Chapter 2
2
Claire's face twisted. She raised her hand and slapped me hard across the face.
"Ethan! You're not even half the man Adrian is!"
"I only married you because you look like him. I throw you a bone, and you suddenly think you're somebody?"
"Don't say another word about him. Or you can forget about ever stepping foot in the company again!"
My cheek burned.
Fresh out of the ICU, my body was too weak. The force of her slap sent me crashing to the floor.
In five years of marriage, it was the first time she had ever laid a hand on me. Black spots danced in my vision.
Before I could even recover, her phone rang.
Claire answered it.
"Claire," Adrian's voice drifted from the speaker. "I'm a little scared. Can you come over and keep me company?"
"Okay, don't be scared. I'm coming over right now."
Her tone was as gentle as coaxing a child.
She hung up, looked down at me, and her eyes turned back to ice.
"Reflect on your behavior. I'm staying out tonight."
With that, she turned and walked out.
The wound on my leg tore open. Blood ran down my calf, soaking through my pants.
Watching her walk away, I didn't feel the familiar ache in my chest anymore.
I just found it hilarious.
A wife of five years, treating her husband and her first love so drastically different.
The absurdity of it almost made me laugh out loud.
I forced myself to dial 911 before losing consciousness.
When I woke up, a doctor was standing by my bed.
"Mr. Whitmore, the venom hasn't completely cleared your system."
"We need to keep monitoring your blood clotting, kidney function, and the wound. Avoid any strenuous activity."
After the doctor left, I slowly closed my eyes.
Claire and I met in college.
I was fairly good-looking back then, and there were always rumors going around about me. Claire was a journalism major, and she publicly defended me against the malicious gossip.
From that moment on, I fell completely in love with her.
I chased her for a long time. Finally, at a party, she got drunk and kissed me. We slept together that night.
From then on, it just felt natural to be together.
Later, Claire decided to start her own business. I went with her to meet clients, negotiate projects, and secure funding.
We often came back to our apartment late at night, freezing. More often than not, we were drunk.
Once, I drank myself into the hospital just to shield her from aggressive clients.
When I woke up, she proposed to me.
After that, we lived together for five years. The days were quiet, busy, and sometimes warm.
Until Adrian showed up. He looked like me. Or rather, I looked about seventy percent like him.
He was the first love she could never let go of.
When I was sick, she was setting off fireworks with him.
On my birthday, she took him to the beach.
On the anniversary of my mother's death, they were kissing under the sunset.
I finally couldn't take it anymore. I wanted to meet the man who had turned my marriage into a joke.
But Adrian never showed up.
Instead, Claire came home reeking of alcohol and demanded I spend the night with her.
The next morning, she got dressed and looked down at me.
"Ethan, haven't you always wanted a kid? I can give you one."
"But don't you dare target Adrian. He's no match for you. You are not allowed to bother him, or I will make you pay."
At the time, I thought she was finally willing to build something real with me.
Because of that tiny sliver of hope, I waded back into the flash flood to save her. I got bitten by a rattlesnake and almost died out there.
But her heart was only ever with Adrian.
And now, because of her, I was lying in a hospital bed again.
Enough. I had endured enough.