"I should never have let you go back alone. I'm so sorry I let you face that abuse without me." Ethan murmured against her ear, his voice thick with self-reproach and agony. His warm breath fanned across her neck, sending a complicated ripple of emotion through her chest.

Clara slowly lifted her chin, her eyes crashing directly into his.

Deep within those dark irises, she distinctly captured a profound look of sorrow and longing—an expression so raw and real it seemed completely impossible to fake.

In that singular second, a chaotic storm of thoughts flashed through Clara's mind.

She found herself quietly wondering if she could truly just bury the past and pretend none of this horror had ever occurred.

After all, Ethan was a self-made billionaire; when it came to finances, he had never once restricted her or made her beg.

They had survived years of brutal storms together, crawling through poverty side by side, and the foundation of their shared history was incredibly deep.

Even though he had committed a vile, disgusting act of betrayal, he had never once displayed a single shred of disgust or contempt toward her.

Even if he currently refused to touch her out of guilt, she could simply undergo the IVF treatments. If they could just bring a beautiful, healthy baby into the world, perhaps everything would naturally heal.

Perhaps, once he grew completely exhausted from the empty games outside and his mind matured with age, he would naturally return to the nest.

He would become the true, devoted husband and protective father he was always meant to be.

Looking at it from that perspective, it truly appeared to be the absolute best outcome available to her.

Chapter 11

On the drive to the restaurant, the atmosphere inside the luxury vehicle remained relatively peaceful.

Ethan focused entirely on navigating the evening traffic while Clara sat quietly in the passenger seat, her head turned slightly as she watched the city lights flicker across the glass.

Suddenly, a sharp, intrusive ringtone shattered the quiet cabin.

Ethan hesitated for a long beat, his thumb hovering over the screen to reject the call, but Clara gently pushed his arm away. "Just answer it."

Only then did Ethan comply, tapping the screen to connect the line. Clara couldn't hear the voice on the other end, but she watched his expression shift from perfect calm to an instantaneous contraction of his pupils. A profound look of unease washed over his features.

Swallowing hard, he terminated the call and turned his head to face Clara.

"Clara, an absolute crisis just blew up at the office. I have to head over there immediately. I’ll call the chauffeur to come pick you up and take you back to the penthouse, okay?"

Clara offered no argument. She simply nodded her head and stepped out of the car.

Standing on the sidewalk, she watched the taillights of Ethan's Maybach bleed into the distance. The moment it vanished, she slipped into a passing taxi and spoke to the driver.

"Please follow that Maybach ahead."

Clara’s fingernails dug slowly into the meat of her palms. She knew with absolute certainty that today was Sasha's birthday.

She had read the scheduling herself when she unspooled their secret messages on his phone.

Ethan had explicitly told the girl that he had to spend their actual anniversary at home with his wife, but promised to make it up to her with an extravagant celebration for her birthday a few days later.

The taxi driver asked no questions, smoothly merging into traffic and maintaining a cautious distance behind the luxury car.

The pursuit finally ended outside a secluded, high-end villa.

A short distance away, the front door of the villa swung open, and a girl dressed in a revealing bunny maid outfit stepped into the light. The moment she spotted Ethan exiting his vehicle, a wide smile split her face and she launched herself directly into his arms.

The girl was Sasha, and the man was Ethan.

The absolute second their bodies collided, they fell into a desperate, frenzied kiss.

Their lips and teeth remained locked in a bruising, breathless exchange for several long moments before Sasha finally pulled back, gasping for air. She flashed him a bright, suggestive smile as her fingers wrapped around his designer necktie. "Master, your little bunny prepared an even bigger surprise for you inside. Do you want to see it?"

As she whispered the words, her fingernail lightly traced a path over his Adam's apple.

Ethan’s throat bobbed rapidly, his fingers clamping tightly around Sasha’s hand, his eyes completely consumed by raw, unchecked lust. "A normal drive here takes thirty minutes; I tore through the streets and made it in fifteen. What do you think, sweetheart?"

Sasha let out a soft, low giggle, her fingers looping through his as she pulled him back toward the Maybach. "Let's see it in the car."

The moment the two of them climbed into the rear compartment, the vehicle began to shudder with small, rhythmic vibrations.

Before long, the intensity of the movement escalated, rocking the heavy chassis violently.

Neither of them had any idea that Clara was sitting in a taxi just a short distance away, watching every single second of the performance.

She had repeatedly drilled into her own mind that she no longer possessed a single shred of hope for this man, yet witnessing the raw, physical reality of his betrayal felt entirely like having her chest carved open.

It felt as though a jagged, rusted hook had suddenly slammed into her heart and yanked hard. She clamped both hands firmly over her chest, gasping for oxygen in ragged, agonizing breaths as heavy tears poured down her face.

During their courtship, Ethan had treated her with an absolute, sacred reverence. Even when passion threatened to consume them, he would forcefully restrain himself, refusing to cross the line.

He had constantly repeated that a woman's first time was a sacred event, an experience that deserved to be preserved entirely for their wedding night to achieve absolute perfection.

He pursued her for three long years, and they dated for another three, finally enduring until their wedding night arrived.

That evening, a man who routinely crushed his competitors in high-stakes boardroom battles was trembling like a terrified child. The absolute moment his fingers unbuttoned her gown, his ears had turned a violent shade of crimson.

He had valued her so deeply, checking on her comfort with every single movement, and the exact second he finally claimed her, he had actually wept with pure emotion.

Over and over again, he had pressed his lips against her ear, whispering in a broken, fiercely devoted voice: "Clara, you're finally mine. I love you. I will love you until the end of time."

In that chapter of her life, she had truly felt cherished above all else.

She had genuinely believed that in this entire universe, no human being could ever love her as deeply as Ethan loved her.

Ethan loves only Clara.

Those were the exact words that had flown from his own mouth.

And now, he was the exact same man systematically smashing that vow into dust.

Sitting in the front seat, the taxi driver caught sight of her devastating breakdown through the rearview mirror. Letting out a heavy, sympathetic sigh, he passed a box of tissues back to her.

"Men are all built the same way, miss. There isn't a single one out there who won't stray given the chance..."

"Don't destroy yourself over it, beautiful. You're already married to the guy; just swallow the bitter pill and let it go. Forgive him this once and pretend you never saw a thing."

Clara crumpled the tissue tightly in her fist. When she spoke, her voice was raspy and broken, but every single word carried the weight of absolute finality.

"No. I will never forgive him."

Ethan, I will never forgive you.

Chapter 12

The moment she crossed the threshold of the penthouse, she automatically opened her phone, drawn by a twisted, inexplicable compulsion back to Sasha's social media profile.

Unsurprisingly, Sasha had just uploaded a fresh update.

The photograph radiated a youthful, blissful energy. The girl’s eyes were softly closed, her palms pressed flat together as she made a devout birthday wish before an exquisitely decorated cake.

But right behind her, cast against the dark reflection of the window glass, Ethan's silhouette was clearly visible.

Slowly scrolling down the screen, a second photograph slammed into Clara's eyes, causing her heart to plunge into a freezing abyss.

The image was captured inside a hotel room, where low, crimson lighting bathed the entire space in a heavily suggestive, carnal atmosphere. A massive circular bed was entirely smothered in a sea of fresh red rose petals, leaving an explicit trail of what had just transpired in the dark.

The location tag explicitly pinpointed a notorious luxury boutique hourly hotel located deep in Brooklyn.

Staring at the screen, Clara felt every drop of blood in her veins freeze solid. The volatile cocktail of fury, absolute despair, and agonizing grief inside her chest transformed into a roaring, destructive inferno that threatened to burn her alive.