When I started my business, my girlfriend Audrey deliberately leaked trade secrets to my competitor, leaving me bankrupt. The next moment, Audrey became Maurice's woman—my rival's woman. Drowning in debt, I stood on a rooftop preparing to end it all when Polka, who had secretly loved me for years, found me and handed over all her family's savings. "Benjamin, in my eyes, you'll always be the most outstanding person." Seven years later, my company made a comeback, and I was about to complete the acquisition of Maurice's company. But the night before the signing, my warehouse caught fire unexpectedly, reducing all the inventory to ashes. In my hospital room, I overheard a conversation between Polka and my ex-girlfriend Audrey outside the door. "You're ruthless. You dared to set fire to the warehouse. Weren't you afraid he'd burn to death inside?" "If he died, he died. I've always loved Maurice. If I hadn't lost that draw to you back then, I wouldn't have had to stomach that face for seven years." I looked at my burned hands. What I thought was sharing hardship together turned out to be nothing but wishful thinking on my part. Since you all care so much about Maurice, don't blame me for what comes next.
I closed my eyes, my heart seized by an invisible hand. Arson. A draw. Those seven years of mutual devotion were nothing but her reluctant choice after losing a bet. "If I hadn't married him and constantly monitored his movements, you think Maurice could have had it so smooth? I've been clearing obstacles for him!" A metallic sweetness surged in my throat. I laughed silently, my burned hands wrapped in gauze, without even the strength to clench a fist. Polka hadn't noticed I was awake and continued pouring out her disgust and suffering from all these years. "This fire—don't you understand? I couldn't let him acquire SUN. That's Maurice's everything!" After she finished speaking, there was a long silence from Audrey's side, only the sound of breathing. "Alright, you should go. And remember, even though I married Benjamin, I'll never give up Maurice!" After Audrey left, Polka pushed open the door, her face wearing perfectly calculated concern. "Benjamin? Are you awake? How do you feel?" I looked away, avoiding her hand reaching to check my forehead, my voice hoarse. "Strange. Every time Maurice and I reach the final step, something always goes wrong." "Maybe... it's just fate. In business, who can say for certain?" Polka's hand paused mid-air before withdrawing. I pulled my lips into a humorless arc, my gaze turning to the window. "Maybe Maurice has too many devoted followers who can't stand to see him lose? The fire department is already investigating the warehouse fire." Polka chose her words carefully, trying to soothe my emotions. I closed my eyes, my heart ice-cold. "Polka, what about you? Don't you think it's quite a coincidence?" "I..." Polka choked, her lips moving several times before finally giving up on defending herself, her brow furrowing tightly. "Benjamin, what are you trying to say? Are you suspecting me? I'm your wife!" "I'm just asking casually. Why are you getting so worked up?"
I looked at her calmly, watching how she instantly bristled with hostility. Polka's expression turned ugly. After a long moment, she forced out a cold snort through clenched teeth. "If you're incompetent, don't go around being paranoid!" She grew more agitated as she spoke, her face contorting. That face I'd known for seven years now looked frighteningly unfamiliar. I finally became certain—Polka had never loved me. These seven years were a complete and utter fraud. I remained silent, but Polka was clearly dissatisfied with my silence. She stood up, walked to the bedside, and looked down at me. "Benjamin, I need you to promise me that from now on, you'll behave yourself and stop chasing unrealistic dreams! As for our marriage, some things are better left unsaid. It's not good for anyone." "I should stop dreaming? Why should I?! Once I sign that contract, SUN will be mine! As for our marriage... Polka, do you really think there's anything left between us?" I clenched my fist, the burned skin sending searing pain through me. "I'm telling you! Destroying Maurice is my entire purpose! If not this time, then next time. If not this seven years, then the next seven years!" "You—" Polka froze, then crossed her arms and let out a low, cold laugh. "Very well. I was going to keep up the act a bit longer. Benjamin, since you still want to win, you never will." My heart tightened. Her laugh sent chills down my spine. Only then did I notice that this hospital room's facilities far exceeded those of ordinary hospitals. There were even unidentified oil paintings hanging on the walls. This was an expensive private sanatorium. "What are you planning?!" Before I could finish speaking, Polka knocked on the door three times. A man in a white coat with a sinister demeanor walked in. "Miss Polka, what are your orders?" She took a document the man handed her, glanced at it twice, her gaze falling on my gauze-wrapped hands, her tone calm. "Benjamin, a renowned entrepreneur, suffered nerve damage from the fire, resulting in permanent tremors in both hands. He can no longer perform precision work. The facility has done all it can. Understood?" My blood froze instantly. I stared at her in disbelief. "This... this might present procedural risks." The man called "Dr. Polo" hesitated, but after Polka mentioned "original shares in Maurice's biotech company," the doubt in his eyes vanished. I understood their transaction. A chill rose from the soles of my feet. I used all my strength to grab the glass water pitcher from the table and hurl it toward the window. The next second, Polka had already lunged at me, pinning down my arm. After seven years together, she understood the intent behind my every move. So she also knew exactly how to cripple me from the root. "Benjamin, stop struggling. You can't escape." Polka looked at me, a moment of hesitation flashing in her eyes. I roared: "You lunatic! I'm your husband!" I struggled violently, but my weakened post-fire body had no strength. The wounds tore open again in my struggle. Several nurses rushed in, expertly producing restraint straps. "Let me go! This is a crime!" My curses and struggles only resulted in tighter restraints, until cold leather straps bound my wrists and ankles. I gave up resisting, my voice hoarse. "Polka! I was wrong! I surrender! I'll never appear before you again, okay? Let me go! I promise I'll disappear completely!" Polka crossed her arms, watching my breakdown for a long time before shaking her head. "Benjamin, I don't believe you. I know you too well. If you can persist in something for seven years, you won't let it go now." At her signal, the man approached me with a syringe. Before consciousness was pulled away, I abandoned all questioning and pleading, staring at her intently. "Polka, I've always given you... everything." In my daze, the resolve on Polka's face showed a crack, but it quickly returned to cold indifference. "Sorry, Benjamin. This is the last time."
Before darkness swallowed me, my final thought was that I would never love her again. Seven years of marriage. When I was at my lowest, she had extended her hand to me. But that hand, from the very beginning, was meant to push me into a deeper abyss. When I woke again, the uncontrollable subtle tremor in my right hand became my only sensation. Despair, like icy seawater, instantly submerged me. Polka had actually done it. She had once been my most capable assistant, but now she'd destroyed my hands. Tears fell silently, yet the hatred in my heart burned hot. The aftereffects of the neurotoxin began several hours later—an aching numbness and stabbing pain that seemed to drill out from within my bones, more tormenting than the burns. I was drenched in sweat from the pain, biting my lip hard, staring blankly at the ceiling. At one point, I even considered ending it all. "Well, well, you're awake?" A familiar voice shattered the deathly silence of the hospital room. I slowly turned my head. Maurice walked in, looking me up and down before shaking his head, his face wearing fake sympathy while his eyes held nothing but a victor's arrogance. "Benjamin, look at yourself now." "Seven years, and you couldn't even keep one woman. Now you're just a cripple." "In love, you lost to me. In business, same thing! For the rest of your life, you'll never beat me." "What did you say?" I spoke hoarsely. It took a while for my numb brain to process his words. The next moment, fury destroyed my reason. "Get out! Get out! Don't let me see you again! You bastards! I won't let you get away with this! Get out! All of you!" My hysteria clearly pleased Maurice. He even laughed out loud. "See, Benjamin? Your wife would do anything for me. Though in your current state, you probably can't comprehend my happiness anymore." "Get out!" I used my left hand to pull out the IV needle from the back of my hand, grabbing everything I could reach from the bedside table and hurling it at him. Water cups, fruit plates, books, one after another. But I'd overestimated my broken body. After just a few throws, I'd exhausted all my strength and collapsed on the bed, the excruciating pain in my right hand rendering me speechless. Maurice continued his taunts, but as he spoke, the fury in my heart gradually extinguished, leaving only dead numbness. Yes, I'd already lost completely. What chance did I have to turn things around? "Why aren't you talking?! Benjamin! Say something! Weren't you always so arrogant? Didn't they call you a business genius? Why so quiet now?!" Maurice froze. My sudden calm denied him the sense of superiority he'd expected. Frustrated, he tried to provoke me again. "Why aren't you talking, you trembling cripple?! Weren't you just throwing things at me? Now you're playing dead?" I weakly threw a pillow at him with my left hand, barely managing to force out "Get out!" That feather-light pillow landed at his feet, but Maurice acted as if he'd found the perfect excuse. He suddenly stepped back exaggeratedly, as if struck by tremendous force, looking at me in shock. "Benjamin?! How could you do this! I just came to check on you out of kindness!" Just then, the sound of high heels came from outside. Hearing his shout, the footsteps immediately quickened. Audrey pushed open the door. Seeing the mess on the floor, she immediately glared at me viciously. Polka, who entered a step behind, also froze. "Maurice?! He dared to lay hands on you?!" Watching the two of them fuss over Maurice, I twisted my lips into a hoarse, miserable laugh. "Benjamin! Have you lost your mind?! Get on your knees and apologize to Maurice right now!" Infuriated by my laughter, Polka rushed forward, grabbed my shoulder, and dragged me from the bed, disregarding my injuries. "Kneel down and apologize to Maurice right now!" Audrey helped Maurice up at this point. She walked over and stepped on my still-bleeding left hand, saying simply: "Kneel!" I fell onto the cold floor, the pain in my hand and the nerve pain in my right hand intertwining, the agony turning my vision black. Seeing my silence, Audrey bent down, grabbed my hair, and forced me to look up at them. "Can't you understand human speech?! Kneel before my man right now!" They humiliated me in the cruelest way possible, until I was covered in cold sweat, lying weakly on the floor, my breathing becoming faint. Only then did this farce end. I wasn't sure if it was my imagination, but for a brief moment, I seemed to see reluctance and wavering in Polka's eyes. But it no longer mattered. At this point, whatever I'd done in the past, I'd received my punishment. Right now, I just wanted to leave them, to leave this hell! When I woke again, the hospital room had been cleaned up and my hands had been re-treated. Sunlight through the window warmed my face, but I only felt a sense of disorientation, as if everything before had been nothing but an absurd dream. I thought this was my chance to escape, but Polka soon returned. She carried a bag containing several brand-new devices. "Awake? Try these."
She placed a set of weighted metal utensils and a grip-assist writing tool on the bedside table. Her expression had softened considerably, her tone carrying a hint of regret. "Look at you. Why suffer like this just to be stubborn?" As she spoke, she picked up the grip tool, trying to fit it on my hand. "If you just behave, I'll take good care of you from now on." I jerked my hand back, my stomach churning. Just seeing her filled me with physical disgust. "Get that away!" Polka's patience seemed exhausted by my rejection. She angrily slammed the items on the table. "Benjamin, I'm kindly finding rehabilitation tools for you. Can you stop being so ungrateful?!" I closed my eyes, forcing myself to calm down. When I spoke again, my voice was emotionless. "Polka, let's make a deal. I'm willing to sign a lifetime non-compete agreement and transfer all remaining assets of my company to you or Maurice. I have only one requirement. Let me go." I was negotiating my freedom as if it were my final business transaction. Polka seemed stunned by this, apparently not expecting me to propose such a "deal." After a long moment, she shook her head. "Benjamin, this isn't just to reassure him. It's because you owe Maurice." "I owe him? What do I owe him?!" I asked in confusion. The corner of Polka's mouth curled into mockery. She said I must have forgotten such important matters. She told me that years ago, my first bucket of gold, the business model that changed my fate, was a proposal Maurice had stayed up countless nights creating. It was I who used improper means to steal it, which led to my later meteoric rise. "So your current state is just things returning to their rightful owner! Stop acting innocent. You almost fooled me again!" I paused slightly, then recalled those events, a trace of desolate smile appearing on my face. I finally understood where their bone-deep hatred came from. In their eyes, I'd been a thief from the very beginning. That business opportunity back then was indeed public information. I was just faster and more daring than him. But explaining now was meaningless. For a crippled man, all merit and fault lost the value of defense. Seeing I no longer argued, Polka let out a cold laugh. "So Benjamin, you have no right to complain! All of this is your karma!" I fell completely silent. Polka also lost interest in conversing with me and turned to leave the room. I stared blankly at her retreating figure. After a long time, I buried my face in my palms without making a sound. My life afterward became daily "rehabilitation" training. Different therapists came every day to guide me on using those assistive tools. To maintain her image as a "devoted wife," Polka provided me with the very best of everything. I also appeared numb and compliant, just speaking less and less. Over half a month later, they finally relaxed their guard over me. I bribed a young worker from the laundry room with a stock tip guaranteed to rise. At four in the morning, I endured the aching pain in both hands and hid in a huge linen cart, leaving that prison in the bumpy ride. Finally, at the bus stop across the street, I looked back at the lit building, my eyes calm as still water. Since you all want me to disappear, I'll grant your wish. At that moment, Maurice was at a grand celebration banquet, raising his glass high, announcing to all the guests that he'd completely defeated me. Polka stood beside him, her smile radiant. "For you, I'd do anything." She gazed at Maurice's profile, her eyes full of infatuation. "I know. Now we can finally be together." Maurice responded gently, about to clink glasses with her when a shrill phone ringtone broke the intimate atmosphere. Polka impatiently pulled out her phone. Seeing the caller ID, her brow immediately furrowed. The sanatorium? What could it be? Benjamin? Thinking of him, Polka still pressed the answer button: "Hello?" "Miss Polka, this is terrible! Mr. Benjamin is gone!"
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