Chapter 1At 1 AM, my husband’s phone rang.
It was Victoria Shaw, the pregnant widow of his late partner, screaming—someone had broken into her house.
My husband Sebastian Foster, an elite FBI agent, was exhausted after a three-day sleepless stakeout, but he didn’t hesitate—he rushed to her side immediately.
He didn’t come home until dawn.
"Victoria's already on her own, and with the baby coming soon, I can't let anything scare her," he said.
Seeing me sitting silently on the couch, he sighed and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
"Max was a hero, and now that he’s gone, Victoria’s still pregnant… as his team leader, I can’t just leave her on her own. But I promise I’ll back off a bit… please don’t be upset."
I gently but firmly pushed his hand away, done being the understanding wife I’d always been.
"Let's get divorced."
Sebastian's cheeks were hollow from exhaustion, his bloodshot eyes barely staying open, his breathing ragged.
His hands clenched, then relaxed.
He pressed against me with those pathetic puppy dog eyes.
"Babe, you don't mean that. I'll stop going over there, okay? Let someone else deal with Victoria."
It was hard to believe that this tough FBI team leader could turn into such a needy golden retriever around me.
That contrast was exactly why I married him, even knowing his dangerous job could tear our family apart.
But I turned away and stood up, stepping back.
"This isn’t just anger talking. Keep taking care of Victoria if you want."
"We’re still getting divorced."
Sebastian's jaw tightened, that commanding authority flashing across his face—until he saw my expression and melted.
Still on his knees, he shuffled closer, nuzzling his head against my stomach like a big puppy.
"Okay, okay, I screwed up. Took on responsibility without thinking how it’d hit you. I’m already never home, and now I’m giving what little time we have to someone else. And I know how jealous you get."
"God, I left you sitting here pissed off all night—I'm such an idiot. But babe, I haven’t slept in four days straight. Let me apologize properly to my little jealous kitten tomorrow."
He yawned and reached for my hand, trying to pull me toward the bedroom.
Anyone would side with him—an exhausted agent barely able to stand, still coaxing his unreasonable, dramatic wife.
But I wasn’t buying it. I yanked my hand away and said, each word deliberate:
"I said I want a DIVORCE!"
Sebastian, caught off guard, stumbled backward and knocked over the ceramic vase we'd made together.
His eyes sharpened, suddenly wide awake. My repeated divorce talk had finally snapped his temper.
"I apologized. I promised to back off from Victoria. What more do you want?"
"You’re the one who said that word should never be thrown around—but you’ve said it twice tonight. What the hell are you trying to pull?"
Even the things I’d muttered drunk, he remembered.
"Sebastian, this isn’t jealousy, and I don’t need sweet talk. I want a divorce."
"I want us done. Completely."
BANG!
His fist shot past my ear, slamming into the wall behind me. My eyelashes fluttered.
"I’ll have a lawyer draw up the divorce papers. I’m not taking a cent that isn’t mine. You just sign, and I’ll take care of everything else myself."
My remaining words were swallowed by his heavy breathing. He raised his hand, and I instinctively shut my eyes, but he only covered his own face with his palm, his voice thick with emotion.
"Baby… stop. Whatever you don’t like, I’ll change it. Please… don’t divorce me."
This invincible man showing his one-of-a-kind vulnerability—it would be enough to make anyone forgive him.
But I firmly pushed past the man blocking my way.
"I’m done living in constant fear. I’m done having you run off to another woman’s place. Can you change that?"
Sebastian's eyes went wide with shock, unable to believe that the woman who'd supported his work even with a blade in her body would say these things.
His face darkened. I held his gaze and finished what I had to say.
"I'll find you tomorrow to sign."
The air fell silent. From the guest room came a barely audible intake of breath—his parents, who'd gone to bed early, had been woken by the commotion and came rushing out.
Chapter 2
His father Robert kicked Sebastian behind the knees, his voice stern.
"Apologize to Amelia. Sneaking off to another woman’s house in the middle of the night, then coming home and taking it out on your wife—how did I raise a son who can’t even tell right from wrong?"
His mother Margaret wiped her eyes and took my hand affectionately.
"We failed to raise Sebastian right. You’ve had to suffer because of us."
"But taking care of a widow… that’s his responsibility. He can’t just walk away—people would talk, and they’d rip him apart behind his back."
"From now on, we’ll keep him in check and make sure he knows his limits."
The elderly couple looked at me with earnest hope. I was about to speak when a jarring ringtone cut through the air. Sebastian, still on his knees, answered immediately.
"Victoria? What happened?"
Victoria's voice carried both relief and lingering fear as she choked out her words.
"Sebastian… they just caught a burglar in our building. He killed a family of three. And they found out he was planning to stake out my place."
"If you hadn’t been there with me… I don’t even want to think about what could’ve happened. Oh god…"
All three pairs of eyes turned to me as Sebastian comforted Victoria.
Hearing something off in his voice, Victoria quickly added:
"Sebastian, did you explain everything to your wife? She's not mad, is she?"
"Last night was way too dangerous. I mean… as a widow with the baby coming any day, I don’t even know how I’d have managed without you."
"If she’s still upset, I’ll go apologize to her myself."
Sebastian's eyes filled with helplessness as he gently reassured her.
"Amelia did throw a fit, but now that she knows how dangerous last night was, she won't be mad at you anymore. Don't worry about it."
If I kept throwing fits now, I'd be the unreasonable one.
I snatched the phone away and said calmly:
"Don’t waste your apologies on me. I’m divorcing Sebastian. Give them to his next wife."
I hung up and walked out, leaving three shocked faces behind.
"Since we're getting divorced anyway, I should move out. It'll make dividing assets easier."
"Amelia Carter!"
Sebastian's icy voice rang out behind me, but I didn't turn around.
"I can’t keep babying you forever. If I hadn’t been there tonight, Victoria might be dead. The facts are right in front of you—are you seriously still throwing a fit?"
I felt a wave of confusion, like I'd become some unreasonable shrew, but I still walked out the door.
After renting a place and moving out, I noticed several plainclothes officers downstairs. Sebastian's work was dangerous—family members often got caught in the crossfire.
Living with him was safe, but me renting alone doubled the risk.
When I left, he swore he wouldn't keep coddling me, but he still filed a report with the Bureau requesting protection detail for my safety.
He'd told me before—if something happened to me because of his work again, he'd lose his mind.
I looked away indifferently and took the divorce papers from the lawyer who'd been waiting downstairs.
I'd been texting Sebastian since this morning about meeting to sign the divorce papers. He never responded, so I finally broke down and called.
He hung up almost immediately. I stood there frowning when one of my protection detail approached, his face grim and agitated.
"Mrs. Foster, Agent Foster is in the ICU and needs a family member to sign consent forms."
His tone was accusatory.
"Agent Foster was in the middle of an emergency operation when your call gave away his location. He took a bullet and may even face amputation."
Chapter 3
The hospital hallway was packed with Sebastian's team, all red-eyed and shooting me dirty looks. A few turned away to punch the wall in frustration.
I walked past them without missing a beat and entered his room. Sebastian lay there pale as hell, but when he saw me, he put on that same reassuring smile.
"Hey, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm okay—just caught a bullet, no big deal. I'll be back on my feet in no time."
He reached for my hand, but I pulled back.
One of the younger agents couldn't keep his mouth shut:
"Just sign the damn forms already! If we don't get him into surgery, Foster's gonna die."
I gave him a cold look and pulled out the divorce papers.
"I'm not signing anything. You want to live? Sign these divorce papers and let your parents make the medical decisions."
"Are you kidding me—!"
The kid looked ready to jump me, but his teammates grabbed him.
I glanced around at their shocked faces. Using my own husband's life to force a divorce—yeah, they probably thought I was the worst bitch they'd ever seen.
Sebastian's face went through about ten different emotions before he closed his eyes and said quietly:
"All this because I spent one night looking after Victoria?"
With everyone staring at me like they wanted me dead, I answered calmly:
"Yep. Because you spent last night with Victoria Shaw."
Someone grabbed me from behind, yanking my shirt so hard I stumbled.
Sebastian tried to sit up when he saw who it was, then fell back with a grunt of pain.
"Victoria, let her go."
Victoria looked like hell—covered in dried blood, her belly flat now, way too pale.
"Look, you can hate me all you want. I'll disappear forever if that's what it takes. But Sebastian can't wait—if we don't operate now, he's gonna lose his arm."
"I already owe him everything. If he ends up disabled because of me... I couldn't live with myself."
A short-haired woman helped Victoria up from the floor and glared at me like I was scum.
I knew her—Jessica Miller, the only female agent on Sebastian's team.
"I don't get why Foster married someone as selfish and stupid as you. The man puts his life on the line every damn day, and all you care about is your feelings getting hurt."
"Honestly? If he did cheat, you probably drove him to it!"
That's when I found out Sebastian could've easily dodged that bullet if he hadn't been protecting Victoria's baby.
I let out a bitter laugh and turned on Sebastian:
"I thought you said you handed Victoria's case off to someone else. So why were you still meeting with her today?"
"Sebastian, you're so worried about Victoria—is that baby even yours?"
"Amelia!"
Sebastian's face went dark as his hand cracked across my cheek, splitting my lip. I spit out blood like it was nothing.
"Sebastian! You can't hit her!"
His parents rushed in, pushing between us. Sebastian was breathing hard.
"She can say whatever she wants about me. But I won't let anyone trash-talk a widow."
Robert and Margaret stared at me in disbelief. I lifted my chin.
"Hit a nerve there?"
"You're over at Victoria's place every single day, staying overnight—and I'm supposed to believe nothing's going on?"
Victoria stopped crying for a second, her eyes darting around, then she started sobbing even harder, saying she'd rather just die.
The tension in that room was off the charts. If Sebastian's parents weren't blocking everyone, I probably would've gotten kicked.
But I didn't give a damn. I grabbed those divorce papers and threw them right in Sebastian's face.
"You don't sign this, I'll spread even worse rumors about you and Victoria. Question is—can sweet little Victoria handle that kind of attention?"
"I've got all day. Your arm doesn't."
Sebastian was gritting his teeth so hard I thought they might crack, but he still wouldn't budge. His parents were scrambling to pick up the papers, crying.
"You can't get divorced! Honey, we've seen how crazy he is about you. This would destroy him."
The whole room was going nuts when Sebastian finally spoke up:
"I never cheated on you. This stuff is classified, but screw Victoria's reputation—I'm telling you the truth."
Everyone started protesting, but Sebastian kept going:
"Every single time I went to check on Victoria, I had three or four guys posted around the building. Jessica's got all the duty rosters—you wanna see them?"
"Look at them, then drop this divorce crap."
I shrugged:
"Sure, why not?"
Jessica's hands were shaking as she dug through her bag. Under Sebastian's intense stare, she finally pulled out a folder and handed it over.
Sure enough, it was full of names and schedules.
Sebastian grabbed the folder to show me, but suddenly his face went white. He sat up fast, ignoring his busted arm, and started flipping through those pages.
When he finished, he looked around the room with the darkest expression I'd ever seen and said hoarsely:
"Fine. I'll sign the divorce papers."
