Chapter 1

For three years of marriage, I tried everything. Nothing ever made Jaden Grant, with his touch-starved condition, willing to be close to me.

All because his precious love, Emma Shaw, died in a car crash after a fight over their engagement. He pinned all the blame on me. Hated me to the bone.

At a family dinner, the elders drugged us and locked us in together.

Burning up and desperate, I begged him. He just tossed me into an ice-cold bath, indifferent, and locked me in as he left.

The freezing winter water cut to the bone. So did the coldness in my heart.

After the drug wore off, I wrapped myself in a blanket and demanded answers. His voice was flat:

"Someone who's indifferent to death and suffering—what gives you the right to demand anything from me?"

But the next day, at a gynecology appointment, Emma Shaw turned up alive. She arched a brow and sneered:

"Jaden was drugged too, but he held out for hours to find me rather than touch you. Mrs. Grant, you're such a failure."

I froze for a second, then said, disbelieving, "Emma? But you..."

Emma crossed her arms and looked down at me. "But I was dead? Is that it?"

"Sorry to disappoint. Luck was on my side. Someone saved me. I'm very much alive now, and I've been with Jaden for a long time."

My hands curled into fists. A bitter taste flooded my throat.

I forced the words out. "When did Jaden... find out?"

Emma's mouth curved in a mocking smile. Her voice dripped with triumph.

"Jaden found out two years ago."

"Surprised? Every night you spent alone in that empty house, Jaden was with me."

"The man you couldn't get near no matter what you tried spent every day and night glued to someone else. How does it feel, Sophie?"

It felt like a rock was crushing my chest. I let out a bitter laugh.

So I was the only one in the dark.

I couldn't bear to imagine how Jaden saw me the past two years, using every trick I had to please him.

Or how he might have told Emma about it, laughing at it like it was a joke.

I held my shaking body still and forced the humiliated tears back into my eyes.

Just then, a nurse came up to me and said, "Mrs. Grant, you can go in now."

I practically fled, grabbing my bag and following the nurse.

I hadn't gone far before Emma's voice sounded behind me:

"Sophie, enjoy what little time you have left as Mrs. Grant. Because if I decide to fight for it, how much longer do you think you'll last?"

I turned at the sound, and saw the smug smile on Emma's face.

My heart clenched. I faced forward again and walked faster.

The doctor examined me and said the old problems from before, plus the whole night in the freezing bath, had caused severe internal coldness and damage.

Not only would conceiving be difficult, but it would take years of recovery just to repair the damage to my body.

I gave a bitter little smile.

Jaden never touched me, so what did it matter if I could get pregnant or not?

At home, I made myself a pot of healing soup.

Right as I was about to drink it, I saw a message from Jaden.

[Bring two boxes of Si's Bagels and doughnuts.]

Jaden often had me deliver things to his office. Sometimes it was dessert soups from the west side, sometimes cakes from the east side.

He could easily use a courier, but he specifically asked me to do it.

Today, Si's was all the way on the north side—the complete opposite direction from Grant Group, which sat on the south side.

A chill went through me. I bundled up in a thick down coat and drove out.

The line at Si's was long, and rush-hour traffic was a nightmare. By the time I got there, the bagels were a little cold.

I dropped them with the secretary, telling her to take them in. Jaden had given strict orders about that.

But back in the car, I realized I'd forgotten the doughnuts.

I ran back up.

This time, the secretary's desk was empty. Afraid the food would get too cold to eat, I had no choice but to push the door open myself.