The Wife He Never Saw

Start Reading

I secretly loved Ethan for ten years. For five years, I was his substitute wife.

In that fire, I lost hearing in my left ear and covered my back with scars to save his life.

But he believed Cherry saved him. He said I stole someone else's credit. He said I disgusted him.

Then he brought her to our bed. Told me to buy the condoms.

Inside the bedroom, Ethan's stifled, wild groans mixed with Cherry's shaking moans.

Outside, I clutched the condoms, my knuckles white, the wounds on my back reopening.

Can't I just give up?

The day I signed the divorce papers, I booked a one-way ticket to an island.

My left ear is deaf. I'll listen to the waves with my right.

He doesn't love me. Fine.

I just want to be Summer Lynn again.

Summer Lynn POV

"Miss Lynn, you have severe hearing loss in your left ear."

The doctor handed me a report, his tone heavy.

"Five years ago, you inhaled toxic smoke in the fire. It damaged your auditory nerve. Over the years, you've also had severe chronic depression. Your immune system has collapsed. Now even your right ear is starting to fail."

I sat in the chair without a sound.

The doctor thought I didn't understand, so he repeated himself. "If you don't adjust your emotional state, your right ear will be affected too."

I looked at the diagnosis report. After a few seconds, I folded the thin sheet of paper neatly and placed it in my bag.

"I understand. Thank you, doctor."

I stood up and left the consultation room. Outside in the corridor, a rainstorm had begun.

I couldn't help but think of that fire from five years ago.

Ethan's villa had caught fire. His leg was crushed, and he was trapped in the second-floor bedroom.

I was the one who rushed in through the high heat. When the beam collapsed, I threw myself over Ethan and shielded him with everything I had.

My back was severely injured, and my left ear was damaged by the toxic smoke. It kept bleeding.

I dragged the unconscious Ethan out of the fire, then fell into a severe coma myself.

But after I spent three days and nights being resuscitated in the ICU and finally woke up, everything had changed.

That hospital was a private facility the Harrington family had invested in.

Ethan's mother, who had always despised me, suppressed my true medical report.

Sitting by Ethan's hospital bed was Cherry Collins.

In Cherry's hand, she clutched a watch she'd brought out from the fire.

Cherry Collins was Ethan's first love, the one who held his heart.

Five years ago, Cherry, as Ethan's girlfriend, had secretly left to study abroad on the night of their engagement, turning the Harrington family into a laughingstock.

The Harrington family urgently needed a replacement to complete the engagement.

I, who had secretly loved Ethan for ten years, stepped forward and willingly became the substitute for this marriage.

That day, Ethan expressionlessly slid the diamond ring originally custom-made for Cherry onto my ring finger.

From that moment on, I was nothing but a substitute.

And when that fire happened, Cherry had just returned to the country.

Ethan's mother told Ethan that Cherry had rushed into the fire to save him, while I had only run in afterward to steal the credit.

Ethan believed her. He was convinced that Cherry had risked her life to rush into the fire and save him.

I dragged my still-bleeding back to explain, but all I got in return was Ethan's extremely disgusted look and one cold sentence:

"Summer, to make me love you, you'd even steal a life-saving deed? You truly disgust me."

After that, I never brought it up again.

I took out my phone to call a car. A sedan suddenly screeched to a stop in front of me.

The window rolled down.

Ethan sat in the driver's seat.

He frowned slightly, his gaze resting on my rain-soaked shoulders, his tone cold.

"Get in." Ethan spoke. "Stop making a scene. If you get sick, I'll have to arrange for someone to take care of you."

My hand holding the phone paused.

I raised my head and looked past Ethan to see Cherry sitting in the passenger seat.

Cherry didn't turn around. She just leaned slightly to the side.

If this were before, I would have stared hard at the passenger seat position, yanked open the car door, and demanded an explanation from Ethan about why he said he'd be at a company meeting but drove the car here instead.

I would have asked, red-eyed and stubborn, for an explanation.

Ethan was used to my questioning.

But this time, I just glanced once, then calmly withdrew my gaze.

"No need." I stood on the steps, my tone devoid of emotion. "The hospital is full of germs. I'm afraid of infecting you both."

Ethan's hand on the steering wheel paused slightly.

"Ethan." Cherry spoke softly. "Is Summer upset because I'm sitting here? Maybe I should get out. I can just take a cab back."

"Stay seated." Ethan interrupted Cherry, his gaze still on me.

"Summer, don't test my patience. Are you sure you want to stand here in the rain?"

"I called a car. It'll be here soon," I replied.

Ethan looked at me, then finally let out a cold laugh.

"Fine."

The window rolled up. The sedan merged back into traffic and quickly disappeared into the curtain of rain.

I hadn't called a car. I opened the umbrella in my bag and walked into the rain.

I returned to the villa. It was already seven in the evening.

I closed my dripping umbrella and walked straight into the kitchen.

I walked to the counter and pulled open the bottom drawer. Inside was a very thick notebook.

Opening the cover, it was filled with my notes.

Five years ago, Ethan was admitted to the ICU because of a stomach hemorrhage.

After that, I visited every hospital in the city and wrote down these precautions.

For the past five years, I'd followed this notebook and made nutritious meals for Ethan every day.

My hands still bore two permanent scars from burns.

And Ethan's evaluation of the nutritious meals was usually just a cold "just leave it on the table," or he simply wouldn't come home.

I flipped through two pages. The paper made a dry rustling sound.

Then I closed the notebook and threw it into the nearby trash can.

I looked at my left ring finger.

This ring was personally designed by Ethan for Cherry back then. The ring size was also made to Cherry's measurements.

So the ring was a bit tight on my finger.

Every time I accidentally bumped it, the band would dig hard into my knuckle.

But I never complained of pain. I insisted on wearing this ring for five years.

Summer Lynn POV

The knuckle of my ring finger had long since developed a ring of stubborn dead skin from being squeezed.

I squeezed out a large blob of hand soap and spread it on my ring finger. I gripped the wedding ring with my right hand and pulled hard outward.

The stinging pain of broken skin came. The metal scraped against my knuckle. The ring gradually left my finger.

The moment the ring came off my finger, I stood by the sink for a long time.

I dried my hands, then walked out of the bathroom.

I lifted the covers and lay down.

I closed my eyes. My right ear listened to the sound of rain outside the window. My left ear existed in absolute, dead silence.

I should have gone to the living room to turn on a dim lamp, then stayed up all night waiting for Ethan to come home.

But tonight.

I didn't turn on a light for him. I didn't wait anymore either.

The next morning when I came downstairs, Ethan and Cherry were already sitting in the dining room.

Cherry picked up a bowl of hot milk and walked over.

"Summer, you got caught in the rain last night. Drink some hot milk while it's warm."

I didn't speak. I pulled out a chair and sat down.

I hadn't slept all night. My stomach sent a wave of pain through me.

I picked up the hot milk and took a sip.

After just a few seconds, my face instantly changed.

There was peanut powder in the milk.

I had an extremely severe peanut allergy. Ethan knew this.

If I touched even a little bit, I would have an allergic reaction, triggering acute asthma or even shock.

My airway felt like it was being squeezed shut by an invisible hand.

I covered my throat, desperately gasping for air, but couldn't draw in a single breath.

I fell from the chair in agony, my face quickly turning purple.

"Ah!"

At the same moment, a cry rang out from the kitchen.

"Ethan, it hurts... I cut my finger."

Cherry held up her finger with a small trace of blood, her eyes red.

Ethan, who had been watching the morning news, heard the sound and immediately stood up, striding toward the kitchen.

I collapsed on the floor, my vision starting to blur.

I used every ounce of strength to crawl toward the table. In the drawer there was my epinephrine emergency pen.

My fingertips finally touched the edge of the table.

Just as I was about to pull open the drawer, Ethan rushed past.

Bang!

To get to Cherry faster, he kicked the trash can beside the table.

It knocked away the emergency kit I'd barely managed to reach.

The medicine vial rolled to the deepest part under the sofa.

I desperately reached out my hand and grabbed Ethan's pant leg, making agonized sounds in my throat.

Ethan looked down.

He looked at me but didn't stop. Instead, he shook off my hand.

"Summer, can you stop making a scene?"

Ethan's tone was filled with undisguised disgust. "Cherry cut her finger. She faints at the sight of blood. I have to take her to the hospital right away!"

He walked straight over, picked up Cherry, and strode quickly toward the door.

At the doorway, he coldly threw out a sentence:

"Call yourself a car to the hospital!"

The door closed.

I lay on the cold floor. My vision was already going black from lack of oxygen.

I bit down hard and dragged my heavy body inch by inch toward the sofa.

My nails scraped across the floor with a harsh sound, drawing out threads of blood.

Finally, I touched the emergency pen.

With trembling hands, I removed the safety cap, aimed it at the outside of my thigh, and stabbed it hard into my muscle!

Along with the intense pain of the thick, long needle piercing in, the medication was rapidly pushed into my body.

Ten minutes later, my airway slowly opened.

I lay on the floor, gulping in air.

I had almost died here just now.

I'd always thought that the person I'd saved with my life all those years ago would also save me when I was in danger.

But only at this moment did I finally understand.

In Ethan's eyes, my life wasn't worth even a bit of broken skin on Cherry.

I should give up.

Summer Lynn POV

I lay on the cold floor for an entire night.

Until dawn broke, Ethan hadn't returned. He hadn't called even once.

I propped up my numb body and slowly climbed up from the floor.

I opened my computer, printed out a divorce agreement, and dialed a number I'd never actively called in five years.

"If you're calling to say that Ethan is with Cherry again, don't bother. I told you long ago. You're just a substitute."

"Now that Cherry is back, Ethan doesn't need a wife with no social standing like you."

Over these five years, Ethan's mother had never hidden her disgust for me.

Every time Ethan brought Cherry to public events, she either permitted it or even supported it, trying to force me to leave on my own.

My voice was calm. "I agree to the divorce, and I'll leave here forever, but I need you to help me with something."

The person on the other end was clearly stunned, then said, "As long as you're willing to leave Ethan, I'll agree to any condition you want. How much money do you want?"

"I don't want a single penny." I looked at the agreement I'd just signed beside me.

"I just need you to use the Harrington family's connections to quietly finalize the divorce within a month. And... erase all my information. Ethan can't find out."

Ethan's mother laughed. "Fine. In thirty days, I'll have someone deliver your new identity to you."

After doing all this, I found a number in my contacts.

This number belonged to a gallery director.

Five years ago, I'd had the chance to have my own art exhibition. But to take care of Ethan, I put down my paintbrush and picked up cooking instead.

"Marcus, that beach house you mentioned. Is it still available?"

"Of course! Finally ready to paint again?"

"Yes." I replied. "I want to rent that house."

I wasn't going to be Mrs. Harrington anymore.

After hanging up, I booked a one-way ticket for thirty days from now.

I was going to that island where no one knew me, to become Summer Lynn again.

That evening, Ethan came back alone.

He walked into the living room and saw me sitting quietly on the sofa reading.

I didn't rush up to him with hot milk like before. I didn't even lift my head.

Ethan asked coldly, "Did the family doctor come treat you this morning? Stop eating random things from now on."

I turned a page in my book, my tone calm. "It's fine. I won't die."

"There's a charity auction gala tomorrow. Come with me. Don't you always want me to introduce you to the public?"

My gaze moved from the book.

I was about to refuse when Ethan's phone suddenly rang.

Cherry's delicate crying voice came from the other end. "Ethan, can you take me to tomorrow's auction? I just got back to the country. I don't know anyone. I'm so scared to go alone..."

Ethan glanced at me.

I remained sitting quietly, as if I hadn't heard the phone conversation at all.

He suddenly blurted out, "Okay, I'll pick you up tomorrow."

After hanging up, Ethan looked at me.

"You don't need to go to tomorrow's gala. Rest at home. I'll take you to another gala in a few days."

If this were before, I would have demanded through red eyes why he was going back on his word.

But today, I looked at him and gently closed the book in my hands.

"Okay." I nodded, no unwillingness in my tone. "I understand."

Ethan looked at me. He suddenly yanked off his tie, turned around, and strode upstairs.

What he didn't know was that the moment he turned to go upstairs, I took out my phone.

On the phone screen was a ticketing message from the airline.

"You have successfully booked a one-way ticket to Hawaii departing in thirty days."

Ethan's mother had also sent a message:

"The divorce has entered the process. It will take thirty days. In thirty days, I hope you keep your promise."

I replied, "Thank you."

Then I opened my calendar and silently began counting down.

Summer Lynn POV

The next day, Ethan took Cherry to the charity gala as expected.

When he returned, he even tossed me a gift box.

"Auction item from last night's gala. For you."

I sat on the sofa, my gaze falling on that gift box.

I didn't take it. I didn't open it either.

"Do you need me to open it for you?" Ethan's brow furrowed slightly. He walked over and opened the gift box clasp with one hand.

Inside lay a dazzling diamond necklace.

"I saw Cherry really liked the main piece from this collection, so I bought it for her. This starry one is the secondary piece. It happens to suit you."

My fingertips curled slightly under my sleeves.

What he gave Cherry was the main necklace worth tens of millions. What he gave me, his wife, was just a secondary gift piece.

If this were before, I would have asked him through red eyes, "Ethan, in your heart, will I always only get the things she doesn't want?"

I would have been too upset to sleep, while he would only think I was making a fuss and habitually use money to wipe away my tears.

But tonight, I just felt like my heart had been injected with anesthesia. Even the pain had become dull.

I looked at the necklace reflecting cold light and pulled at the corners of my dry lips slightly.

"Thank you." My voice was as light as a feather landing on the ground. "The necklace is beautiful. I really like it."

Ethan's movements paused.

I didn't look at the necklace anymore. My gaze returned to the book in my hands.

"Summer, stop making a scene." His voice deepened, carrying suppressed displeasure. "I'm very tired today. I don't have time to humor you."

"I'm not making a scene." I turned a page in my book, my tone as calm as stagnant water.

Ethan stared at me for a while, then let out a cold laugh, turned around, and strode toward the second-floor study.

Bang!

The study door slammed shut.

I didn't try to keep him.

I looked at the glittering necklace on the table. What flashed through my mind was a scene from ten years ago.

That year I was only sixteen, hiding in a corner of the Harrington family villa, watching that handsome young man.

I'd secretly loved him for a full ten years. When his fiance ran away from the wedding, I was willing to wear an ill-fitting wedding dress and shield him from all the embarrassment.

On our wedding day, I naively thought that as long as I was obedient enough and understanding enough, someday I could make him love me.

Even though he put a ring that didn't fit my finger onto my hand, even though he wouldn't spare me a glance, I still felt that at least I was standing beside him.

But that fire not only took away my hearing. It also completely burned away my love for him.

For Cherry's sake, he didn't even care about my life.

Once a person wakes up, they understand everything.

For the next two weeks, I silently erased all traces of myself.

I listed designer bags and clothes on secondhand websites at low prices, keeping only a few of the most ordinary clothes.

In the huge master bedroom, the traces of my presence grew fainter and fainter.

That afternoon, the villa's doorbell suddenly rang.

Cherry walked in.

I walked out of the storage room holding a wooden paint box covered in thick dust.

I looked up and saw Cherry.

Around Cherry's neck, she was conspicuously wearing that dazzling main diamond necklace.

That huge central diamond rested perfectly on her delicate collarbone, so bright it hurt the eyes.

"Summer, you're home."

Cherry walked into the living room, deliberately tucking her hair behind her ear to fully expose the necklace to my view.

"A few days ago at the auction, Ethan insisted on buying me this jewelry set. I said it was too expensive and I couldn't accept it, but he wouldn't listen. He even put it on me himself."

Cherry smiled happily. "He said this necklace had a secondary gift piece that he brought home for you. Did you see it?"

My fingers holding the paint box tightened slightly.

I listened to Cherry's boastful words and looked at that necklace, but my eyes didn't show even a ripple of emotion.

I pointed at the box. "If you like it, take that along with you."

Summer Lynn POV

Cherry froze in place.

After all, my reaction carried an uncomfortable sense of dismissal.

Cherry bit her lip unwillingly.

Her gaze shifted and landed on the old paint box I was holding.

"Summer, what are you packing up?"

Cherry walked forward, pretending to be curious as she reached out to touch the box.

"Don't touch it." My voice turned slightly cold. I instinctively stepped back.

This was the last memento my mother left me before she died.

It was also what I planned to take to the island. My hope for starting a new life.

Cherry didn't pull her hand back. Instead, she twisted her wrist hard, using my own backward movement as cover.

Crash!

A dull, heavy sound.

The heavy wooden box slipped from my hands and fell hard onto the marble floor.

The wooden box shattered instantly.

The paint tubes I'd treasured for years broke into pieces, paint splashing out everywhere, staining the expensive carpet and splattering onto my clean pant legs.

I stood frozen, staring at the broken wooden box, my brain blank for a moment.

"Oh no!"

But Cherry cried out first. She quickly stepped back two paces, her eyes instantly reddening like a startled deer.

At the same moment, the second-floor study door was pushed open forcefully.

Hearing the commotion, Ethan quickly came downstairs.

"What happened?" He glanced at the paint all over the floor, his brow knitting tightly.

Cherry immediately grabbed Ethan's sleeve with red eyes, her voice choking with tears. "Ethan, I just wanted to help Summer with something... Summer might still be mad at me. She threw the box down and almost hit my foot..."

Ethan's gaze followed Cherry's pointing finger and landed on me.

He looked at the mess on the floor, then at my face.

"Summer, what exactly are you trying to do?"

Ethan's tone was ice-cold, with undisguised disgust. "They're just some paint tubes. Do you really need to make such a scene?"

These paints were my mother's favorites when she was alive.

Five years ago, to take care of Ethan who had a stomach hemorrhage from inhaling smoke, I gave up my own art exhibition.

Now, the items I treasured most from my mother had been smashed to pieces by Cherry's own hands, yet he directly pinned all the blame on me.

I slowly raised my head and looked at Ethan.

"You think this is just some paint?" My voice was very light, but carried a kind of deathly stillness that made people's hearts skip.

"What else?" Ethan looked at me coldly, pulling out a checkbook from his suit pocket. "How much money do you need? A hundred thousand or two hundred thousand? I'll write you a check."

I looked at him for a few seconds.

Looking at this man whose life I'd saved with my own, even at the cost of my left ear's hearing.

I suddenly found it absurd.

I nodded.

I didn't reach for that check.

I turned around and looked at the servant standing timidly to the side.

"Sweep all this garbage into the trash."

Ethan's hand holding the check froze in midair.

"Summer..." Ethan frowned. He seemed like he wanted to say something to make me stay.

I had already turned and gone upstairs.

In this house, there was nothing left worth looking at even once more.

Back in the bedroom, I closed the door and leaned weakly against it.

I closed my eyes and bit down hard on my lower lip until I tasted a hint of sweet, bloody iron, finally forcing down the sourness in my throat that nearly tore me apart.

I took out my phone and opened the calendar.

Only seven days left until my flight departed.

After heavily crossing off today's date, I took a deep breath.

Very soon, I could be completely free.

Summer Lynn POV

I moved out of the master bedroom and into a guest room.

I no longer asked Ethan what time he'd be home.

Even when Cherry occasionally walked around the living room wearing Ethan's shirt, I just ignored it.

This complete indifference seemed to provoke Ethan.

One evening, Ethan pushed open the guest room door.

I was sitting by the window reading.

Hearing the sound, I didn't even lift an eyelid.

Ethan walked over and placed an invitation on the small table in front of me.

His tone was cold. "My friends are having a party tonight to celebrate Cherry's gallery securing a location. Come with me."

My gaze finally moved from the book pages and landed on that invitation.

For five years, Ethan had never brought me to meet his friends.

His friends looked down on me as a substitute, and he never felt it necessary to have me attend.

But today, he wanted to bring me along.

"I'm not going." My voice held no emotion.

Ethan's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

He looked at me, his eyes gradually growing cold.

"Summer, stop making a scene." His voice was heavy. "You need to attend the party tonight."

He still wanted to control me like before.

Over these five years, whenever he used this tone, no matter how wronged I felt, I would immediately comply, afraid of making him unhappy.

I looked at him for a few seconds.

I didn't have the energy to endure his cold violence anymore.

"Fine."

I stood up.

I casually grabbed a high-necked long-sleeved shirt and put it on, covering the hideous burn scars on my back.

Half an hour later, I arrived at the private room.

Ethan pushed open the door and led me inside.

The lively conversation in the room instantly went quiet for a moment.

In the center of the sofa, Cherry wore a beautiful white dress, surrounded by several friends chatting.

Seeing me, Cherry's smile stiffened for a moment, then she happily came forward.

"Summer, you came." A flash of mockery crossed Cherry's eyes as she deliberately stood at Ethan's side.

I paid no attention and walked straight to the most secluded corner of the room to sit down.

Ethan was pulled to sit in the center of the crowd.

Cherry naturally sat close beside him.

During the meal, everyone gathered around Cherry.

A few deliberately lowered mocking remarks occasionally drifted over from the sofa area, carrying undisguised malice.

"Cherry and Ethan really look like the perfect married couple. Some people use dirty tricks to become substitutes, but they still can't compare to Cherry."

I sat quietly in the corner, as if all of this had nothing to do with me.

The music in the room was very loud. I was sitting on his left side.

My left ear had complete nerve death from that fire five years ago. I couldn't hear anything from it.

In such a noisy environment, sounds coming from my left were, to me, an area of complete dead silence.

In the corner, I kept my head down looking at my phone, motionless.

For some reason, the people in the room gradually stopped talking. The atmosphere became awkward.

Suddenly, Ethan strode over and pulled me up from the sofa.

"I'm talking to you. Can't you hear me?"

Ethan looked at me, his tone carrying displeasure and coldness.

I was caught off guard and stumbled from being pulled.

I was forced to raise my head and meet Ethan's ice-cold eyes.

If this were before, I would have desperately explained. I would have told him through red eyes that I really couldn't hear.

But now, I looked at him and calmly spoke.

"Yes."

I looked into his eyes, my voice devoid of any emotion.

"I can't hear."

Ethan froze for an instant.

Then his eyes turned completely cold.

"Stop acting in front of me."

He released my hand.

I rubbed my aching wrist where he'd gripped it, turned around without hesitation, and walked straight out of the private room.

I didn't want to stay in this place anymore.

Summer Lynn POV

I walked out of the private room. The air in the corridor was cold and cutting.

I rubbed my painfully squeezed wrist and didn't wait for Ethan. I walked straight toward the club's exclusive elevator.

I had just pressed the down button when the elevator doors opened.

Just as I was about to step in, urgent footsteps sounded behind me.

Ethan strode over with a dark expression, Cherry following closely beside him with reddened eyes.

The three of us, one after another, walked into the narrow elevator car.

The elevator doors slowly closed and began descending smoothly.

Cherry seemed like she wanted to say something to break the awkward silence, but after glancing at Ethan's grim profile, she swallowed her words.

Just as the elevator numbers hit the twentieth floor, a violent explosion shook the building.

BOOM.

The entire structure shuddered.

The lights in the car instantly went out completely. The overhead ventilation fan made a piercing shriek before stopping entirely.

Immediately after came a terrifying sensation of extreme weightlessness that made hearts leap into throats.

The elevator was out of control.

The entire car, in complete darkness, plummeted downward at a horrifying speed!

"AH"

Cherry let out a piercing scream.

I was thrown against the elevator wall by the sudden jolt. The pain made my vision go black.

In the darkness, weightless and disoriented, survival instinct took over. I reached out, trying to grab anything to steady myself.

I grabbed the nearest thing. The hem of Ethan's suit jacket.

After dropping for more than ten floors, the elevator's emergency safety clamps finally locked onto the tracks with a death grip.

The car was like it had hit an invisible wall, abruptly suspended in midair.

The massive recoil force threw us all heavily to the floor.

In the pitch darkness, I could only hear heavy breathing.

Above our heads came the sound of metal scraping as steel cables snapped. The car swayed precariously in midair."Ethan..." Cherry curled up in Ethan's arms, crying uncontrollably.

I leaned against the cold metal corner of the elevator car.

My right ear was filled with Cherry's crying and the terrifying sound of steel cables about to snap.

My left ear existed in absolute, dead silence.

This extreme sense of being torn between half noise and half silence instantly pulled me back to that fire from five years ago.

In the old villa five years ago, after the flames died down, it was this same suffocating darkness.

The collapsed beam pressed on my back. I had shielded Ethan beneath me. I waited for rescue in that narrow, scorching, suffocating rubble.

Since then, I'd developed severe claustrophobia.

Whenever night fell, whenever I was in an enclosed space, I would uncontrollably tremble all over, break into cold sweats, even have difficulty breathing.

So for these five years, in the villa's living room, a lamp was always left on for me.

At this moment, the claustrophobia was completely triggered in the darkness.

My whole body began trembling. Cold sweat instantly soaked through my back.

I opened my mouth, desperately trying to draw in the thin oxygen in the elevator car.

I don't know how much time passed.

Suddenly, the roar of an electric saw cutting through metal came from the elevator ceiling.

The top panel was forcibly pried open, creating an extremely narrow gap.

A beam of blinding flashlight pierced down through the gap, cutting through the darkness inside the car.

A rough rescue rope was thrown in.

"Listen!"

The rescue personnel shouted with all their might from above. "All the load-bearing cables have snapped! The opening is too narrow. We can only pull one person up at a time! Quickly put the safety harness on yourselves!"

Suddenly, the elevator dropped sharply downward.

Ethan didn't hesitate at all.

He grabbed the rope and without a second thought secured it around Cherry, locking the safety clasp tight.

Then he forcefully lifted Cherry upward.

"Pull her up! Hurry!" Ethan roared toward the opening at the top.

The people above began pulling. Cherry's body was gradually hauled out of the car bit by bit.

Ethan kept his head tilted back, his hands constantly supporting Cherry's waist until he confirmed she was completely safe. Only then did he turn his head.

In the faint remaining light of the flashlight, he looked toward me curled up in the corner.

"Summer, wait another ten minutes. They'll lower a second rope right away."

Ethan showed not a trace of guilt toward me.

"Cherry developed severe claustrophobia from the fire scene years ago. She can't stay in the dark. I have to send her up first."

I leaned against the cold elevator wall.

The flashlight's beam shone on my face, illuminating the absurdity and desolation in my heart.

The person who risked her life to shield him in that burning villa back then. It was clearly me.

The one who truly developed claustrophobia. It was me!

But Ethan had believed Cherry's lies.

I lowered my head.

In the residual light of the flashlight, I looked at my own hand.

From extreme fear and the instinct to survive, from the moment we started falling, I had been desperately clutching the hem of Ethan's suit jacket.

My knuckles had turned white from excessive force. Even my fingernails had drawn blood.

I looked at that wrinkled corner of fabric I'd been gripping, and suddenly felt that my persistence over these five years was nothing but a joke.

What exactly was I clinging to?

Why did I love a man who didn't even care about my life?

Why did I continue to maintain a marriage built on lies and humiliation?

The elevator shook violently again.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

Then I gradually loosened my fingers.

I released that corner of fabric I'd been desperately clutching.

Summer Lynn POV

"Summer?" Ethan spoke in the darkness, a trace of panic in his voice. "Say something."

No response came from the corner.

"Summer! Don't play dead on me right now!"

He took a step toward me, undisguised irritation in his tone. "Cherry has claustrophobia. What's wrong with me letting her go up first? Your turn is coming right away. Why do you still have to make me angry?"

"I'm not playing dead."

Finally, my voice came from the darkness.

Calm, weak, yet carrying a frightening emptiness.

"I just think," I leaned against the cold iron wall, slowly closing my eyes, "if this steel cable snaps right now, at least I'll have given you back the life I owe you."

Ethan fell silent for a moment.

"What are you talking about?!" He suddenly reached out his hand and grabbed my shoulder hard in the darkness. "Are you insane?!"

My entire body was trembling violently. My clothes were completely soaked with cold sweat. My body temperature had dropped to a terrifying level.

Ethan must have noticed my abnormality.

After all, he'd never seen me like this before.

Even five years ago after that fire, when I woke up in the ICU and he accused me, I'd only bitten my lip hard, my face pale. I'd never been like this. As if I were an empty shell that could shatter at any moment.

"We're pulling you up right now!"

The rescue personnel's shout came from above again. Immediately after, a second rope was thrown down.

When I left the elevator, the lights outside were so bright I couldn't open my eyes.

I was pulled out of the elevator shaft. My legs went weak and I sat directly on the corridor floor.

Medical personnel immediately surrounded me.

On the other side of the corridor, Cherry was throwing herself into Ethan's arms, crying pitifully, clutching his clothes and refusing to let go.

"Ethan, I thought I'd never see you again..."

Medical personnel were taking my blood pressure.

My face was deathly pale, but I didn't glance at Ethan even once.

"Sir, this lady has an extremely rapid heart rate with mild shock symptoms. She needs to be taken to the hospital for observation immediately." The emergency doctor turned to shout at Ethan.

Ethan's brow furrowed. He was about to push Cherry away and come over.

But Cherry suddenly hugged his waist tightly, her body trembling violently.

"Ethan, I feel so dizzy... I can't breathe..." Cherry closed her eyes and fainted directly in Ethan's arms.

"Cherry!"

Ethan's face changed dramatically. He scooped up the pretending Cherry, turned around, and rushed toward another ambulance parked outside the club entrance.

I sat on the ground, watching Ethan's back as he ran wildly holding Cherry.

When facing danger, he chose someone else.

After the danger passed, he still chose someone else without hesitation.

The doctor beside me urged anxiously, "Miss, where is your family? Have him accompany you in this ambulance!"

"I don't have any family." I withdrew my gaze, my voice calm.

"I'll go by myself."

I pushed away the nurse's outstretched hand, supported myself against the wall, slowly stood up, and walked onto the ambulance alone.

In the emergency room at the hospital.

After finishing my IV drip, it was already late at night.

I didn't notify anyone. I removed the needle myself, took a cab, and returned to the villa.

The villa was still pitch dark.

Ethan would definitely spend tonight at the hospital watching over his Cherry.

I didn't turn on the lights.

I opened my computer and logged into my personal bank account.

I returned all the money Ethan had transferred to me over these five years.

A full five million dollars was transferred back to Ethan's private account.

In the refund note, there was only one simple sentence: "We have no relationship from now on."

After finishing all this, I closed the computer and walked to the bed.

I took out my phone. The screen lit up, reflecting my pale face.

I opened my calendar and glanced at the date.

I calmly turned off my phone, lay down on the cold bed, and closed my eyes.

I didn't suffer from insomnia.

The next day, as soon as dawn broke, I got up to pack my luggage.

After packing, I placed the already-printed divorce agreement on the table.

I removed my wedding ring and gently pressed it on the signature line of the agreement.

I dragged my suitcase and walked out of the villa.

The cold early autumn wind hit my face, blowing away the last trace of the oppressive atmosphere from this house that clung to me.

A taxi I'd reserved was already waiting outside the door.

The driver got out and helped me put my suitcase in the trunk.

The car slowly started up, heading toward the airport.

I turned off my phone and wearily closed my eyes.

"Please drive faster."