The Gilded Cage Bonus

Synopsis

Looking at that headline, you probably thought this would be another cliché story — where the CEO Lin is consumed by regret, finally realizes he's been madly in love with me all along, and launches into one of those groveling, "chase-his-wife-to-the-ends-of-the-earth" redemption arcs. Too bad. In real life, those redemption arcs don't exist. A man's craving for novelty is hardwired into his genes. Especially wealthy men. They don't even bother pretending anymore. My name is Autumn Coldwell, wife to the heir of the Linwood empire. My husband, Lysander Linwood, cycles through women the way others change ties. I don't bother policing him — not out of magnanimity, but because the math works in my favor. A monthly allowance of thirty thousand dollars. Gifts and wire transfers for every holiday. And the occasional bonus income — Every time he upsets me, he appears with that practiced smile, slipping me a credit card or a set of jewels as "compensation." Other women envy me. They envy my legally sanctioned title as Mrs. Linwood. They envy even more that I don't love him. That's right. You don't get hurt if you don't love. But after all these years of performing — playing the poised, impeccable, beyond-reproach Mrs. Linwood — I'm starting to feel the fatigue. I've begun contemplating my resignation. And now, a girl has come along who's made him truly lose his head. Young enough. Beautiful enough. A university coed. My opportunity has finally arrived...