Chapter 1

On the day of my fifth wedding anniversary with Logan Miranda, his closest men leaned toward him with mocking smiles.

In French, one of them asked casually.

“So, how is your little assistant?”

Logan, the man who always appeared to be the perfect husband in front of outsiders, placed a slice of my favorite cantaloupe onto my plate.

Then he answered in the same language.

“Very young.”

“Very obedient.”

“Very easy to control.”

The men around him burst into laughter.

“Be careful, boss. If your wife finds out, she’ll leave you.”

Logan took a sip of wine.

“She won’t.”

“She trusts me too much.”

“Besides, this is just a game.”

The group laughed even louder.

Everyone promised to keep his secret.

I stood beside him.

My fingers tightened around the wine glass until my knuckles turned pale.

They didn’t know.

I understood every word.

I had studied in France during university.

And I understood French better than any of them expected.

They also didn’t know.

I had already known about Logan’s betrayal.

I knew about his mistress.

I knew about the woman he kept hidden from the world.

But I never confronted him.

I never cried.

I never made a scene.

Instead, I quietly submitted an application to the most secretive research institute in the country.

A place completely separated from the outside world.

In three days.

I would leave everything behind.

Just like Logan always wanted.

I would disappear from his life forever.

……

From the corner of his eye, Logan noticed that I hadn’t touched the cantaloupe.

A trace of concern appeared on his face.

“Arissa.”

“What’s wrong?”

Looking at the man who always acted as if I was the only person he cared about, I felt nothing but irony.

Just moments ago, he was laughing with his men about another woman.

Now, he was looking at me with such tenderness.

As if I was his entire world.

I suddenly wondered.

How many lies had he told me?

And how long could he keep pretending?

“Nothing.”

I smiled faintly.

“What were you all talking about?”

Logon reached out and pinched my cheek gently.

The same affectionate gesture he had repeated countless times.

“Business matters.”

“You know you don’t like listening to those things.”

“So we switched to French.”

He said it so naturally.

As if he had forgotten.

Or perhaps he never cared.

That I had lived in France.

That I had spent years studying there.

That I could understand every cruel word he had just said.

The air around me felt suffocating.

I gently moved away from him.

“You all continue.”

“I’m going outside for some fresh air.”

Before Logan could answer, I turned around and walked toward the entrance of the private estate.

Behind me, I heard the whispers of the guests.

“That’s Mrs. Miranda.”

“She’s really lucky.”

“Back then, the wedding between her and the Miranda family heir shocked the entire underground world.”

“Every anniversary, Logan prepares a grand celebration for her.”

“She must be the happiest woman alive.”

“Exactly.”

“I wonder why I never met a man like him.”

Once, those words would have made me happy.

Once, I would have believed I was the luckiest woman in the world.

But now.

My heart was completely silent.

No one knew.

The man who ruled the Miranda syndicate and claimed to love me more than anything had already betrayed me.

Just yesterday.

I had prepared a special anniversary gift for Logan.

I wanted to surprise him.

So I went to his private office without telling anyone.

I planned to leave the gift on his desk.

I never expected to see the truth.

While waiting inside the storage room, I fell asleep.

Then I was awakened by unfamiliar sounds.

Heavy breathing.

Whispers.

I opened my eyes.

And saw the man who once swore that I was the only woman he would ever love.

Logan was holding his assistant, Angela, against the floor-to-ceiling window of his office.

The woman who worked beside him every day.

The woman he said was only a subordinate.

Their betrayal was reflected clearly against the glass overlooking the city.

They stayed there for three hours.

Three full hours.

Until they finally dressed and left.

I didn’t remember how I survived those three hours.

I only remembered the moment when something inside me died.

The love.

The trust.

The hope.

Everything disappeared.

By the time I walked out of the Miranda family headquarters, I already knew.

My marriage with Logan was over.

A sudden ringtone pulled me back to reality.

“Arissa.”

The voice on the phone was calm.

“I’ve already submitted your name to the national research institute.”

“In three days, someone will come to pick you up.”

“Use these last few days to say goodbye to your family.”

The word “family” made my fingers tighten around the phone.

After my parents died in an accident four years ago.

Logan had become my only family.

The only person I believed I could rely on.

The only person I thought would never leave me.

But now.

He had betrayed me.

And that meant…

I had nothing left to say goodbye to.