He begged me in tears when I pretended to cheat.

Start Reading

Holden and I were in an arranged marriage.

In these five years, he never even touched my hand.

I was sick of this marriage in name only.

So I deliberately staged a fake affair.

I took some suggestive photos and sent them to Holden from a burner number.

[Mr. Sterling, your husband tastes good.]

[I've liked Silas for a long time. Why don't you divorce him and let me have him?]

Holden was the proudest man I knew, with a severe obsession with cleanliness, and he couldn't stand betrayal.

I thought after seeing those photos, he'd furiously hand me divorce papers.

But I never expected Holden to ask me, eyes bloodshot with rage:

"That bastardwho is he?"

The photos were taken at carefully chosen angles.

My collar hung loose, deliberately exposing my collarbone, and I'd pinched several suggestive red marks on my neck myself.

Even the slight tilt of my face looked like I was nestled in someone's embrace.

The photos didn't show anyone else's facejust a blurred wrist resting vaguely on my shoulder, suggestive enough, yet calculated to cut deep.

Finally, using that newly registered anonymous number, I sent the photos to Holden.

[Mr. Sterling, your husband tastes good.]

[I've liked Silas for a long time. Why don't you divorce him and let me have him?]

The moment I pressed send, I actually felt relieved.

Then I muted my phone and went to the bathroom, washing my face for a long time.

When I looked up at the mirror, I found myself smiling.

It was a smile of liberation.

I was certain Holden would divorce me.

After all, someone as proud as Holden couldn't possibly tolerate such humiliation.

I even started planning my post-divorce life.

I'd already picked out a house on the west side of the city with a ginkgo tree in the yard.

My phone screen lit up again soona message from Holden.

To my regular number.

I dried my hands and opened the message in front of the mirror.

In the chat box were two words, as cold as always.

[Where are you.]

I snorted. He was so cold to me, so I didn't need to be warm to him either.

I replied just as coldly with two words.

[Home.]

My message sank like a stone into the ocean. After that, I got no further response from Holden.

When the villa door opened, I was sitting on the living room sofa, toweling my dripping hair, still steaming from the bathroom.

Holden stood in the entryway for a few seconds, then walked toward the study.

His footsteps paused for an instant as they passed in front of me.

I thought he was going to say something to me, but he just glanced at me coolly before looking away.

Then the footsteps resumed, the study door opened and closed again.

I stared at Holden's retreating back disappearing through the study door, my heart pounding.

Holden didn't ask me anything.

He didn't mention the photos. He didn't mention the text message.

The confrontation I'd planned, the interrogation, even him furiously demanding a divorce on the spotnone of it happened.

Holden acted like every other ordinary evening, coming home from work and shutting himself in the study.

I froze. This wasn't how it should be.

Wasn't Holden supposed to angrily question me?

Wasn't he supposed to throw those photos of my affair in my face?

I suddenly felt disappointed.

I'd so carefully staged this betrayal, yet he didn't care at all.

Or was he waiting for me to speak first?

My mind was in chaos when my newly registered burner phone received a text from Holden.

[I don't care what trash heap you crawled out of, stay away from Silas.]

[You'd better pray I don't find you, or wherever you touched him, I'll destroy that part of you!]

My whole body froze on the sofa, all the warmth draining from me in an instant.

Holden's response caught me off guard.

I gritted my teeth and, determined to force him into divorce, typed out two more lines on the anonymous number.

[Mr. Sterling, Silas has told me many times he doesn't love you.]

[You don't love him either. It's just a business marriage between you two. Wouldn't it be better to set each other free?]

After I sent the message, there was no response for a long time.

The villa was so quiet I could only hear the ticking of the wall clock.

I sat on the sofa until my whole body went stiff. It wasn't until late at night that I dragged my heavy feet back to the bedroom.

I don't know how much time passed before the mattress beside me sank slightly.

Holden lay down next to me.

He didn't turn on the light. In the darkness there was only steady breathing, slowly drawing closer to me.

I kept my eyes closed, pretending to sleep, but my heart was about to burst.

Holden didn't do what he usually didjust lie down and stay still.

But I could feel his gaze falling on my face, on my neck, lingering for a long time without moving away.

The air thickened bit by bit. Holden's gaze seemed to pierce right through me.

Suddenly, a hand with a cool temperature touched my neck very lightly.

The moment his fingertip brushed those red marks I'd pinched onto myself, Holden's movement stopped abruptly.

I stayed rigid, pretending to be asleep, but my ears were already burning.

Then Holden moved his hand away and leaned down close to me, his scent enveloping me.

The next second, his lips landed extremely lightly on those red marks on my neck.

Holden's lips touched my skin only briefly, yet they were scorching hot.

In the darkness he murmured to himself, his tone dripping with murderous intent.

"Whoever dared to leave marks on you."

"I'll cut off his hands."

My back went rigid instantly. I didn't dare let my breathing pattern falter.

My marriage with Holden was a complete business arrangement.

For five years we'd shared the same bed with different dreams. In outsiders' eyes, I was the glamorous partner of Holden Sterling.

But only I knew our marriage was as empty as a blank sheet of paper.

I was sick of his extreme coldness toward me these five years, sick of playing the loving couple in public while being strangers in private.

I didn't want to be bound by this marriage in name only anymore.

I had to make him thoroughly disgusted with me.

So the next day, I sent him even more suggestive photos.

I deliberately chose more provocative angles.

The neckline pulled even lower. I lay on my side on the bed, the blanket barely covering my waist and abdomen, with bruises I'd pinched onto my sides.

I made my eyes deliberately hazy, as if I'd just experienced intimacy.

No one else, no propsjust my expression and those self-inflicted bruises were enough to let imaginations run wild.

I expressionlessly pressed send.

The anonymous number's message shot toward Holden once again.

[Silas was very good today too.]

[Mr. Sterling, it doesn't matter if you don't divorce. I can be his lover.]

After sending it, I tossed my phone aside and sat in the living room, but my heart was pounding uncontrollably.

Less than a minute after I sent the message, my phone screen lit up.

Holden's reply practically crashed in.

[Send one more and see what happens.]

[You're in the city, aren't you?]

[This is my final warning. Stay away from Silas.]

Holden had connections throughout the city. It wasn't surprising he could trace this burner phone's IP address.

I needed to successfully divorce him before Holden found the owner of this phone.

My fingers flew across the keyboard as I replied.

[Silas says he doesn't want to live like a grass widow with you anymore.]

[Every time we're together, Silas says he can't live without me now.]

[Mr. Sterling, are you impotent?]

I waited a long time, but Holden didn't reply again.

Not until two in the morning, when the bedroom door was pushed open.

Holden's footsteps were stumbling, heavy, and completely erratic.

A thick smell of alcohol rushed into the room with him, like someone had knocked over an entire bottle of liquor, the fumes spreading rapidly.

Holden had never come home this drunk before.

He still didn't turn on the light. Only the moon pushed a small patch of light through the curtain gap.

I faced away from him, gripping the corner of the blanket.

Soon, the mattress beside me sank down.

Holden pulled up my pajama top, his fingers trembling slightly.

When he saw the bruises on my sides clearly, he completely lost control.

The next second, his scalding breath heavy with alcohol pressed down.

Holden suddenly flipped me over, his palm cupping the small of my back with force great enough to embed me into his very bones.

Before I could struggle, he lowered his head and kissed fiercely on those red marks I'd pinched onto my neck.

Then he kissed my lips hard.

Not a gentle touch, but a kiss filled with madness and fury.

His voice was hoarse and broken. "Silas, how could you let someone else touch you..."

My chest tightened. All the grievances and resentment rushed to my head in an instant. I could no longer pretend to sleep. I pushed hard against his shoulders.

"Holden, let go of me!"

"What are you doing!"

But not only did he not let go, he pinned my wrists above my head, immobilizing all my movements.

I was kissed breathless by Holden, tears falling uncontrollably.

Taking advantage of Holden pausing for breath, I turned my head away, my voice trembling as I spoke to him.

"Holden, I had an affair."

I bit out those words viciously, tears falling with my ragged breathing.

"I've been with someone else."

"I've already fallen in love with someone else."

"Aren't you a germaphobe? Aren't you the proudest person?"

"Then let go of me now! Divorce me!"

With each sentence I spoke, the violence radiating from Holden intensified.

He didn't fly into a rage, didn't push me away. Instead, he held me even tighter, so tight I could barely breathe.

He pressed his forehead against mine, those always-cold eyes red and frightening in the darkness.

"I won't divorce you."

"Silas, but I can let you compare whether your lover or I am better."