Chapter 3

By the time I arrived at the suite door with the cake, an hour and a half had passed.

When Julian opened the door half-naked, I saw the marks on his skin clearly.

Fresh, red scratch marks, lined all over his chest and shoulders.

Looking at him as he froze in shock, I let out a mocking laugh.

"Julian Vance. Is this the explanation you promised me?"

A flash of panic crossed his eyes, but he quickly covered it up, snapping angrily,

"Are you tracking me now? Do you really have nothing better to do with your life?"

The sheer audacity of this man.

Before I could speak, a sweet, whining voice drifted from the bedroom.

"Babe, you promised to carry me to the shower. Hurry up!"

He gave me a rushed, dismissive look, then walked back inside, tenderly picking the girl up and carrying her into the bathroom.

I stood there, staring blankly at the empty hallway.

I remembered when I had playfully asked him for a princess carry once. He had only stepped back with disgust.

"How old are you, Amber? Stop being so childish."

The only time he had ever shown me genuine warmth was the day his business supposedly failed and he "fell ill."

I had cried by his hospital bed, promising him that I would stick by him, start over, and take care of him.

His eyes, usually so cold, had softened then, and he had held me tight.

"Thank God I have you."

"I promise I’ll love you forever and give you the best life."

But later, as I worked day and night, his warmth slowly faded into indifference.

Now I realized he hadn't changed. He just didn't care about me.

The heavy, intimate scent from the room drifted into my nose.

A sudden wave of nausea hit me, and I gagged, covering my mouth.

I had never once suspected Julian of cheating.

He had always put on a cold front around other women. I had even teased him about his type once.

"Whatever you look like, that's my type," he had said.

He was a man of few words, but every word back then made me feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

Even when the terror of the plunging elevator nearly made me faint, my only thought had been his safety.

I laughed at myself. Just as I turned to leave, the girl, wrapped in a plush hotel towel, walked out and gasped.

"Oh my god, babe! Isn't she the girl on the stretcher from this morning?"

"Wow, working right after getting out of the hospital? That’s so pathetic."

"Babe, we should give her a bigger tip."

Julian wrapped an arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple.

"I'll Venmo her later. Go back to sleep, sweetie. We have our wedding photoshoot tomorrow."

He shut the door, giving me one last, cold look.

"Wait for me downstairs."

Clutching my phone, I walked down to the lobby in a daze and sat down.

The sofa in the luxury hotel was incredibly soft, like the bed of my dreams.

Suddenly, I felt tired. So tired that every bone in my body ached.

This feeling of utter exhaustion had appeared so many times in my life.

Scraps of food from the orphanage, plastic bottles from trash cans, underpaid manual labor...

Things that normal people wouldn't even look at, I had to fight tooth and nail just to get.

When a shady boss had once broken my leg and thrown me into a dark alleyway by a dumpster, I had almost given up on life.

I felt like living was just too painful.

But then, a pair of warm hands had pulled me up.

"Don't fall asleep. Stay awake. I'm taking you to a doctor."

The man had sharp, handsome features, but his eyes were filled with warmth.

That was the first time I met Julian.

After that, he constantly showed up in my bleak life.

He would help me carry heavy boxes without a word, stand in front of me when my boss yelled at me, and even learned how to bargain for me.

A man who wore tailored suits would argue with a vendor for two hours just to save me a few dollars.

I had dragged myself through college with sheer will, and on the night of my graduation, he confessed to me.

"Be with me, Amber. I won't let you suffer anymore."

I had nodded frantically, grasping onto a dream I never dared to hope for.

"Wake up! Stop sleeping!"

My body was violently shaken, shattering my dream. The sharp features of the man in my dream appeared before me.

It was the same man, but his expression was entirely different.

He looked cold and detached, as if he had finally ripped off a mask he had worn for years.

"Actually, I was never bankrupt. And I was never sick."