Chapter 1

The stripper didn't refuse.

She took the card, her tone playful.

"Come on. Just follow my lead."

With that, she dropped to her knees in front of Mia.

She arched her back, ran her tongue lightly over her red lips, and let out a breathy, seductive moan.

Even Mia's face turned red just listening to her.

Mia opened her mouth.

But she couldn't even bring herself to make a sound.

Seeing her like this, the stripper snorted.

"You're the one who came here to learn, but you're also the one too embarrassed to do anything."

She straightened and idly played with the card between her fingers.

"Are rich women always this difficult?"

"You're an heiress. Why are you learning this stuff from me anyway?"

Then, as if making casual conversation, she added,

"There's this researcher too. For five years straight, he's been buying medication from a friend of mine to suppress his sex drive."

"You tell me. He's a married man. Why would he deliberately make himself seem impotent?"

At those words, Mia instinctively thought of Mark.

But she only smiled and dismissed the thought.

"People actually do that?"

"Apparently."

The stripper shrugged.

"He's still pretty young too. I heard he's even the chief researcher."

Mia's expression froze.

Everything else could have been a coincidence.

But there was only one chief researcher.

Mark Hayes.

Why?

Even if it really was him, why would he do something like that?

"Miss?

"Miss, are we still doing this?"

The stripper called to her several times before Mia suddenly snapped back to reality.

She grabbed her purse and stood.

"Not today."

Then she hurried straight to the research institute.

The moment she reached the door to Mark's private lab, she heard voices coming from inside.

"Your latest physical came back. I picked up the report for you.

"The doctor said you need to stop taking that medication.

"And what happened with Professor Lane and Mia back then was never proven to be something Mia made up.

"Even if you like Sienna Lane, do you really have to punish Mia like this just to get revenge for her?"

The man placed the report in front of Mark.

Mark didn't stop operating the equipment in front of him.

Even when he saw the abnormal results on the report, he didn't so much as frown.

Instead, he gave a cold, mocking laugh.

"I trust Professor Lane's character.

"And I trust Sienna even more.

"Mia liked me. Back then, she was constantly targeting Sienna because of it.

"Once she found out her own professor was Sienna's father, she even accused Professor Lane of sexually assaulting her.

"She destroyed Sienna's family and turned them into a public disgrace."

His voice grew colder.

"Doesn't Mia like accusing people of wanting her?

"Then I wanted her to understand exactly what she is.

"Even if she stripped naked and threw herself at me, I still wouldn't feel a thing."

The other man looked unsettled.

He studied Mark's indifferent expression and let out a quiet sigh.

"That's brutal.

"Mia loves you that much.

"For years, she's blamed herself for not being able to give you a normal married life.

"She doesn't have any of the pride she had back when she was chasing you.

"She practically walks on eggshells around you now."

Mark gave a cold laugh.

"That's nothing compared to what she did to Sienna."

Mia couldn't hear the rest.

She stumbled backward several steps.

Her entire body shook so badly she could barely remain standing.

So that was the truth.

Professor Lane.

Sienna's father.

Tears burned at the corners of Mia's eyes.

For most of her life, she had lived however she pleased.

She had always known she was beautiful.

Men had fallen for her wherever she went.

The only person she had ever failed to win over was Mark Hayes.

Back then, Mark had only just joined the research institute as an ordinary junior researcher.

The first time Mia saw him, she was drawn to him immediately.

She pursued him openly and without hesitation.

But Mark was nothing like the other men she had known.

Not only was he completely unaffected by her attention, he actively avoided her.

Instead of discouraging Mia, that only made her more determined.

She told everyone she liked him.

She rented every billboard in Harbor City just to announce it.

She followed him from one academic conference to another even though she had absolutely no interest in any of them.

At a family dinner, she even announced in front of everyone that Mark was the only man she would ever marry.

None of it earned her so much as an extra glance from him.

He was like an iceberg that refused to melt.

There had only ever been one exception.

Sienna Lane.

Mark could barely be bothered to look at Mia.

But whenever Sienna was around, his gaze always seemed to find her.

Eventually, Mia began to lose hope.

At a class reunion, she had been miserable and drank far too much.

That night, her professor, Sienna's father, sexually assaulted her.

Just when Mia thought no one would come,

Mark was the first person to arrive and save her.

Even though the assault had been stopped before it went any further, Mia still pressed charges.

Professor Lane's reputation was destroyed.

Not long after he was released from prison, he took his own life.

But Mia had never imagined that in Mark's eyes,

she had framed him.

Mark had seen it with his own eyes.

He had been the one who came to save her.

And when everyone else had mocked and judged her afterward,

he had been the one who stepped forward, taken her hand, and gone with her to the courthouse.

So why was he doing this to her now?

Had he married her only so he could take revenge more effectively?

Had every sign of affection been nothing more than another way to humiliate her?

Mia bit down hard on her lower lip.

Never in her life had she felt so ridiculous.

For five years of marriage, she had loved him exactly the same way.

She had tortured herself with guilt because she couldn't give him a normal sex life.

She had even thrown away her pride and gone to a private club to learn how to seduce her own husband.

And in the end,

Mark had never loved her at all.

Everything he had done had been for Sienna.

Pain tore through Mia's chest as though her heart were being ripped apart.

Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes, only to dry in the wind.

By the time she walked out of the research institute, her eyes burned so badly she could no longer cry.

A few minutes later, she started the car.

She drove all the way across the city without stopping.

Finally, she pulled to a stop outside the Sterling family chapel.