Chapter 1

Aurora's POV

"You may now kiss the bride"

I heard the priest say. I excitedly looked at those beautiful piercing blue eyes that stared at me, they belonged to my husband, Damien. He had a small smile on his face as he leaned down to kiss me. I could hear people cheer on in the background, my parents, his parents, our friends and family. They were all here to celebrate us.

I closed my eyes as he got closer, waiting for those rosy pink lips to touch mine.

"Aurora!" I heard someone call my name aggressive but ignored it. This wasn't the time, I was going to kiss my new husband, Damien.

"Aurora get up now!" I heard that agitating voice again and suddenly felt cold. When I opened my eyes, I wasn't met with Damien's dreamy blue eyes, instead what stared back at me was a pair off angry black eyes that belonged to none other than my mother in law, Eleanor Sinclair.

I looked around to see that I was in bed. It turned out that I had been dreaming, again. It was all just a dream, there was nothing truly happy about my life. I was back to this depressing, gloomy world.

"What are you still doing in bed you lazy woman! It's past 7 and I still haven't had dinner. You dare lay there wasting time while your husband is working so hard to feed you and this family" Eleanor sneered at me in anger.

She was Damien's mother, my dream wasn't exactly a dream. In reality, I was really married to Damien, however our marriage was far from happy. It was more of a nightmare than a dream.

"B.. but the chef-"

"You're not paying him are you? You don't have a dollar to your name and you're certainly not in the position to ask any chef to make a meal for you. Now get off that bed and make me dinner" She said and stormed off.

I let out a sigh after Eleanor left the room. My eyes caught the frame that was hanging by the corner in that room. In it was a picture of Damien and I in our wedding clothes. He held me with a little smile while I grinned brightly like I was the luckiest girl in the world.

Well... I used to be the luckiest girl in the world, until I lost my parents. The thought made my heart shatter into pieces again. My parents were influential and wealthy multimillionaires. They owned a tech company that they built together and I was their only child. Life with my parents was a dream, I was set to inherit the Vale company and had everything I ever needed. I was spoiled rotten as a child while growing up.

Like every other girl, I had the biggest crush on Damien who was the heir to the Sinclair multimillion company. Our parents saw our match as something that would benefit both sides and quickly arranged for us to get together.

I was the most excited, telling everyone I would be Damien's wife, after all, he was the most handsome, richest and most sought after bachelor in the country. Damien on the other hand was as cold and nonchalant as anything. Although he didn't oppose marrying me, he never showed any love or affection.

I didn't mind, I was in love and felt like showering him with love would make him love me back, it didn't. I was living a dream until my parents died in a car crash two months after my wedding.

My whole world came crashing down in that moment as I totally fell apart. I had lost the only family that I knew, I had no siblings and wasn't close to my cousin. My parents were my only family and I lost them both in one bloody night. To make matters worse, my uncle, Gregory Vale, came with the will. And to my greatest shock, my parents left nothing but a cheap pendant to my name. They had willed all their properties and money to him, Gregory.

I was in shock and was completely devastated by both this revelation and the loss of my parents. However, my husband who was supposed to comfort me didn't even spare me another glance. 

He acted like I didn't exist and things soon turned from bad to worse as the Sinclair family saw me as baggage. My marriage to Damien was planned because I was the heiress to the Sinclair company and could bring them some benefits. But now that it was revealed that I had nothing to my name, they saw me as useless and all the dreams I had about being married to Damien soon turned into nightmares.

I pulled myself off the bed and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner for Eleanor. Although Damien was a multimillionaire, I had nothing, not even a dollar to buy a pen. His family treated me like a servant and made me work to earn every penny they spent on me.

"Good evening Madam, what would you like us to prepare tonight?" The head chef greeted me respectfully. I was thankful for the kind staff in the mansion who continued to treat me kindly.

"Don't worry sir, I want to make dinner myself" I said, he looked a bit disappointed and conflicted but briefly nodded and left the kitchen.

Although I wasn't raised to do any work, I wasn't even allowed to dress myself up as I grew up with incredibly rich parents who provided everything I needed, I still took an interest in cooking and learnt culinary skills as a hobby. Now I was forced to cook every time by Eleanor who refused to acknowledge my skills.

After an hour in the kitchen, I made barbecue chicken and Alfredo pasta. I checked the time and it was already past eight. Damien still wasn't back from work. I packed extra food and decided to drive down to his office to give him dinner.

Even though he wasn't being a good husband and allowed me to be maltreated by everyone, I still decided to devote myself to him and love him. 

I got to his office building which he owned no time and took the private elevator that took me straight to his office floor. The desk before his office which belonged to his secretary was empty and instead, his P.A, Ray stood there.

"Good evening Ray" I called and he looked up at me. He looked both surprised and nervous on seeing me.

"Oh.. Madam, why are you here? It's so late" he asked with a polite smile.

"Well I figured Damien must be working late, I decided to bring dinner for him, it's home cooked" I added with a smile, walking towards him.

"Oh.. well I... I will make sure to deliver it to him" he attempted to take the food but I refused and walked past him.

"No, it's fine, I will give him myself" I tried to pass but he stopped me.

"Master Damien has asked not that be disturbed" he said nervously and I frowned.

"Why-"

"Oh Damien!" I heard a loud moan from his office and both I and Ray froze.