Chapter 1

It was five in the evening, and Edith Conrad had been watching her husband being sweet with another woman in the garden outside a villa.

And she knew that woman—it was Susie Lindt, her college classmate and James Shatner's one true love.

Susie had suddenly left the country two years ago, just before the Conrads and the Shatners decided on Edith's strategic marriage with James.

Then, news broke out that she returned to the country just a month ago.

Since then, Edith could no longer keep track of James' whereabouts, and he would leave home early but return very late.

Suspecting that James was cheating, she began to check in on him constantly, questioning him and even tailing him, but she got nothing… Until this afternoon.

As a member of James' secretarial department, she unexpectedly received James' new itinerary and tailed him here and saw this.

In the garden, Susie was hopping to reach an apple on a high branch but failing.

She stamped her feet, her pretty face pouting before training a miserable look at James for him to help.

Chuckling wryly, he went up and plucked the apple for her, and she was purring as she received it, "I just want you to have a taste. It's so big and so red—it'll definitely be very sweet."

Then, pouting again and pointing even higher, she huffed, "Don't laugh! As your punishment, you will pluck that for me too!"

James took off his suit and had her hold it, rolling up the sleeves of his white shirt as he started plucking apples wherever she pointed.

Edith looked on and took out her phone to call his number.

His tone was cool as he answered, "What is it?"

Edith sniffed and faked a raspy voice. "James, I'm really, really sick. Can you come home to keep me company?"

"Levi said you were perfectly fine when you left work," James replied, flatly exposing her. "Quit being so dramatic."

Edith wasn't giving up. "Well, can you just come home to have dinner with me? I don't have an appetite without you."

"I'm busy for the night." James refused and quickly hung up.

As Edith stared at the screen indicating the disconnected call, her senses went numb.

What was with that difference in treatment?

When she got dramatic, he'd just expose her, disinterested.

When Susie got dramatic, he'd humor her, mild and tender.

She had been plenty dramatic in their two-year marriage—asking to be carried if she got tired, asking for him to feed her if her hand was hurt, and forcing a clean freak like him to finish her food.

The list went on, but on every occasion, he would watch, proud and cold as she continued her solo show.

Then, with a cutting remark that burst her bubble, he'd tell her to quit being so dramatic.

It was only when they were in bed that he would step down from his lofty perch a little, breathing some sweet words, but once again distant once they're out of bed.

She thought it was simply nature, but it was clear now that he knew how to be sweet—he just wouldn't be sweet to her.

In hindsight, those two years spent living like a clown to draw his attention were as laughable as they were tragic.

Now, Edith watched as they entered the villa together. Making up her mind, she bought boxes of different branded condoms.

In just thirty minutes, she watched a courier hand the bag to James before calling him again.

"What's this supposed to mean?" he asked very coolly, having guessed that it was her.

Edith had every intention to mock him. "Your favorite brands. I really pay attention to details, don't you think?"

"You can screw around all you like, but know when to stop," he growled.

Hearing how he lectured her loftily as usual, Edith thought then that she really had enough of this.

Having guessed it endlessly and argued about it one-sidedly countless times, she finally asked the question on her mind. "It's been two years, James. Does being married to me give you so much grief?"

Why else would his heart remain unmoved for two years?

His answer was silence—he couldn't even be bothered to answer the question.

Then, Edith's phone suddenly jingled, and she saw that she had received a wire transfer from James worth two million.

Then came his cool voice. "Go do something for yourself if you're so bored. Shopping, traveling, or whatnot—just quit being so paranoid."

And with that, the call ended.

Edith stared at her phone screen, finding it hard to breathe.

He would throw her money every time to discourage her.

Whatever she said felt like punching cotton, that even sending him and another woman condoms didn't anger him.

In the end, one just didn't care when there was no love.

But this time, she didn't choose to argue or get dramatic—she no longer had the right.

-

A week ago, she was informed by her father Bart Conrad that she was not his real daughter, but a phony swapped by her mother Melody Singer.

Back then, Bart's first love Wanda Jones and Edith's mother had gone into labor on the same day at a private hospital.

While Edith's mother lost a lot of blood and miscarried, Wanda had a smooth delivery—Bart's illegitimate child.

As Melody lay sedated, Bart brought Wanda's daughter over, ready to raise her in the family.

He didn't know that Melody was already up and overheard his plans.

Clearly unhappy that the baby by her side was her husband's bastard child, she took revenge, sneakily exchanging the baby with yet another child.

And that child was Edith.

Melody never told anyone about it, not even as she contracted a terminal illness and died.

However, the truth was exposed anyway when a maid cleaning up Melody's personal effects read her diary.

Even if the other baby was a child born out of wedlock, she was still the real heiress and had to live all on her own somewhere out there.

In contrast, Edith enjoyed a life of privilege for 24 years—which was why Wanda, who used to love her to bits, now wanted to skin her.

Her father didn't overreact as much in comparison. However, he remained pragmatic, warning that the fact that she was a phony heiress meant she was even less deserving of James.

He told her to quit being a drama queen—to know her place and be a faithful wife and dutiful secretary.

To take what she could for the family's interest, and to repay them for raising her.

Moreover, they were already out searching for the real heiress in secret after learning the truth.

Therefore, what right did an orphan of unknown roots like her have to cause trouble for James Shatner?

-

Edith had just gotten home when she got a call from Miriam Rexton, her mother-in-law.

She hesitated for a while but eventually answered the call. "Yes?"

Miriam promptly demanded. "Why can't I reach James?"

Edith paused and smiled wryly—he was probably doing whatever he wanted.

Or wouldn't it be a waste of her condoms?

Kicking her shoes off her feet, she started inside the house while answering languidly, "I don't know. He's not with me."

"You don't know where your own husband is? Can't you make an effort, Edith Conrad? Or do you maybe intend to surrender your place as Mrs. Shatner?"

She wasn't making an effort?

For two years now, she had made sure her life and career revolved around James Shatner, if only so that he would care about her a little more.

There was just nothing she could do when he had dedicated his heart to someone else.

Still, she quickly said, "Yeah, I know. I'll call him right now."

Her mind was a mess, and she really didn't want to deal with her mother-in-law right then.

Hanging up, she threw her phone aside and took a bottle of wine from the bar, chugging it whole.

There was no way Miriam had called her out of the blue—she must be sending a warning.

Because she was aware of Susie's return and didn't want that woman to affect James Shatner's marriage, with him being heir to the illustrious Shatner family.

Lying down on the couch, Edith started to break down the situation at hand.

Just days ago, her father had taken back her family company shares, the dowry her mother had left her, and even other properties under her name because he found out they weren't biologically related.

All he left her was a BMW she had driven for five years, which her mother had bought for her on her twentieth birthday and served as a memento.

That being said, her father has every right to reclaim everything he had given her, since they weren't blood-related. Still, that left her orphaned, in every genuine sense of the word.

Even so, she could still lead an easy life by remaining as Mrs. Shatner.

In contrast, she'd have nothing left if they divorced—no money, no family to return to, and even her job in Shatner Inc. might go up in smoke.

She would be lying if she said she wasn't hesitant—no one would ever willingly put themselves through hardship.

But she decided that she could bear being poor, because she wouldn't starve as long as she was able-bodied.

On the other hand, she couldn't bear the pain in her heart—to suffer her husband's apathy and adultery for decades.

A million different thoughts swirled in her mind while the alcohol started to get to her, and she dozed off on the couch.

She was soon jolted awake, and she opened her eyes to see James carrying her upstairs.