Chapter 1

My life changed course at sixteen when I met Leo Hayes. By twenty-four, I was his wife.

On our wedding night, we left traces of our passion everywhere—the living room, the kitchen, the bay window. My throat went raw from screaming, but he only pushed harder, refusing to let me go.

For three years, Leo couldn't get enough of me.

Until one day, he was caught in a sudden fire, leaving me utterly alone.

Heartbroken, I mourned him fiercely. Yet, a month later, at a grand banquet, I saw my supposedly dead husband!

I'd only stepped away to use the restroom, but from inside a stall, I heard a woman’s soft moans. Peeking down, I saw men's dress shoes and women's high heels intertwined beneath the door.

“Leo… seeing how frail Alice looks… are you regretting faking your death to run off with me?”

It was meant as a question, but her low groans laced it with a seductive charm.

“Baby… what are you even saying?”

Leo chuckled softly, whispering, “She's nowhere near as adventurous as you, nowhere near as uninhibited. She doesn't have your wild, intoxicating charm.”

My pupils constricted sharply, my breath caught in my throat. I stood rooted to the spot, my mind a blank.

Only after they finished did the horrifying truth finally sink in.

That night, I erased every trace of Leo from our home.

Then, I knocked on the door of Alexander Sterling, the heir to one of the country's most powerful empires.

“I’m completely over Leo. Marry me.”

The next day, news of my impending marriage to Alexander Sterling spread like wildfire across the city. The ‘dead’ Leo, upon hearing it, went absolutely insane, calling me a thousand times.