# Chapter 1: The Final Breaking Point
The notification chime cut through the silence of the room like a knife.
*Ding.*
Nicole's eyes drifted to her phone screen, and the blood in her veins seemed to turn to ice. The message was brief, clinical—a command rather than a request.
*[Please go to the hospital to donate blood as soon as possible.]*
She stared at the sender's name: *Hubby.* The word felt like a bitter mockery now. Three years of marriage, and Eric Ferguson's contact with her had been reduced to a series of identical messages—demands for her blood and automated bank transfers. Scrolling up, she saw the pattern repeating endlessly: donation requests met with five-hundred-thousand-dollar payments, over and over, like a transaction between strangers rather than a conversation between husband and wife.
This month alone, she had given blood three times. Her body was screaming in protest.
Nicole's vision blurred as she sat on the sofa, the weight of exhaustion pressing down on her shoulders. Yesterday, she had stood in the pouring rain for over an hour, waiting for Eric to finish work. Now her body was burning with fever, a punishment for her foolish devotion. But Eric didn't know. He never knew. He never asked.
Her finger hovered over the screen, hesitating over whether to reply, when a new message from an unknown number shattered whatever remained of her dignity.
*[Even if you are Mrs. Ferguson, you're just a front and shamelessly occupy this position for three years. Has Eric ever looked at you once before? He slept over at my place last night. If I were you, I'd find a rope to hang myself. You're just an interfering homewrecker!]*
A homewrecker.
The word hit Nicole like a physical blow. She was Eric Ferguson's legal wife. She had abandoned her family, her friends, her entire world to marry this man. She had endured three years of coldness, humiliation, and servitude. And yet she was being called a homewrecker?
Her chest tightened as the accumulated pain of three years finally cracked open. Before she could recover, another message arrived—a photograph. Eric's sleeping face filled the screen, his sculpted features peaceful and beautiful, like a work of art that had once captivated her soul. But it was the woman nestled against his shoulder that made Nicole's world crumble: Wendy Quade, her eyes closed but the corners of her lips curled upward in a knowing smile.
They looked like lovers. Intimate. Perfect.
The phone rang, shattering the suffocating silence. It was the Ferguson Villa. Nicole answered on autopilot, and Eric's mother, Quinn, barked orders without preamble.
"Nicole, did you forget what day it is? The maids are off today, so hurry up and come over to cook for us!"
Nicole stared blankly at the wall. She had spent three years walking on eggshells, pretending to be the perfect wife, the obedient daughter-in-law, the silent secretary who stayed in the shadows. She had endured the office gossip, the family's contempt, and Eric's complete indifference. She had cleaned their floors, cooked their meals, and donated her blood—everything for a man who never once looked at her as his wife.
She hung up without a word.
For the first time, Nicole felt nothing but emptiness. The love that had kept her chained to this miserable existence had finally burned out, leaving only ashes and the bitter taste of humiliation.
With trembling fingers, she typed a message to Eric.
*[Let's get a divorce.]*
Her phone rang almost immediately. Eric's voice was harsh, impatient—the same cold tone he always used with her.
"Nicole, what are you making a fuss about? How much do you want? Just state a price. The doctor said that Wendy's in critical condition..."
Nicole cut him off, her voice hoarse and broken but laced with a newfound steel.
"Eric Ferguson, I'll see you at the City Hall in an hour. Or you can watch her die."
She hung up.
Another notification appeared.
*[Fund transfer: $1,000,000]*
Nicole threw her head back and laughed, tears streaming down her face in a torrent of anguish and bitter irony. A million dollars for her blood. A million dollars to keep his mistress alive. A million dollars to silence a wife he never wanted.
She laughed until her throat burned, until her lungs ached, until the enormity of it all crashed over her like a tidal wave.
*This is absurd. It's just too ridiculous.*
But the laughter died in her throat, and only silence remained.
Nicole rose from the sofa, steadying herself against the dizziness that threatened to overwhelm her. She had made up her mind. Three years of playing the fool was enough.
It was time for this joke to end.
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## Reader's Impressions & Star Rating
This chapter is a masterclass in emotional storytelling. The raw pain, exhaustion, and eventual liberation of the protagonist is palpable on every page. Nicole's journey from desperate devotion to shattered dignity and finally to decisive action is heartbreaking yet cathartic. The way the author builds her suffering through those mundane, repetitive messages—demands for blood coupled with cold bank transfers—is devastatingly effective. The climax hits like a sledgehammer when that photograph arrives, destroying any illusion Nicole (and the reader) might have held about her marriage.
The dialogue is sharp and brutal, especially Eric's dismissive phone call where he immediately offers money instead of asking what's wrong. And Nicole's final laugh—tears streaming, hollow and broken—is the kind of unforgettable scene that defines great writing.
**⭐ Rating: 4.9 / 5 Stars**
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## Next Chapter Prediction
Nicole is walking into City Hall with nothing but broken pride and a fever burning through her veins. But something tells me the divorce won't be so simple. Eric has never seen Nicole as anything but a convenient blood donor and a disposable wife—he has no idea who she truly is. The million-dollar transfer suggests he thinks he can buy her silence, but Nicole's transformation has begun. I predict Eric will either refuse to sign the papers or dismiss her threat entirely, only to realize too late that Nicole is not just walking away—she's reclaiming her power. And when her true identity as the heiress of a billion-dollar empire is revealed? The Ferguson family's shock will be legendary.