That night, Arthur held me in his arms while he slept soundly.

Meanwhile, I stayed awake all night but only pretended to be asleep. It was not until he left the next day that I finally opened my eyes.

It was only a short distance from the bedroom to the study where he kept everything related to me. It included everything from our first anniversary to my most recent birthday. He had everything neatly organized.

If anyone saw the collection, they would be moved by his devotion towards me.

Only I knew that nested within a secret compartment of a drawer was a diary that did not belong to me.

He had told me about it once when he was drunk. I remember how apologetic he had been about it. At the time, I did not think much of it because I was completely obsessed with him.

When he woke up the next day, he had no memory of revealing that secret to me.

With this in mind, I opened the secret compartment and dusted the diary.

An elaborate password was needed to access its contents, a clear indication of how much the owner treasured it.

I did not expect the cryptography course I took in university to come in handy in this way.

After I deciphered the password, I flipped to the first page. I was immediately greeted with the word 'Ely' that he had scrawled firmly with a pen.

The first ten pages detailed his affection toward Ely. It was written cautiously, imbued with equal parts passion and reservation. I had never seen anything like it.

He had always been so nonchalant around me. I had assumed it was because he had long passed the phase of teenage passion.

As it turned out, it was simply because he did not love me…

The last page was scribbled down with frantic handwriting.

"Someone tried to assassinate Ely. She’s right. People in our line of work can never have a lover! I have to send her away!"

The page turned into a sallow yellow, and the handwriting became fainter.

"That girl sure is gullible."

"I thought about Ely today, and Juniper thought I was referring to her. It’s fine. I’ll let her think whatever she wants as long as Ely stays safe."

"I’m sure she won’t mind being killed as long as it means she can be my wife."

"I’m going to be punished. I orchestrated a kidnapping and made sure everything was under control. She broke down just like I knew she would. She’s never going to want to leave me from now on. I will spend forever making it up to her."

I pressed my fingers against my eyes to stop the tears from falling.

This entire time, I was never the person he wanted to be with publicly.

Everything from our first meeting to falling in love and getting married… All of the happiness from the beginning until now had been nothing but a real-life Truman Show.

I shut the diary and carefully returned it to its original spot. It was only after I left the study that I finally let the floodgates open and bawled my eyes out.

As I curled up in a ball, I recollected the events of the first time I was kidnapped.

Arthur and I had been inseparable at the time. I had just left the hospital and was about to surprise him with the good news of my pregnancy when I lost consciousness as soon as I got into the car.

Those animals dragged me across the pavement. They sadistically tortured me without mercy and caused my miscarriage.

When Arthur charged in and took me into his arms, I was barely conscious.

That was around that time that my psychological scars took hold. I could not stand to be away from Arthur for long periods of time, and my health deteriorated completely.

He comforted me and assured me that it was fine even if we did not have children.

This entire time, he never wanted to have children with me. He was the one who had taken measures to squash out the possibility.

The salvation I found in him, as well as the affection for him, was nothing but a ruse. He was the one who orchestrated everything!

I felt suffocated from the despairing pain. Unable to fight my body’s reaction, I began to convulse on the bed.

After enduring the grueling pain for a while, I gradually calmed down.

All the times I spent with Arthur began to replay in my mind. I recalled every detail.

I had experienced countless life-or-death situations in the last five years, and each time, he was the one who risked his life to save me.

His concern for me was genuine. However, it was coming from a place of concern for his true lover’s safety if I were to die.

I reached for my phone with shaking hands and checked his transaction records over the years.

He managed a foreign company that specialized in jewelry, and all the gifts he showered me with over the years were sourced from that very company.

It was a company that barely generated any revenue. The only income they had was the hundred million dollars Arthur funneled in, as well as various funds allocated by the Borne Corporation.

Despite that, its business scope was vast. Every product would inevitably involve a girl named Ely Melor.

Eventually, I tracked down Ely’s profile on social media. She was living the high life in her beachfront villa. Her latest post was a picture of her interlocking her fingers with a man.

The caption read: "I love you until the end of time."

I zoomed in on the picture. On the man’s ring finger was a ruby ring that matched Ely’s. I also spotted a pale band on his wrist that marked where something used to be.

Arthur had once told me he did not like wearing rings. Therefore, we ticked off every standard item during our wedding except for a ring.

I had naively believed him and proceeded to make him a bracelet to wear instead of a ring. He had kissed the bracelet and told me it would be his protective charm that he would never remove.

However, he removed the bracelet as soon as he knew he was going to see Ely.

As it turned out, he did not dislike wearing rings. He just disliked wearing matching rings with me.

I continued to scroll through her page. On Valentine’s Day, Arthur had given her a sapphire necklace. It was an intricately made piece of jewelry made from the best cut of sapphire.

On the same day, he had given me a blue diamond necklace.

On the seventh of July, he bought several bolts of the finest fabric and had a whole wardrobe made for Ely.

That same day, he had given me a silk scarf made from the same cut of fabric.

…

As I continued to scroll her feed, I buried my head in the pillow and started convulsing while laughing like a maniac. My pulse seemed to stop at one point amidst the hysteria.

As far as Arthur was concerned, I was only a shield for Ely. A sacrificial piece.

All the gifts he gave me were the leftovers of the gifts he carefully curated for Ely.

Five years of love were undone in a single day.

I cried all night.

At one point, Arthur sent me a text. I used to think that he loved me and wanted to know what I was doing all the time.

This entire time, he was merely worried I would run away.

There was no way I would let him get away with this. The next morning, I contacted my lawyer and had him erase all of my personal information as quickly as possible.

When Arthur came home in the middle of the night, the first thing he did was to bury his head in my neck.

"Juniper, did you miss me? I couldn’t get a wink of sleep last night without you."

I could see dark circles under his eyes. It did seem like he hardly got any sleep last night.

In the past, I would have been deeply moved by this, but now, I was as stiff as a statue.

He never loved me! The false display of affection made me sick to my stomach!

"Are you being shy?" He chuckled softly before pulling me into his arms and forced a soft moan out of me. I was his plaything. He never even considered that he was disturbing my rest.

Tears fell from the corner of my eyes and soaked the pillow, as if my sadness had never existed.

The next morning, I saw his stormy expression as soon as I woke up. His reputation alone was enough to make me shiver in fear.

"Your phone is ringing. What’s that message about deleting something?"

I quickly glanced at my phone. My lawyer had just texted me. He had sorted out the paperwork for me. All of my personal information will be officially deleted in three hours.

I strained a smile and brushed it off, "It’s nothing important, just an email that I used a long time ago but hasn’t been in use since. I figured I might as well delete it for security reasons."

"Ah." He leaned in closer suggestively and gripped the back of my head roughly. He robbed me of my breath until I collapsed weakly in his arms.

"Juniper, don't lie to me. Don't betray me."

I nodded desperately while tears welled in my eyes. My fingertips turned cold from fear.

Just a little longer!

I’d be able to get away from him soon!

Soon, Arthur would no longer have Juniper by his side!

Luckily, his phone rang just in time and stopped him from taking things another step further.

"What? Ely is back? Who told her to come? Wait for me. I'm on my way." His voice was grave, and he left without so much as sparing a glance at me.

I kept reminding myself to breathe.

There was one more thing to do before I left. Even if I had erased my personal information, I did not want my name to be associated with his anymore.

After calming down, I received another text from my private investigator. The text contained a string of numbers. It was Ely’s phone number.

"Hello, I am Arthur’s wife. We need to meet."

Ely chose the meeting spot.

It was at the city's largest hotel.

I could hear faint, heavy breathing through the screen.

"Why won’t you listen? I’ve been telling you it’s not safe to be around me."

I had seen every side of Arthur. I had seen him at his gentlest and at his coldest, and yet, this was the first time I was seeing him in such a troubled state.

"I just miss you so much. I'm about to get married to someone else, but you still won’t see me. Have you truly fallen in love with that wife of yours?"

"Don’t be ridiculous. I'm only doing this to keep you safe."

The two of them continued their lovers’ talk until Arthur eventually left.

He had always been a cautious man this time around, but he failed to notice someone hiding behind the screen.

I did not have a mirror to see my expression, but I was sure it was a bitter one, wry with irony.

"Poor you. He's gone. Still, as a fellow woman, I'm willing to hear you out."

Ely proceeded to step out from behind the screen with a smug look in her eyes as if she was soaking in her victory.

Her skin glowed, and she wore well-fitting clothes that flattered her figure. The exposed parts of her skin were fair and flawless like crystal.

I suddenly glanced down at myself and regarded my casual ensemble. Ever since I got together with Arthur, I had been wary of dressing up because I was afraid to expose my scars.

Due to my frequent injuries, I was far frailer than Ely.

She stood in front of me and proceeded to scrutinize me up and down. There was nothing more humiliating than the regard she gave me.

"I’m not here to fight over Arthur with you. I've been with him long enough. While he doesn't love me, I know he still has feelings for me."

After having been with him for so many years, I had also learned the art of bluffing for intimidation.

"I know the reason you’re meeting me today is because you want me to back down. I know I can't win at this point. All I want is a copy of his signature for keepsake."

After that, I walked out of the hotel with a much lighter step.

For the past two days, I had done everything I could think of to pester Arthur. He was cooperative at first, but eventually grew irritated.

Nevertheless, it did not matter. I only cared about achieving my goal.

Two days later, Ely managed to give me a copy of his signature. When I saw it, I heaved a sigh of relief and immediately went to print the divorce papers.

On the morning of the third day, my personal information was officially erased for good.

I sorted out all the presents he had given me over the years, along with the secret diary. I made sure to place them in the most prominent spot in the villa. I decided it was better for these scraps to be returned to their rightful owner.

Meanwhile, I had all my personal belongings burned before I boarded the plane.

At the airport terminal, I reached for my phone and sent a short text to Ely that read: "Thanks."

Just as I was about to close my phone, a notification popped up. It was a text from Arthur.

"Baby, I’ll be home soon. I bought your favorite cake for your birthday. It’s strawberry cake."

"I’m sorry, baby. Ely hasn’t been feeling so good, and since she’s all alone, I figured I should check on her first…"

I had powered off the phone. The screen faded into darkness, but I did not even bother finishing his text. He had gone to spend time with Ely.

I crushed the SIM card and tossed it into the trash can. Then, I boarded the plane.

Meanwhile, in a ballroom somewhere else, Ely and Arthur were together. Her cheeks were flushed red with alcohol, and she was lying on Arthur’s body.

"Arthur, I’ll be fine. Why don’t you go back to Juniper? I just missed you. That’s why I selfishly called you." Her eyes were filled with tears.

Meanwhile, the screen of Arthur’s phone was blinking next to him.

It was not until they emerged from the ballroom that he noticed dozens of missed calls.

The moment he picked up, he heard the rattled voice of his close friend, Jeremiah Burnham.

"Arthur! A lawyer just served you with divorce papers! Juniper found out about your relationship with Ely! We can’t get in touch with Juniper at all, despite exhausting every communication channel we have!"