Chapter 2

And yet, he put all the blame on me.

Nathan looked me over with a sneer.

“No tits, no ass. How am I supposed to get turned on? Wearing something like that does nothing for you. What a waste of money.”

He didn’t hold back. While cleaning himself up, he kept going.

“And that sallow face of yours? Don’t even get me started. One look kills the mood. Can’t you put some effort into your appearance?”

Every time this happened, Nathan would start putting me down, criticizing my face and body.

I was plain. I knew I wasn’t in the same league as someone as handsome as him. When he first pursued me, I’d wondered if I was dreaming.

Everyone around me said I’d won the lottery by catching a man like Nathan. They told me to marry him before I lost my chance.

Between their encouragement and Nathan’s sweet talk, I’d ended up making it official.

With a body as strong as his, I’d assumed he’d be impressive in bed, too.

Instead, he was built like an oak tree with a chili pepper dangling from it—and he barely lasted.

I’d suggested seeing a doctor, but Nathan had torn into me, insisting it was all my fault.

Apart from that problem, we got along reasonably well. Somehow, five years had passed.

Our new place had thin walls. The newlyweds upstairs were at it again. Judging by the woman’s satisfied cries, her husband knew exactly what he was doing. Looking at Nathan, still dead to the world, only made me angrier.

As her breathless moans grew faster, heat spread through me, and I hurried into the bathroom.

After taking care of myself, I leaned weakly against the sink and studied my reflection.

I was skinny, with cramped, mismatched features and rough, sallow skin.

Compared to the gorgeous, curvy streamer my husband was always tipping, I really wasn’t much to look at.

If I became prettier, would that fix his problem?

I remembered the snake shop Chloe had mentioned.

Snakes scared me to my core, but thinking of how radiant Chloe looked now made me tempted.

After a little thought, I finally sent her a message.

What did I have to lose?

I wanted to see whether that snake shop was really so miraculous.

The next day, Chloe took me straight there.

The shop wasn’t as frightening as I’d imagined. As long as I didn’t deliberately look at the little creatures in the glass tanks, I could handle it.

But where were the snakeskin panties she’d mentioned? None were on display, and there weren’t any signs advertising them.

“Chloe! Back again?”

The clerk greeted us eagerly. Chloe nudged me forward.

“Of course. I even brought you a new customer.”

The clerk looked me up and down, then smiled at Chloe.

“Wonderful. All our rooms are reserved right now, though. You’ll have to wait a little.”

Feeling slighted, Chloe pouted.

“I have a gold membership, and I still have to wait?”

The clerk hurried over and affectionately linked arms with her.

“I can’t help it. They’re all black-card members. Why don’t you upgrade? The black-card panties feel even better.”

Chloe flicked the clerk’s forehead and laughed.

“You’re always trying to sweet-talk me. Your black membership costs a fortune.”

I couldn’t make sense of their conversation. Membership cards for snakeskin panties? Marketing these days was getting ridiculous.

Just then, a woman wearing oversized sunglasses walked into the shop.

She seemed familiar. She noticed us, too, but her gaze didn’t linger.

She handed the clerk a black card. With a knowing look, the clerk disappeared into a back room.

The woman took off her sunglasses and glanced at us again. This time, I got a clear look at her face. My jaw dropped. Wasn’t she the streamer my husband watched all the time?

Was she… here for a beauty treatment, too?