Chapter 1

I pulled a helpless, broken girl from the river.

She had no one, refused to let anyone near her, but clung to me day and night.

Pitying her, I took her in.

Later, despite my parents' furious objections, I married her.

I sold the house I had worked to the bone to buy and drained every penny of my savings just to pay for her medical care.

Back when we had no stable roof over our heads, she would hold me tight, whispering that she wanted to be with me forever.

Yet the moment she woke up in that hospital bed, her eyes held nothing but icy contempt.

"A pathetic nobody like you... actually thinks you're worthy of being my husband?"

I was just a pawn in Charlotte Hayes's grand scheme.

The tabloids quickly revealed the truth: she wasn't some helpless stray; she was the billionaire CEO of the Hayes Empire.

A penniless guy from nowhere like me could never match a woman draped in diamonds and designer clothes.

From the day she walked out of that hospital, she cut all ties.

The papers were flooded with photos of her gracing galas, arm-in-arm with her long-time golden boy, Julian Vance.

Paparazzi snapped countless shots of her holding hands with him, moving in and out of luxury penthouses together.

I tried to reach her. I couldn't even catch a glimpse before her bodyguards shoved me to the curb.

For four long years, I threw away every dime I had on that girl, hoping for a lifetime together.

The second she snapped out of her trance, she turned her back on me and sprinted straight into Julian's arms.

I had no interest in being the pathetic cuckold in their high-society drama. I just wanted a divorce.

I stood there holding the divorce papers, asking only for the money I had spent on her over those four years. Nothing more.

Still, I couldn't even see Charlotte. The guards kicked me out as usual.

Taking pity on me, one guard murmured under his breath:

"Mr. Evans, look, Ms. Hayes still has some lingering feelings for the past. Her subsidiaries would easily give you a cozy desk job just out of courtesy. Isn't that enough?"

"Don't be ungrateful. Demanding a divorce from Ms. Hayes is the dumbest thing you can do."

I understood their logic. Right now, I still held the title of the Hayes CEO's husband.

Once divorced, I'd have nothing.

It just felt so ridiculous. In four years, wouldn't even a heart of stone have melted?

Four years ago, when I pulled that dazed girl from the water, she couldn't answer a single question. She only gripped the hem of my shirt.

I took her to the police station, but she screamed if anyone else touched her, clinging desperately to my side.

Wherever I went, she trailed behind. Feeling sorry for her, I gave her a home.

Later, I made her my wife, promising to stick together through thick and thin.

I ignored my parents' scolding, quit my high-paying job at a tech firm, and sold my city apartment just to get her the best neurological treatments.

Only now did I realize it was all a staged lie.

Back then, a ruthless war of succession erupted within the Hayes family. As one of the heirs, Charlotte faked vulnerability, threw herself into the river, and pretended to lose her mind just to slip off the radar.

Four years later, she struck back with ruthless precision and claimed the throne of the Hayes Empire.

That day in the hospital, Charlotte woke up, looking down at me with pure disdain.

"Logan, what makes you think you're qualified to be my husband?"

I just couldn't wrap my head around it. Charlotte had already reclaimed the glory she craved. Why refuse to sign the divorce papers?

All I wanted was to sever our ties and get back what I had spent over those four years.

Meanwhile, she paraded Julian around every single day for the world to see.

To make Julian smile, Charlotte once rented an entire harbor for an all-night private fireworks show.

Julian craved raw seafood, so she had premium sashimi flown in straight on private jets just to ensure absolute freshness.

She put Julian on a pedestal, treating him like a priceless gem.

Now that she threw me away like trash, could she really not even spare the money I had sacrificed for her?