Chapter 1

It was easy to tell that Gu Zeyan had someone else on his mind.

On Tuesday, he stopped bringing me coconut-milk qingbuliang dessert from the dessert shop downstairs at his office.

On Friday, he didn’t take me to our usual French restaurant, either.

But he forgot to change the phone number on the reservation, so the confirmation still came to my phone.

I waited until dark. Gu Zeyan’s car never came home.

At first, I thought he was too busy with work.

But when he returned, he smelled of the distinctive fragrance they used in that French restaurant.

He tossed his keys carelessly in the entryway.

Seeing me on the sofa, Gu Zeyan frowned, then quickly smoothed his expression.

“Still awake?”

I nodded.

“Didn’t you used to love it when I waited up for you?”

I wasn’t making it up.

During the first two years after he forced me to marry him, I’d fought back, coldly rejecting every attempt he made to come near me.

Later, I realized that the more I resisted, the more it seemed to feed his obsession.

So I started going along with what he wanted.

I still remembered the first time I waited for him to come home from work. A CEO who was ruthless in business had been so moved that his eyes shone with tears.

Only a few years had passed.

Anticipation had turned to impatience.

Gu Zeyan pinched the bridge of his nose.

“That was years ago. Why bring it up now?”

Right.

Reminiscing wasn’t necessarily a good thing between a husband and wife.

I changed the subject.

“Then tell me who you took to that French restaurant today.”

Gu Zeyan gave a dismissive answer.

“A business partner.”

But that restaurant’s whole theme was “roses and romance.”

It wasn’t an appropriate place to take a business partner.

Gu Zeyan noticed my skeptical look.

Impatience flashed across his face.

“Stop imagining things! You’ve been a rich man’s wife for so long that you’ve got nothing better to do. Didn’t you keep saying you wanted to work? Fine. I’ll find a company for you.”

That was all he said before he gathered up his suit jacket and headed straight to the bedroom.

No restrictions.

No conditions.

Nothing like the old days, when he would warn me over and over: “You’re not allowed to look at other men. You’re not allowed to talk to them, either…”

He rushed through a few dismissive words, then rushed away.

Like a middle-aged couple sick of the sight of each other.

I even began to wonder.

Had I invented those memories of Gu Zeyan imprisoning and coercing me, just to give this dull marriage a more exciting story?

And yet I really had gone from an ordinary employee to a wealthy wife who never had to lift a finger.

A wealthy wife who couldn’t even leave this villa without Gu Zeyan’s permission.

Only a week ago, he’d still been tender with me, as a lover would be.

He’d simply changed too quickly.

I was the only one struggling to adjust.

But everyone had to sleep eventually.

I went into the bedroom.

Under the night-light, Gu Zeyan’s handsome eyes were closed.

I thought he was asleep.

But as I lay down, he suddenly spoke.

“Xu Wen, all of a sudden, this feels so pointless.”

Was forcing someone to love him pointless?

Or was I?

I didn’t ask.

Naturally, I didn’t answer, either.