My Overly Clingy Succubus Husband

My incubus husband was ridiculously clingy. After landing in the hospital again because of… that, I threw the divorce papers in his face. The man just gave a soft, “Alright,” a complete one-eighty from the primal intensity of the night before. I was just starting to breathe a sigh of relief when my vision was flooded with a barrage of text. [Here we go! It’s the basement arc we’ve all been waiting for!] [The chains and little toys in the cellar were all custom-made to the villainess’s measurements. What’s with this gentlemanly act?] [This is the kind of toxic passion I live for. Go on, villainess, you’ve got this!]

1 I froze mid-turn, my legs suddenly unsteady. I grabbed the man’s arm. “Actually, maybe we shouldn’t get divorced after all.” “What?” Damien’s eyelids lifted slightly, his tone flat. His utter indifference made me wonder if I’d imagined the whole thing. I took a deep breath, scrambling for an explanation. “I just… suddenly don’t want to. We’ve been married for three years, we’re used to each other. To be honest, I don’t think I can live without you…” By the end of my little speech, the man’s expression had shifted to one of pure confusion, and my own confidence withered, my voice trailing off. My marriage to Damien was an accident. Five years ago, my picture-perfect life started to fall apart, all thanks to a dirt-poor intern named Lily who started at my family’s company. My childhood sweetheart, the man who’d sworn to take care of me forever, fell for her and publicly broke off our engagement, leaving me utterly humiliated. Even my parents, who had always spoiled me rotten, inexplicably sided with Lily. I was consumed by jealousy. To prove I wasn’t some unwanted cast-off, I threw a tantrum and married Damien, the notoriously dark and ruthless incubus CEO everyone else avoided like the plague. For three years, I tried to make Lily’s life hell, but every attempt backfired spectacularly. Either Damien would find out and stop me, or I’d somehow manage to hoist myself by my own petard. Recently, one of my schemes to frame Lily was exposed. My reputation was in tatters, and many of my so-called friends had cut ties. I knew Damien had always hated my vicious streak and had a soft spot for Lily. I figured it was better to dump him myself and look cool doing it than to wait for him to kick me when I was down. When I texted him about the divorce, he was in the middle of a crucial meeting. He called me back almost instantly. “The reason,” he’d stated, his voice cool through the speaker. I had laughed, a cruel, sharp sound. “I saw your tail by accident when you didn’t close the bathroom door all the way. It was all… slimy. Grossed me out.” So now, hearing me spout nonsense like “I can’t live without you,” it wasn’t just Damien who didn’t believe it; I barely believed it myself. “You’re sure?” No cold sneer, just his deep voice pulling me from my thoughts. “I don’t want to, for now.” I watched his face, but there was no trace of joy. “As you wish.” After a pause, he picked up the half-signed divorce papers from the desk and fed them into the shredder. The comments exploded again. [What’s going on with the villainess? Did she suddenly grow a brain?] [Is Seraphina finally wising up and deciding to cling to the second male lead? A little late for that, though. His resentment has been festering for years.] [Late? This is perfect timing! Did you see the corner of his mouth twitch when he shredded the papers? And the shredder! That sly bastard was terrified she’d change her mind again, lmao.] [Keep it up, villainess! Don’t stop! More! He’s a yandere incubus with no morals, and you’re the evil queen. You two are a match made in hell. If you can win him over, taking down the female lead will be a piece of cake.]

2 I spent the entire afternoon piecing things together. Apparently, I was living in a fluffy romance novel. Lily was the heroine, and I was the evil villainess, destined to be imprisoned and killed by the second male lead. No wonder anyone who got near Lily was instantly drawn to her, as if the entire universe revolved around her. It was a lot to take in. That evening, after a shower, I picked up my phone, hoping to unwind, only to be met with a tidal wave of hate comments. All my social media accounts had been flooded by users defending their precious heroine, Lily. A message from my ex-fiancé, Ashton, popped up. [Seraphina, don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing. You’re trying to use these pathetic tricks to force me to leave Lily and get back with you.] [Hah. All this drama just to see me, right? Fine. You win. Friday afternoon, the usual place.] I didn’t bother replying. I just blocked him and turned off the screen. The comments were a chaotic scroll. [Not trying to defend her, but the villainess isn’t evil for no reason. Imagine being a proud, pampered princess, and overnight your parents, your fiancé, and your friends all start ignoring you for some other girl. I’d lose my mind too.] [Sera has the looks and the money. Why is she losing to a heroine who can’t even tell the difference between Word and Google Docs? This novel makes no fcking sense…*] [If I were the author, I’d slap the crazy heroine, slap the asshole hero twice, and lock the villainess and the yandere in the basement to hate-fuck until they have at least eight kids. How about that?] “…” Not a great plan, in my opinion. After calming myself down, I got ready for bed. I had just taken off my lingerie when the bedroom door creaked open. Damien’s gaze swept down my body. I snatched my robe and threw it on. “Sorry, you didn’t lock the door.” His eyes were fixed on me, burning. I could see his throat move as he swallowed, and the faint outline of black scales shimmered on his skin. When an incubus is aroused, his true form starts to show… The word “Get out” was on the tip of my tongue. But then I saw the comments. [I can already picture it. The villainess will put on her usual haughty, disgusted face and tell him to get lost. She’s so beautiful, but so determined to self-destruct. This is how she grinds away all his affection.] [Seraphina, for the love of God, be nice to your husband. You slap him now, you’ll be paying for it with your mouth in that basement. Split lips are a bitch to deal with.] The comments were a stark reminder. I did a quick one-eighty, offering Damien a small, sweet smile. “It’s okay, hu—” Damien, who had been about to leave, froze. His eyes darkened, waiting for me to finish. Damn it. It was all those comments calling him “husband”… it had gotten to me. [For God’s sake, spit it out! One little ‘hubby’ from you, and he’d give you his life. The heroine would be nothing.] [Let’s not make him sound so cheap. Three years of emotional abuse? He definitely hates her more than he loves her by now. Besides, have you all forgotten? He’s the one who imprisons her to death to protect the heroine.] The comments split into two factions and started arguing. I raised an eyebrow. I might as well test the waters. Playing along, I purred, “Damien, do you think I have a good body?” “It’s average.” He lowered his gaze, his expression unreadable. [Lying bastard. Playing hard to get won’t win you a wife. No wonder the villainess has been hung up on the male lead all these years. You kind of deserve it.] [Am I dreaming? Did the villainess just stop looking at him like he’s dirt? Is our evil power couple ship finally sailing???] Not one to give up, I took a step closer, teasing, “You didn’t even look. How would you know it’s ‘average’?” “I don’t need to look,” he replied coolly, but his fingers curled into a fist, his knuckles turning a pale pink. He was gripping his trousers so hard he was practically tearing a hole in them. How had I never noticed before? He was actually kind of cute when he was flustered. I saw that his collar was askew and reached out to fix it. “Don’t touch me,” a low, cold voice commanded from above me. It was harsh. I froze, remembering the warring comments. Right. In three years, I’d never given Damien anything but contempt. Lily, on the other hand, had been like a little sun, always encouraging him to step out of the shadows. It was only natural that he would hate me. I gave a self-deprecating smile and let my arm fall. “Just remember to close the door on your way out. I’m going to sleep.” The man closed the door but didn’t leave. Instead, he started walking toward me, one slow step at a time. His breathing grew heavy, ragged, and the rims of his eyes were a startling red from suppressed emotion. I finally realized something was wrong. “Damien, what’s the matter with you? Do you have a fever?” The comments answered for him. [To be precise, he’s in heat… Dude, you are so down bad. The villainess was just teasing you for fun, and you went and triggered your mating season early.] “Mating season?” I murmured to myself. Married for three years, and this was the first I’d ever heard of it. [The villainess is so clueless. She actually thought he was some kind of monk. Hello? He’s an incubus. And with a body like yours and a face that’s literally the most beautiful in the whole book, he’s just been holding back because he couldn’t bear to force you.] [During his previous heats, he would always steal a piece of your lingerie and hide away so you wouldn’t see him.] [That reminds me, I feel sorry for those clothes. They were probably worn to shreds by our… gifted… second male lead.] I stared at the scrolling text, my brain feeling like it was trying to process a screen full of pixelated blurs. So, when he told me not to touch him, was it because of the heat? Damien buried his face in the crook of my neck, nuzzling restlessly. His pale skin was flushed, giving him a debauched look that completely undercut his usual detached coldness. Before, I’d been so obsessed with taking down Lily and winning back Ashton that I’d never really looked at Damien. I had no idea he was this devastatingly handsome. His features were more refined than any movie star I’d ever seen.

3 “Study… drawer… there are meds… and a syringe… get them…” Damien’s voice was broken, and he was desperately trying to hide the patterns and scales that were beginning to appear on his skin. I watched him, his lips bitten raw, his shirt soaked with sweat, clinging to his body and outlining the kind of abs that could make your blood boil… And I suddenly changed my mind. Three years of a celibate marriage… while I wasn’t as desperate as an incubus in heat, I was still a normal, healthy woman. Sure, the first rule of our marriage contract, written by me, was: No feelings, only finances. No taking advantage of the other party. But I was the morally bankrupt villainess, wasn’t I? What did I care about contracts? My decision made, I gently patted his cheek. “Damien,” I whispered, “try to be gentle.” “Don’t touch me… I’m filthy…” My touch sent a tremor through his entire body, but he was still clinging to his last shred of control. “But I want you…” I let my robe fall to the floor. I wiped the blood from his lips with my thumb and stood on my toes to kiss him. The comments went wild. [What is happening, the villainess actually made the first move!] [That little pat on the cheek, ahhh, it’s so intoxicating, I’m dead! Ma’am, are you accepting applications for a pet dog?] [Love mixed with hate is trash. Love born from hate is divine!] [My heart is pounding, my hands are shaking, is our evil power couple finally going to do the deed?!] The moment our lips met, Damien immediately took control, his large, warm hand cupping the back of my head. He stole the air from my lungs, and my legs went weak. A thick, black “rope” had coiled itself around my waist. It was too tight, and I let out a small whimper of pain, trying to push it away. “I’m sorry… don’t… don’t look…” Damien snapped out of his haze, his pupils contracting as he frantically tried to hide the tail that had emerged in his arousal. Before I could react, he had bolted from the room. A moment later, I heard the frantic sounds of drawers being thrown open in the study next door, and the faint, medicinal scent of something I couldn’t place drifted into the air. I leaned against the wardrobe, gasping for breath, and watched the scrolling comments. [Damien, you coward, get back here! I’ve already got my pants off, what are you running for?!] [Okay, am I the only one who feels bad for him? He was bullied and shamed his whole life for being an incubus. He finally marries the girl of his dreams, and she acts like he’s disgusting. Of course he has no self-esteem.] [Villainess, my sweet summer child, did you really have to pick this moment to act disgusted by his true form? He’s about to shatter into a million pieces.] Wait, they’d gotten it all wrong. I just wanted him to loosen up a bit…

4 The next morning, Damien was gone. I was eating a sandwich for breakfast. I took a deep breath, and then, steeling myself, I opened my phone. To my surprise, all the hate comments seemed to have vanished overnight. The media outlets that had been slandering me the most had even had their official accounts suspended. One of the few journalists I was still on speaking terms with sent me a photo of my parents at their office, with the caption: [All taken care of.] A smile spread across my face. I knew my parents wouldn’t really abandon me. They’d always been there to clean up my messes, big and small. [I can’t believe it. Every time the second male lead secretly helps the villainess, he lets her asshole parents take all the credit…] [Damien, the undisputed king of cold-faced CEOs who secretly handles his wife’s dirty work. When she’s in a good mood, he happily serves her. When she’s being a bitch, he… coolly serves her.] [It’s a shame the villainess doesn’t know any of this. After her blatant disgust last night, even though she avoided the divorce, she’s probably still on track for that forced imprisonment arc.] My jaw dropped. I tore my eyes away from the comments and stared at the photo on my phone. After scrutinizing it for a good ten minutes, I actually did find traces of Photoshop… I opened my messages and scrolled all the way to the bottom to find Damien. [Are you free today? There’s something I need to talk to you about.] He replied instantly. [Wrong person.] “…” [No, I meant you, hubby~] This time, the reply took much longer. [I apologize for last night, for letting you see… that. I’m very busy today. If you still want a divorce, please contact my lawyer first.] [No, no,] I typed back quickly. [It’s not about a divorce.] Damien: [Alright. I’ll see you this afternoon.] The comments were on fire. [LMAO. Divorce? No time. Not a divorce? See you this afternoon.] [That was a close one. The villainess dodged the basement arc by a hair’s breadth again. I feel like she’s starting to figure things out, like she’s trying to save herself.] [I have a bad feeling about this plot point. I feel like something awful is about to happen, but I can’t quite remember what.]

5 That afternoon, I made an effort with my appearance and arrived half an hour early at the coffee shop near Damien’s office. I ordered a dessert and was slowly enjoying it when someone sat down opposite me. “Hubby,” I said, a wide smile on my face as I looked up. “You should try some of this…” My smile froze. It wasn’t Damien. Ashton stared at my sexy, strapless red dress and flawless makeup, and a smirk played on his lips. “Seraphina, are you really that desperate for me? You’re even calling me ‘hubby’ now.” I didn’t have time for this. I stood up to leave, but he grabbed my wrist. “Let go. My husband is nearby.” “Stop pretending. You’re so proud, you never would have married that inhuman bastard Damien if it wasn’t to piss me off. Don’t think I don’t know that you haven’t let him touch you once in three years.” Ashton’s gaze dropped to my lips, his eyes darkening, his tone becoming sleazy. “One kiss. Is that enough to get you to leave Lily alone for a while?”