Chapter 2

“Professor, that won’t be necessary. Please ask your superiors to erase every record of my identity.”

Surprise filled my professor’s voice.

“Why? Once your records are erased, Arissa Miranda will cease to exist. I thought you and Logan were happy. What will he do when he can’t find you?”

A bitter smile touched my lips.

“He cheated on me.”

The other end of the line went completely silent.

Then came a long sigh.

“When you called me yesterday, I suspected something had happened between you and Logan. I just never imagined…”

She paused.

“All right. I’ll have your records erased. Use these three days to take care of everything you need to settle.”

Only after she agreed did I finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Once my identity was erased, I wouldn’t even have to waste time dealing with a divorce.

“Thank you, Professor.”

The moment the words left my lips, a familiar voice came from behind me.

“Who cheated?”

I turned and met Logan’s eyes.

There was a flicker of panic in them.

“My professor has another student whose husband cheated on her,” I answered calmly.

Logan studied my face carefully.

Only after confirming that nothing seemed wrong did the tension leave his shoulders.

He pulled me into his arms and pressed a kiss to the top of my head.

“Baby, you never have to worry about that. I would never cheat on you.”

His eyes were so sincere that I couldn’t stop myself from asking,

“What if you did?”

Logan shook his head without hesitation.

“Impossible. You’re the only woman I love.”

“I said what if.”

He thought for a moment before rubbing his cheek affectionately against mine.

“Then punish me by making sure I can never find you again.”

His voice softened.

“You know you’re my life, baby. If I ever lost you, I wouldn’t be able to live.”

I smiled but said nothing.

Logan, your punishment was already on its way.

In three days, I would disappear from his world so completely that he would never find me again.

Logan opened his mouth to say something else, but a woman’s voice interrupted him.

“Mr. Miranda, everything is ready.”

Angela stood a few steps away in a tight pencil skirt, reporting to him in a strictly professional tone.

She looked nothing like the flushed woman I had seen pressed against his office window yesterday.

Logan’s expression remained indifferent.

He gave her a curt nod, then waved her away.

As I watched their carefully controlled exchange, bitter amusement curled inside me.

They really were perfect for each other.

Even their acting was equally convincing.

If I hadn’t seen them tangled together with my own eyes, I might have kept believing their performance.

Logan covered my eyes with one large hand and whispered beside my ear,

“Baby, I have a surprise for you.”

“Five.”

“Four.”

“Three…”

Only when he finished the countdown did he remove his hand.

The moment I opened my eyes, countless fireworks soared into the night.

One after another, they burst into enormous roses across the dark sky.

Then the glittering trails came together to form a glowing number.

**10.**

Logan wrapped an arm around me, his voice filled with emotion.

“Baby, we’ve been together for ten years. Time really does fly.”

I tilted my head back and stared at the number in the sky.

For a moment, I felt dazed.

Ten years.

He was right.

We had been together for an entire decade.

From nineteen to twenty-nine.

Ten years could change so much.

It could turn the boy who had once loved me with all his heart into a man I barely recognized.

It could turn a love that had once been real into nothing but lies.

Logan turned toward me and gazed deeply into my eyes.

Slowly, he lowered his head, intending to kiss me.

I was just about to turn away when his phone chimed.

Annoyance immediately crossed his face.

“I specifically told everyone not to disturb me today.”

He reached for his phone.

“Let’s see who’s bold enough to ignore my orders.”