The Wife He Tried To Erase Chapter 01
“Dr. Atkinson, this is the hundredth time. If there’s still no improvement, increase the stimulus to the maximum.”
Nicholas Gallagher idly tapped his fingers against the thick stack of consent forms.
Behind the glass, his wife, Emilia Barnett, lay on the cold operating table with her limbs tightly strapped down.
Everyone in New York knew how much Nicholas loved and doted on Emilia.
To cure her so-called severe delusional disorder, he’d even paused several hundred-million-dollar projects and poured a fortune into building this private sanatorium halfway up the mountain.
Over the past three years, he had accompanied her through 99 sessions of Modified Electroconvulsive Therapy.
Every time, he waited outside until she woke up.
People called him the model husband who stayed loyal to his “crazy” wife and never left her side.
What they didn’t know was that, by Gallagher family rules, the head of the family could never divorce—he could only marry again after his wife died.
Nicholas didn’t want the disgrace of breaking tradition. So, he kept sending Emilia onto the operating table.
Only Emilia knew the truth: the real purpose of this “treatment” was to erase her memory of the secret she had discovered about him and that woman three years ago.
Just before her consciousness slipped away, the sharp click of heels rang out over the intercom. Then, she heard Valentina Hughes’ syrupy voice. “Nicky, this is a hospital. Emmy’s still inside…”
Nicholas replied, “We’ll do it right here. Try to be quiet. Don’t worry. She’s already unconscious.”
Emilia forced her eyes open.
Through the class, she saw Nicholas yank off his tie and shove Valentina onto the control console.
Valentina wore a white dress, the kind Emilia used to love.
Now, the hem was lifted, and Valentina chuckled happily beneath Nicholas. The sight drove like a blade into Emilia’s dimming vision.
Her eyes landed on his right hand wrapped around Valentina’s throat.
That same hand had once stroked Emilia’s hair with impossible tenderness as he swore to protect her for life.
Emilia woke to find herself in the VIP suite of the sanatorium.
Nicholas was peeling an apple. When he saw her awake, he cut off a slice and held it to her lips. “Emmy, how do you feel? Do you still remember those crazy ideas from before?”
Seeing his handsome face made her stomach turn. She blinked slowly and said, “No, I don’t.”
He exhaled in relief, and his expression softened.
“Good. Tonight is Valentina’s exhibition celebration. You’re going with me.”
Emilia nodded obediently.
The truth was, the shocks had stopped working long ago.
After the 15th session, she had learned to pretend.
When he asked if she remembered who Valentina was, she always shook her head, her face blank.
When he came home late, she no longer asked whose perfume was on his clothes.
Fully conscious, Emilia let him place her on the operating table again and again, feeling the slow death of her brain cells.
The 100th time marked the absolute limit of her patience and hope.
The celebration was held at the most luxurious art center in New York.
Beneath the brilliant chandeliers, Nicholas walked in with Emilia on his arm, sending the room into a flurry of whispers.
“That’s Mrs. Gallagher? I heard she’s been crazy for years. Mr. Gallagher’s really devoted. He takes her everywhere.”
“Exactly. If my wife ended up like that, I’d have locked her in a psych ward already.”
Emilia wore the dress Nicholas chose and kept a polite smile.
Valentina didn’t like it—she said purple made her look older. So he gave it to Emilia.
Once, Emilia had been a brilliant painter, known across all of New York.
Nicholas once did plenty of reckless things for her.
When she mentioned wanting to see the aurora, he arranged a flight overnight and took her to Northern Europe. In the snow, he held her and swore he’d only be her muse.
When her brush broke, he searched half the world for a discontinued master craftsman set.
Later, she gave up painting and devoted herself to taking care of him. When she cut her hand while chopping vegetables, he panicked, his eyes filled with worry. Then he threw out every knife in the house and swore he’d never let her cook again.
Everyone envied her and said she married the right man.
Everything started to change when Valentina returned.
She was the scholarship student Nicholas had funded for ten years, and she looked strikingly like a younger Emilia.
Valentina was now a highly sought-after rising star in the art world.
Her claim to fame shared the exact same composition and brushstrokes as the sketchbook Emilia had lost ten years ago. And it also bore a hidden signature in the bottom right corner.
Emilia confronted Nicholas with the evidence.
He merely stared at her with a coldness that made him feel like a complete stranger. “Emmy, you’re sick. That’s Tina’s work. You can’t just imagine it’s yours out of jealousy. Looks like you need treatment.”
So, the first Modified Electroconvulsive Therapy session began.
It was Emilia’s nightmare and Valentina’s stepping stone to the top.
But 100 times was Emilia’s final limit.
A day earlier, she finally walked out of the sanatorium. The first thing she did was contact a lawyer.
“Mr. Ortega, please draft a divorce agreement for me as soon as possible.”
The second thing she did was gather every piece of evidence showing that Valentina had stolen her manuscript.
“Hello, is this the FBI Art Crime Team? I’d like to file a report. Every one of Valentina’s works is plagiarized.”