Chapter 3

Afraid of giving myself away, I retreated to the bedroom.

Late that night, while Sarah and Ethan slept soundly, I laid in bed, unable to sleep.

As I reflected on the years Sarah and I spent together, it was hard to believe that it was all a lie.

Throughout our time together, she never complained about my late nights at work or countless unavoidable business dinners.

Whenever I felt like giving up, I would think about how understanding she was and use that as motivation to work harder, feeling indebted to her.

But now I realized that she never loved me at all.

She didn't care if I came home or who I dined with because she didn't love me.

She purposely ignored the strong smell of whiskey on me every night and how weak I looked after coughing up blood because she didn't love me.

Fueled by this realization, I quietly got out of bed.

I took Sarah's iPhone and backed up all the chat history onto my own device.

Then, I accessed "Darling Hubby's" account to investigate further.

It was likely that he was using an alternate account too. The profile picture was blank, and the name was simply "ZL".

His timeline consisted solely of photos of Ethan, with no other useful information.

After closing the messaging app, I checked Sarah's bank statements and discovered monthly transfers from this ZL, ranging from $30,000 to $50,000.

Upon seeing a balance of over $2.8 million in her account, I cursed myself for being such a fool.

Ha... Sarah was incredibly wealthy.

No wonder she looked down on the few hundred thousand I had scrimped and saved over the years.

Suppressing my bitterness, I also took photos of the transfer records.

The next morning, I followed my routine and made breakfast for both of us.

Before leaving, I suddenly turned to Sarah and said, "Oh, Sarah, can your brother repay that money now? I ran into an old high school friend the other day. He has a great investment opportunity I'd like to try."

"If it's difficult, even $500,000 would suffice for now," I added.

As soon as I finished speaking, I noticed Sarah's expression turn cold.

Before she could respond, I interjected, "I'm running late for work. Don't forget to inform your brother. I have to go."

Once outside, I let out a long, frustrated sigh. Sarah's brother was utterly useless.

I have continuously cleaned up his messes throughout the years.

Getting money back from him was impossible.

I wondered if Sarah would dip into her own savings or sacrifice her "beloved" brother if I insisted on retrieving the money.

Or perhaps she would lower herself, sweetly calling me "hubby," and ask me to figure something out on my own?

When I returned home that evening, I found Sarah's parents seated together on the living room sofa. Peter and Lucy barely acknowledged my presence as I entered. I went over to greet them.

"Hello, Mom, Dad. You're here."

Lucy glanced at me with a disdainful look and got straight to the point: "I heard you got a promotion. Didn't your salary increase?"

"You're in your thirties now, with no savings to your name. Always needing to borrow money from your brother-in-law for every little thing – you're truly hopeless," she continued. "A leopard can't change its spots. Now you want to dabble in investing? Reaching beyond your capabilities. I never approved of Sarah marrying such a useless man."

Lucy had always been harsh with me, never sugarcoating her words.

I endured much worse for the sake of Sarah. However, I was surprised that she knew about my work situation.