Chapter 1

Bella's POV 

It was almost 11 p.m., and my husband, Ethan Hayes, was still not back from his workplace. This was strange because in the entire course of our marriage, there had never been a single day he returned this late.

As his wife, and one who had studied everything about him so I could give him the best treatment a wife could possibly offer her husband, I knew something had to be wrong. He never kept late nights. Nor worked overtime as there was no need for him to.

After all, he was the CEO of his family’s company.

So why was he still not home?

“Madam Rebecca requests your presence, Bella.”

The servant’s voice came again, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I noticed the tone in which she addressed me but said nothing. I only nodded quietly and followed her.

Rebecca was Ethan’s only sister. Though she was a year older than I was, I could never stand up to her. She was too sharp with her tongue and confident in her position. To cross her meant crossing Ethan. And for the three years of my marriage, I had learned to swallow every insult and humiliation of hers.

I had always found excuses for her behavior. I had always convinced myself she would change one day.

The Hayes mansion, grand as it was, often felt like a prison when she was around. As I stepped out of my room and followed the servant down the long hallway, I heard my name again without regard.

Just Bella.

Rebecca had called me to remake her dinner.

“This pudding isn’t how I like it. Make another one,” she sneered, barely glancing at me.

I stood quietly at the dining table.

For three years, I had been married to her brother, Ethan Hayes. And for three years, she had treated me as though I were nothing more than a commoner who had mistakenly wandered into a palace she did not belong in.

“Be fast about it. I dislike my time being wasted by the likes of you,” she added impatiently.

The words were familiar. The tone even more so.

She spoke to me as if I were filth beneath her feet. As if my presence alone offended her.

“If you can’t do it, then speak up on time! I won’t have you disrespecting me when I can easily have my brother marry someone more befitting of being the wife of this family.”

My fingers tightened slightly at my sides, but I said nothing.

I turned toward the kitchen, aware of the servants watching in silence. None of them said anything.

This wasn’t the first time.

And I knew it wouldn’t be the last.

With only a few days left before my birthday, I had promised myself I would avoid any unnecessary conflict so Ethan wouldn't get angry at me. 

Three years ago, when Ethan Hayes and I got married, I had promised myself that I would be a good sister-in-law to Rebecca. That I would be patient and understanding.

What was making another pudding, after all?

It wasn’t as though it was a great sacrifice. Rebecca actually loved my cooking. Even with the way she spoke to me most times, I still hoped that one day she would have a change of heart.

That one day she would learn basic respect.

“I don’t know when orphans even began to have choices before their benefactors. Be fast about the pudding. I have no time to waste!” Rebecca called out again.

The pudding I had made earlier wasn’t faulty. It was exactly the way she always requested it. The only problem was that dinner had been served later than she expected, and instead of reheating it, she wanted me to start from scratch.

“ You won’t need to be making another pudding tonight, Bella.”

A voice suddenly came from behind me and I paused.

It was familiar.

And just as I had predicted, when I turned around, it was Ethan.

A smile tugged at my lips instantly. My heart fluttered foolishly as a small spark of hope rose inside me. For a moment, I thought he was finally standing up for me.

This had never happened in the history of our marriage. Ethan was always about his sister and her comfort, even if it meant overlooking my own humiliation.

He had never bothered about my sacrifices. Never once acknowledged how I constantly shrank myself to satisfy Rebecca’s endless demands.

So him speaking now felt like hope.

It felt like maybe the love I had patiently waited for would finally bloom in our marriage.

“Ethan, you’re back,” I said softly.

But my smile slowly began to fade when I noticed the serious, hardened expression on his face.

There was no warmth or affection.

It was as though I had committed a crime, though no matter how hard I searched my thoughts, I couldn’t think of what I had done wrong.

“Would you like your dinner served now? Or should I make you a cup of coffee? I…” I began awkwardly, unsure of what mood he was in.

Before I could finish, he threw a brown envelope at me.

I caught it midair before it fell, startled by the suddenness of it. My fingers trembled slightly as I stared at it, wondering why this was the first thing he would hand me after returning home so late.

“Sign it, Bella,” he said coldly.

Confused, I tore open the envelope and pulled out the document inside.

The moment my eyes fell on the bold words at the top, my world seemed to freeze.

Everything around me went silent.

“You’re… divorcing me?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. 

“Why?”

I had done everything he ever wanted.

I became the housewife he requested. I never exposed our marriage to the public and kept a low profile, never revealing my relationship with him. I avoided scandals that could affect his company’s stock. I stayed in the shadows so his image would shine.

So why was he suddenly forcing me to sign divorce papers?

“Go ahead and sign them, Bella. I have no time to waste,” he said again, pulling out another pen and handing it to me as if assuming the first one inside the envelope might be faulty.

The casualness of it all made my chest tighten.

“This marriage happened because of your father, Ethan. It was his wish,” I said, struggling to keep my voice steady. “How do you plan to explain this to him later when he finds out about the sudden divorce?”

For a brief second, he scratched his head, almost as though my question had caught him off guard.

But it didn’t last.

“Just sign the papers, Bella,” he repeated impatiently.

“My first love is back,” he finally said, his tone flattening as if he were discussing business. “And I can’t wait to bring her home and marry her as soon as possible. Stop being unreasonable and trying to delay things. I’ll give you anything you want as compensation. Just sign it.”

He spoke so casually, as if the three years of our marriage were nothing more than a contract he was terminating early.

As if I were an inconvenience standing in the way of his happiness.

Five years ago, after my family died in a plane crash, his father, William Hayes, had taken me in. I was his best friend’s only child, and he raised me as though I were his own.

Later, he had requested that I marry Ethan so the bond between our families would remain unbroken.

I hadn’t protested.

Because I had loved Ethan.

But now, as I stood there holding the divorce papers in my trembling hands, it felt as though the ground beneath me was cracking open.

The mansion that once felt suffocating now felt like it was spinning.

And suddenly, my world was tilting on its axis.