Chapter 1

My husband confessed to the entire world that I had forced him into marriage by threatening suicide.

It happened at the finale of Paris Fashion Week. Over three thousand guests sat in the audience, dozens of media cameras were rolling, and I was backstage, having just finished my final walk.

The next second, everyone started staring at their phones, then turned their eyes toward me.

A headline blew up across social media: Adrian Vale and Scarlett Have Secretly Been Married for Three Years!

My assistant rushed over, her face pale, completely forgetting to remind me to touch up my makeup.

"Scarlett, look at this."

I took the phone.

On the screen was a statement Adrian Vale had just posted.

That name was all too familiar.

He was my husband. The man who had shared my bed for the past three years, yet never publicly acknowledged our marriage.

The headline had only one sentence: "Adrian Vale Reveals the Truth About His Forced Marriage."

My fingers froze against the screen.

Below was a clip of an interview.

Adrian wore a black suit on camera, sitting in front of a familiar backdrop.

He looked exhausted, with a hint of pain on his face.

That was the expression most likely to make the public believe him.

The interviewer asked, "So, this marriage wasn't what you truly wanted?"

Adrian fell silent for a few seconds, then bowed his head.

"Scarlett isn't a bad person," he said. "It's just back then... I didn't have much of a choice."

The comment section had already exploded.

Someone had uploaded alleged chat screenshots.

They showed my name, my profile picture, and conversations from a few years ago.

If you don't marry me, I don't know how I can go on living. I'll die.

Adrian, I love you so much. I need to be with you.

If you don't say yes, I'll die right in front of you.

Please, don't leave me.

I stared at those words, stunned.

I had never said any of that. I had never threatened Adrian, never forced him to marry me.

Nor would I ever allow myself to beg so desperately for a marriage. That wasn't who I was.

Three years ago, he was the one who stayed by my side when my father was critically ill. He held my hand and said, "Scarlett, let's stop hiding our love. I want to give you the status of my wife. Let's get married."

He was always the one begging me to marry him.

Yet now, he told the whole world that I forced his hand.

"Scarlett?"

Someone called my name.

I looked up.

Vanessa Blake stood before me.

She was Adrian's agent, and currently the only other person who knew about our marriage.

Dressed in an impeccably tailored white suit, there was not a trace of surprise on her face.

It was as if she had known all along.

"You leaked this, didn't you?" My voice was quiet.

Vanessa looked at me, making no attempt to deny it.

"People were bound to find out sooner or later. You've hidden it for too long."

"So this was all you and Adrian?"