Chapter 1

When I ran off with Michael Carter, my dad took away my ID. He said if Michael wanted a marriage license, he had to bring a deed first and prove he could provide for me.

Michael got busier and made more money, but he still couldn't afford a place. His mom got sick, his dad got into a car accident, and his younger brother needed tuition. Money was flying out the door.

"Sophia, I'm sorry. If I can't afford a house, I don't deserve to marry you."

I told him it was okay and said I'd keep fighting alongside him. Without my ID, all I could do was pick up odd jobs as a private yoga instructor. That day, I landed a big booking in a villa district—a sexy young wife.

"I want to learn the most irresistible poses. Money's no object. My husband is really into that sort of thing. He keeps me at home, and I can't help him with much else, so all I can do is keep him happy..."

She smiled shyly. "Am I being too blunt? But if you saw my husband, you'd get it."

When she proudly held up that intimate video, I felt like I'd been struck by lightning. The man in the video, tangled up with her without a trace of restraint, was Michael Carter.

Seeing my face flush red with shock, Emily Carter looked bashful. "Sorry. I forgot my husband's looks and what he can do in bed are enough to make anyone blush. That's why I hired you. He makes me feel good, so I want to make him feel even better."

"People always say that if you can satisfy a man's needs, you've really got him. You look older than me, so you're probably married too, right? If you are, then don't laugh at me, okay?"

Her words were crude as hell, but I caught the key word right away: too. I tested the waters. "You got married that young?"

She nodded, cheeks red. "I didn't plan to, but my husband gave me too much to say no. The moment I was old enough to get married, he bought this house for me in cash. He also gives me about one hundred seventy thousand dollars a month for living expenses."

Looking at the luxury villa in front of me, a bitter ache rose in my chest. All these years, I'd spent hours switching buses just to save a ten-dollar cab fare. A yoga session paid about one hundred thirty dollars, and I saved almost all of it, hoping to buy a place in pricey Rivergate City and get my dad's approval.

But behind my back, Michael had bought another woman a mansion worth well over thirty million dollars in cash, and he gave her about one hundred seventy thousand dollars every month. It wasn't that he couldn't afford a house. He just didn't want to buy one for me.

Emily handed me a glass of water, still looking sweet and shy. "I only finished middle school, and I don't know much. If I meet a man this good, of course I'm gonna marry him. Turns out I made the best decision of my life."

I forced out a self-mocking smile. Michael had come from nothing and always believed education could change a person's fate. The first thing on his list when choosing a partner was education. He used to say people with little schooling were either lazy or stupid—at best incompatible, at worst bad for the next generation. Back then, I even laughed and said he was being far too snobby about degrees.

But now, he had strung along me, a woman with a master's degree, while marrying a woman who only finished middle school. That was when I finally understood: every rule and every standard only meant one thing. He just didn't love me enough.

"Honestly, I envy women like you. You have your own jobs and can help support your families. Unlike me. I worked one day at a karaoke bar, and my husband fell for me right away, brought me home, and has kept me ever since. Five whole years now."

It felt like burning coals were rolling over my heart. I had run away with Michael five years ago. My voice came out hoarse. "You've been together... for five years?"

She shook her head. "No. We've been together for five years, but we've only been married for three. For the first two years, I wasn't old enough to marry yet. My husband said I was still too young and didn't want me making a decision I'd regret."

"That fool would rather keep his distance than pressure me. We didn't truly become husband and wife until the day we got our marriage license. I cried afterward, and he cried harder than I did. He said girls who respected themselves enough to wait like that were rare these days."