Chapter 2

The car pulled into the driveway of the villa.

Vivian smoothly punched in the security code, set out the couple's matching slippers, and helped Julian slip off his coat.

"Mr. Hayes, I've drawn your bath. You can get in in ten minutes."

I walked into the master bedroom without a word.

The moment I sat down on the edge of the mattress, I heard her gentle voice drifting from the en-suite bathroom:

"Mr. Hayes, I've tested the water temperature myself. It's at the ideal body temperature. I'm stepping out now."

I rushed over to push the window open, suffocating.

Then came her voice again:

"Mr. Hayes... it's ten o'clock. You should soak for fifteen minutes. I recommend no physical intimacy tonight, or capping it at twenty minutes max to preserve your vitality."

Sitting in the bedroom, my hands shook with rage, the blood rushing backward through my veins.

Vivian's shadow hovered over every single time we were ever together. She would stand right outside the door, checking her watch and announcing:

"Mr. Hayes, prolonged exertion will cause physical strain. That's enough."

Every single time, no matter how worked up Julian was, he would pull out and get off me.

Leaving me lying there in the dark, staring at the ceiling, sleepless through the night.

She was like a programmed machine, exerting absolute control over every breath he took.

A while later, Vivian walked into our bedroom wearing one of my silk nightgowns.

Seeing me there, she put on a look of mild surprise.

"Oh, excuse me, Mrs. Hayes. You've been gone for so long, I got used to staying here."

Without waiting for my response, she pulled back the duvet and climbed right into the bed.

Hanging on the wall directly above the headboard was our wedding portrait.

The blood roared in my ears. I lunged forward, grabbed her by the arm, and shoved her. "Get the hell out!"

Vivian let out a piercing shriek. Julian rushed into the room with a towel wrapped around his waist and shoved me aside without a second thought.

I stumbled backward, my spine slamming hard against the metal safe. A sharp agony radiated through my back.

Every shred of hope turned to ash. I screamed at him, my voice cracking with grief:

"Julian! Not a single promise you ever made to me meant anything!"

"I've spoiled you rotten!" he barked back. "Vivian is just following the protocol to warm the bed for me! Can't you be a little gracious for once?"

Gracious? My chest felt like it was being ripped wide open. "If I'm any more gracious, should the three of us just sleep together in the same damn bed?"

The veins on his temples pulsed. He raised his hand.

A sharp, deafening slap cracked across my face.

Vivian began to sob softly, right on cue.

"Mrs. Hayes, my job is to ensure the mattress is kept at the optimal 98 degrees... That's all this is. If you really can't accept it, I'll submit my resignation."

Julian immediately wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"My mother left you to manage my life. As long as I don't let you leave, nobody can force you out."

The very last flicker of hope inside me went dark.

I pulled the crumpled divorce papers from my coat pocket and threw them violently at the floor.

"A divorce! Julian, we're done. Sign it."

He froze for a fraction of a second, then scooped up the papers and tore them to shreds.

"Don't even dream about it! Did you forget how much hell we went through just to be together?"