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Adrian sounded stunned, "You... what did you say?"
The first time he insisted I be a practice subject, I refused out of fear.
He threatened divorce with a cold face.
Back then, I cried, begged without any dignity, and trembling, climbed onto the operating table.
Ever since, whenever I showed resistance, he'd threaten me with divorce.
He probably never imagined I'd be the one to ask for it.
I gripped the doorframe to steady myself. "Isn't this what you always wanted? I agree now."
He stared at me, his gaze intense.
He let out a sudden, cold laugh. "Just because I had to tend to Chloe? Are you serious? She fainted. She's my student! Use your head, Emma. I couldn't let anything happen to her."
His eyes dropped to my bandaged arm.
He looked impatient, "Whatever. Why explain? You wouldn't get it. What do you want? When things settle down, I'll take you shopping."
A slap, then a candy.
That was his way of apologizing.
Five years of marriage.
I'd been like his dog—called when needed, dismissed when not, living without a shred of dignity.
I looked down at my pale hands and laughed.
It was pathetic.
I lifted my head and said, "The house, the car... it's all yours. I won't fight for any of it. Everything you ever gave me, I’m leaving behind. I'm only taking what's mine."
"Are you done yet?" The impatience in his eyes flared into anger.
He grabbed my arm, "I already explained! What more do you want?"
A sharp pain shot through my injured arm—probably the stitches tore.
Blood seeped through the bandage.
He jerked his hand back like he’d been burned.
Panic flickered across his face.
I didn't engage.
I walked into the bedroom to pack my things.
The bra was gone.
The bed was neatly made.
It looked like nothing had happened.
Only the cloying perfume smell still hung in the air—it made me want to vomit.
Adrian came in with a first-aid kit.
His voice was softer now, "Stop this, Emma. Let me stop the bleeding."
I shook off his hand, "What’s wrong? Don’t want the divorce? Or are you just attached to your free lab rat?"
His face darkened.
He flung the kit across the room. "I told you! It was for medical science! And didn't I always make it up to you afterwards? What the hell else do you want?"
"To divorce you."I said, my voice was flat. "To cut all ties. To never see you again in this lifetime."
As I dragged my suitcase towards the front door, his furious voice followed me,
"Fine! Don't you dare regret this! Let's see how you survive without me!"
Only when I left the building complex did the perfume smell finally fade.
I took a deep breath of fresh air.
Arriving at my best friend Sophie Parker's place.
She gasped when she saw the blood on my arm.
She rushed to get her first-aid kit.
She cursed Adrian up and down.
When I told her I wanted a divorce, she clapped her hands. "Finally! I've hated that guy for years! You've been his damn maid! Screw him! Let someone else deal with his crap! Using his own wife as a guinea pig? What a monster!"
Sophie was furious. "If he hadn't saved you back then, I'd swear he only married you for your condition."
Six years ago, we were hiking when I got caught in a mudslide.
Broken ribs pierced my lung.
I was unconscious, coughing up blood.
Adrian Miller saved me.
He got me to the hospital.
He stayed by my bedside day and night during my recovery.
The day I was discharged, he proposed in front of the doctors and nurses.
He said he wanted to take care of me forever.
We dated, married, and step by step… ended up here.
The joy I felt marrying him had long since eroded into disappointment.
