On our wedding night, Julian Brown suddenly confessed a secret to me: “I was afraid of hurting you during our first time, so I… found another woman to practice with.” I froze under the covers, my blood running cold instantly. My throat tightened, and I could barely manage: “And?” He didn’t have time to answer before his phone vibrated. Julian answered it right in front of me. The voice on the other end was dripping with fake sweetness. “If you don’t come over, I’m really going to jump.” His face changed. He hung up and started to leave. I lunged and stopped him: “Julian, have you forgotten who your bride is?” He impatiently smoothed down the buttons on his shirt. “I can’t help it. She’s incredibly clingy. She cried all day when she found out I was getting married.” “You’re tired from the wedding today. I’ll just go get a marriage certificate with her, soothe her a bit, and I’ll be right back.” I just laughed, a bitter laugh. “So, you’re having the wedding ceremony with me, and getting legally married to her?” Seeing my face crumbling, he paused for a second. Then, patiently, he sat down and hugged me. “Silly girl, a marriage certificate is just a piece of paper. A sacred ceremony like this wedding, of course, I’d only ever give to you. She’s just a fling.” After he left, I stared blankly at the ceiling, then dialed my family. “Dad, call off the marriage. Julian doesn’t deserve me.”
The next morning, Julian seemed surprised to see me at City Hall. He tucked away the glaring marriage certificate and pulled me aside. “Why do you look so haggard? Didn’t you rest well last night? I told you to wait for me at home, didn’t I?” He covered my hand with his, then brought it to his lips and blew on it gently. He spoke to me in the same gentle tone he always did. As if I were the one he’d just gotten married to. I pulled my hand away and smiled. “I couldn’t wait, so I came early.” He looked a little surprised, thinking I was there to confront him. After a moment, he put his arm around my waist and said remorsefully: “Last night she was threatening to kill herself, I had no choice. I really dealt with her, that’s why I didn’t answer your calls. I’m sorry I made you worry, babe.” Hearing him call me “babe” over and over made me feel utterly ridiculous. He once risked his life, going deep into the wilderness alone to save me, almost losing a leg to a bear attack. Now, he could shamelessly mess around with someone else and then casually tell me about it like it was nothing. Dealt with her? His “dealing with her” meant spending a sleepless night battling with that woman, from the bedroom to the living room. I suppressed the twisting pain in my heart and suddenly smiled. I looked up at him and asked, “Julian, did you ever…” …ever intend to marry me? But before I could finish, Chloe, the woman he’d just married, walked out of the restroom. She hurried over, leaned on Julian’s shoulder, and extended a hand towards me, feigning curiosity. “Hi, I’m Julian’s wife. And you are?” “His ex-girlfriend.” “My wife.” Julian and I answered at the same time. Chloe pouted and glared at him. She held up the marriage certificate. “Say that again, who’s your wife?” Julian looked a little embarrassed. He lit a cigarette, laughing along with her. “Alright, alright, for these three months, you’re my wife, okay?” Watching them flirt openly right in front of me, all the questions I’d pondered last night suddenly became irrelevant. Whether I was in his heart didn’t matter, whether he loved me didn’t matter. What mattered was that he was now someone else’s husband. The strategic alliance between our two powerful families involved too many interests. My father wouldn’t agree to break the engagement without solid evidence. But if Julian was already a married man, that changed everything. So, I pulled out my phone, ready to capture proof of their relationship. But Julian snatched my phone away. He pulled me aside, lowering his voice. “Skylar, what are you doing! I told you, getting the certificate with her was just to appease her. Once she calms down, I’ll divorce her in a few days.” His tone was so righteous, it was as if I was the one in the wrong.
Chloe opened the car door and called out in a sugary voice, “Honey~” Julian seemed to remember something then, giving me a look of guilt. “Um, I’m afraid she might get upset again, so I’m letting her stay in our marital home for a few days.” He said, taking off the wedding ring engraved with my name and pressing it into my hand. “Keep the ring for now, so I don’t accidentally upset her. She’s fragile right now, you need to cut her some slack.” I looked up at him, my eyes red, and let out a cynical laugh. “Julian, what makes you think I’d ‘cut her slack’? And what makes you think I’d ever stay with you?” His face instantly darkened. He gripped my wrist, a warning in his voice. “Skylar, the alliance between our families isn’t something you get to decide. I think you understand that clearly.” He was right. The alliance involved a multi-billion dollar project. This was Julian’s way of thinking he could control me. He gave me the most envied wedding in the city, announcing to the world that I was the wife he loved most in this life. But his real wife wasn’t me. I pulled my hand free and slapped him hard. “But you married someone else. You broke the contract between our families first.” He wiped away the blood from his lip, a cold smirk on his face, but he didn’t get angry. “Getting bold, Skylar? That’s the first time you’ve ever hit me.” Seeing my face remain stone cold, he sighed helplessly. “Fine, yes, I admit I was in the wrong first. But we can’t force a living girl to her death over this, can we? If I didn’t marry her, she threatened to jump. What was I supposed to do?” He reached up and wiped away the tears I couldn’t hold back. He stepped forward and hugged me, then softened his voice, nuzzling my neck. “Just give me three more months, Skylar. Let me handle this. After everything we’ve been through, don’t leave me. Just stay by my side, and be my wife, okay?” He always looked at me with those deeply affectionate eyes. It seemed Julian hadn’t forgotten our unforgettable past. That time he risked his life escaping a bear attack to save me, his leg was so badly bitten the bones were exposed. Yet he endured the pain, smiling as he wiped away my tears. “Why are you crying? Afraid no one will want you if I die?” Back then, Julian was a bit reckless, but he always put himself in danger for me without a second thought. So many close calls, even now, thinking back sends shivers down my spine. Julian loved me enough to risk his life, but he was tainted. That was an undeniable fact! “No!” I pushed him away, the sickness like I’d swallowed a fly churning in my stomach. I glared at him fiercely. “Don’t touch me, Julian. Either you divorce her right now, or we’re completely over! As for the board’s losses, our families will each bear their own.” “You!” He frowned in anger, then pulled out his phone from his pocket, his voice chillingly cold, a tone I’d never heard from him before: “Skylar, don’t regret this. Our first time last night was too precious, so I recorded it. You don’t want your naked body watched by thousands of online strangers, do you?” I gasped, sucking in a cold breath. “What did you say?”
Julian still brought her home. The first thing she did upon entering was throw away the couple’s slippers Julian and I shared, then picked up my pajamas, ready for a bath. Chloe walked over, clinging to him like a lost bird, pulling at the hem of Julian’s jacket on the sofa. “Our bathroom is too big, I… I’m scared alone.” Julian swallowed, glancing subtly at me. Seeing my expressionless face, he pulled his hand away and shot a look at the housekeeper, who was standing nearby. “You ladies go with her for her bath.” Then he sat up straighter, adding almost instinctively, “Oh, and remember to change the bath salts to rose-scented ones.” The two housekeepers exchanged glances, looking troubled. I knew they wanted to remind him that I was severely allergic to rose scent. That’s why there was no rose-scented bath gel in the house at all. Chloe pouted, then grabbed his tie and angrily sat on his lap. Seeing his face darken slightly, she quickly cooed an explanation: “Just bath salts aren’t enough, you know I have to have fresh rose petals for my bath!” Watching them flirt so openly in front of me, even the housekeepers couldn’t stand it. One of them cleared her throat loudly. “Excuse me, but we don’t have fresh roses. Our mistress, Skylar, dislikes the scent of roses.” Chloe froze for half a second, then threw herself onto Julian, starting to cry. “Julian, your housekeeper is bullying me!” Seeing them still standing there, Julian snapped, “What are you waiting for? If we don’t have them, then send someone out to buy them! Go quickly!” “But…” The housekeeper hesitated, about to say more, but then I shook my head, and she stifled her anger, sending someone to buy them. Chloe stopped crying, sat up, and chuckled, covering her mouth. “Julian, why are your ears so red? Last night you worked me so hard I could barely get out of bed, how come… you still want more?” Julian’s breathing deepened. He quickly cleared his throat and moved her hand away from him. “Go to the bathroom now, the roses will be delivered soon.” Chloe then glanced triumphantly at me, swaying her hips as she walked towards the bathroom. Julian sighed in relief, immediately stood up, and pulled me closer. “I was just putting on a show for her, to appease her. Don’t overthink it, my love.” I pulled my hand away. “Don’t call me ‘my love.’ It disgusts me. And, I’m just here to pack my things.” Hearing I was leaving, Julian’s face instantly hardened, his lips pressed into a tight, thin line. “Pack your things? Where are you going? If the reporters catch you moving out right after our wedding, how will you explain it to the board?” I couldn’t be bothered with him and turned to go upstairs. Julian took a big step forward and grabbed my wrist, his voice low and laced with a warning. “If you dare step out of this villa today, tomorrow I’ll make sure those videos appear on the front pages of every major media outlet.” Looking at this face that suddenly felt utterly alien to me, my voice trembled. “Julian, I never knew you could be so despicable!” Suddenly, a piercing scream, “Ah!” came from the bathroom.
“What’s wrong?” Julian finally let go of my hand, a hint of panic in his expression, and strode towards the bathroom. Not long after, I heard Chloe’s mischievous, triumphant laughter. “The water’s so nice, Julian, why are you here? Want to join me?” “Chloe, you tricked me?” He deliberately deepened his voice, but it was laced with an undeniable tenderness. The moment I heard his voice, my body went rigid, as if something inside me was slowly being torn away. I knew that tone too well. Because when Julian loved me most, even though he’d say things like, “Why are you such a handful?” his eyes would sparkle with an unmistakable, hidden smile. Not only was his body tainted, but his heart was too. I had to face the reality: Julian was in love with someone else. I raised a hand to wipe the tears from my face, then turned away from the bathroom and walked to the sofa. From the suit jacket Julian had taken off earlier, I took out two phones. I found it somewhat ironic that his password was still my birthday. His phone was full of my pictures. Each captioned with a date, and a sweet memory. Tears streamed uncontrollably down my face as I scrolled through picture after picture with trembling hands. Until I saw the video he’d used to threaten me. Our wedding night video. Later, after I’d fallen asleep, he had carefully caressed my cheek, murmuring to himself. “Skylar, do you know how long I’ve waited for this day?” “But sometimes she’s so much like the old you, that I just couldn’t help but make a mistake. I know you can’t tolerate betrayal, but when you wake up, I’ll apologize first. You’ll forgive me, right?” He held my hand and rubbed it against his face. His reason for “repentance” was so laughable! He couldn’t control himself, yet he had to use such a flimsy excuse to justify his actions. I composed myself, clicked “delete permanently,” erasing all photos and all videos. Then I changed his password to his own birthday. To prevent any backups, I put the phone back, then went to the upstairs study. I deleted everything related to me there too! As for those glaring wedding photos, I waved my hand and told the housekeeper to have them all taken out and thrown away. “Was this Mr. Julian’s instruction? Did he already tell you that to avoid upsetting Chloe, nothing intimate between us should be left in the house?” The housekeeper hesitated, then nodded reluctantly, immediately instructing someone to take the photos. I reminded him, “Don’t listen to Julian about putting them in storage. Throw them out directly. What if Chloe gets a whim to go to the storage room one day, she might get upset and slit her wrists in there.” “Oh dear!” The housekeeper had no choice but to have all the photos thrown away. I finished packing my luggage and called my family’s driver. “George, please bring the car around and take me to the airport.” Just as I reached the stairwell, Julian, wearing a bathrobe, walked over. Seeing me with my suitcase, his deep eyes filled with fury. “Skylar, why aren’t you listening? Where are you going?” I met his gaze, unyielding, and walked down the stairs step by step. “We’re over, Julian. My affairs are none of your business.” Seeing that I was determined to leave, he smiled, walked to the sofa, and picked up his phone. “Fine. If you walk out that door today, I won’t mind sharing the video of you clinging to me, with thousands of online strangers!” I raised an eyebrow, letting out an indifferent, cold laugh. “Julian, that’s all you’ve got.” With that, ignoring his ashen face, I continued towards the door. He was furious, typing in the password wrong several times. Just then, Chloe, also wrapped in a bathrobe, slowly walked over. “What’s wrong, Julian?” But he pushed her away sharply. “Get lost!” Then he eagerly rushed after me. “Skylar, you changed my phone password?” “But what if I did? The password can be recovered quickly.” He suddenly remembered something and smiled coldly. “Even if you deleted it, what then? Skylar, you know how much I love you. How could I not have backups? So don’t try my patience. Stay by my side obediently!” I took his phone, typed in his birthday right in front of him, and handed it back. “I didn’t delete the video, see… it’s all there!” He snatched it back, glanced at it casually, not clearly seeing it. Just then, Chloe, full of anger, walked over and snatched it from him. “Why are you wasting words with her, Julian? If she wants to leave, I’ll post it for you!” Saying that, she eagerly tapped on a random video and uploaded it online.
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