Chapter 3

I fell silent, but Seraphina wasn't satisfied. She stood up, looking down at me.

"Liam, I want you to promise you'll never do anything so idiotic again! As for anything else, isn't asking obvious questions just hurting our marriage? Cole is already the world's number one; it's a done deal, the final word is out. So stop making a scene."

"I stop making a scene? Why the hell should I stop?! One more turn, and I would have been the new world champion! As for our marriage... Seraphina, are you sure we even have that 'marriage' anymore?"

I clenched my fists, roaring.

"I'm telling you! Becoming the world champion is my goal! If not now, then next time! If not next time, then the time after that! If not these seven years, then the next seven! Surely Cole won't resort to these disgusting tactics every single time to win, will he?!"

"You..."

Seraphina froze, seeing the resolve in my eyes. The next second, she crossed her arms and let out a light laugh.

"Fine. I wanted to keep up the act for a little longer, but Liam, if you still want to be world champion, then go right ahead."

My eyes widened slightly. Her laughter sent a chill down my spine.

It was then I realized this hospital wasn't the usual public one I frequented.

The décor was far more luxurious, clearly some private clinic I knew nothing about.

"What are you going to do?!"

Before I could ask again, Seraphina clapped her hands. A doctor in a mask entered, his shrewd eyes slightly narrowed.

"Ms. Seraphina, what can I do for you?"

She took the doctor's phone and scrolled through a diagnostic report, then glanced at my leg, which was in a cast, and spoke concisely.

"Renowned racer Liam fell off a cliff and suffered a leg injury resulting in permanent disability. The hospital did everything they could, but couldn't save his leg. Understood?"

I froze completely, staring at her in disbelief.

"Th-that's not quite ethical."

The private doctor initially hesitated, but after Seraphina offered three million and a mix of threats and inducements, he finally agreed.

One look at the two of them, and I knew they weren't joking.

Cold sweat instantly broke out. I immediately tried to reach for my phone on the bedside table to call the police.

But the next moment, Seraphina snatched my phone away.

Seven years of unspoken understanding.

One glance from me, and she knew exactly what I was thinking.

So she also knew exactly how to utterly destroy me.

"Liam, it's over. You can't escape this."

Seraphina looked at me with an expression of pity. I roared,

"Are you insane?! I'm your husband!"

Even with my body battered, I started to struggle violently.

But I couldn't even lift my leg, which was suspended in a sling, off the hospital bed.

Seraphina said nothing.

Several nurses appeared in the room, reaching out to restrain my incessant struggling.

"Let go of me! Don't you know this is illegal?!"

I struggled, refused, and cursed, but in the end, I only added more injuries to my already battered body.

It wasn't until the restraints were tied around me that a creeping dread started at my spine and spread throughout my body, making me voluntarily give in.

"...Seraphina! I was wrong! It was my fault! I won't appear in front of any of you ever again, okay? Let me go, and you'll never see me again!"

Seraphina stood with her arms crossed, watching my panicked expression.

After a long moment, she shook her head.

"Liam, I don't believe you. You can stick to the same thing for seven years; you won't just let it go in an instant. I'm sorry!"

At her insistence, I was subdued by the doctors and nurses and given an anesthetic.

As my consciousness blurred, tears streamed down my face, and I choked out a question.

"Seraphina, I cared for you so much! How could you do this to me...?"

In a haze, Seraphina's hesitation lasted only a moment before her resolve hardened.

"I'm sorry, Liam, this is the last time."

The last thought before consciousness slipped away was that I would never love her again.

Seraphina and I had been married for seven years.

I'd once believed she truly loved me, otherwise, she wouldn't have come forward when everyone called me a failure.

But this was our ending.

In a daze, I seemed to see my past self whisper to me.

"Don't you dare let them get away with this."

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