Chapter 1: A Cold Morning

(Aliana's POV)

After a long, intimate night, I slowly opened my eyes at the faint sound of movement, only to find the other side of the bed empty. The man who had shared my bed was already up… as usual.

I pushed myself up slightly, hugging the blanket to my chest, and looked across the room. My underwear was still hanging where he had thrown it last night, and our clothes were scattered all over the floor.

Then my breath caught when my eyes finally landed on him. Delvin Barrington. He was standing near the dresser, already dressed in a white shirt and blue pants. His back was turned to me as he calmly buttoned his shirt.

He was my husband of four years.

But not once in those four years had I woken up in his arms. Every morning, he was either getting ready for work or already gone before I opened my eyes.

“Good morning, Delvin,” I greeted softly, my voice still heavy with sleep.

“Hm,” he responded with a short hum, without even looking at me.

“Are you… leaving for work?” I asked quietly.

He didn’t answer. He never answered questions he thought had obvious answers. If he wasn’t dressing for work, then where else could he be going?

But today wasn’t just any day.

It was my graduation day from medical school. I was now one step away from becoming a licensed doctor, one step closer to achieving my dream. And I had hoped, just this once, that he would be there to support me.

“Today is my graduation day, Delvin,” I said gently, my eyes shining with excitement. “I hope you’re still coming…”

“I’m busy today,” he replied flatly, cutting me off.

Busy.

That single word hit me harder than I wanted to admit. How could he say he was busy? I had told him about it a week ago and even reminded him again two days ago.

“Please don’t say that. You know how important this is to me,” I said, trying to smile through the hurt. “I really want you there…”

“I’m not obligated to care just because it’s important to you,” Delvin said as he adjusted his cufflinks, his face calm and unreadable.

My smile faded instantly, my heart twisting painfully, as if I was suffocating.

Those words hurt more than shouting could have. It wasn’t just that he wouldn’t come. It was that he didn’t even think it mattered enough.

My fingers tightened around the blanket as I tried to control my emotions.

“I’m not saying you are obligated,” I said softly. “It’s just that I worked so hard for this moment, and I wanted you there to celebrate it with me.”

“People graduate every day, Aliana,” he said in a flat voice.

“Others are out there building empires and achieving greater things, and you’re here celebrating just a certificate,” he added.

His words were cold… colder than ever. They didn’t sound angry. They sounded careless. As if everything I had worked for meant nothing at all.

I didn’t need anyone to explain who he was comparing me to. I had heard she was launching her new project today.

“Others like Belicia, right?” I asked, trying hard to keep my voice steady.

Delvin paused for a second, as if my words touched something. But he said nothing. His silence gave me all the answer I needed.

For a moment, I just stared at him.

Then I looked away, blinking fast as my vision blurred. I didn’t want him to see how much it hurt.

My graduation. My dream. The future I had spent years working for.

All reduced to “just a certificate.”

I hugged the blanket tighter around myself, suddenly feeling very small in a room that had always felt too big.

Delvin dropped his card on the table like it meant nothing… which, to him, it actually didn’t. Money had never been a problem for Delvin Barrington.

“It’s unlimited. Buy whatever gift you want,” he said, finally glancing at me for a brief second before walking toward the door.

“Also… don’t forget to take the pill,” he added before leaving the room.

The silence that followed was heavier than any words could be. I stared at the door he had just closed, my chest tightening, as if someone had driven a knife straight through it.

Hot tears filled my eyes, and before I could stop them, they spilled down my cheeks. It wasn’t just that he had rejected my invitation, it was how he did it.

The way he spoke with no care, no warmth, as if I was a stranger in his bedroom. As if the passionate night we had shared just hours ago had meant nothing. As if he hadn’t whispered my name while he was inside me.

We have been married for four years, yet not once in those four years has he shown me real love. He has never smiled warmly at me, never spoken softly, and never offered even a shred of emotional support.

Delvin only makes love to me when he is aroused, never when I am. Then reminds me to take contraceptive pills the next morning.

I will never forget the day I told him I didn’t want to take the pills because I wanted a child... how he reacted, and the words he said to me.

“You don’t have the qualities I require in the mother of my children, Aliana. Don’t step outside your place in this marriage again.”

He said it coldly, making it clear that I was forbidden to even think about bearing his children. According to him, a child needs the right mother, and I was never one.

If he wouldn’t treat me with kindness, if he wouldn’t even allow me to have children, then why am I still here? What does he see me as? A sex toy? A woman kept only to warm his bed?

I remember the first day Delvin approached me... the day everything began.

That morning, four years ago, I had filled out a dropout form, ready to give up my dream because my father, Jonathan Hale, could no longer afford my tuition fees.

But on my way to submit the form at the school office, Delvin appeared with a contract.

“Marry me, and I will pay your school fees and ensure you graduate,” he had said.

His fiancée, Belicia Morris... the only woman he had ever loved... had disappeared on their wedding day. He was heartbroken, but more than that, he could not bear the public shame. He needed a bride immediately.

The offer was outrageous, yet I signed it anyway.

After all, it was only a contract. He needed a wife to save his reputation, and I needed money to finish my education.

The first few months of the marriage weren’t exactly bad. Maybe that was because I expected nothing from it except my school fees.

I didn’t look for affection. I didn’t wait for attention. I kept reminding myself that it was just an agreement… nothing more.

But slowly, without realizing it, my heart changed.

And that was when I began to notice everything.

The emotional distance. The lack of care. The quiet humiliation. The cold way he spoke to me.

I convinced myself he was hurting, that he was still healing from the betrayal of his first love.

So I stayed, foolishly hoping that one day he would see me as more than his contract wife. But that day never came.

Then one evening, Belicia returned... and the real nightmare began.

She appeared on national television, looking broken and helpless, crying as she told her story.

“I was kidnapped on my wedding day and held hostage for three years. I escaped only to discover that the man who claimed to love me married someone else on the day we were supposed to be together.”

Delvin was shattered.

He blamed himself, hated himself, and believed he had committed an unforgivable mistake. In his mind, he had betrayed the woman he loved while she suffered in captivity.

But more than guilt, he was overwhelmed with joy that Belicia was finally back.

In a single night, he gave her the affection and care I had begged for over the years.

And me?

The woman he married became nothing more than a public joke, and a silent bed warmer in private.