Chapter 2

Chapter 2

As I walked past the master bedroom with my suitcase, I heard Sienna's timid voice from inside.

"Mr. Mercer, it is not right for me to stay here."

Bennett let out a soft, dismissive laugh.

"What are you afraid of? She is thirty-two and past her prime. Am I not allowed to have some fun?"

I picked up my pace, yet his cruel words still pierced straight through my chest.

The moment I shut the front door behind me, I caught a glimpse of Sienna's coat carelessly dropped in the hallway.

In my mind, it blurred together with countless strange garments Bennett had brought home over the years.

I still vividly remembered the first time he brought someone back. It was on my twenty-second birthday.

I had bought a cake in his favorite flavor, eager to celebrate with him.

When I unlocked the door, all I found was a trashed living room and intimate sounds echoing from the master bedroom.

I burst inside and demanded an explanation.

He simply snapped out of the mood, pulled on his clothes with chilling speed, and turned cold.

The girl, still flushed with desire, whined for him to continue, but Bennett shoved her off the bed onto the floor.

"Get out," he snapped coldly.

Terrified by his sudden rage, the girl scrambled to grab her clothes and fled the penthouse.

Then Bennett stood up, pulled me into his arms, wiped away my tears, and spoke with tender affection.

"I am sorry, Clary. I never meant for you to see that. You know you are the only one in my heart."

"But I am still young. Spending my entire life tied to only one person is just too boring."

He buried his face in my neck, whining playfully just like he had done a thousand times before.

And just like a thousand times before, I fell for it.

I was an orphan who earned a full scholarship to an elite private prep school because of my top grades.

Bennett was tall, confident, and dazzling, always the center of attention wherever he went.

To everyone else, I was nothing more than an introverted bookworm.

Yet this radiant boy had bypassed everyone in the classroom during group assignments and walked straight up to my desk.

"Hey, Clara. I heard you took first place in the entire grade. Mind carrying me this semester?"

My cheeks had flushed hot, and I nodded dumbly.

When we turned twenty-two, the Mercer family stood on the brink of financial ruin, and his father demanded he marry a wealthy heiress to save the empire.

Instead, Bennett grabbed his passport and rushed to city hall to marry me on the spot.

Beneath the grand chandelier, his father glared at me with sharp, suspicious eyes, refusing to believe his wild playboy son would ever settle down.

Bennett held me tightly against his side and spoke with absolute conviction.

"Who says we need a business merger to save our family?"

"Give me ten years. I will rebuild Mercer Enterprises from the ground up, and I will prove to all of you that Clara and I are true love."

At that moment, I decided to wager ten years of my youth on him, betting that he would truly love only me.