Chapter 1

Everyone in the Manhattan elite knew Xavier Sterling was a cold, celibate god. They also knew he loved me more than his own life.

He built a glass penthouse atop the Sterling Plaza just for me. Every day, he would hold me against the floor-to-ceiling windows, making love to me with a desperate intensity.

But no one knew that the woman against the glass was nothing more than a "living prop."

In our one year of marriage, he brought home a different woman every night.

As I watched him press his 366th mistress against that same window, tears finally escaped my eyes.

In the next second, Xavier's scarred fingers clamped around my throat, his voice freezing the air.

"Furniture should act like furniture!" he hissed.

"If you make another sound and ruin my mood, I'll make sure you never walk again."

Whenever a new girl arrived, I was stripped bare and locked into a small wooden frame. I was posed like a statue, a silent witness to his betrayals.

The world thought I was hopelessly in love with him, that this was our twisted foreplay.

They didn't know the truth until I vanished from his world forever.

That day, the invincible Prince of New York turned gray-haired overnight.

1.

"Why are you crying?" Xavier growled.

"What? Is the money not enough?"

"Shut the hell up and take another hundred grand. Don't ruin my night!"

A thick stack of bills slammed into my face. The sharp edges sliced across my bruised cheek, shredding my dignity as the cash scattered across the floor.

Xavier pinched my chin, his eyes filled with a terrifying malice. "If you can't even be a good piece of decor, what use do I have for you?"

He backhanded me, sending me sprawling onto the floor. The ropes binding me snapped, cutting deep into my wrists, but I didn't dare make a sound.

I could only listen to his mockery.

"Who are you trying to look pathetic for? This is exactly what you wanted, isn't it!"

"Xavier, don't be angry. I'm sure Vanya didn't mean it," the beauty on the bed cooed.

She walked over gracefully and wrapped her arms around his. Her voice was like honeyed poison.

"She's just too in love with you to watch us being intimate~"

Xavier let out a cold, sharp laugh. "Love me? She only loves my wallet. For enough cash, she'll do anything!"

I kept my head down, gritting my teeth. I didn't dare to talk back.

"Oh, really?" Annabelle Saint giggled, pulling ten hundred-dollar bills from her designer bag.

She tossed them in front of me. "Vanya, I heard you're famous for the 'Box Dance.' I wonder if this is enough for a private show?"

My heart skipped a beat.

The Box Dance was something Xavier forced me to learn to please a former mistress.

It required me to curl my entire body into a wooden frame less than three feet wide. I had to fold my bones like a snake.

I had practiced until my legs literally snapped. That was the only time Xavier showed a hint of pity, staying by my hospital bed for three days and nights.

After that, no one dared to mention the dance again.

But now, he looked at me with nothing but icy indifference.

"She told you to dance. Didn't you hear her?"

I trembled, slowly picking up the wooden frame. I began to fold myself into that suffocating, tiny space.

As I moved, my joints popped and cracked. It felt like my body was going to shatter at any moment.

"Wow, that's amazing!" Annabelle clapped, laughing like a delighted child. "Most circus performers couldn't even do that."

Xavier leaned against the window, his gaze bored. "It's a cheap trick for a cheap woman."

I pushed my body to its absolute limit until my vision went black. I stumbled out of the frame and collapsed onto my knees.

In the background, I could hear the rhythmic thuds and the woman's heavy moans starting again.

I was shaking with pain, but I forced myself not to cry. I couldn't let a single sound escape.

I crawled across the floor, picking up every scattered bill. I stacked them neatly, clutching them in my hand like a lifeline.

I didn't breathe a sigh of relief until I managed to limp out the door.

"Oh my god, ma'am! How did you get so hurt?" the maid asked as she helped me into the bath.

She looked at my bruised body with genuine pity. "Mr. Sterling usually adores you so much. He's going to be devastated when he sees this."

I looked down, a stiff, bitter smile touching my lips.

Everyone thought I was Xavier's most precious treasure.

Only the people in his inner circle knew the truth. As the titular Mrs. Sterling, I was treated worse than a stray dog.

When I went downstairs, Xavier was already at the dining table.

Annabelle sat beside him, elegantly ordering breakfast in perfect French.

Usually, Xavier never kept the same woman for more than a night. Annabelle was the exception.

He hadn't replaced her for seven days. Now, she was even occupying the private dining hall that used to be mine.

"Xavier," I whispered, sitting down cautiously. My voice was so thin it was almost audible. "I..."

He didn't even look up. His tone was sharp enough to draw blood. "How much do you want this time?"