He was never mine의 모든 챕터: 챕터 1 - 챕터 5

Avery’s PovI checked my reflection one last time, smoothing down the navy blue dress.His favorite color with my hair down the way he once mentioned he liked, back when he looked at me once. The diamond bracelet from christmas glinted under the light, probably picked by his assistant, but I wore it anyway.Tonight had to be perfect. Richard, my father-in-law, was bringing fourteen important guests, and I was going to be exactly what they expected, the graceful hostess, the perfect wife.Maybe if I tried hard enough, he’d finally see me. Pathetic yes, I know that.I’m Avery Monroe Sterling, twenty-four. Married fourteen months to a man who keeps me in a separate bedroom and barely speaks to me. We signed a contract, one year to save his company’s image and fulfill his father's wishes. The year ended two months ago and I’m still here.Before Nate, my husband, I was engaged to someone else. I caught him cheating with someone I trusted. The betrayal sent me running into traffic, straight

Avery’s PovThe sounds echoed through the wall didn’t stop for hours.Her moans, his groans and the sound of his bed creaking.I lay there, staring at the ceiling, hands pressed over my ears. But I could still hear everything. Every whispered word. Every sound of pleasure he’d never made with me.When it finally went quiet, I rolled onto my side and cried into my pillow, silent and broken until there was nothing left.The doctor had come after the dinner party, after the guests had left. Richard and his wife had also left. Dr. Matthews examined me in my room. Not pregnant, just exhausted and stressed. He’d recommended I should rest and he left within twenty minutes.Nate never asked about the results, never came to check on me.He’d been too busy with her.Three days had passed and Nate didn’t come home.I knew where he was, at her hotel, finally living the life he’d always wanted without me in it.And the house, it felt different, bigger and colder like it was rejecting me too.I st

Nate’s PovThe blood stains on the sheets stayed with me for months. It's been months since Avery left, six months and I still see it. Dark red blood against the white sheet, something I took when I had no right to take anything from her.I took those sheets off and burned them myself. I couldn't let the staff know I just slept with my wife of fourteen months. But the image remained, seared in my mind like a brand.The first two months after she left had been fine, good even. Celeste and I got engaged, planning our future we once dreamed about. For a while, I convinced my self this was what happiness looked like.By the third month, things changed. Small things at first. I would wake up reaching for someone who wasn't there. I see her face in crowds, and I hear her quiet voice in an empty room.By the fourth month, it got worse and Celeste noticed. She started asking questions I had no answer to. I blamed work, stress, anything but the truth.Five to six months were worse. Constant a