Chapter 1

1

“Please, hubby!” Aria rushed forward again, wrapping her arms around the man she thought was her husband from behind before he could finish speaking. Her body trembled against his, warm and desperate.

“Don’t do this to me. What did I do wrong? Tell me what to do to change your mind. I’ll do 'anything.' Please… don’t leave me. Don’t break us apart…”

Her sobs filled the luxurious suite—the sound of a woman whose entire world was collapsing.

“Would you stop interrupting me when I speak?” Kayden growled in irritation, seeing as she kept treating him as Jayden.

Aria flinched at the harshness in his voice, a tone she had never heard from her husband before. It cut deep, but she refused to back down.

This was Jayden—her Jayden. Whatever misunderstanding that was making him treat her like this, she would weather it. She had to.

Driven by pure desperation and love, she tightened her arms around him, pressing her body flush against his.

She stared up at him with wide, shimmering eyes, then slowly, sensually licked her lips the way she had once read about in those late-night articles meant to “rekindle the spark."

Kayden’s breath hitched. Her soft curves molded against his chest, and her scent—sweet lavender warmed by sunlit skin—wrapped around him like a drug.

Kayden felt her soft molds pressed against him, and an intoxicating sweetness of her feminine scent filled his nostrils and enveloped him, igniting memories that sent his heart racing and his throat feeling dry, causing all the blood in his veins to rush in a certain direction.

He could feel that part of his body come alive.

He thought he hated her; he thought he didn't even want to breathe in the same air as her after what she did to him years ago… destroying the future he had foolishly imagined when she chose his twin brother.

But why was he responding to her touches and obvious provocation? Blood rushed hot through his veins, his body betraying him even as hatred burned in his chest.

Why her? Why now?

“Get out,” he snarled, the words laced with finality.

“Please don’t reject me,” Aria whispered, her voice cracking as fresh tears welled up. “I can’t take it, hubby. Make love to me as you used to… or any way you want. I’m yours. Just don’t kick me out of this room.”

Something inside Kayden shifted.

A chilling aura radiated from him. His gaze turned predatory, dark and dangerous, like a panther stalking its wounded prey.

Jealousy and possessiveness roared through him.

‘She was supposed to be mine. Mine alone. Not Jayden’s. Not anyone’s,’ he inwardly roared the words to himself.

And yet here she was, offering herself so shamelessly to him, thinking he was Jayden, his brother.

The more Kayden's mind drifted to the past, the more anger he felt; in the next second, something snapped within him.

He began to crave something he thought he had long forgotten.

He began to crave all those things he had once yearned for but had decided to lock away in that deep, dark part of his heart.

He was tired of being the cursed one, the one who was left behind, the substitute…the replacement.

He wanted to be the main character now; he didn't want to keep living in the shadows any longer…

Most importantly, he wanted her; he wanted her to beg and scream as she writhed under him.

He wanted it all.

“Fine,” he said, the single word cold as steel.

Relief washed over Aria’s face like a drowning woman breaking the surface of a lake after being submerged for hours.

“Thank you, babe,” she breathed. She rose on her tiptoes to kiss him, but the deathly glare he gave her stopped her cold. Heart pounding, she redirected at the last second, pressing a weak, trembling kiss to his chin instead.

“You will obey me,” Kayden commanded, his voice low and authoritative. “You do exactly as I say…you do nothing without my permission. Understand?”

Aria nodded quickly, swallowing hard. “I understand.”

She told herself this was just Jayden in pain—maybe stressed, maybe manipulated by his family. One night of passion and he would come back to her. He always did.

“Don’t you dare regret this later,” Kayden warned, his expression emotionless. Then, without warmth, he issued the order: "Strip"

~~~♡♡♡~~~

Four hours earlier,

Jayden's and Aria's mansion…

“Good evening, ma'am; this just arrived for you.” A maid said, holding a brown envelope in her hand.

“Oh, just keep it there on the coffee table; I'll check on it later,” Aria said and moved her attention back to the living room.

The aroma of vanilla-scented candles and fresh roses filled the elegant living room of the sprawling mansion.

She stepped back, admiring her handiwork one last time.

Heart-shaped candles glowed softly on the marble floor, rose petals formed a romantic pathway lined with more flickering lights, and slow, sensual music played in the background.

The dining table held an ice bucket with their most expensive wine and an array of dishes she had prepared herself.

Tonight was their third wedding anniversary—three years of the happiest days of her life.

Aria smiled, her heart full. She didn’t need anyone to tell her she had struck gold the day she met Jayden Hunt.

The billionaire CEO loved her fiercely, pampered her endlessly, and never once cared that she came from a poor background.

To the tabloids and socialites of Manhattan, she was the “Cinderella of Manhattan," but Aria ignored their jealous whispers. All that mattered was Jayden’s love and approval.

Thanks to him, her father and stepmother no longer dared bully her. Her younger brother was thriving at one of New York’s best universities. Jayden was her lucky star.

She checked the time again. It was past seven. Jayden had called her this morning after returning from Spain, promising to finish some urgent paperwork and come straight home.

But now his phone kept going straight to voicemail, and it made her begin to worry.

She tried calling his secretary, James. But there was no answer from him either.

“He’s probably stuck in an important meeting,” Aria consoled herself.

This is not the first time Jayden has been late due to an emergency meeting.

“He's going to get an earful from me when he returns. I always tell him to at least send me a text in such cases to prevent me from worrying, but he never listens,” Aria mumbled.

Still, unease gnawed at her. To distract herself, she picked up the brown envelope the maid had delivered earlier. She carefully opened the envelope and pulled out the papers.

The bold words at the top made her blood run cold.

"...DIVORCE AGREEMENT..."

Her eyes widened in horror. At the bottom were the names “Ariana Gray” and “Jayden Hunt," followed by her husband’s powerful, unmistakable signature.

A gasp escaped her lips. Her knees buckled. Aria collapsed onto the sofa, body trembling as the papers shook in her grip.

This…this couldn’t be real.