Chapter 1

My husband, Ethan Pierce, wants me to sign an infidelity agreement.

Article Three of the agreement: twelve opportunities to cheat per year, unused chances can be converted to cash.

I smiled and signed it.

From then on, I purchased various contraceptives and sex toys for him.

I took excellent care of my husband and his lovers.

Those lovers humiliated me: "That old hag is so pathetic. Does she really think she can keep Ethan's heart by acting like a dog?"

I still didn't cry, didn't make a scene, and didn't file for divorce.

Instead, every year, I collected a payout of thirty-six million dollars.

Every second, I waited for that bastard husband to die.

After all, Ethan Pierce had no idea.

His HIV test had already come back positive long ago.

The sixty-eighth time.

When the nauseating moans from the master bedroom finally stopped, I swallowed the PEP pill in my mouth and put on protective gloves before daring to push the door open.

Bit by bit, I cleaned up the disheveled, obscene mess of the room.

The next second, the frosted bathroom door was yanked open.

Ethan Pierce walked out bare-chested, supporting a young woman who could barely stand.

"Ouch, I told you it was my first time. Did you have to be so rough?"

It was Sophie West, the new intern at the company — fresh, beautiful, like a rose with thorns.

The two of them flirted and laughed, but when they saw me, the warmth in Ethan's eyes plummeted.

"Fast work."

He pulled out a black card and casually tossed it onto the messy sheets stained with spots of blood.

"Get the most expensive bedding set. Keep whatever's left and buy yourself some handbags."

His voice sounded like he was dismissing a beggar.

I numbly walked over, bent down, and picked up the card.

I didn't cry. I didn't make a scene.

Because Ethan Pierce had no idea.

Six months ago, I'd found the medical report of his previous lover. Positive.

And not only had I quietly concealed it, I'd also prayed to every god I could think of — and received confirmation that Ethan Pierce had tested positive too.

Childhood sweethearts. A power couple.

Seven years of marriage. I never imagined that one day, I'd be hoping for Ethan Pierce to die.

Seven years ago, when Ethan used half of the Lynn family assets as startup capital and became the leading business tycoon in Crestwood, he knelt before me and said I was the only true love of his life.

When he knew I was overseas on a business trip missing home-style cooking, he'd fly over ten hours just to cook me a table full of dishes himself.

But after my family went bankrupt and Ethan handed me an agreement allowing him to "cheat twelve times a year," I went from being the pampered elite wife he held in the palm of his hand to the maid who cleaned up after his hookups.

If love could be performed, then I'd perform until he lost everything...

After all, with one month left until his onset period, I was only one step away from completely destroying Ethan Pierce.

"You clean up. I need to take this call."

The ringtone interrupted my thoughts.

Ethan kissed Sophie for a few seconds, answered the phone, then turned and headed to the study.

In the enormous bedroom, only Sophie and I remained.

I watched Sophie — who had just kissed Ethan and been infected again — sit brazenly at my vanity without the slightest hesitation, picking up my bottles and jars and smearing them recklessly on her neck.

I smiled. "If you like them, I'll give them all to you later."

Through the mirror, Sophie looked at me with contempt, a provocative smile curling at the corner of her mouth.

"Smart of you to know your place. So what if you're childhood sweethearts? You're still just a washed-up old woman."

"Ethan said that because I gave him my first time, I'm his only true love. And without me, he'd rather die."

"So, Lydia Lynn, do you really think a marriage certificate can hold onto Ethan?"

True love... I laughed.

Didn't she know? She was already Ethan Pierce's sixty-eighth true love.

Looking at Sophie's young, ignorant face, remembering how she'd just bragged about her first time, out of what little pity I had left, I looked at her with a hoarse voice.

"Ethan Pierce has too many women around him. He's not clean. If you're smart, you should leave him as soon as possible."

But that sentence seemed to step on her tail.

Sophie shot up, her pretty face instantly twisting. She raised her hand and slapped me.

The crisp sound echoed in the empty bedroom.

My cheek burned with pain, and the metallic taste of blood exploded in my mouth.

"Leave? You bitch! You're just jealous of me! You just can't stand seeing Ethan treat me well!"

She screamed, her eyes reddening, then turned and ran toward the study, crying and shouting as she ran: "Ethan! Your wife is bullying me! She said I'm dirty! She's forcing me to leave you!"

The study door burst open.

Ethan Pierce strode out, his face showing the impatience and fury of being disturbed.

Without asking any questions, seeing Sophie crying like a pear blossom in the rain, then seeing me covering my face, he delivered another slap, viciously striking my other cheek.

"Lydia Lynn, no matter how jealous you are, you'd better fulfill the agreement! I give you money, you do your job as the maid!"

I fell to the ground, my ears ringing.

Through blurred vision, I watched Sophie coyly throw herself into Ethan Pierce's arms, wrapping her arms around his neck, her face full of smug satisfaction.

"Ethan, don't be angry. Let's do it again, okay? I really want to give you a baby."

"Okay, whatever you want."

Ethan Pierce lowered his head and kissed Sophie's forehead.

Before entering the room, he glanced at me like I was trash and coldly ordered: "When we're done, wash those sheets clean."

"Okay."

I nodded silently, watching their backs disappear.

Since Sophie wouldn't listen to my warning, getting infected was no one's fault but her own.

That evening, after professional disinfection personnel finished sanitizing the villa, I had just changed into my pajamas when the villa's door lock suddenly turned.

Ethan Pierce had come back.

He carried a strong scent of perfume and alcohol, his steps unsteady.

I instinctively tried to dodge, but he suddenly grabbed me from behind, his scorching breath spraying on the back of my ear, his voice hoarse and suggestive.

"Seeing me with others, you must be missing me too, right? Tonight, I'll pamper you, okay?"

With that, his kiss came crashing down.