Chapter 1

To cure my husband and son's inherited illness, I went overseas and spent five straight years in closed-door research.

The day the project succeeded, I skipped the celebration entirely and booked an earlier flight home.

I wanted to surprise them.

But just as I reached the door of the restaurant's private room, I heard my son Noah's excited voice from inside.

"Dad, are you really going to make Mom keep going abroad? Then can I just keep living with Mia Mom all the time?"

"And the wedding—I want to be your flower boy!"

A second later, Ethan's voice followed.

"Of course. Once she's back, I'll tell her your condition has taken another turn for the worse. She has to stay overseas and keep doing research."

The private room burst into laughter.

My best friend Mia spoke up in a low voice.

"But what if Claire finds out about us?"

Ethan gave a soft laugh, his tone certain.

"So what if she does? She can't leave me, and she can't bear to leave Noah."

In that moment, standing outside the door, I suddenly smiled.

So this was it. The husband and son I'd nearly given my life to save had already built another family with my good friend.

I looked down at my phone.

On the screen was a new project transfer order, just sent from the research center.

This time, I didn't hesitate. I signed my name right there on the electronic document.

Since they wanted me gone so badly.

Then from now on, I really wouldn't come back.

The voices in the private room continued.

They were discussing how to trick me into going abroad for another five years.

"This plan will work," my brother Daniel spoke first. "Just say Noah's condition has flared up again and the research has to continue. Claire won't possibly refuse."

"Right." My childhood friend Ryan flipped through that forged medical record, his voice calm. "This part needs changing. She knows medicine—we can't let her spot a problem."

Ethan took the record and bent his head to revise it.

"Once she's gone, Mia and I will be solid."

Another round of laughter filled the room.

I stood outside the door, my whole body cold.

Daniel was my own brother.

Ryan was the boy who, when someone once pushed me, charged at them and beat them until they never dared come back to school.

They had both said they would always stand by my side.

Back then, Daniel told everyone he met, "Claire is the best girl in the world."

On the day Ethan and I married, Ryan's eyes went red as he warned him, "If you ever dare hurt Claire, I will never let you off."

But only a few years had passed.

Ethan and I had been married ten years. Noah was eight.

Everything had changed.

A second later, Mia spoke softly.

"Isn't this a bit too much? Claire's five years... after all, were for you and the child."

"Too much?" Ethan sneered. "That was her choice."

"Besides, Noah is her son. If she doesn't go, who will?"

Only then did I understand.

From the day Mia came back to the country, the scales in their hearts had already tipped.

Mia was my best friend.

From the time we met until now, I had told her almost everything.

When I went abroad five years ago, she cried harder than anyone.

She held me and said, "Claire, don't worry, I'll keep an eye on Ethan for you. I won't let any woman near him."

I believed her.

And she truly did it.

Only, she had excluded herself from "any woman."

At that thought, I took a deep breath and pushed the door open.