Chapter 1

In the third year of my marriage to Sarah Montgomery, I overheard her friends asking her:

"Sarah, if we pretend to be you and take turns holding hands and kissing your husband, he really won't notice?"

Sarah carelessly smoothed a stray strand of hair from her temple, utterly unbothered.

"He has face blindness, he won't notice."

"But just so we're clear, have your fun, but don't sleep with him. I don't want seconds; that's just dirty."

For the past three years, the person I'd been dating, holding hands with, and kissing, was never Sarah Montgomery.

Of course, I knew.

I also knew that for the past three years, the one I'd been holding close in bed every night, wasn't Sarah either.

The phone rang just as I carried Chloe Miller out of the bathroom.

Chloe was a clingy little siren.

Taking advantage of a brief pause, I nudged her waist.

"Phone."

She finally glanced at her phone, pouting, a hint of annoyance in her expression.

She quickly flipped it over, then playfully leaned in to kiss my earlobe.

"Hubby, I'm gonna take this call."

Chloe said, then disappeared into the balcony.

I silently put on my pajamas and went downstairs, opening the car door and slipping inside.

From the car's Bluetooth, which was connected to Sarah Montgomery's phone, came her cool voice:

"Tomorrow, you switch with me."

Chloe chuckled softly. "What, only three years and you're already having withdrawals?"

Sarah paused, likely having a drink, her voice a little hoarse.

"Not really. Grandpa's birthday is tomorrow, so I need to bring him. Oh, and a reminder, it's Ashley's turn on Friday."

As soon as she finished, a chorus of laughter erupted.

"No way, Sarah, you're seriously that generous? You just got married and you're already lending your husband out for us to 'play' with?"

Sarah's nonchalant voice came through.

"It's a blind box game. You play, you lose, you pay up. It's just Liam Henderson; I can afford to lose him."

"But just so we're clear, have your fun, but don't sleep with him. I don't want seconds; that's just dirty."

Someone "tsk"-ed.

"What are you scared of? Who would ever actually *want* him?"

"Still, Liam Henderson has a great body. Sarah posted a picture of him right after he showered in the group chat, those abs, *tsk-tsk-tsk*. None of you five felt a thing?"

"I kinda did."

Chloe's sweet, flirty voice suddenly broke the silence.

Sarah's end went quiet. The silence that followed was so thick, it sent a chill down my spine.

"Just for fun, I'm not a home-wrecker."

Chloe said leisurely, "But wouldn't sleeping with him be perfect? His birthday's in a few days, aren't you planning to announce this whole thing then?"

The raucous music on Sarah's end drowned out Chloe's voice.

But I could still hear Jake Peterson laughing in her ear.

Jake was Sarah Montgomery's first love.

I grew up alongside Sarah, watching her and Jake go from strangers to lovers.

But Mr. Montgomery didn't like him. He'd threatened that if Jake didn't leave Sarah, the Petersons would be forced out of this state.

For Jake, Sarah had no choice but to agree to an arranged marriage with me.

Eighteen years of secret love, and my dream finally came true. Only now, I realized it was nothing more than a game among these rich kids from the elite circles.

Jake laughed, echoing.

"Right, Sarah, his birthday's in a few days. Why don't you give him a big present and tell him the truth?"

"From the moment you two got married, you've been taking turns with him… When you think about it, Liam Henderson is like a shared toy, everyone gets a turn."

"Shut up."

Sarah and Chloe's angry voices came out at the same time, and the phone line fell silent again.