Five Years Too Late
Emilka Winchester is the envy of Seattle. To the outside world, she is Mrs. Perfect—the beautiful, devoted wife of a powerful man, living a life of marble counters, designer dresses, and carefully curated happiness.
But behind closed doors, the silence is deafening.
When her husband misses their fifth anniversary, a single crack begins to spread. A missed dinner becomes a trail of lies leading from the rain-soaked streets of Seattle to a hidden hotel room in Chicago. One receipt. One lingering scent of lilies. One scrap of red lace that doesn’t belong to her.
The truth shatters everything.
But Damian doesn’t ask for forgiveness. He offers a solution.
An open marriage.
After years of failed IVFs and the weight of a legacy that never came, he no longer wants a wife,just a woman to maintain the illusion while he lives his life elsewhere.
Now Emilka must decide: remain the perfect wife in a beautiful lie… or destroy everything to reclaim the truth.
Because in a world built on appearances, the truth is the most dangerous thing she can choose.
อ่าน
Chapter: Double DamainDamian’s hand settled over mine on the table, warm and heavy, as if nothing had happened. He picked up the menu, completely unbothered, while the cold diamonds around my neck seemed to grow heavier by the second."I think I’ll have the halibut," he told the waiter, his voice smooth and easy. He turned to me, his dark eyes sparkling with a perfect imitation of love. "What did you get, sweetheart?""The salmon," I answered, keeping my voice bright. "Eve recommended it.""Emilka has excellent taste, Damian," Evelyn chimed in, checking her watch with a smile. "Though I must say, you look like you need a proper vacation. The firm is working you to the bone.""It’s just the final push for the partnership transition, Mother," Damian said smoothly. He squeezed my hand under the table, his grip steady and firm. "Once the paperwork is finalized next month, things will quiet down. Right, Emilka?""Of course," I lied, looking right at him. "We just have to be patient."The waiter returned with Da
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2026-07-04
Chapter: Lunch The silver vintage Mercedes handled the curves of the road with a heavy, smooth power. Inside, it smelled of expensive leather, Evelyn’s French perfume, and the faint, sweet scent of rain misting against the windshield. "An emergency audit on a Saturday!" Evelyn sighed dramatically, settling back into the plush seat. "His father used to pull the exact same stunt whenever the senior partners wanted to show who held the leash. It’s an old boys' club power play, plain and simple." "It comes with the territory, I guess," I said, keeping my eyes fixed on the rain-streaked window. "But let’s not let him ruin our afternoon," she countered, reaching across the space to squeeze my arm. "Tell me, how are the new kitchen blueprints coming along? Did you decide on the marble?" I forced myself to turn away from the glass, placing a bright, animated expression across my face. "We did, actually. We went with the Calacatta gold." "Oh, thank goodness," Evelyn laughed. "That dark granite the prev
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2026-07-04
Chapter: EveBy one-fifteen, the knot in my stomach had turned into pure anger. I had been standing by the front windows for over twenty minutes with my coat on and my bag in my hand, just staring at the empty driveway. I had tried calling Damian’s cell three times. Every single time, it went straight to his voicemail. I even tried his assistant and his direct office line, but nobody answered. The phone just kept ringing in the empty air. "I am just driving myself," I muttered to the empty hallway. It was the exact opposite of what he wanted. He had insisted this morning that we had to arrive together so everyone could see us as a perfect couple. But the clock was ticking, and the one thing you didn't do with Evelyn was keep her waiting. I grabbed my keys from the table and went out to my car. The engine started with a loud roar that echoed across the quiet yard. I hit the button to open the big iron gates at the end of the driveway and started heading down the path. But as I rounded the final
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2026-07-04
Chapter: The PerformanceI slipped out of bed while the room was still caught in that hazy blue glow of dawn. Damian was still asleep with one arm thrown over the pillow where my head had been just a few minutes before. He looked peaceful and almost innocent with the shadows of the trees moving across his face. I watched him for a second and wondered how a man could sleep so deeply while my entire world was vibrating with a low-grade panic. I didn't wake him up. I didn't want to see the version of him that woke up with a plan already forming in his head. I stayed in the shower until the heat turned my skin a dull red. I scrubbed myself as if I could wash away the lingering feeling of his hands from the night before, but the memory was stubborn. It felt like a film on my skin that I couldn't rinse off, no matter how hard I tried. I put on a pair of leggings and a thick wool sweater because it looked like something a happy wife would wear on a weekend morning. I headed downstairs to the kitchen to start th
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2026-03-30
Chapter: The TouchThe meal ended in a strange and thick domesticity. I stood at the sink with the warm water running over my hands as I washed the plates. It was a ritual that usually grounded me after a long day, but tonight every clink of porcelain felt like a countdown. I focused on the bubbles and the steam, trying to wash away the feeling of the afternoon and the phantom weight of the eyes from the black sedan. Beside me, Damian picked up a towel. His shoulder brushed mine in a casual way that felt deliberate. For a moment, it felt like it used to. I found myself thinking that maybe I was being too rigid. Maybe the world really was changing and I was just stuck in the past. If he was here with me in this kitchen, acting like the man I had married, did it really matter where he went for a few hours each month? But then the image of the red lace flashed in my mind and a wave of nausea hit me. They weren't a metaphor or a hallucination. They were cheap, scratchy lace that someone had worn. The tho
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2026-03-30
Chapter: An ApologyThe drive back from the bistro was quiet, the kind of quiet that makes your ears ring. I kept replaying the conversation I had with Andrea all over again. A dull thud and a jolt forward snapped me out of it. A black sedan had clipped my rear bumper at a stoplight. I sat there with my heart hammering against my ribs as a man in a crisp suit hopped out of the other vehicle. He looked panicked, checking his watch before he even looked at my bumper. "I am so incredibly sorry, ma'am. Truly." He stammered, tapping a high-end tablet with gloved fingers. "My employer is in a significant rush, and the glare... I simply didn't see the light change. If I could just get your details? We can facilitate an immediate wire transfer for the damages. Anything you need to make this right, right now." I rolled down the window, the cool air rushing in to replace whatever feeling was left. "It’s fine. I’m fine," I said, my voice sounding distant. I stepped out of the car to inspect the damage. His
ปรับปรุงล่าสุด: 2026-03-28
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