Chapter 1

"You can't walk past the gate unless you have an appointment, ma'am." I stood outside the huge and intimidating Fox conglomerate, my smile stiffening as the guard informed.

" Your presence is interfering with our work. You can either leave or stand in the sun, your choice. " His colleague added, flashing me a contemptuous glance.

" You can't meet our new CEO unless you have an appointment, miss. Why don't you just leave?" Maybe bothered by my silence, the chief guard explained further, the meaning behind his words accentuating the difference between the said CEO's status and mine.

Finally, my tough exterior cracked as the reality dawned in. So, I needed an appointment to meet my own husband. A self-mocking smile tagged at the corners of my lips as I thought.

Left with no option, I created some distance between me and the huge gates, looking out of place but stubbornly withstanding as the sun barred its fangs at me. I was determined to wait for Andrian no matter how long it took.

"Andrian, " I called out, my voice a mixture of surprise, longing and excitement as I caught a glimpse of his familiar silhouette. After hours of waiting, he was finally out of the office.

It had only been two days since I last saw him, but it felt like ages and rightfully so since it was the longest we had ever been apart.

Looking at his familiar face, those piercing black eyes, and the expensive custom-made suit that clung to his perfect body, all the pain and all the fatigue disappeared, and a smile found its way to my lips.

"Andy? Who is this?" Perhaps I was too lost admiring him to notice the figure next to him, and when I did, I froze in place, the smile that I was wearing moments ago turning stiff as I looked at their intimate posture and at the corner of my eye, I saw Adrian's hand, which was snaked possessively around her tiny waist.

"No one important, love. I don't know her. " He answered, dismissively so, his cold words slicing through my heart.

"Andrian..you..you.." I stuttered, for a moment, words failing me and even then he didn't spare me a glance. His eyes were on her, warmth clouding them as he pulled her closer, showering her with the attention that was once exclusively for me.

Watching their interaction and the undeniable chemistry between them, I felt like I was being suffocated, finding it hard to breathe.

How could he? So to him, I was just a stranger? But I had known him for my whole life. We had known each other our entire lives. I knew him more than I even knew myself. Or did I not? There was a hint of doubt at the back of my mind as I thought.

"No!" I whispered, more to myself than to him, to them.

How could he deny our relationship?

There was unmasked hurt and disbelief in my eyes as I looked at him. Briefly, his eyes met mine, and the lack of recognition in those familiar orbs stirred something within me.

A hint of panic coursed through my veins as I stared at him. There were no traces of the man that I had been married to for the last two years. And the kind boy that I once fell in love with?

" Andrian? I am your wife." I reminded, as a matter of fact, and I took bold steps towards him.

To that, he wore a straight face, and I found the indifference on his face more insulting than his denial.

"You?" The lady next to him asked, a look of sheer disbelief crossing her features as she assessed me.

She was in a red dress, made from the most expensive fabric, bold and beautiful, painting a goddess-like picture for the world and me? I obviously looked like a joke as I stood before her.

I became self-conscious as her eyes scrutinised me. I was not dirty or anything, I was in a black dress, faded and thoroughly used, and obviously, it was thrifted. I was all sweaty from standing in the sun for hours, and the dress clung to my body like a second skin.

"Yes. Tell her, Andy." Mastering up all the courage I had, I whispered, and I hated myself for how weak I sounded.

Slowly, he peeled his gaze from her, turning to face me. For a brief moment, his features softened, and I straightened my posture, encouraged.

He was back to his senses, I thought, the feeling of it giving me the confidence to face the rich heiress. Andrian and I belonged together.

How could he deny our relationship? We had been married for over two years, close to three years. Andrian and I grew up together, we met in an orphanage. Together, we went through the worst, emerging even stronger.

Tears clouded my eyes as I thought of the challenges that we encountered together, the cold, the hunger, the hustles, but even that... that was not enough to tear us apart.

And now? After twenty years, Andrian had finally found his family, and he turned out to be the long-lost heir to one of the richest families in the country, the Fox family.

Now, Andrian was no longer Andrian West, but Andrian Fox, the new CEO of the Fox conglomerate.

Now, I didn't have to juggle between three jobs to help him with his start-up.

" I don't know you." He wore a smile as he informed. His declaration caught me off guard, and I froze, my smile turning ugly from the shock, the confusion, and the anger.

" Why?" I asked, my lips quivering. I couldn't believe that we were having that conversation. I never thought that a day would come when Andrian would deny ever knowing me.

" You disappeared for two days," I whispered, tears dripping from my eyes.

" Do you know how worried I was? I couldn't reach you on your phone. You had blocked me." My tone was laced with disappointment as I revealed.

"You found your parents. Such a big thing, and I, your wife, had to find out from the media. "There was a self-mocking smile on my lips as I spoke, the absurdity of it all sickening to the core.

Before he found his real parents, we had been deeply in love. With dreams and a future to look forward to. And now? What could have changed in two days?

" I stood in the sun for over four hours, waiting for you. And for what? Only for you to deny me?" I asked, this time, wiping away my tears.

"Look, I don't know you." There was a hint of impatience in his tone as he informed. And a flicker of contempt in his eyes as he looked at me.

He then took deliberate steps towards me, a cold smile playing on his lips.

" Andrian Fox is a stranger to you. That poor boy that you grew up with? Andrian West? Forget about him." His warm and familiar breath fanned my neck as he whispered to my ears, but this time, it didn't elicit the same familiar tingles in my skin like it used to. I just felt numb and repulsed as the meaning behind his words seeped through my senses.

"We don't belong together. "