Chapter 1

Everyone envied me for marrying Julian Sterling, the billionaire who supposedly loved me to death.

Until I came home early and caught him kissing an up-and-coming model right in the company lobby.

What made it worse was that every sweet trick he used on her was an exact copy of how he had chased me.

Turns out, I was never irreplaceable.

If his love was just an act, I had no reason to play along anymore.

This time, I was going to make sure he watched himself lose me with his own eyes.

Seraphina's POV

Julian Sterling’s love for me was something the whole city knew about.

He once rented the entire digital billboard on the outside of a luxury mall just to project my photography portfolio.

Anyone passing by on the street couldn't miss my name glowing in the sky.

On my birthday, he tracked down a limited-edition vintage film camera from an overseas auction and presented it to me in front of all our friends, saying I deserved nothing but the best.

At his company galas, he would raise his glass and declare to the room that I was the most talented artist in the industry.

The crowd would applaud, people would whistle, and he would just smile and take it all in.

Everyone said I hit the jackpot, marrying a man who carried me on his hands.

I had crammed seven semesters of college courses into six just to finish early. My hands shook as I packed my bags.

I didn't tell him when I was landing. I wanted it to be a surprise.

The second my car dropped me off, I rolled my suitcase straight into the headquarters of Sterling Enterprises.

The lobby was bustling with people, but I spotted him instantly.

Julian was standing right in the center of the marble floor. Chloe Taylor, the rising fashion model, had her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

They were embracing in broad daylight.

He had one hand wrapped possessively around her waist. With his other hand, he unhooked the custom charm from his phone and clicked it onto Chloe's.

Chloe giggled, stood on her tiptoes, and planted a kiss firmly on his cheek.

Bystanders in the lobby recognized Julian and took out their phones to take pictures, but he didn't even flinch.

I stood frozen by the revolving glass doors, my feet glued to the floor.

Just the night before, we had been on FaceTime.

He had looked at me with that gentle, tender smile, telling me he was counting down the days until my graduation, promising he would love me forever.

I had believed him. After hanging up, I smiled at the dark screen for minutes and folded the cashmere sweater I had bought for him again and again.

I didn't walk up to them.

Instead, I pulled my luggage toward the side entrance. The heavy door was half-open, leading to a service corridor that connected to the private elevators.

Julian’s voice drifted down from the end of the hall. He was giving instructions to his assistant, David.

"Keep Chloe’s schedule quiet. Don't let Sera find out."

David acknowledged with a quiet nod.

"I promised to visit her overseas twelve times over these years, and I only went twice," Julian's tone was completely detached, as if he were talking about a stranger. "Long distance was just too exhausting. Chloe was the one actually beside me."

My knuckles turned white as I gripped the handle of my suitcase.

"If I had met Chloe first," he paused for a brief moment, "she probably would have been the one I married."

The hallway fell into dead silence for a few seconds. David whispered something back, but I couldn't hear it.

I had spent six brutal semesters grinding overseas, putting together four complete photography portfolios, with every single cover dedicated to him.

I had sent him 312 emails. One every single day from the first day to the last, without missing a single beat.

He hadn't replied to a single one.

I thought he was busy. I thought he was suffering through the distance just like I was.

Standing outside that side door, taking in every single word, my chest felt like it had been violently hollowed out. A bitter, icy wind rushed straight through the void, cutting deep into my bones.

My heart was dead.

I pulled out my phone, dialed a number I had saved, and held the receiver to my ear.

"I need to hire a private investigator," I said, my voice terrifyingly calm. "I need you to look into Chloe Taylor. Dig up every single thing you can find on her."