Part 1 The city lights blurred past the car windows like streaks of forbidden promise as I gripped the steering wheel, my knuckles whitening not from the cold December air seeping in, but from the storm raging inside me. It was New Year's Eve, 2025 turning into 2026, and we were hurtling toward something irreversible. My wife—God, she looked stunning tonight—sat beside me in the passenger seat, her legs crossed in that sh...