Chapter 1
I stared at the antique clock on the wall. The hour hand pointed to nine. The elaborate dinner on the table had long gone cold, and the candles on the candelabra were burning down to their stumps.
“Madam, should I clear the table?”
Martha stood at the dining room entrance, hesitant to speak.
I shook my head, my fingers unconsciously tracing the embroidery on the napkin.
“Just a little longer. He said he’d be home early tonight.”
It was my third wedding anniversary with Julian.
I’d started preparing a month ago: booked his favorite restaurant, bought a new dress, and even secretly practiced the piano piece he’d been listening to recently, hoping to surprise him after dinner.
My phone vibrated. I practically lunged to answer it.
“Madam, Mr. Hayes asked me to inform you that he has an important client meeting tonight. He won’t be back for dinner.”
It was Daniel, Julian’s assistant, speaking in a strictly businesslike tone.
I bit my lower lip until I tasted a hint of blood, then released it. “Did he say… when he’ll be back?”
“Mr. Hayes didn’t say. Is there anything you’d like me to relay?”
“No, thank you.”
I hung up, feeling my eyes sting, but no tears came.
In the past three years, I had learned not to show weakness in front of others.
Martha sighed and began clearing the table.
I stood up to help, but she gently pressed my hand. “Madam, please go rest. I’ll handle this.”
I knew she pitied me.
Everyone in the Hayes household knew how Julian treated me.
In three years of marriage, he’d been home a handful of times. Even when he did return, it was usually late at night, when I was already asleep.
Sometimes, I even wondered if he deliberately avoided me.
Back in the bedroom, I peeled off the expensive custom-made dress and tossed it onto a chair.
The woman in the mirror had a beautiful face and figure, but her eyes were dim.
I was only twenty-six, but I felt like I was already old.
That rainy night three years ago suddenly flashed before my eyes.
My father’s company had plunged into crisis overnight. Creditors blocked the doors, banks demanded payments. The Lin family had fallen from the heights of prosperity into the depths of despair.
My father, out of options, humbled himself before the elder Mr. Hayes, desperately pleading for help.
“I can help you, but I have a condition.”
The elder Mr. Hayes was puffing on a cigar, his eyes sharp.
That condition was me.
Aurora Lin, the only daughter of the Lin family, would marry Julian Hayes, the heir to the Hayes empire.
I still remembered the first time I saw Julian.
He stood by the huge floor-to-ceiling window at the Hayes mansion, his back to me, his figure as tall and straight as a pine.
When he turned, I was stunned by his handsome face, but his eyes were as cold as ice when he looked at me.
“It’s just a business arrangement. Don’t expect me to fall in love with you.”
That was the first thing he ever said to me.