Chapter 3

Before the wedding, I didn't see Ethan once.

I stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows, gazing at the city skyline.

How absurd - just a year ago today, I was chasing Ethan across the desert in an SUV.

Now I'd become a resentful woman confined to her chambers.

The hotel was holding a ceremony.

Even from miles away, the exuberant cheers reached my ears.

My assistant Peach came out, saying my health was poor and I couldn't stand the cold wind.

I should go back inside.

I found it somewhat amusing.

Once upon a time I could work three days and nights straight, praised as an iron lady with heroic grace.

Now people said my health was poor.

Thinking carefully, I hadn't slept well in a very long time.

I asked Peach to bring me sedatives.

After taking them I prepared for sleep.

Ethan came home half-drunk, stumbling into my apartment.

He kissed my lips as he used to, removed my clothes, and bent his head to work.

I suddenly spoke. "Is this how you treat Charlotte too?"

He froze abruptly and climbed off me. "Why bring her up?"

I smiled and dressed. "Now she's the legitimate Mrs. Sterling."

I still remembered when he'd first achieved success, someone sent him a female celebrity.

I made a scene at the company, humiliating the partner who sent her.

Ethan just looked at me with indulgence and laughed, dismissed the person, and bought me a limited-edition sports car to appease me.

Back then, I wouldn't allow anyone to take any of Ethan's love.

"When we're together, let's not mention others, okay?"

He patiently coaxed me, wanting me to act spoiled with him like before.

I smiled bitterly. "That I'm still willing to stay here is already my biggest concession. From now on, don't come to my place."

He sat up abruptly, gripping my face in the dim light, forcing me to look at him. "Sophia, what do you mean?"

I looked directly at him. "I made myself very clear. Don't you understand?"

Anger flashed in his eyes, like a venomous wolf.

My shoulder had an old injury - from when I'd blocked a knife for him.

It ached unbearably on rainy days.

But now he paid no heed to my injury, gripping my shoulder with brutal force.

I curled up in pain.

He ignored it, still ramming recklessly.

"Sophia! No one can defy me!"

That night was exceptionally long.

Afterward, he tossed me aside like a rag.

"Think it over. I'm leaving."

The lights went out.

Tears slid down my face, burying themselves in my hair.

I suddenly felt panicked.

If my father and mother had spirits in heaven, what would they think seeing me like this?

Ethan, you promised my father.

You can't treat me this way.