Chapter 3

2

Three years had passed in a blur, and so many things had become habit.

For instance.

Even after being exhausted by Kaelen until the small hours of the morning, I still woke up early.

The scent of our intimate encounter lingered in the air.

But.

The other side of the bed remained icy cold.

He never slept in my room.

Kaelen once told me with brutal honesty:

“I don’t want to see your face the moment I wake up. It ruins my mood for the entire day.”

See?

He always knew exactly what to say to twist the knife in my heart.

I stared at the ceiling for a long time before I could muster the strength to move.

My stomach throbbed with a tearing, intermittent pain.

I put on my slippers and shuffled slowly toward the bathroom.

Warm water cascaded over my pale skin, making the dark bruises on my body look even more jarring.

Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I couldn’t help but pull a self-mocking smile.

I knew it well.

Kaelen hated me.

He hated that three years ago, when his family’s corporation was on the brink of financial ruin, I forced him into this marriage with a single contract.

He hated me even more because, because of me, his first love had fled overseas and vanished without a trace.

But.

Perhaps it had been too long.

So long that even he had forgotten the promise he once whispered to me at the start of that summer.