Chapter 1 Heartless Woman
My wife, Elizabeth Bennett, followed Buddhist discipline, and physical indulgence was strictly forbidden. She only allowed. us to have sex on the sixteenth of each month. Even then, she controlled everything–the timing, the position, the rhythm, even my facial expressions. If I ever got carried away, she would stop everything without hesitation and walk away.
We had been married for five years. Though I had my frustrations, I kept compromising out of love for her. I used to think that even if she came off heartless, at least she loved me in her own way. It wasn’t until I went on a rescue mission with the team to a burning hotel that I realized how wrong I’d been.
I found her there, clothes in disarray, nestled in another man’s arms. There was even a young child between them.
I had never seen Elizabeth wear that kind of gentle expression before. She was trembling, clearly afraid, but still clung to that man and softly comforted the child.
I froze where I stood, completely stunned. The heat around me was suffocating, but I was shivering like someone had stabbed me straight through the heart.
Suddenly, a voice snapped me out of it. “Don’t just stand there, Julian! Leave this family to me. Go check the next room!”
It was my captain, Kennedy Adams, calling out as he rushed
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inside without hesitation. Meanwhile, Elizabeth stared at me in
disbelief.
I could tell she knew it was me behind the fire mask–Julian Thornton, the man she was legally married to.
Our eyes locked, and it felt like my chest was being torn apart.
If they are a family, then what does that make me?
The fire was too urgent to dwell on anything. I forced myself to move and rushed to help the next trapped resident.
It took three whole hours to put out the blaze. Thankfully, there were no casualties. But by the time I stepped out of the building, heavy with emotion, Elizabeth, the man, and the child had all vanished.
She didn’t even bother to stay and explain things to me. I let out a bitter laugh, suddenly realizing this five–year marriage had been nothing but a cruel joke.
When I got home, Elizabeth, who was usually working late into the night, was actually there, like she’d been waiting for me.
I thought she was going to explain. If she could tell me why she was at that hotel, why she ended up with another man and a child like a family, maybe I would have forgiven her. That gut–wrenching pain might not have mattered so much compared to five years of love.
But instead, Elizabeth turned on her laptop and joined a video
ares for you a
Chapter 1 Heartless Woman
menting. Phe didn’t even glance at me : ever an hour, acting like some of it had ever happened.
ad, she looked over with a cold expression and handed me a document.
root and salt a sharp pam the memear I read the title. “Adoption papers?” I asked, stunned.
abeth reped calmly, “Yea. Thats the child you saw today at the hotel. From now on, we’re adopting him.”
I towed, aythats your connection to that boy and who exactly is that man to you?
“Hes called Callum Harlow. Hea the father of the child, Gideon Harlow. We’re colleagues. That’s all you need to know,” Ehzabeth said Eatly.
Elaughed, but it was empty and bitter. Clearly, that wasn’t an explanation. It sounded more like a statement carved in stona. She didn’t leave me any space to question ber.
Taking a deep breath, I asked again. “If you guys are just colleagues, then what are you doing in a hotel? Why were you half–dressed when I saw you? Be honest with me, Elizabeth. Is that
i nearly shouting in disparation, but all Elizabeth did was frown slightly and say, “You’re reading too much into this. I follow Buddhist teachings. I’d never go against my rows, especully pet in marriage.”
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The moment she said that, I laughed, even more bitterly. “You hold back from intimacy like it’s a sin. Once a month, that’s all I get. So tell me, why did it seem so easy for you to be in his armst like that?”
For over five years, I had given her my full trust. I respected her faith, never once challenging it. But at this point, I was starting to think the whole “Buddhist path” thing had been nothing more than an excuse all along.
As soon as I said that, her frown deepened and her voice turned cold as she said, “If that’s what you believe, I’m not going to
argue.
“If you really believe I’ve been fooling around with another man, then don’t bother coming to my room on the sixteenth anymore. We already have a child anyway. If it weren’t for the sake of carrying on the family line, I never would’ve done something so meaningless with you.”
Elizabeth’s words sliced through me like knives. I was in so much pain I could barely breathe.
So being with me once a month was torture for her? She’d always kept herself above it all, distant and untouched, never willing to make an exception for someone like me. I was never the one she bent the rules for.
Elizabeth then said, “That’s it. Go get some rest.”
With that, she shut her laptop and was about to leave. I fought
Chapter 1 Heartless Woman
through the gut–wrenching pain and called out to her, “I can accept adopting Gideon, but don’t let me catch you getting involved with anyone else again. At the very least, show some respect for me as your husband!”
Elizabeth paused in her tracks. “The child still needs his
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biological father right now. You’re the one who’s too fragile to handle the truth. Don’t blame that on me.” And with that, she left.
That night, I couldn’t sleep at all. The pain kept me tossing and turning, and at one point, I thought I could actually hear her laughing and chatting with Callum Harlow in her room.
By the next morning, the little boy, Gideon Harlow, had already been dropped off. His luggage was spread all across the living room, and Elizabeth was buzzing with joy as she helped him unpack.
I stood there, watching it all with a mess of emotions.
Look at that, she laughs. It was nothing like the day we moved in after the wedding, when she sat there all stiff and stone–faced. She told me people on her path shouldn’t get swept up in emotions, so she kept a straight face. But I finally get it now. She wasn’t being devout. She just didn’t care enough about me.
Once they were done unpacking, Elizabeth took Gideon by the hand and led him to her room to give him a bath. I didn’t know what happened, but not long after, I heard him crying from her room, and the sound of running water stopped.
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I immediately started to worry. After all, she’d never been a mother before and never taken care of a child. Moreover, Gideon was still little. If he slipped and hurt himself in the shower, that’d be a huge problem.
We’d been married five years, and by now, looking out for Elizabeth had become second nature. Even though we’d just had a huge fight last night, I couldn’t bring myself to take it out on a kid. Gideon was here now–there was no way I could just ignore him.
After giving it some thought, I pushed the door open. But what I saw stopped me dead in my tracks–a man’s coat was hanging right there by the entrance.
The bathroom door in Elizabeth’s room was slightly ajar, so it wasn’t hard to see what was going on inside.
Gideon had brushed his teeth so hard his gums were bleeding, and he was crying in fear. She was crouched next to him, softly comforting him. She’d just gotten out of the shower, wrapped in nothing but a towel.
And right behind her, Callum was helping dry her hair, smiling as he teased Gideon for being a scaredy–cat,
What a picture–perfect little family. Funny, considering this is my home and Elizabeth is my wife. And here I am, feeling like a complete stranger in my own life.
My face instantly went pale. My heart felt like it was being torn apart. The sight hit me like a truck; I couldn’t even keep my
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balance. I stumbled back and crashed into the wall.
Callum jumped at the sound and spun around to see me, completely caught off guard. “This isn’t what it looks like, Mr. Thornton. I brought Gideon here last night, and he got upset when I tried to leave. You know how kids are. I only stayed over because of him. That’s all, I swear.”
It gutted me, realizing too late that he’d actually been here last night. The voices I heard while drifting in and out of sleep weren’t just in my head.
Callum had spent the entire night in Elizabeth’s room–a privilege I’d never even been granted.
