Chapter 3

The black business Mercedes in front of the driving school rolled down its window, and the girl said she was hungry, urging Ryan impatiently.

Ryan picked up the card from the ground and stuffed it into my pocket. "Go to the hospital and get checked out first, and calm down while you’re at it. Think it over carefully."

"When I get home tonight, I’ll explain everything to you and make it up to you."

With that, he waved happily toward the other side.

The vivid look on his face was like a child who had just gotten the toy he wanted.

My past, my whole life up to that point, came crashing down all at once......

"Grace, I found that woman’s name and address......"

Three hours later, my best friend gave me a name, Summer Reed.

And an address for a housing complex.

I took a taxi there, and along the way, I seemed to have gone crazy, replaying my past with Ryan over and over in my mind.

We met at nineteen, and by twenty we were already married.

My family was well-off, and Ryan was capable. The two of us quickly found an opportunity, got rich, and started a company.

We lived a happy, ordinary life.

Until four years ago, on my thirty-sixth birthday, everything changed.

I was at a gathering with family and friends when I got a call from the company secretary and learned that Ryan had gotten into trouble, gotten into a fight with someone at a bar, and been beaten up.

I was so anxious that I immediately drove over.

But because I was too emotional, I ended up in a car accident on the way.

My driver’s license was revoked, and I lay in bed for four years before my injuries healed.

And during those four years, the company went bankrupt, and Ryan was forced to take odd jobs, coming home late every day and working himself to exhaustion.

Even so, he still took careful care of me.

I couldn’t get out of bed, and he fed me, washed my feet, and wiped me down, day after day without change.

I felt so sorry for him.

So once I recovered, I immediately went to get my driver’s license, thinking that even driving for a rideshare app would help ease some of Ryan’s pressure.

But how had he suddenly ended up with a daughter?

He had already turned things around, so why was he still watching me and our daughter suffer?

I wanted all of this to be a nightmare, but even when I pressed hard on my shattered toes, the pain still didn’t wake me up.

I didn’t understand!

If he didn’t love me, why did he need to keep up this act with me for so long?

"We’re here—"

The driver pulled over, and I looked at the upscale housing complex in the city center.

Very quickly, I noticed that right across from the complex was a bar that looked extremely familiar.

It was clearly the exact place the secretary had sent me the location for four years ago!

I went mad looking for people to ask what had happened in that bar on the night of my thirty-sixth birthday.

It wasn’t until nightfall that I learned that when I drove there to find Ryan, he was fighting over Summer and got beaten up.

After learning the truth, I felt like a joke!

I don’t know how I made it to eleven o’clock.

When Ryan came back, I was sitting dazed on the flower bed downstairs, my eyes completely numb.

"Grace, are you crazy?"

When he saw me, he panicked and rushed over to grab me. "Your foot is injured this badly. Why didn’t you go to the hospital?"

I shook my head blankly.

"Ryan, I don’t hurt."

"That car accident four years ago made me stop being afraid of any injury."

He looked away guiltily. "Why are you bringing that up all of a sudden?"

"I didn’t tell you to come find me. You were the one who got into the car accident, which caused problems with the company’s business and eventually made it go bankrupt."

"And I still took care of you for four years. Isn’t that enough?"

I smiled dazedly.

"Ryan, aren’t you the one who’s mixed up?"

"I’m your wife, not some mistress who can’t be shown in public!"