Chapter 1

Even though I knew Julian didn't love me, I still married him for a family business merger.

On our wedding day, I caught him hooking up with his young stepmother, Veronica, in the restroom.

To get back at him, I crawled into his best friend Carter's bed on our wedding night.

When Julian found out, he wasn't angry at all.

He just laughed about it with Carter over drinks.

"Julian, gotta admit, your wife is damn wild in bed. You really not tempted?"

"You like her? Go sleep with her again tonight. I'm never touching her anyway."

I lost my mind and smashed our brand-new penthouse to pieces.

For the next five years, we lived in pure mutual hatred.

He systematically destroyed my family's business until we went bankrupt.

My father was thrown into prison. My brother died in a horrific car crash.

And my mother, who had once treated me like a princess, yanked my hair and screamed through hysterical tears:

"This is all your fault! If you hadn't provoked Julian, our family would never have ended up like this!"

"You got your brother killed! You're the one who should be dead!"

That was the moment I finally broke.

I agreed to the divorce. And I agreed with my mother.

The one who deserved to die was me.

When I got home that evening, I searched the house and gathered every single sleeping pill I could find.

Suddenly, Julian walked in. I quickly shoved the pill bottle under my pillow.

Tears soaked the pillowcase, but Julian didn't notice.

He roughly unbuttoned my nightgown.

"Daisy, you've fought me for five years. It's time you learned to behave."

Behave...

My eyes flickered.

If this were the past, I would have shoved him off like a maniac, slapped him across the face, and sworn that I'd never let him know peace for the rest of his life.

Now, just as he said,

I was done.

I lay there like a dead fish, letting him do whatever he wanted.

Seeing that I wasn't fighting back, Julian paused. He frowned, a flash of surprise in his eyes.

"Since when did you become so boring?"

"Weren't you screaming plenty loud in Carter's bed back then?"

He grabbed my chin and forced my face toward him, only to feel the wetness on my cheeks.

Julian froze.

"What are you crying for?"

The scent of Veronica's perfume clinging to him made my stomach churn.

I looked at him.

From his unbuttoned collar to his moving throat, to the lips that had just bruised mine, and finally into his dark eyes.

Our gazes met for a split second before I looked away.

I parted my dry lips.

"If you want to use me to get off, hurry up."

"I want to sleep."

Julian's grip on my jaw tightened violently, the mocking look in his eyes instantly turning dark and dangerous.

"What did you just say?"

He was angry.

My throat tightened.

What did he have to be angry about?

Wasn't this what he wanted? For me to finally be quiet?

Julian stared down at me in silence for a long time. Seeing that I wouldn't react, his grip gradually slackened.

Finally, he let out a cold sneer.

"Daisy, you really never run out of tricks. Now you're playing hard to get?"

He stood up and straightened his clothes. A small, square box bulged in his trouser pocket.

Julian hesitated for a second, then tossed it onto the bed in front of me, looking down at me with disdain.

"Seeing as you're still my legal wife, I figured I should compensate you with something after bankrupting your family."

"Be a good girl, Daisy, and the title of Mrs. Vance is still yours."

The corner of the velvet box hit my shoulder when it landed, sending a dull ache through my skin.

I didn't move. I didn't even glance at it.

Julian stared at me for a few beats, then scoffed.

"Your family brought this on themselves. You have to take what's coming to you, so wipe that dead expression off your face."

"Take the gift or leave it. I don't give a damn."

He grabbed his suit jacket and walked out.

Long after the front door clicked shut, I pulled the bottle of pills from under my pillow and stared at it blankly.

When should I take them?

Tomorrow night, I decided.

Tomorrow was my mother's birthday. I would go see her one last time.