Chapter 1

After a year of giving each other the cold shoulder, Henry Carter finally returned home and was the one to swallow his pride and reach out first.

At the class reunion, he made a point of serving me food right in front of everyone.

Instinctively, I blocked his chopsticks with my own.

He wanted us to share a room, but I drove straight back to campus in the middle of the night to grade papers.

My advisor asked me why I didn't want to start over with him.

I frowned and muttered, "Gross. Being around him makes me sick to my stomach."

As soon as I finished speaking, my advisor's face went stiff.

I spun around and locked eyes with Henry, his face pale and his eyes vacant.

But inside, I let out a silent sigh of relief.

Great, now I don't have to rack my brain for an excuse to bring up divorce anymore,' I thought.

*****

It took Henry and I ten years to go from college sweethearts to husband and wife.

But it only took one year for our relationship to fall apart.

That year, he accompanied his arch-nemesis, Vivian Lane, abroad to help her heal.

He even bent over backwards to clean up all the messes at her company, leaving nothing to chance.

He left without a second thought, never even bothering to ask if I wanted him to go.

Now, out of the blue, he's back, begging for a second chance.

But my heart doesn't even stir for him anymore.

That day, we had a huge fight.

Messy and stubborn, I smashed everything in the room I could find, acting like a total madwoman.

"Henry, her father killed your parents." I yelled. "She got hit by a car and ended up disabled, that's karma. You should be cheering. Are you seriously so messed up that your hate turned into love?"

Henry's brows furrowed, and in his eyes, I saw a piercing chill. "Emily Brooks, look at what you've become. I'm truly disappointed."

With that, he grabbed his suitcase and walked right past me, not even looking back.

Early the next morning, he took Vivian overseas to treat her leg injury, like he couldn't wait to leave.

It was a miserable goodbye, and I felt like the only one left heartbroken.

But when your heart takes a real beating, your body flips into self-defense mode.

Once the numbness wears off, what comes next is pure disgust, a disgust so intense you feel it in your gut.

A year later, Henry came back, acting like nothing had ever happened between us and pretending to be the perfect husband all over again.

*****

One day in the office, my advisor asked me, "Emily, Henry's been back for a while now. Are you really planning to keep living in the dorm?

"Couples fight all the time. As long as he hasn't crossed any real lines, why are you still holding onto it? Besides, he's such a catch."

Yeah, Henry was the whole package, with the looks and the brains.

He was the campus heartthrob for four years straight.

Started his own business at twenty, and by twenty-five, he was the CEO of a public company.

Rich and handsome, he was the golden boy. He had it all, and every girl wanted a piece of him.

But in the year he was gone, so much had changed. So much that my love for him turned to ash, bit by bit, until there was nothing left.

I twirled my red pen with an indifferent look. "But now, seeing his face makes me want to throw up, and there's no way we can live under the same roof anymore."

My advisor's gaze suddenly froze as he looked past me toward the doorway.

My heart skipped a beat, and I instinctively turned to look.