Prologue

"What the fuck, Lucia?! I told you—you are not to leave this room until I say so! Look what you’ve done! You embarrassed me in front of my business partners with that sluggish, frumpy, cheap-looking getup!"

"I-I’m so sorry, Lucas… I-I just wanted to meet your business partners—"

"—For what?! To make a fool of me?! Just stay in this goddamn room and let Amanda and me handle my guests, will you? Damn it!"

The tears I’d been fighting back finally streamed down my cheeks as Lucas stormed out of our bedroom. His words cut deep—he’d never spoken to me like this before, but something had shifted in him just two weeks after we tied the knot.

I could no longer recognize the Lucas I’d fallen in love with—the man who promised to cherish me and never cause me pain. I’d given up everything for him, choosing him over my own parents, yet here we were, not even a year into our marriage, and this was how he treated me.

"I-It’s okay… I understand him," I whispered to myself, trying to soothe the ache in my chest. "L-Lucas must just be stressed. He needs to earn Uncle Noah’s trust if he wants to inherit all his shares in Grayson Corporation. I-I’m sure he’ll apologize once his guests are gone."

I pushed down the growing doubts about Lucas’s love for me. He was the family heir, after all—he had to prove to Uncle Noah that he was worthy not just of leading the Grayson name, but of inheriting every last asset Noah Grayson owned.

I’d only seen Uncle Noah once—at our wedding. He’d attended briefly before leaving early. As the youngest son of the Grayson clan, he’d built his own billion-dollar empire from scratch: Grayson Corporation. He held the largest stake in his father’s company, yet he’d let Lucas’s dad—his older brother—manage the family business while he focused on his own ventures.

Uncle Noah was a strikingly handsome, charismatic bachelor who’d climbed to the top of the business world with ease. There was a seven-year gap between us—Lucas and I were both twenty-nine, while Noah was thirty-six. Lucas had once told me his uncle was a "miracle baby," which explained the age difference. Everyone wondered why such a sought-after man had never settled down, but I figured he was simply too dedicated to his work.

I wiped my tears away and took a deep breath, choosing to see things from Lucas’s perspective. Even so, I couldn’t help but wonder why Amanda—his secretary—was always by his side. I refused to let my mind wander to darker places; I knew Lucas would never betray me.

I did as he’d ordered and stayed in our room for three long hours, assuming his dinner with business partners must have ended by now. I rose from the bed and made my way toward the door.

"It’s almost time for dinner," I murmured to myself. "I’ll cook Lucas his favorite dish—serving him always makes me happy. Because I love him."

I descended the stairs to find the living room empty, but then I heard sounds that made me freeze: laughter mixed with soft moans, coming from the kitchen. The voices were painfully familiar.

Curiosity warring with unease, I crept toward the kitchen—and my blood ran cold. There, right before my eyes, was Lucas, pinning Amanda against the kitchen counter as their lips crashed together in a feverish kiss. I clapped a hand over my mouth to stifle a gasp, tears blurring my vision.

I leaned against the wall, unable to move as the tears flowed freely now.

"I-I’m not hallucinating… th-they’re kissing…" I breathed, my voice barely a whisper.

I couldn’t believe my husband was having an affair with his secretary—in our own home. I wanted to rush in and confront them, but my legs refused to move. All I could do was cry.

"Wait, Lucas—what if your boring wife comes down here and sees us?" Amanda’s voice drifted toward me.

"Don’t worry about that bitch. I told her not to leave our room until I say so, and she’ll obey—she loves me too much to defy me."

"When are you going to leave that plain, dull wife of yours? You promised me once you got your dad’s shares, you’d end things with her. I don’t want to be your mistress forever—not when I’m the one you’ve loved from the start."

From the start? My heart stopped. Did that mean they’d been together before Lucas and I even married?

"I can’t file for annulment yet. Yeah, Dad gave me his shares, but they’re nothing compared to what Uncle Noah holds. I need to get his stake first, then I’ll dump Lucia. Just be patient—once all of Uncle Noah’s shares are mine, I’ll get rid of her immediately." Lucas’s voice was tender—the same way he’d spoken to me in our early days together.

"Tsk! Your family is so strange—what did they even see in that boring woman? Your parents only pushed for the marriage because they liked her, and the worst part is your uncle favors her too. I’m so much better than she is."

"Of course you are, baby. But we have to be careful for now. Just stay on as my secretary a little longer, and soon enough, I’ll introduce you as Mrs. Grayson."

Each word shredded my heart to pieces. So this was it—Lucas had never loved me. He’d married me only to please his parents and advance his own agenda. Every caress, every sweet promise… it had all been a lie. I clutched at my chest as the pain became too much to bear, sinking to the floor as their moans and whispers filled the air around me.

I’d been nothing but a pawn in his game from the very start.