's cold by nature. He's nowhere near as adventurous in bed as you are, so it's hard for me to feel much desire when I'm with him. But I won't divorce him because I still love him."

"Women really do want everything!" Connor lightly punched her. "You want the vitality of a younger man, but you also want the lifelong companionship of someone who's stayed by your side through everything!"

Audrey gave him a light kiss on the lips. "So don't show up in front of him. It'll be better for both of us."

Connor looked displeased. Audrey opened her mouth to placate him, but then she raised her head and saw me.

Her expression froze. "Theo?"

"I heard everything." I looked at her, surprised by how calm my voice sounded. "You've had a child with another man. You cheated on me. You betrayed me."

Audrey hurried over and grabbed my hand. "Listen to me. Don't make a scene!"

I yanked my hand free. "Audrey, let's get a divorce!"

To my surprise, she didn't panic. Instead, she regarded me calmly as her expression turned cold. "What's the point?"

"What?" I couldn't understand what she meant.

She slowly closed the distance between us until I had no choice but to retreat against the wall.

"I'm asking you, what's the point of constantly threatening me with divorce? You're not young anymore. Stop acting like a child just to get attention. You ask me for a divorce one day, regret it the next, and now you're pretending to have amnesia?"

Claire's voice suddenly rang out behind us. "Audrey!"

She hurried over and pulled us apart, breathless by the time she managed it. "T-Theo... Something's wrong with him."

Audrey said nothing. She simply gestured for Claire to continue.

"He seems to have really forgotten…"