Chapter 2

Adrian and I married for business.

At the time, I was still under my uncle’s control, while Adrian was fighting for his place in the Hawthorne family.

My marriage was meant to stabilize my family’s struggling company. His was meant to help him win a succession battle.

He was my only real option. I wasn’t his, but he still chose me.

He told me that out of all the women he could marry, I was the one who caught his attention first because I was beautiful, tough, and strong-willed.

In the years that followed, neither of us disappointed the other.

Adrian helped me take back part of the ownership my uncle had been holding over me, and I helped him rise above the other heirs until his father was finally willing to trust him with the family business.

Back then, I thought that was love.

Adrian had never been good at saying soft things, but he had always been generous with me. Before we married, he spent freely on me. After we married, even more so.

Maybe it came from growing up without a secure place in the Hawthorne family. Adrian valued money, but with me, he was rarely stingy.

I got his money, trust, and favor more easily than anyone else, and I mistook all of it for his heart.

Then one ordinary afternoon, I was playing golf with one of Adrian’s important clients when I saw him walk onto the neighboring course with a young woman in his arms.

I expected him to avoid me.

Instead, he walked straight over with his hand still at her waist.

“Sienna. This is Hailey Brooks.”

Then he turned to her.

“This is my wife.”

Hailey smiled at me.

“So you’re Mrs. Hawthorne. You’re lucky. Adrian is impressive in every possible way.”

The meaning was obvious.

Adrian’s client was standing nearby, so I smiled back.

“Nice to meet you.”

Adrian offered no explanation and showed no embarrassment.

That night, he came home still smelling like Hailey’s perfume.

I looked at him and waited for an explanation.

If he told me it was business, that he was only playing along, or even that she had come on to him, I thought I might forgive him.

Too many things in our world were done for appearances.

But Adrian did not even bother to lie.

“You know ours was always a business marriage, right?”

I looked at him.

“That’s how these marriages work. We keep things peaceful in public. That’s enough.”

Apparently, public peace only mattered when I was the one expected to protect it.

Then he added, “If you ever want to see someone else, you can. I don’t really care.”

That hurt more than seeing Hailey in his arms. I had believed that no matter how much business was involved in our marriage, there was still something real between us.

Apparently, Adrian had never seen it that way.

I knew I needed to take my feelings back.

The problem was, feelings did not disappear just because I decided they should.

Adrian left again that night and did not come back.

Close to midnight, he called me.

When I answered, Hailey’s voice came through first.

“Who’s better? Me or your wife?”

Adrian laughed.

“You’re comparing yourself to my wife now? That’s giving yourself a little too much credit.”

Hailey made an annoyed sound.

Adrian continued, “My wife is Sienna Sterling. Everyone in this city knows who she is. If her parents hadn’t died so young, you wouldn’t even be in her league, let alone sleeping with her husband.”

Hailey said, “Then go home to your perfect wife.”

Adrian immediately started coaxing her.

“Perfect gets boring after a while. You’re more fun.”

The call stayed connected.

I left the phone beside me and stopped listening.

Forty minutes later, the other side finally hung up.

By then, I was already asleep.