Chapter 1

As expected, Lena Chapman and Shane Steele's wedding night didn't disappoint the audience.

They trashed everything in the presidential suite, fighting from the living room all the way to the bedroom.

When exhaustion finally set in, no one knew who made the first move, but they ended up rolling together onto the only intact king-sized bed.

Neither was the type to back down, and they even fought for control in bed. Yet, against all odds, they fit together seamlessly.

That night was wild and intense. They were like two blazes colliding, burning away every last shred of sanity.

From then on, it became their unspoken routine. No matter how viciously they argued or how hard they hit, they always ended up in bed together.

At the racetrack lounge, in a private jet bathroom, in a tent watching the sunrise from a mountaintop…

The locations grew increasingly absurd, and their encounters ever more reckless.

Like two trapped beasts, they tore at each other in a cage of desire, yet drew warmth from one another's body heat.

Lena knew it wasn't right.

Her marriage to Shane was nothing more than a commercial marriage. There was no affection between them. They weren't even friends.

Yet, her body was too honest.

Every time Shane touched her, she couldn't stop the shudder that rippled through her body. And every time he finished and walked away, she would lie awake, staring at the ceiling until dawn.

Maybe sex and love were inseparable. Maybe like attracted like. Or maybe she was just desperately lonely.

Eventually, Lena began to think she was falling for Shane.

She started looking forward to him coming home, memorizing his favorite foods, and feeling a needle-sharp pang in her chest whenever she smelled unfamiliar perfume on his shirts.

She thought that Shane might have some feelings for her too.

Otherwise, why would he want her that badly every single time? Why would he hold her just a bit longer after they finished? And why did he stay by her bedside until dawn that night she had a fever?

Lena actually felt that spending the rest of her life like this wouldn't be so bad.

They both loved to play hard and break the rules anyway. Being bound to him for the rest of her days didn't sound like a bad fate.

That thought changed the day she entered an underground high-stakes race to win back her late mother Eliza Gates' heirloom.

Before she left, Shane towel-dried his damp hair, raising an eyebrow as he watched her slip into a tight racing suit. "Do you really have to go? Let me send someone to negotiate for that necklace. I'll get it back for you, whatever it costs."

"No need," Lena said, adjusting her hair in the mirror. "Winning it myself is the only way it counts. What's wrong, Mr. Steele? Worrying about me?"

He scoffed, tossed his towel aside, and walked over to wrap his arms around her from behind.

His warm breath brushed her ear as he said, "I'm worried you'll wreck the Pagani I waited six months for. Drive carefully. It's no big deal if you lose. Your husband will win you a better one later."

That casual slip of "husband" made Lena's heart skip a beat.

She pulled away, put on her helmet, and tossed back a quick "just wait and see" before leaving without looking back.

On the mountain road, Lena pressed the accelerator all the way down, leaving her opponents in the dust.

The final turn was here, and the finish line was in sight.

Suddenly, a violent roar of an engine burst from her rearview mirror. A black Bugatti shot out like a missile, rear-ending her with a suicidal force.

Following a loud crash, the world spun out of control. Lean's car rolled violently, slamming into the guardrail as sparks flew everywhere.

Amid the cheering crowd at the finish line, she was dragged out of the mangled driver's seat, bleeding from her forehead and aching all over.

She struggled to her feet and looked toward the finish line.

The door of the black Bugatti swung open, and a tall, familiar figure stepped out. The night wind tousled his short hair, revealing his strikingly sharp face.

Lena's pupils shrank as she froze in place.

Shane?

Why was he here? Not only had he entered the race, but he had also knocked her out and snatched first place!

Before she could process it, Shane picked up the blue diamond necklace glittering under the finish line lights and strode straight toward the crowd.

A woman in a white sundress sprinted out from the crowd and threw herself into Shane's arms.

Shane caught her effortlessly, wearing a tender smile Lena had never seen before. He lowered his head and fastened the necklace around the woman's neck.

The woman touched the diamond in delight before leaning up to kiss him on the cheek.

That sight stabbed into Lena's eyes like a red-hot blade, piercing right through her heart.

She stumbled forward and yanked the woman out of Shane's embrace. "Who is she?"

Shane's expression didn't change when he saw her. However, he frowned as his eyes landed on the red mark on the woman's wrist.

He took the woman's hand and blew on it softly. "Does it hurt?"

The woman shook her head, though her eyes welled with tears. "A little…"

"I'll get you patched up in a minute."

Only then did he look up at Lena. "Meet Yasmine Chandler. The woman I love."

Those four words hit Lena like four sharp daggers straight to her chest.

She parted her lips, but no sound came out. "She's… the woman you love?"

"Yeah," Shane answered without hesitation.

"I forgot to mention it before, but I was already in love with her long before I married you. My family didn't approve, though. My dad used Yasmine's life to force me into this marriage, so I had no choice but to give in. We're both pretty open-minded, so I figured you wouldn't mind, right?

"Besides, I've fulfilled all my duties as a husband. I went home every day and satisfied you in bed. I've done it all. Just don't complain to my dad. If you have men on the side, I won't interfere either. We can just keep going as we were—a couple on paper."

Lena understood every single word he said. Yet put together, it felt like an absurd nightmare.

So those intense nights, the warmth they shared, the feelings she thought were mutual… had all been nothing more than "duties"?

He came home on time every day not for her, but to keep up appearances for his family?

His rare moments of gentleness and care were nothing more than an act?

For three years, she had lived inside a massive lie. And like a fool, she had fallen deeper into it, even catching real feelings for him!

"Oh, and about the necklace," Shane added as if just remembering, pointing at the diamond on Yasmine's neck.

"I know it belonged to your mom. But Yasmine liked it when she saw it, so I went ahead and won it for her. If you want something else, I'll make it up to you another day."

He went ahead and won it for her.

Lena felt as though an invisible hand was squeezing her heart and wringing it so violently that the pain nearly brought her to her knees.

She recalled his lighthearted remark before she left home. "It's no big deal if you lose."

It turned out that he wasn't worried about her. He had planned to show up all along to win the necklace and give it to the woman he truly loved.