Chapter 1 The Fall Of A Perfect Wife

• The white dress didn’t look so pure anymore.
• Not after seeing him—my husband, the man who once gave me security and to whom I had opened my heart—kissing another woman in the middle of our anniversary party.
• I stood frozen on the staircase, a glass of champagne trembling in my hand, watching as the man I had been married to for three years caressed the face of my best friend… and then kissed her with the same tenderness he used to kiss me. His hands slid down her bare back, exposed by the seductive red dress that left little to the imagination.
• Everything stopped.
• The air. The heartbeat. Logic itself.
• My legs wanted to run toward them and throw the remaining champagne in their faces, but my eyes couldn’t look away. It was like watching my world crumble—inch by inch, kiss by kiss, touch by touch.
• “Enjoying the show, Zoe?” came a venomous voice behind me.
• My sister-in-law, Amanda, appeared with a satisfied smile. She wore a dress the same shade as mine. White. As if it were a deliberate mockery.
• “What are you doing up here? It’s time for your toast with your faithful, perfect husband.”
• She almost spat the words in my face. She had been waiting a long time for something like this to happen to me. She was reveling in my downfall. People like her never know true poverty, yet still manage to be miserably bitter.
• I said nothing. I swallowed the lump in my throat, smoothed down my silk skirt, and walked down the stairs with my head held high.
• I would not show weakness.
• Not in front of them.
• Not in front of her.
• Not in front of him.
• When I reached the final step, he was already looking at me. Smiling. As if all of this were some sick, private joke.
• “Zoe,” he said loudly, drawing the guests’ attention. “I have an announcement to make.”
• Everyone gathered around him. Investors, partners, sycophants in ties who laughed at everything he said.
• “Today, in addition to celebrating our anniversary, I want to announce that this will be our last party together as a couple. Zoe and I… are getting a divorce.”
• The laughter froze. So did my face.
• How could he humiliate me like this—so publicly, so shamelessly?
• “Don’t worry, darling,” he added, turning to me, “everything will be very civil. I’ve already prepared the papers.”
• A secretary handed me an envelope. I took it with numb fingers.
• I didn’t understand. I didn’t believe it. But everyone was already looking at him like he was a hero for discarding his trophy wife.
• “I hope you won’t take it personally,” he whispered in my ear. “It’s just that you no longer serve my purposes. And frankly, you bored me. I deserve better. I know you’ll understand, sweetheart.”
• It took every ounce of pride I had left not to scream or smash the glass to the floor.
• The guests applauded—not because they cared about the news, but out of fear.
• Everyone feared my almost-ex-husband.
• Everyone knew Ethan Castelli was a dangerous man.
• And I… I was nothing. Not anymore. Not ever again.
• Two weeks later
• I was on the street.
• My bank account had been drained by Ethan’s lawyer. He was going to make sure I walked away from that marriage exactly as I had entered it—with nothing.
• I had no family. No friends.
• Most of them had been his… or had vanished when I could no longer pay for luxury dinners, designer dresses, elite cars, and most importantly, when I no longer had access to my husband’s powerful connections.
• Now I was living in a cheap motel, the curtains reeking of tobacco, mold growing in the bathroom. My only luxury was instant coffee in the morning—and that wouldn’t last much longer.
• All I could think was: How did I go from being a millionaire’s wife to this?
• Maybe because I had only ever been a decoration.
• Something he could display… and then discard.
• I’d grown so used to crumbs, like a stray dog, that I forgot what real affection felt like.
• I settled for having a roof over my head and a hot plate of food.
• That day, it rained. The city looked like a gray monster.
• I walked without direction, under a broken umbrella, shoes soaked, and an eviction notice in my purse.
• And that’s when I saw him.
• Or rather, when he saw me.
• A man in a charcoal-black suit stepped out of a luxury car.
• Tall. Imposing. Handsome—the kind of man who could make you wet with a single word.
• Dangerous. With the coldest eyes I had ever seen.
• He didn’t smile. Didn’t blink. He didn’t seem quite human.
• There was something otherworldly about his calm, enigmatic aura.
• Definitely the dangerous type.
• “Zoe Knight,” he said in a deep voice. “You’re more... broken than I imagined.”
• I stopped. Hearing my name from his mouth felt like a sentence.
• “Who are you?”
• “Someone who wants to make you an offer. And from the looks of it, your new best friend.”
• I eyed him warily. Despite the rain and cold, not a single drop touched him.
• His elegance was aggressive. Dangerous.
• “I don’t sell my body,” I snapped, tired of powerful men.
• He smiled—without warmth.
• “I’m not asking for that. I want you to marry me.”
• He said it calmly, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
• I laughed. A bitter, almost hysterical laugh.
• “What the hell are you talking about?”
• “One year. That’s all I ask. I need a wife.
• You need… revenge. And money.”
• He pulled an envelope from inside his coat. “This is just a down payment.”
• For a moment, I heard urgency in his voice, almost a plea with a flicker of hidden hope.
• But this billionaire Adonis could have anyone—better women, stronger, richer.
• Why me?
• A fallen, humiliated queen.
• I took the envelope. Thick, crisp bills.
• More money than I’d seen in weeks.
• “Who are you?”
• “Dante Salvatore.” He bowed his head slightly.
• “The man your ex-husband hates more than anyone in the world.”
• And there it was. The proposal.
• Humiliated by Ethan.
• Destroyed by abandonment.
• And now… a marriage offer from the most dangerous enemy of my past.
• A cold contract. An impossible deal.
• But what did I have left to lose?
• My dignity was already on the floor.
• My heart, in pieces.
• And him…
• He seemed to have exactly what I needed: power, money, and hatred.
• Maybe with that… I could rebuild myself.
• For now...