But before I walked far, I heard mocking laughter from inside again.

"Salma, look at him. You were right, he's nothing compared to Adam. Not a trace of manliness," said Janice. "Adam is coming back tonight. Let him see what a real success looks like. Just because he married you doesn't mean he can become the young star of the Lance Family again!" she said again.

Salma replied, "He's indeed not as good as Adam. But next time, be more careful. Don't hurt his hand, Adam's company still needs him. And yes, I wronged him, but I don't regret it. For Adam, everything is worth it."

I stared blankly at the lipstick mark on the back of my hand, I scrubbed it until the skin turned red before I finally calmed down. I pulled out my phone and made a call.

Someone's voice rang out, "Mr. Lance, have you agreed?"

I answered, "Yes. I agree to sell you all the data. But the time of release must be decided by me!"

For the next three days, Salma didn't come home. Her assistant told me there was a sudden business trip.

That night, it wasn't until midnight that I finally got her call, "Jason, I've arrived safely. Don't worry. And while I'm not home, don't spend all your time in the lab. You must eat properly!"

Through the video call, I clearly saw the bed beside her sunken in. I suppressed the questions in my heart and I replied lightly, "Okay."

After hung up, I turned and entered the room that meant everything to her. The moment the door opened, I was met with a hand-drawn portrait.

The lines were already faded, clearly worn down by frequent touch.

The walls were also filled with photos of Adam, arranged in chronological order, the first one taken on the day of our wedding.

So for five years, every time she said she was handling important business, she was really reminisced about Adam.

There was also a safe in the room. I entered Adam's birthday and successfully opened it. Inside, there were no valuable items, only the love letters Adam had written to her.

Started from my first failed startup, every time he received my data, he would write her a love letter. Each one filled with their shared longing and affection.

Even though I already knew I was just a pawn in Salma's game, my heart still felt like it had been torn in two.

Every time I failed, Salma would offer to review the data and give me strategic advice. I once wholeheartedly believed in her love, willingly sank deeper.

But it turned out, everything she did was just to make it easier to pass the data to Adam.

In the safe, there was also a letter Salma never sent. My hands trembled as I opened it. After I read it, tears spilled uncontrollably.

Salma had planned to propose to Adam once she obtained my final set of data. Even if she couldn't give him a proper title, she still wanted to give him a wedding.

But me? Because my parents had just died, Salma said it was inappropriate to celebrate.

All I got was a marriage certificate, nothing else. I obsessively reread every word in that letter until dawn, then used my phone to photograph them all.

They weren't just symbols of her betrayal. They were also evidence of Adam's theft of my work.

But as I stepped out of the room, I saw the housemaids huddled together whispering. When they noticed me, their faces briefly showed panic, then quickly turned to pity.

One of them said, "Sir, you're still home. We'll go make breakfast right away." With that, they scattered like birds, but in their haste, one dropped a phone on the floor.

I bent down to pick it up, only to be stunned by the news on the screen. It reported that a mysterious female tycoon had successfully proposed.

Even though the photo was pixelated, after sharing a bed for five years, I recognized her instantly.

She was that eager, proposing the moment she saw him. No wonder the maids pitied me.

"Sir, the internet always writes sensational stuff like that. We all know Madam loves you the most. She even knelt down to beg the old master for you. How could she be with someone else?" The phone's owner awkwardly tried to comfort me as I forced a bitter smile.

Yes, back when the Haynes Family found out about our marriage, they pressured Salma to divorce me.

It was her who knelt before Mr. Haynes herself to beg for a chance for me. She believed I could restore the Lance Family's name. Because of that trust, no matter how many times I failed, I always had the courage to rise again.

But who would've known, it was all a setup, a well-planned trap to make me build a throne for someone else.

Luckily, everything was about to end. I took an advantage of Salma's absence and stayed in the lab to handle the data transfer. When the payment notification finally came through, my tense heart relaxed at last.

With the divorce agreement drafted by a lawyer in hand, I booked a flight to go abroad the next day.

Because the Haynes Family was too powerful in the capital, I had to wait for the perfect moment to strike back at Adam. And tomorrow, at his new product launch, was the best timing.

Back at the Haynes residence, I packed my belongings, searched at all the gifts Salma had given me over the years.

If I hadn't heard it with my own ears, I'd never believe someone could go to such lengths for another person. She abandoned her own marriage, forsaked her own dignity, just to become a thief.

Suddenly, a cat's meow outside the door snapped me out of my thoughts.

I opened the door, about to call a maid to chase the cat away, but it darted into Salma's room. Through the gap in the door, what I saw froze me in place.

At some point, Salma had returned, but she didn't come back alone. There she was, lay softly against Adam's shoulder.

Her lips were swollen, her eyes full of desire, anyone could tell what had just happened.

Then she saw me standing at the door. Her face turned pale and panic filled her eyes.

She quickly pushed Adam away, ran her fingers through her messy hair and asked, "Jason, why are you home? Did the new experiment yield results?"

She continued, "Don't get the wrong idea. This is Adam, you even sponsored him back in the day. He had nowhere to stay after returning and since our companies are working together, I invited him to stay here. I twisted my ankle just now and luckily he caught me."

Hearing this, I couldn't help but scoff inwardly. Even now, in this situation, she still cared about my experiment. And who looked like that just from twisting an ankle?

But since I'd already decided to leave, I had no intention of exposing her lie. I simply said calmly, "Adam, thank you."

He said, "No need to thank me. It's what I should do. Without Salma's help over the years, I wouldn't be where I am today."

Adam's gaze was open, but when he said the word help, he deliberately emphasized it, a secret meaning only they understood, exchanged subconsciously between them. As if I was the one intruded on their world.

I clenched my palm tightly to stop myself from demanding answers.

Suddenly, Adam pulled out a postcard from behind him and handed it to me. He said, "Jason, I picked this carefully before returning. No matter what, that misunderstanding five years ago was my fault. Besides the press conference, I also want to formally apologize to you."

I sneered, how could it have been a misunderstanding? After my first failure, I secretly investigated.

I discovered that the products under his company were strikingly similar to mine.

I reported him under my real name through official channels, demanded proof of data sources, but instead, the police arrested me for spreads false rumors. Everyone said I couldn't handle my failure and slandered others out of spite.

Only Salma stepped up to speak on my behalf, unconditionally believed in me as always. But in truth, she was handing everything of mine over to him.

Seeing that I wouldn't take it, Salma quickly snatched it from Adam and shoved it into my hand and said, "Just take it. Luckily Adam didn't hold a grudge over your false report back then, or you'd have ended up in jail."

As she spoke, she picked up a document from her desk, signed it and handed it to Adam, "This is the cooperation proposal we just discussed. I've agreed to it, think of it as a return gift on Jason's behalf."

I stared hard at that document. The few words that flashed by were all too familiar to me.

She had just blatantly handed over my latest research to Adam as a so-called return gift for a postcard. Absolutely laughable.

After that, she picked up the little black cat that had slipped into the room and gently stroked it and said, "Jason, this cat belongs to Adam. It used to be a stray. It'll be living with us for the next few days. Isn't it adorable?"

Salma held the cat toward me, motioned for me to pet it.

I instinctively took a step back, looked her in the eye and asked, "Are you sure you want me to touch it?" She nodded in response.

I forced myself to stroke it twice, then quickly made an excuse to leave.

Because I had been allergic to cat fur since childhood. Yet it seemed Salma, who grew up with me and used to remember it so well, had completely forgotten.

To avoid the cat, I stayed in my room the entire day. Even with medication applied, I had scratched my skin raw.

That night, Salma unexpectedly came to my room. She said, "Jason, let's have a baby. Tomorrow is Adam's product launch. Let's go together. He promised to share some of his experience with you. Didn't you always say you wanted to be a successful father? This is the perfect opportunity."

I was stunned for a moment. Five years ago, when my parents died in an accident, I who only good at doing experiments, was utterly lost.

Salma pulled me back from the rooftop and we quickly got married. As the daughter-in-law of the Lance Family, she handled everything. Since then, I had yearned deeply to have a child of my own blood.

But repeated business failures made me felt unworthy of asking her for a child. Because I could endure being looked down on, but my child must not.

So for the past five years of marriage, we always took precautions.

"Honey, can we?" Her question snapped me out of my thoughts. Afraid she would notice, I pulled her into my arms, but my eyes turned colder.

She mistook it for excitement and ran off to prepare, casted a flirty glance back at me.

I stared at her retreating figure and whispered, "Salma, I no longer want a child with you."

That night, I never saw her again. By the next morning, neither she nor Adam were anywhere to be seen.

Left with no choice, I went alone to the product launch. Just as I was about to enter the hall, I was stopped by the security guard at the entrance.

The guard asked, "Sir, may I see your invitation?"

When I didn't respond, the guard added, "Today's venue has been fully reserved by the Haynes Group. Only prominent figures in the capital are invited. If you don't have an invitation, please leave."