Part 1I'm the Joke of the Elite Circle

There's a saying that circulates within our circle. "Eric Tuttle catches adultery twice as fast as Joanna Lockwood commits it."

Whenever anyone's wife cheats, I get dragged out as the undisputed role model.

Behind my back, though, they joke, "Eric is nothing but a jealous brute. No husband from a wealthy family has ever fallen this low."

But what shocks the entire elite circle this time is that when the paparazzi shove Joanna's intimate photos from her affair right in my face, I just laugh it off.

Even Joanna herself pulls up her pants and rushes back at the first moment. She looks at me with confusion, but I just shrug and say, "I'm tired."

Joanna's tears turn to laughter. Then, she touches up her makeup smugly.

"Eric, are you admitting defeat this time?" she asks.

My gaze falls on the scattered explicit photos, then I reply calmly, "Yeah."

Because this time, she's fallen for my bone marrow donor, Marcus Kern.

* * *

Joanna Lockwood was stunned, her smile frozen in place. She asked, "You're not planning to pull some kind of trick, are you?"

I touched the leukemia test report in my pocket and smiled bitterly.

"You're overthinking it."

I used to be a lunatic who dominated the trending searches every day.

I'd stripped a homewrecker naked and paraded him through the streets.

I'd single-handedly charged into the hotel with a camera. Then, I climbed onto the bed the two of them were in and snapped away wildly.

I naively thought that if I kept acting like a lunatic, there would eventually come a day when Joanna would get tired of it. But in the end, I reached the day when I could no longer keep fighting.

The moment I got the diagnosis, I told no one. Even though I left the report on the bedroom table, Joanna never noticed it.

I was acting completely out of character. Unable to contain herself anymore, Joanna was on the verge of blowing up when the doorbell suddenly rang.

Marcus Kern stood at the door. Joanna was noticeably flustered. After all, never letting her side piece set foot in the house was the last shred of dignity she gave me.

Three years ago, I had a complete meltdown in front of the media when Joanna's first scandal came out.

I knocked out the homewrecker's tooth with one punch, and for all that, Joanna just said flatly, "I figured you knew what you were getting into when you married me. As my husband, you shouldn't make such an ugly spectacle of yourself."

I froze in front of the camera, wanting to cry but unable to. Apparently, the love I gave with all my heart wasn't worth a dime.

But after that, Joanna toned things down a bit.

Marcus was clearly the first man to break through her defenses.

Dressed in a crisp suit, he said helplessly, "Mr. Eric Tuttle, the company's PR department has been driven mad by the trending topics about you. I hope you can show some consideration for Ms. Lockwood.

"At the very least, you shouldn't use her money to do things that will damage the company's image."

My fingertips trembled slightly.

Marcus was an impoverished intern sponsored by the company's charity. He also happened to be the bone marrow donor I had searched high and low for, one who matched my rare blood type.

The reason I stopped making a scene was that I realized he probably wouldn't be foolish enough to save me. After all, I was the stumbling block keeping him from marrying into a wealthy family.

For the first time, I nodded meekly. "Okay."

Joanna shot me a stunned look. Then, she cleared her throat and said, "Since Marcus has already said as much, you will go to the company tomorrow and apologize to everyone."

She knew better than anyone that making me apologize in public was next to impossible, but she still did Marcus that favor.

I opened my mouth, my expression somewhat grim.

Marcus caught the shift in my mood and immediately looked embarrassed. After giving me an apologetic nod, he turned and bolted.

"Marcus!" Joanna was about to chase after him when she suddenly stopped in her tracks. "Eric, you must go tomorrow. Also, I'm transferring Marcus to my team to manage finances. Without money at your disposal, you'll have no choice but to behave."

I pressed my lips together and said with feigned lightness, "Whatever you say."

Joanna frowned, then chased after Marcus without so much as sparing me a backward glance. In fact, she didn't even notice that I had a nosebleed.

Looking at the exorbitant medication list my doctor, Claude Galvan, had sent, I declined every single item.

Then, I called my personal lawyer, Joshua Burton.

"Draw up divorce papers for me."