Chapter 1

"There is nothing unequal as the equal treatment of unequals."

-Aristotle-

***

It was already seven o’clock in the evening when the right wing’s chamber on the Sterling Manor was opened, there were barely any staff passing through that area which meant there was only a few people who would get in at such hour without the purpose of inviting any of the family member for dinner.

Vivianne “Vian” Marie Sterling had just finished her work for the day and she was beyond exhausted. She had a lot more to do that day than the usual due to the upcoming grand fashion event which required her attention. Working as a fashion and beauty editor in the high end industry had never been easy, she had to deal with an abundance of events at the same time and delivered results right on time so their rivals would not get ahold of the news or the coverage first.

At that moment there was nothing she wanted more than a warm bath and dinner served, her stomach had been grumbling since an hour ago. She walked straight to her bedroom to find it empty.

She wondered where her husband could be but was too tired to think further about it. Instead, she went straight to the bathroom and removed her clothes only to find the water in the bath had been prepared in advance.

She leaned in to touch it with the tip of her fingers and was surprised when she felt that it was still quite warm, almost borderline hot which meant it had only been poured very recently.

It must have been Adonis. Oh well, I guess I should just enjoy it now.

She put in her feet gently into the water, allowing herself to adjust with the temperature before submerging herself completely, leaving only her hair up in a bun since she did not feel like washing it that night. She touched the water and it felt slightly different. It was a bit more salty and the water was tinted in a soft milky shade which meant he must have added some bath salts earlier.

Vian thought it was quite considerate of him, she definitely needed to thank him for it later. In the meantime, she just wanted to close her eyes and relaxed for a bit. She always loved taking baths, something about it just put her in a serene state of mind. She lathered her body with some calming chamomile liquid soap and allowed the scent to fill in the entire room. It was almost like an aroma therapy.

A few minutes in she heard the door twisted open. She did not have to turn her head to know who it was. His footsteps approached her and stopped in the middle. At that point in her life she was not even embarrassed anymore, it was not as if there was anything that he had not seen. She just casually turned her head over to him and raised her eyebrow. There was a moment of awkward silence between the two of them as they stared into each other’s eyes.

“Ana, you’re back already. I hope you enjoy the bath I prepared for you. I added some of your favorite bath salts. Also, I have made some warm tea for the two of us later. I have also cooked dinner for us, I made your favorite sweet and sour fish and mushroom.” She did not know what kind of response she was supposed to give him, she remained indifferent and it was starting to make him feel like an idiot, just standing there in silence.

“I will wait until you are done with your bath, I’ll be in the dining room.” He was about to leave when she finally opened up her lips and told him to wait.

“Have you taken a bath or shower yet?” She asked. He paused for a moment before shaking his head. She sighed in response, contemplating for a moment the decision she was about to make.

“Okay, why don’t you join me right now? This tub is large enough for the two of us. You can soak yourself on the other side.” Once he heard that his eyes lit up a bit. He did not know if it was because he prepared her bath or because he cooked dinner but she had shown him a slight softness which he had not felt in a while. He did not even think twice before he took off his shirt and pants, revealing his muscular figure which Vian secretly always admired.

It was almost like a bittersweet feeling for her because at one side she bore absolutely no love for him beyond his physics. Yes, the man was extremely handsome and fit, but he was also the thorns on her flesh. He had no real skills or talents, as far as she knew off that was worthy enough for the family.

The man had always been an embarrassment to her each time she had to bring him to the others. Still when they were alone like that, she did feel a bit of tenderness for him because she knew he was not a bad person. He was just useless, but not a bad man.

He slowly got into the water and sat on the opposite side of her. The tub was made to mimic the Turkish Hammam bath, so it could fit around two or three people at once, allowing some space for her to breath a bit even when he was in the water with her.

Once he was in, he took a bit of soap and lathered himself, she was also busy with herself and then he noticed that she could not properly lather the soap on her back.

“Vian, do you want me to help with your back?” He offered. She thought about it for a bit then nodded. He leaned in closer as she turned herself around, showing her slick back. He carefully poured a bit of soap in his hand and rubbed it against her skin in a gentle motion, almost giving her a bit of a massage at the same time.

She let out a small sigh as she enjoyed the sensation. He loved it when he felt like he could be in service of her, her approval made him wanted to please her even further, so he started to move a bit lower and massaged her spine area as well. She was starting to feel slightly roused and he could tell it from her hardening nipples.

“May I?” he asked her as he kissed her shoulder, she nodded and he started to explore her body even more. It was one of the few moments in life where he felt like he was useful. At the same time it also robbed him of his pride a bit because he knew deep down it was the only thing he could do to make her happy at the moment due to his circumstance.

He felt like a dusty man, who could offer nothing but sex, but deep down Adonis did have a desire to please her, to make her happy, hence why he always made sure she had an orgasm each time they had sex, but when the passion dissipated, reality always hit him back, reminding him that he had nothing much to help her.

"That was nice, thank you, Adonis." She thanked. He smiled back in return.

"It's the least I can do for you, Vian."

"Yes, it is."

Once they were done with their baths, both of them headed to the dining room and despite what had happened, she still remained cold toward him. Refusing to look at him in the eyes each time he spoke because she could not bear the reality of her marriage.

He had to be understanding of it, because it was never any of her wishes to be with him to begin with, he gained more from the marriage than her, making him unable to complain.

As they were eating, Adonis did not know why he thought he should tell her about his rejected proposal. He felt shy as he admitted his failure, it hurt his ego a bit but he had also mentioned it briefly to her before.

When she heard it, she was not even surprised, she did not even show any kind of emotions or at least it was her way of concealing her disappointment. Out of all the family members, Vian was rather prudent with her words, for her it was better to remain silent than to speak hurtful words. Still, everything was clear from her gestures and body movement.

"Tell me, Vian, how was your day?" He attempted to inituate a conversation.

"I was busy, like usual. Making money."

"Ah, I see." It was so awkard and he felt ashamed of himself because he was unable to be the breadwinner of the house. She did not even bother to ask him how he was because she knew all he did all day was staying home. 

Adonis bit his tongue a bit as he took another bite of the meal. He finished it first and stood up, excusing himself to return to the bedroom and buried his face on the pillow. Drowning himself in a brief moment of self-pity until he fell asleep.