Chapter 1

1

After 99 failed proposals, I discovered my boyfriend's secret.

He never touched me.

But he poured out his love to a photograph.

His voice breaking, he confessed, "I love you, my heart belongs only to you."

"Even if I can't have you, my body and soul will always be yours."

My heart turned to ice.

The woman in the photo wasn't a stranger.

She was his older brother's adopted daughter.

His niece, who called him "Uncle."

...

The dim nightlight shone through the crack in the door.

In the silent night, the muffled sounds from the study were amplified a thousand times.

I stood at the doorway, feeling like I was in a frozen wasteland.

This was the fifth time this month.

When he first agreed to date me, he insisted he was asexual, that he wouldn't touch me, that he preferred a platonic, slow-burn relationship.

Blinded by my love for him, I foolishly believed it was his way of cherishing me.

Now I know he wasn't without desire; it just wasn't for me.

His desire was for his niece, Vivian Perez, a desire he couldn't admit because of societal constraints.

A wave of nausea washed over me.

I ran to the bathroom and vomited until I was weak.

Before I could catch my breath, the bathroom door burst open.

Ethan said nothing, grabbing my hand and roughly shoving me into his car.

"Vivian's hurt, you're her blood type, go give her a transfusion."

As soon as I was in the transfusion room, Ethan coldly instructed the doctor, "Draw 1000cc, quickly..."

Knowing his status, the doctor didn't hesitate.

But after 1000cc, he didn't stop.

Dizzy and weak, I gasped, "Ethan, I feel terrible, stop..."

Ethan looked at me with a complex expression, his voice devoid of warmth. "It's just a little blood, you won't die. Just eat some iron supplements later."

"Draw a little more to be safe, Vivian can't have any complications."

He only stopped when I passed out from blood loss.

As I opened my eyes, I heard Vivian's spoiled temper tantrum. "I just wanted to scare you, why haven't you paid any attention to me lately?"

Ethan sighed, his voice laced with helplessness and indulgence. "Don't do that again, you're all scratched up, trying to make your uncle worry, huh?"

"You don't worry about me, you only worry about that woman who stole you away." She pouted, "Uncle, you said you only have Vivian, you're only Vivian's. Let's go back to how it was before? Make that bad woman disappear?"