Chapter 1
Sidney Slater and I had been married for five years, but things between us were far from happy.
Trying to provoke me, he brought home ninety-nine concubines, but I still wouldn't back down.
Everything changed when he brought the hundredth concubine right to my face.
The woman clung delicately to Sidney, her tone full of playful provocation.
"My lord, your wife is such a bore.
"Why don't I teach her what it really means to be a woman?" she teased.
After being forced to watch their live bedroom shows for three nights straight, I lost all hope in him.
On the fourth day, Sidney came over to my courtyard.
But I wouldn't let him in.
What he didn't know was that I had already filed for our divorce.
In seven days, I'd be out of his life forever.
*****
Five years of marriage, and this was the first time I ever locked Sidney out.
"Are you out of your mind, Bianca? You really have the guts to shut me out?" Sidney snapped.
I made up an excuse about not feeling well and told him to go rest in another room. Then I motioned for the maid to kill the lights.
Sidney stood outside for quite a while, saying nothing.
Then he suddenly let out a cold chuckle.
"So you won't let me in, huh? Fine. From now on, Wanda gets the right to run the household," he said.
I paid him no mind, and soon enough, he lost interest and left my courtyard.
I thought I could finally get a good night's sleep.
But barely past 2 a.m., my door was suddenly hammered on.
Wanda Aguilar, the latest addition to the harem, gave me a lazy bow. "My lady, the lord wants you to attend to him."
She clapped her hands, and the servants behind her presented a sheer, rose-red dress.
Even the working girls in the red-light district wouldn't be caught dead in something this sleazy.
Sidney was deliberately trying to humiliate me.
Wanda raised an eyebrow with a self-satisfied smirk.
"Every time I put this on, the lord gets really rough with me at night," she said. "It's been a long time since you've had that kind of attention, hasn't it, my lady?"
Towering over Wanda and her smug little grin, I raised my hand and slapped her right across the face.
She was so shocked she burst into tears, blubbering that she was going to make Sidney take her side.
I wasn't about to stoop to her level. Turning away, I waved my hand for the maid to shut the door in her face and send her packing.
Sidney, who'd been watching from afar, couldn't hold back anymore and marched right up to me.
"Bianca, when a woman gets married, she's supposed to follow her husband. Have you ever thought about the consequences if you keep defying me?" he snapped at me.
"Don't forget your whole family's gone. There's no one left to stand up for you anymore!"
He'd said things like that to hurt me more times than I could count.
Every time I heard it, my heart would ache all over, like it was covered in tiny wounds.
Five years with Sidney, and I'd sacrificed everything. He'd broken me down and reshaped me until I was just a shadow of who I used to be.
Now, I couldn't even remember what it felt like to be that wild, innocent girl I used to be back in my maiden days.
I was the precious daughter of a powerful minister, but for some reason, my heart was set on Sidney, a broke student heading to the capital for his political career.
Sidney knew exactly how I felt, and just to win me over, he pulled countless all-nighters with his books.
When he finally aced the election, my dream came true. I became his wife.
But that happiness only lasted a year.
After my father was framed and thrown in prison, Sidney turned his back on all our vows.
He started bringing in one concubine after another.
No matter how desperately I confronted him, all I ever got from him were half-hearted answers.
I always thought it was my stubbornness and pride that drove him away.
But over time, I started to notice that every concubine he brought home shared a certain resemblance.
That was when I learned he once had a younger cousin who'd died in the chaos of war.
And Wanda, the one he'd been showering with affection lately, was the spitting image of that cousin.
Sidney saw me zoned out, and impatience flashed across his face.
"Cat got your tongue, Bianca?" he snapped.
I shook myself out of it and gave him a cold, indifferent glance.
Maybe he saw I wasn't looking too good, so he frowned, looked me up and down, then let out a cold chuckle.
"Going to pretend you're sick again?" he sneered.