Chapter 1

"Elena, Serena can't be left alone right now. I'm not coming home tonight."

His voice was barely above a whisper, as if he were afraid of waking the "terminally ill" woman lying beside him. Rain pounded against the windows as I lowered my gaze to the worn file envelope on the coffee table.

Inside were the fake medical records she'd used to fabricate her fatal illness, her bank statements, and every transfer he had personally signed.

I'd known the truth for six months.

But he had never once looked at the report lying on my bedside table.

I hung up the phone, saved a screenshot of his text message into a folder, grabbed my umbrella, and walked out of the prison that had trapped me for the past three years.

As the elevator doors slid shut, a message from my attorney appeared on my screen.

9:00 a.m. tomorrow. We begin the full liquidation process.

I turned off the screen.

This time, he would never find me again.

Elena's POV

Damian Sterling took away my exclusive private doctor for the sake of his first love, Serena Morrow.

Outside, a torrential rainstorm battered the windows. Inside the penthouse, the main lights were off, leaving the living room in deep shadow.

I sat quietly on the sofa. On the coffee table in front of me sat a single manila folder, its edges crumpled from where I had gripped it too tightly.

Inside was Serena's forged terminal illness report.

It was also the concrete evidence of my husband's betrayal, which I had spent the last six months painstakingly gathering piece by piece.

When the clock struck ten, Damian's call finally came through.

I pressed answer.

The background on his end was loud and chaotic. The clatter of ER gurneys. Underneath which came Serena's fragile, pathetic coughing.

"Elena, Serena is in really bad shape right now. She can't be left alone. I won't be coming home tonight."

Damian's voice was barely a whisper, as if he were terrified of disturbing the "fragile" woman beside him.

I stared at the folder on the table, my eyes dead, saying nothing.

Sensing my silence, Damian assumed I was about to throw another tantrum. His tone instantly turned icy, dripping with condescension and impatience.

"She's a very sick woman, Elena. She has no family in New York, and I'm the only one she trusts. Can you please just be mature for once? Stop picking fights at a time like this."

Lately, this line had slipped off his tongue with disgusting ease.

Serena had a chest pain. He ran to her. Serena had insomnia. He ran to her. Serena said she was scared of the thunder in the hospital. He abandoned his fever-ridden wife without a backward glance to hold her hand.

I pulled the phone away from my ear.

Because at that exact second, a text notification popped up on my screen.

It was from Dr. Julian Cross, the renowned specialist Damian had hired for me at an astronomical cost.

"Mrs. Vance, per Mr. Sterling's mandatory orders, I have relocated to Miss Morrow's private suite for 24-hour care. I will no longer be managing your medical records. I am deeply sorry."

I stared at the screen, my knuckles turning white.

This doctor was a gift Damian had once practically begged me to accept.

Three years ago, to save the near-bankrupt Sterling Group, I had secretly mortgaged the townhouse my mother had left me.

The sheer exhaustion of that year had wrecked my immune system, leaving me with chronic respiratory issues.

Back then, Damian had stood in the pouring rain, his eyes bloodshot as he knelt and gripped my hands. "Elena, half of Sterling Group belongs to you! I swear I will hire the best doctors in the country. I will make sure you live a long, beautiful life to enjoy it!"

But now that Sterling Group was a powerhouse, he locked me away at home like a caged canary under the guise of "protecting my privacy."

And then, he used the money I had nearly died to secure to buy a private doctor for Serena's fake illness!

I hung up the phone without another word. I took a screenshot of the text and saved it into a folder labeled Evidence.

Then, I stood up, slid the manila folder into my bag, and grabbed my umbrella.

When I shut the door behind me, I didn't look back at the cage that had held me for three years.

The lights in the underground garage were fluorescent and blinding.

Damian's sports car was idling right at the exit gate.

His window was half-down. One hand was resting impatiently on the steering wheel, while the other tapped away on his phone, likely sending some sweet, reassuring message to Serena.

When he saw me walking toward his car with an umbrella, his brows knitted into a tight, disgusted knot.

"What the hell are you doing down here in the middle of the night?"

I stood by his window, rainwater dripping off my umbrella onto the cold concrete. "Are you going to the hospital?"

"Serena could have a medical emergency at any second! She needs someone there!" Damian's tone was filled with pure irritation. "You're not well either. Go back upstairs and sleep. Stop making my life harder."

"So, that's your excuse for forcing my private doctor to cater to her?" I looked at him.

Damian's expression shifted slightly, but he quickly raised his voice defensively. "Serena's condition is critical! She's dying, Elena! Do you understand that?"

"And my health doesn't matter?"

Damian's face darkened completely, his eyes cutting like knives. "Elena, I don't have time for your pathetic jealousy right now. If anything happens to Serena, can you take responsibility for her life? Move!"

I didn't budge.

Expressionless, I pulled the manila folder from my bag and slammed it onto his windshield with a sharp thwack.

The thick stack of documents slid right in front of his face.

Damian froze, staring at the folder. "What is this?"

"Serena's terminal illness records," I said, staring at him. "They're fake."

Damian's eyes flared with sudden fury.

I pressed my hand against the folder through the glass, my voice quiet but deadly. "Every single lab result in there was forged by a doctor she bribed. She isn't sick."

Damian's grip tightened on the steering wheel so hard the veins on his hand bulged. "You went behind my back to investigate me?!"

"I investigated her."

"She is a dying, helpless girl! You won't even let a dying person have peace? Elena, when did you become so malicious?"

Damian roared, his eyes filled with absolute disappointment and hatred.

Watching him defend that woman with such blind rage, I found it almost comical.

In truth, those forged medical records were full of holes.

How could a brilliant businessman like Damian not see through them?

He wasn't stupid. He just wanted an excuse to care for his first love without feeling guilty. He chose to be blind.

I slowly let go of the folder, pulled another stamped document from my bag, and tossed it through his window. It landed lightly in his lap.

"Since you love taking care of her so much, let's talk about something else."

I looked down at him. "Damian, who do you think was the actual investor behind that VC debt agreement you signed last month?"

Damian looked down. The moment he registered the name on the document, his pupils dilated in shock.

"What is this?"

"Did you really think those bloodsucking investment firms suddenly grew a conscience and stopped hounding you for payments over the last six months?"

I looked at him coldly. "It's because I bought out your debt through a proxy agency. Which means, Damian, I am now the majority creditor of Sterling Group."

The motion-sensor lights in the garage flickered on, casting a harsh white glow over Damian's face.

The color completely drained from his confident, handsome face. His lips trembled, but he couldn't form a single word.

For three years, this was the first time I had ever seen true terror in his eyes.

It wasn't for my health.

It wasn't for the years of neglect I had suffered.

It was solely for his precious Sterling Group.

"Are you insane?!" Damian threw his car door open and scrambled out, blocking my path, his eyes wild with fear. "That is Sterling! That company is my life!"

"And it was built on my mother's townhouse!"

"What do you want?!"

I gripped my umbrella, looking at him as if he were already dead. "I'm calling in the debt. I'm going to ruin you."

"You wouldn't dare!" Panic completely took over. He lunged forward to grab my wrist.

I took a sharp step back, my eyes filled with disgust.

His hand froze in mid-air.

Damian stared at his empty hand, stunned.

In the past, I never shrank away from him. When he yelled, I took it silently. When he lied, I believed him. Even when he came home in the middle of the night smelling of Serena's perfume, I always left the porch light on for him.

But tonight, there were no lights left for him. Only ice.

I picked up the folder of evidence from his windshield and threw it at his chest.

"Everything is in there. Serena's fake illness, the bank statements of you buying her designer bags and renting her luxury condo with my money, and every single illegal asset transfer you signed."

Damian clutched the folder, his throat bobbing as cold sweat broke out on his forehead. "You... you've been planning this?"

"For six months."

His face was ghostly pale, his voice shaking. "So for the last six months... you playing the submissive wife, your coughing fits... it was all an act?!"

I didn't even bother to answer.

I turned and walked resolutely toward the elevator.

"Elena! Get back here!" Damian screamed behind me, his voice cracking.

I didn't stop.

"If you walk out of this garage tonight, we are over!" he yelled, throwing out his final card, still believing our marriage was something he could threaten me with.

The elevator doors chimed and slid open, casting a cold bar of light at my feet.

I stepped inside without hesitation.

Damian ran toward me like a madman, slamming his hands against the closing doors, his face twisted in panic. "What else are you hiding from me?!"

Through the narrowing gap of the doors, I gave him my final words:

"Enough to ensure you lose everything."

The doors shut.

My phone buzzed in my bag.

A message from my financial proxy: "Mrs. Vance, all takeover documents have been delivered to the board of Sterling Group. Liquidation proceedings will officially begin tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM."