Chapter 1

"Charlotte, this bed… Damn, this thing is insane. It's so soft and springy that I feel like I could go at it for half an hour without stopping!" a man growled.

"Ah! Dave… go easy on me…" a woman moaned.

Cyrus Reed stood outside the brand-new marital home he'd bought less than three days ago. The door was ajar, and lewd noises drifted out from inside, making him tremble uncontrollably.

That bed, including the sheets and comforter, was something he'd picked out after painstakingly comparing prices. He'd planned to spend his wedding night there tomorrow, to start a new chapter of life with Charlotte Cox, the woman he'd been with for three years.

But right now, those obscene noises hammered away at his beautiful fantasies about the future, smashing them to pieces with each smack of skin on skin.

He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms. The sharp pain still couldn't drown out the rage and despair, though.

"Enjoying the show?"

An emotionless female voice sounded behind him.

Cyrus turned around.

A silhouette came into view against the dim hallway light. She wore a perfectly tailored, pure-white business suit that traced every curve and line, exuding a mature, lethal allure.

Her face looked like a masterpiece carved by the gods themselves, each feature impossibly refined. But in those deep, beautiful eyes was nothing but ice—a chill, distant coldness that kept everyone at arm's length.

A flicker of confusion crossed Cyrus' gaze. Who was this stunning stranger? A neighbor?

"Don't get the wrong idea." The woman seemed to read the question in his eyes. "I'm a victim, too."

She tilted her sharp chin toward his new apartment. "The bastard screwing your fiancee in there? I'm supposed to be walking down the aisle to him tomorrow."

Her words sent a wave of absurdity crashing over Cyrus, almost drowning him.

The dude in there had a fiancee who looked like some goddess descended to earth, and he'd skipped out on that to hook up with Cyrus' plain-looking fiancee? What the hell was wrong with him? Did he have air for brains?

Cyrus could only force his lips into an ugly grimace. "Oh. So you're here to bust them too, huh?"

"Something like that," the beauty replied calmly.

At that moment, the noise inside the apartment cut off all at once. It seemed their conversation had tipped off the cheating couple going at it inside.

"Selene?" A panicked, stunned male voice came from within.

Through the gap in the door, Cyrus saw the bastard jerk away from Charlotte in a hurry, scrambling to wrap himself in the comforter Cyrus had bought. He scrambled toward the entrance, almost falling over himself.

David Zeller rushed to the door, looking frantic yet fawning. "Selene, my love, I can explain! This isn't what it looks like. I—"

A crisp, ringing slap cut off every excuse he was about to spew. The force of Selene Moore's slap made his head snap to the side. A red handprint instantly bloomed across his cheek.

Meanwhile, Charlotte stumbled out while yanking on her clothes, her hair a mess. Her face was still flushed from what she and David had been doing.

The second she saw Cyrus standing there, his face dark and stormy, panic flooded her eyes. "C-Cyrus, what are you doing here? It's… it's not what you think. Just let me explain…"

Cyrus felt all the blood in his body rush straight to his head. His temples throbbed so hard they hurt. He stared at Charlotte—at the hickeys littered across her neck and poking out from beneath her crooked collar.

He forced himself not to lunge forward and tear everything apart with his bare hands. Instead, he ground his teeth and squeezed out a few words. "Fine. Talk. I'm listening."

His fists were clenched so hard his knuckles had gone a ghastly white. Every muscle in his arms twitched from the strain.

Charlotte's gaze skittered away. She struggled to twist her face into something akin to deep, wounded grievance. "I… I just… I just wanted to test how bouncy the mattress was. We're using it for our wedding night tomorrow, aren't we? And then… then we couldn't help ourselves and tried it out…"

Her voice got smaller and smaller as she went on. Even she knew how ridiculous that excuse sounded.

"Y-Yeah, exactly! That's it, my love!" David ignored the throbbing pain in his cheek and rushed to back Charlotte up. "We really were just checking out the quality of the mattress. It's not what you think. We were just stress-testing the product!"

Both Cyrus and Selene stared at them, and the atmosphere turned dead silent.

Product testing? It would've sounded more believable if they'd at least said they'd lost control after getting drunk.

"Charlotte Cox, do you seriously take me for a fool? Or do you think I'm blind? You wanted to test the bed, so you got another man to test it for me?"

Charlotte flinched under Cyrus' raw, merciless contempt, her shame so intense that she couldn't squeeze out a single word.

"And you?" Selene asked coolly, turning her gaze on David.

David could tell there was no way he was going to sweet-talk his way out of this with Selene. A bitter, ugly anger surged up inside him instead.

He stopped trying to explain. Instead, he latched onto this moment like it was the perfect time to vent. "Fine. Fine! Yes, Selene, I cheated on you. But who the hell do you think is to blame? You! It's all on you for acting like you're some pure, untouchable goddess.

"We've been together this long, and you won't even let me touch a finger of yours! I try to hold your hand, and you act like it could kill you. I'm a normal man—I have needs. I have blue balls from holding myself back all the time! I couldn't stand it anymore. How is this all my fault?"

The more he talked, the more worked up he became, as if he were the one who'd been deeply wronged.

Right on cue, a dull, heavy crack split the air as Cyrus' fist crashed into David's shameless face like a piledriver. The punch carried the full weight of three years of love being trampled and his dignity ground to dust.

"You couldn't hold it in, huh?" His roar exploded through the hallway, making everyone's eardrums ring. "If you really couldn't hold it in, you could've gone and paid a hooker! What the hell do you think you're doing screwing my fiancee?"

David let out a miserable howl as he staggered backward from the blow, blood pouring from his nose. His vision went dark around the edges. He clutched his nose, body doubled over in pain.

Beside him, Charlotte shrieked in fright, her face draining of color as she stumbled back a couple of steps. She couldn't help but feel afraid as she looked at Cyrus, who seemed out of his mind with rage.

But Cyrus stepped toward her. "What about you? Were you feeling lonely, too? Is that why you let this piece of trash get into your pants?"

She flinched under the sharp edge of his gaze. Maybe it was David's sorry state that had rattled her, or maybe she had just decided to throw caution to the wind. She abruptly jerked her head up and shouted shrilly, "I was feeling something, alright. I was feeling miserable for having to marry a loser like you!

"Look at yourself, Cyrus Reed. You're 30 years old, and it took you three whole years just to scrape together the down payment for this crappy little apartment. I bet you even sucked your parents dry for it, didn't you?

"If I marry you, what do I have to look forward to for the rest of my life besides drowning in a mortgage, pinching every penny, and living on cheap food?"

"And so?" Cyrus' voice suddenly went quiet.

"So I was making some money for myself and leaving myself a way out! What's wrong with that?" Charlotte actually sounded righteous as she said it.

Cyrus felt like a sledgehammer had slammed into his skull. His mind went completely blank. Her talk about making money and leaving herself a way out echoed over the buzzing in his ears.

Three years… It'd been a full three years.

From the day they met to discussing marriage, he'd poured his heart and soul into her, scrimping and saving, planning a future for them…

But to her, he had only ever been someone she needed a "way out" from. He was nothing more than a stepping stone she could betray whenever it suited her.

He didn't even dare think about when this filthy arrangement had started. Was it just this once, or had it been going on for a long time? Was she planning to grab as much cash as she could before the wedding, or was this going to be her permanent side gig after they tied the knot?

Charlotte seemed startled by what she'd just blurted out. A flash of shame flickered across her face before she ducked her head in a hurry.

By now, David, who had been punched half senseless, finally started to come back to himself a little. He clutched his nose, blood leaking nonstop through his fingers, his expression both pathetic and vicious.

First, he shot Cyrus a venomous glare, as if to say he'd deal with him later. Then, he turned toward Selene, forcing what he must have thought was a tender, loving look onto his face.

He said, "Selene, my love, you've already hit me. You must've gotten your anger out, right? Calm down. We're getting married tomorrow, so let's just pretend none of this ever happened, okay?"

Selene's face, however, remained completely calm. There was no telling what she was feeling from her expression.

With no reaction from her, David had no choice but to play his trump card. His tone took on a fairly threatening edge. "You don't want your grandfather to find out about this, do you? He's basically just hanging on by a thread now. The one thing keeping him going is the thought of seeing you walk down the aisle.

"If the wedding gets called off because of what happened today, and that news reaches him… Do you really think his heart can handle the shock? If something happens to him because of this… Selene, could you bear to see that?"

Selene's slender frame trembled almost imperceptibly at his words. She lowered her lashes, hiding the turmoil in her eyes.

The air seemed to freeze for a few seconds.

"You're right," she said at last. When she lifted her gaze again, the corners of her lips curved up ever so slightly. "Grandpa really can't handle any more shocks. So yes, I still have to get married."

Wild joy burst to life in David's eyes in an instant. He'd gambled and won. He knew that as long as he threatened Selene with her grandfather, Harrison Moore, she would have no choice but to submit to him, no matter how proud or cold she acted.

A triumphant smile had just begun to spread across his face when it froze at what she said next.

"The groom won't be you, though." Selene abruptly switched tack.

Cyrus stood beside her, his face still dark with anger. She gracefully slipped her hand around his arm. With a cool, detached finality, she announced, "It'll be him."