The next morning, Victor was choosing his cufflinks in the walk-in closet when I said calmly, “I’ll join you for the banquet tonight.”

He paused and looked at me in the mirror with some surprise. Before long, however, he recovered and hid his reaction with his usual smile.

“Of course you can come with me. But there will be a lot of people, so let’s leave after handing over our present.”

I was curious to see what this banquet he had so carefully planned looked like. After all, this was my last time attending a party with him as his wife.

The estate was brightly lit, and everyone in our circle was there to congratulate Summer on her pregnancy as well as her takeover of the club.

I weaved through the crowd with a glass of champagne, listening to the praise and congratulations heaped upon Summer.

“Miss Summer, congratulations on taking over the club!”

“The new game you designed was genius! The club is sure to make waves throughout the city.”

Summer reveled in the praise, smiling smugly. When she saw me, she looked guilty for just a second before hiding her conscience away.

“Zoe,” she said softly, tilting her head. “Why do you look so pale? Are you still worried about the club? Don’t worry, I’m taking over now, so you should kick your feet back and rest.”

I ignored her, focusing on the presentation of the club’s new game on the screen. My steps froze, and my heart tightened in my chest.

It was my design. Every twist and mechanism contained the fruits of my creativity.

I had never announced this design to anyone. I had planned on reporting it to the Don at the family meeting next week, but now it had become Summer’s “genius plan”?

She looked at me with a smirk and suddenly leaned in, saying in a voice only I could hear, “Do you like my new game, Zoe? Don’t be too jealous when the Don praises me.”

My whole body trembled with rage as I stared at her smirk. Before I could say anything, however, she suddenly fell backward and held her stomach, her face twisted in pain.

“Ah! Zoe, how could you hit my stomach like that?” She wailed on the ground, attracting everyone’s attention.

“What happened?”

“Summer’s pregnant! How could you hit her stomach?”

“Someone call the ambulance!”

Amid the chaos, someone darted through the crowd to gently hold Summer in his arms. It was Victor.

He did not even look at me, saving all his worry and concern for the woman in his embrace. He comforted Summer, saying, “Are you okay?”

She said, “Victor, it hurts…”

Victor looked at me with nothing but cold disappointment and suppressed anger in his eyes.

“Zoe.” He called my name, but his cool tone hurt more than any amount of yelling. “If you’re upset, you could’ve saved it until we got home. How could you do something so evil to your sister in public?”

However, I barely heard him. I just stared at him and asked, “Tell me, Victor — How did she find out about the game I designed?”

He paused for a second before avoiding my gaze and feigning ignorance. “It was probably just a coincidence. After all, you’re sisters. It’s no surprise you had a similar idea.”

A coincidence? I kept all my design ideas on the computer in my study. He and I were the only ones who knew the password.

It was obvious. Someone had betrayed me.

I had prepared this game as a fifth anniversary wedding gift, to prove that I deserved my position as the future Don’s wife. Now, it had been stolen and used as a weapon against me.

I laughed until tears gathered in my eyes.

He finally noticed something was wrong with me. After handing Summer over to a doctor, he frowned and approached me somewhat frantically. “What’s the matter? Are you feeling unwell? There are too many people here. I’ll take you home to rest.”

I looked up and stopped laughing, saying calmly, “Sure.”

He seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Still smiling, I continued, “But I don’t want to go home. Tomorrow’s my birthday, and I want to go for a hot-air balloon ride. I want to watch the sunrise with you.”

Our journey to the hot-air balloon was quiet. Victor held my hand in his warm palm, talking about the birthday celebrations he had planned for me.

“I've booked all the newest custom dresses. You can wear whichever you want for your birthday.” He paused, his voice turning gentler. “Once the dust settles down, let's try for a baby too, shall we? Didn't you love kids?”

I just listened to him quietly without replying, staring at the scenery outside the car window.

He still did not know that we had a child once, but that little angel left us for good because of the orders he gave.

Not long after the car drove out of the estate, his phone started ringing.

He picked up the call and said something softly before turning to me with a perfectly apologetic expression. “A problem came up with the goods at the port. I have to take care of it myself.”

I nodded and said calmly, “Go ahead. The family's matters are more important.”

He paused, as though wanting to explain. “Zoe, I…”

“It's fine, you go ahead.” I smiled at him. “I'll wait for you at the hot-air balloon park. You promised you'd watch the sunrise with me.”

After I arrived at the hot-air balloon park by myself, I turned on my phone and saw that Summer had updated her social media feed.

She sat on a hospital bench, looking weak and frail. The caption read, [Today was scary, but thank goodness the baby is alright! I'm so grateful that someone was willing to abandon everything to stay by my side.]

The figure next to her was blurry, but I still recognized him at a glance. It was Victor.

I called his number. After many rings, the one who picked up was Summer.

“Hello, Zoe? Are you looking for Victor? Stop bothering him already! He's asking the doctor about my condition!” She sounded deeply smug.

“You have no idea how worried he is about me. Once, I tripped by myself at home, but I called him and wept that I'd been attacked. He sent all his men to save me within ten minutes! You don't stand a chance against me!”

She laughed uncontrollably, but I felt a chill down to my bones.

I knew which night she was talking about. It was the night I lost my baby.

The cause of that tragedy was nothing more than Summer's lie on a whim.

I hung up the call, my hand trembling, and looked up into the sky. I waited all night.

Dawn came, and Victor still did not show up.

I walked into the hot-air balloon's basket and told the soldier in charge, “Take me into the sky.”

He hesitated. “Ma'am, aren't you supposed to wait for someone to join you?”

I said softly, “No need to wait any longer. I'll go alone. You don't have to join me, either. I know how to handle the balloon.”

He opened his mouth to say something, but then he remembered who I was and agreed nonetheless.

The hot-air balloon rose slowly into the sky. I leaned against the side of the basket and stared hollowly at the silent city beneath me.

His sweet words, his company, his promises… The memories flickered through my mind, but they no longer affected me.

They seemed hilariously small and insignificant compared to the bright red words, “top protection priority”, on Summer's file.

When the first ray of sunlight shone through, I called his number for the last time.

This time, his phone was simply turned off.

I then looked at the email I had scheduled to send him. There were three attachments.

The first was a picture of his secret file on Summer. The second was my medical report, stating I had miscarried because I was not treated in time. The third was an audio recording of Summer confessing that her “attack” was merely a lie.

Once everything was ready, I looked up at the sky one last time and took out the gun I had kept in my jacket.

Bang!

I shot the hot-air balloon without an ounce of hesitation.

…

At the same time, Victor was about to leave the hospital.

Summer tried to hold him back, pouting. “Victor, I still need you…”

Victor shook his head, his voice firm. “No, I have to go now. Today is Zoe's birthday. I promised to see the sunset with her.”

Just then, a soldier ran to him in a panic. “Boss, this is bad! Your wife blew up the hot-air balloon she was riding and killed herself!”