Chapter 1
I married Ethan Blackwood, the playboy heir to a billionaire fortune.
Every time he cheated, I divorced him.
Three times in total.
And I fell for his apologies all three times.
Until he personally destroyed my mother's tombstone for his old flame, Serena Hayes, forcing me to apologize to her in public.
Ethan even abandoned me while I was pregnant with his child to save Serena, causing me to hemorrhage and miscarry.
After he crushed all my pride and love, he still had the audacity to say.
"It's not normal for a man not to cheat. Is this your first day knowing me?"
My heart turned to ice, and I left.
Three years later, I married Ryder Collins, who genuinely cared for me, at the foot of a snowy mountain.
Yet, Ethan knelt in public, begging me to come back. I simply said, coldly.
"I stopped loving you a long time ago. Your belated affection is just too fake."
Anya POV
I was a spoiled, headstrong heiress who married Ethan Blackwood, the city's infamous billionaire's son and a notorious playboy.
The first year of our marriage, I caught Ethan deeply kissing a young model at a club. It caused a massive uproar, and we divorced.
Three months later, due to the need to push forward a joint project between our two families, we were forced to remarry.
The second year of our remarriage, I publicly slapped Ethan three times on the street for having an affair with an aspiring actress. It went viral on Ins, and we divorced again.
However, this time, less than three days after the divorce, our families pressured us into reconciling.
By then, our two companies were deeply intertwined and couldn't function without each other.
After getting our marriage certificate for the third time, the playboy Ethan finally relented.
He held a cigarette between his fingers, his expression veiled and indifferent.
"Can we just live a good life together? You cool your bad temper, and I won't see other women outside."
I smirked, sitting in the driver's seat and rolling up the window.
"Fine, but don't let me catch you cheating again."
"Fine, but don't let me catch you cheating again. If you cheat one more time, I will never marry you again. Over my dead body!"
What I hated most in life was a cheating scumbag!
My father's infidelity caused my mother's mental breakdown and eventual suicide.
From that moment on, I hated this world.
That's why I'd stop at nothing to hurt the cheating Ethan.
I'd rather hurt myself if it meant hurting him worse.
The second year after this third remarriage, I went to a snowy mountain to find inspiration for my painting. I was caught in an avalanche and nearly died there.
When Ethan heard, he defied the mountain closure and danger warnings, entering the mountain alone with rescue equipment to save me.
Using our tracking watches, Ethan found me, barely clinging to life.
The snow that day was heavy.
Ethan must have searched for me for ages; his face was red from the cold, and his hands trembled uncontrollably.
"Anya, let's go home."
I stared at him blankly, a strange surge of emotion stirring in my chest.
To meet the person who would risk everything to save you, right before death's door.
Perhaps, I had truly found the right person.
After the mountain rescue, our marriage entered a honeymoon phase.
Ethan reined in his wild ways.
For an entire year, he had no rumors with any women; he kept himself clean.
He stopped going to all the entertainment venues.
When his friends tried to tease him into trouble at dinners, he would just smile and say he listened to his wife, coming home for dinner before ten o'clock.
We were getting better and better, and Ethan poured all his efforts into loving me.
He proposed on a yacht at sunset bay in Miami.
He played the piano for me beneath the Swiss Alps, holding white moon flowers.
He swore eternal love under a hot air balloon in Turkey.
We passionately loved each other all over the world.
Until a phone call shattered the silence of the night.
Ethan's face changed after he took the call.
He quickly booked a flight back home.
"Something urgent came up at work. I have to leave. Anya, you can take your time enjoying yourself here."
He left a deep kiss and turned to leave.
I touched my reddened lips, watching his retreating figure.
A creeping sense of dread spread through my chest.
"Ethan, you'd better not be lying to me."
I calmly checked out of the hotel and bought a flight ticket.
Following him all the way.
His methods weren't subtle.
But Ethan, too flustered and anxious, didn't notice my tail.
The next afternoon, Ethan drove to a simple apartment complex.
Soon, a scarred little girl ran out and threw herself into his arms.
Behind her, a stooped, tired, and aged woman followed.
Ethan's usual good temper vanished.
He gripped a baseball bat and stormed inside.
I got out of my car.
I could only stare as Ethan, like a madman, fiercely and wildly beat an old man with the bat, blow after blow.
"You married Serena and treated her so badly, and you dared to abuse Lily? I'll kill you right now!"