Chapter 5

The expression on Genevieve's face seemed to grow even more displeased.

She let out a strange, mocking laugh, then slid her hand to my waist. Even through my thin shirt, I could feel the heat of her palm.

"Spencer Thorne, I remember you once said you'd never betray me or leave me, didn't you?"

"Yes." I lowered my head, meeting Genevieve's aggressive gaze. "But we've already signed the divorce agreement, so those words don't count anymore."

"What? Is this whole charade you've been putting on just to remind me about the divorce papers? Or worse, have you actually fallen for me? If—"

"No! Ms. Sinclair, I think you've misunderstood. Our marriage was a planned arrangement from the very beginning. How could a collaborator possibly fall for their business partner?"

Genevieve's eyes were fixed on mine, deep and unreadable. The emotions within them were truly hard to decipher.

And she still held the 'life-and-death power' over my family, which was the key leverage that forced me to agree to this year of pretense.

"Good, very good." Genevieve suddenly released her grip on me and scoffed. "Spencer Thorne, you'd better remember your words."

"I trust you're a smart man. If that's the case, then for the rest of this year, you'd better fulfill your duties as a husband."

I'd always thought that even if there was no affection between us, considering how dedicatedly I'd cared for her for five years, things wouldn't end too badly.

But Genevieve's sudden fury now seemed utterly baseless.

My first thought was that Asher had badmouthed me to her earlier, but that didn't make sense.

Asher was targeting me only because I'd held the title of Genevieve's husband for five years, and he couldn't gauge my place in her heart.

After that little test, he got the answer he wanted, so he shouldn't be bothering me anymore.

"I understand."

I followed Genevieve into the master bedroom. By the time I finished showering and came out, Genevieve was already asleep in bed.

Only a small nightlight remained lit in the entire room.

This was a lingering after-effect from Genevieve's car accident. In the years she had the mind of a child, even with me by her side, she would always remind me to leave a light on before she slept.

I watched her sleeping face for a while before slowly getting into the other side of the bed.

I thought I'd lie awake until dawn, but in the quiet atmosphere, it wasn't long before a heavy wave of sleepiness washed over me.