I ran into a burning building to save my wife. The smoke inhalation left me with the mind of an eight-year-old. When everyone suggested she divorce the man I’d become, my wife, Sophia, swore she would care for me like her own child. But just as I’d grown completely dependent on her, I overheard her talking to Larry, the man she’d hired as my live-in caregiver. “Just be patient,” she’d said, her voice a low murmur. “Ethan’s a simpleton now. Divorcing him at this stage would be a financial disaster for us.” “Once I’m pregnant with your child,” she continued, “the entire Blackwood Industries will be ours for the taking. And after that… whether he has a little fall off a cliff or accidentally drowns… well, that’ll be our story to tell.” The bouquet of roses I was holding slipped from my grasp. The moment the petals scattered across the floor, the love I had for her shattered along with them. I thought our love was a fortress we’d built together. I never imagined I was the only one living inside. In the crushing weight of that disappointment, I decided. I would divorce her. But when I confronted her, the woman I’d found wrapped in another man’s arms told me it was all a misunderstanding. That she still loved me. … The moment the doctor confirmed my cognitive functions were back to normal, my heart pounded against my ribs. Leaving the hospital, I went straight to the best florist in town, eager to surprise Sophia. I never, ever expected this to be the surprise waiting for me. My gaze fell to the scattered rose petals on the floor, each one a shard of glass in my heart. I shoved the door open, my shadow falling over the two figures tangled on the bed. Sophia didn’t even bother to untangle herself from Larry. Instead, a sly, seductive smile played on her lips as she crooked a finger at me. “Ethan, sweetie, where did you go play today? Do you want to help your big sis with a little something?” The teacup I’d picked up from the hall table flew from my hand, shattering against the wall beside them. I strode to the edge of the bed. They exchanged a flicker of a glance, a spark of fear in their eyes. Sophia quickly sat up, her voice a careful, testing purr. “Oh, did Ethan figure out our little game? Do you want to play with us?” Her probing tone was the splash of cold water I needed. It snapped me out of my rage and back into reality. Sophia was currently in charge of the company. If I pushed them too far right now, who knew what they were capable of? I forced the ice from my face, replacing it with a look of wide-eyed, childish innocence. “Ethan went to get pretty flowers for Sophy,” I mumbled, my voice thick with a manufactured pout. “But… I dropped them when I came in.” I looked down, fidgeting with my fingers, channeling every ounce of panic I felt into the performance. My mind was a chaotic mess. The car accident yesterday had caused temporary amnesia, and for a terrifying moment, I’d forgotten how to act like the simpleton they believed me to be. Sophia glanced at the ruined flowers on the floor and let out a derisive snort. “It’s okay, honey. I’ll give you some money to buy more later. But right now, I need you to go to the store and buy me some—” Larry cut her off, pulling her back into his arms. He tilted her chin up with one hand, a smirk playing on his lips. “Big sis? I like the sound of that. How about you try calling me that in bed sometime? Might make me even wilder, you know.” They flirted openly, completely ignoring my presence. So, they don’t suspect a thing. Larry’s hand slid slowly beneath the sheets. Sophia’s head lolled back, a soft, breathy moan escaping her lips. The sight of their languid, intimate kisses sent a jolt through my brain, like a flash of lightning. And then the memories I’d temporarily lost came rushing back, a tidal wave of degradation. This past year, scenes like this had played out in front of me countless times. Often, in the middle of their… activities, Sophia would call me in from the living room where I’d be watching cartoons. Sometimes it was to fetch them a glass of water. Other times, it was to send me out to a specialty shop for lubricant or toys. I never understood what they were for. I just knew that if I did what she said, I’d get a full dinner that night. The memory of it now was so vile it made my stomach churn. As I gagged, Sophia shoved Larry away and swung her legs off the bed, striding toward me. A sour, intimate scent—their scent—wafted over, clinging to her. I couldn’t stop my nose from wrinkling in disgust. That small expression was enough to ignite her temper. The sharp crack of a slap echoed through the room. “Didn’t you hear me? You’re simple, not deaf!” she snarled, her face twisted with fury. “Now get out and buy me some lube. And if you don’t come back, you can just die out there for all I care.” Larry quickly got up and wrapped his arms around her from behind. “Hey, don’t get worked up,” he murmured soothingly. “He’s just a fool. We’ll get rid of him as soon as Blackwood Industries is ours.” Sophia nodded, leaning back against him. The rage I’d been suppressing finally boiled over. I swung a fist, connecting solidly with the corner of Larry’s mouth. Sophia stared at me in shock before rushing to check on Larry’s injury. Seeing it was just a split lip, she whirled on me, her voice a furious whip. “Ethan, what the hell is wrong with you today? Disobeying me, hitting people… Do you want to be locked up again?” When she first brought me home, I’d been confused and clumsy, making a mess of the house. Enraged, she had slapped me and locked me in the dark, musty storage closet. I screamed and cried and apologized until my voice was gone, but she never opened the door. For three days, I was starved, terrified, and forced to relieve myself in a corner until the stench made me vomit. She only let me out when my mother insisted on taking me to a rehabilitation clinic. After that, the fear of the closet made me obedient. Sophia learned to use it as a threat, locking me away whenever I failed to please her. Over time, it became my own personal hell. I reverted to my old coping mechanism. Clapping my hands over my ears, I scrambled under the dining table. “No! No! Ethan’s sorry! I’ll be good!” “Here’s the money.” Sophia tossed a few bills that fluttered down onto my face. “Now get out and buy what I told you to. You can use what’s left to get a burger.” She turned and slammed the bedroom door shut. A moment later, the sound of their soft, shameless moans began again. I didn’t go to the adult store. I walked out of the house and hailed a cab, giving the driver the address of my former secretary, Nina. As the city lights blurred past the window, a bitter sting pricked my eyes. We’d been together for five years, married for three. Our families called us the golden couple; our friends called us a match made in heaven. I never could have imagined that the moment I was hurt, she would bring another man into our home. The excuse she gave my parents was that she needed someone strong to help manage me. In reality, he was there to warm her bed. Disappointment washed over me, a cold, heavy tide. The four years of our courtship played like a movie in my mind. After we married, I turned down every late-night business dinner so she wouldn’t feel neglected. But she was the one who encouraged me, telling me a man’s world was outside the home and she would always be my support. When I did come home late, no matter the hour, she would have a warm bowl of soup waiting for me. When my parents were hospitalized one after another, she refused to let the hired nurses do everything. She ran herself ragged at the hospital, insisting it was her duty as a daughter-in-law. She loved me, she said, so she was willing to do anything for me. Every time I saw her selfless devotion, I was filled with a profound gratitude, a fierce desire to protect her for the rest of my life. We were so in love. How did we end up here? Was it simply because I was injured saving her? Did that give her the right to betray me? I felt like I was missing something crucial, a piece of the puzzle that remained just out of reach. Just as I was lost in thought, the taxi pulled up. Nina opened her door, her eyes widening in surprise when she saw me standing there alone. She rushed forward to steady me. “Mr. Blackwood… Ethan, how did you get here by yourself?” The formal “Mr. Blackwood” slipped out, and for a second, the light in her eyes flickered and died. It returned just as quickly, replaced by a warm, gentle smile as she led me inside. I sat on the sofa, my gaze sharp as I looked at her. “I need an update on the company’s current status.” Nina began her report as if no time had passed at all. “The company isn’t doing well, sir. If it weren’t for your father’s backing, Blackwood Industries would have already lost its position as a market leader. Future prospects are…” She trailed off, her professional mask slipping as she studied me, a hopeful, cautious question in her eyes. “Mr. Blackwood… are you… back?” When I nodded, tears welled in her eyes and traced paths down her cheeks. Sophia had fired her shortly after I was diagnosed. Everything she knew now came from old colleagues still loyal to me. She told me that as soon as Sophia took over, she began systematically replacing my entire executive team. Hearing this, I frowned. It was all too convenient, too planned. It was as if Sophia had been preparing for this all along. Seeing the doubt on my face, Nina voiced a suspicion she’d had since the beginning. “Sir, the official report says your condition was caused by smoke inhalation. But I was at the hospital. You had a head injury. Isn’t it possible it was… deliberate?” A head injury that didn’t match the official medical report. It was more than suspicious; it was a smoking gun. To keep Sophia and my parents from discovering I’d recovered, I made Nina swear to secrecy. I also asked her to discreetly investigate the discrepancy in the medical records. With a plan in place, the crushing weight on my chest eased slightly. Right on cue, my phone rang. It was Sophia. I answered, and her furious voice erupted from the speaker. “Ethan, where the hell are you? It’s been two hours! You could’ve bought gold in that time!” … The second I walked through the door, Sophia snatched the bottle of lubricant from my hand. She twisted the cap off and, with a vicious grin, squeezed the contents all over my head. In moments, the cold, sticky gel was running down my face and into my collar. She watched my humiliation, a cruel laugh bubbling up. “Isn’t this a fun game, Ethan?” I shook my head, and she slapped me again, hard. “Don’t you dare tell anyone,” she hissed, her face close to mine. “Or I’ll make you play games like this every single day.” I nodded quickly, obediently. My compliance seemed to satisfy her. She pointed a manicured finger toward the bedroom. “Go clean up in there.” I stood in the doorway, staring at the chaotic mess of tangled sheets and discarded clothes. My hands clenched into tight fists. I bit the inside of my cheek, a raw, venomous hatred coiling in my gut. If I found proof that she was behind what happened to me, I would make her pay. After mechanically tidying the bed, I retrieved the pinhole camera I’d bought on my way back and installed it in a dark corner of the room, hidden behind a bookshelf. Once it was done, I went back to the living area. Larry was setting plates of food on the dining table. He shot me a mocking look. “Sophia, let’s let Ethan eat at the table with us tonight.” A flicker of annoyance crossed Sophia’s face, but as Larry untied his apron, revealing he was wearing nothing underneath, her expression softened into a coquettish smile. She wriggled onto his lap, her body moving against his. Their intimacy made me feel like an intruder in my own home. After a soft moan, Sophia pointed to an empty chair and glared at me. “Well? Do I have to personally invite you to sit down?” I swallowed the bitterness in my throat and sat, keeping my head down as I shoveled food into my mouth. And just like that, with me sitting right there, the rhythmic creak of the chair began, accompanied by their soft, shameless moans. Perhaps my silence as an audience member displeased them. Sophia rapped her knuckles on the table, her voice dripping with mock sweetness. “Ethan, all this… exercise… is making your big sis tired. Why don’t you be a good boy and feed me?” Her question was a command. After all this time with her, I knew her every nuance. But the hatred burning inside me made it impossible to play along, to serve her while she flaunted her betrayal. When I didn’t move, she shot up from Larry’s lap and swept my bowl off the table, sending it crashing to the floor. “Then eat on the floor where you belong!” she shrieked. “You’re just a pathetic fool! How dare you defy me? Are you asking for it?” The humiliation was a physical blow. I stared up at her, my eyes blazing with fury. “You told Mom and Dad you’d take care of me,” I choked out. “You’re being mean!” “Mean?” She let out a chilling laugh. “Oh, sweetie, you haven’t seen anything yet.” She gestured to Larry, who grabbed me and shoved me to the floor. She then picked up clumps of rice and meat from the shattered bowl and began forcing them into my mouth. His hands pinned my arms, making it impossible to struggle. “Sophia,” I snarled through a mouthful of food, “you will pay for this.” She just sneered and had Larry drag me to the storage closet, throwing me inside. As the door slammed shut, plunging me into darkness, my mind was flooded with images of their fists and feet, of the pain and the terror. I fumbled for my phone, its weak light illuminating the walls. They were covered in gouges and scratches. My own fingernail marks. Stained with dried, blackened blood. Seeing that, the very last ember of love I had for Sophia was extinguished. If she was going to be this cruel, then I would show her no mercy. … That night, after the camera feed showed they were both sound asleep, I used the spare key to let myself out of the closet. I went straight to the study. Rummaging through the desk drawers, I found it: my real hospital file. 【Patient suffers from decreased cognitive function due to a subdural hematoma, caused by external trauma…】 Ever since I’d come home, my nightmares had been filled with fire, with the suffocating feeling of being trapped and helpless. I’d always assumed it was a lingering trauma from the smoke inhalation, a phantom memory of being too weak to stand. It never once occurred to me that I hadn't been able to save myself because I had been attacked. Whenever I woke up from those nightmares, I would seek out Sophia. Just holding onto her arm was enough to make the fear recede. That was the real reason my parents could never convince me to leave with them. I sat there for a long time, the truth settling in my stomach like a block of ice. Then my eyes fell on another file—the falsified one. The one that matched the story she’d been telling everyone. Could it be? Was the injury… intentional? As I reeled from the implication, I heard two sounds simultaneously: a notification on my phone and the click of the study door opening. I glanced at my phone first, then looked up. Sophia stood in the doorway, her face a mask of panic as she scanned my expression for any sign of recognition. But she was too late. The moment I heard the door, I had wiped my face clean, reverting to my blank, simple-minded stare. Seeing nothing amiss, she walked over and gently took the files from my hands. Her voice was a soft, cooing lie. “Sweetie, what are you doing in here? You’re supposed to be in the closet thinking about what you did.” I didn’t speak. I just stared at her, watching the guilt flicker in her eyes. She nervously touched her nose. “Your mind will get better soon, I promise. In a little while, I’ll take you abroad to see the very best doctors, okay?” Her empty promises finally drew a reaction from me. A cold, knowing smile spread across my face. “If I go abroad with you,” I asked, my voice chillingly clear, “will I ever come back alive?” The color drained from Sophia’s face. Her probing gaze shifted to one of pure, unadulterated panic. “What are you talking about? Of course you’ll come back! You’re my Ethan. I would never, ever leave you alone in a foreign country.” It was then I realized she wore a mask for me, a carefully constructed illusion of a loving wife. The confrontation at dinner had put her on high alert. After locking me in the closet, she had dragged Larry into the bedroom, her voice a frantic whisper on the hidden camera’s feed. She was worried I was acting differently, terrified the blood clot in my brain had dissolved and I was regaining my senses. Larry had initially tried to calm her, but then he remembered the punch I’d landed on him that afternoon, and his face had darkened. To secure their absolute control over Blackwood Industries, they hatched a plan. In three days, they would take me abroad. There, they would stage an "accident," and I would die. My death would be a tragic story of their own making, a tale no one would question. After all, a man with the mind of a child is curious about everything. It would be my own fault, a tragic consequence of my condition. Watching the recording of their conspiracy, I knew for certain: everything that had happened was their doing. In the past year, I’d been in every room of this house, but the study was the one place Sophia had strictly forbidden me from entering. So I’d waited until they were asleep, searching for the truth. I hadn’t even been in here for five minutes before she appeared. A classic case of a guilty conscience. I was done pretending. I held up my phone, playing the video of their bedroom conversation for her to see. “I know about your plan,” I said, my voice dangerously low. “I heard everything you said about how you’re going to kill me.”
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