Chapter 3

"What?" Cedric's voice was laced with anger. "You want me to ask your permission to spend a few hundred thousand dollars on her? And where was all this sudden concern about money when your family was draining my accounts to stay in business?"

Though their marriage was a secret, Liliana knew her family had shamelessly leveraged their connection to Cedric, securing resources and deals they never could have managed otherwise.-

But she couldn't understand his logic. "That's different! I'm your wife! How can you even compare her to me?"

"You're right, I can't," he sneered, the contempt in his eyes a barbed knife twisting in her heart. "The money I spent on her last night was a fraction of her annual bonus. You tell me, how can you possibly compare?"

Her heart felt like it was being shredded. The coldness in his eyes was something she had never seen before, as if the man who lost control in her arms and whispered passionate things in her ear had been a complete stranger.

"If she's so wonderful, why didn't you marry her? Why did you marry me?" Her eyes burned with unshed tears, her voice trembling. "Didn't you marry me because you loved me?"

Her vision blurred, and his face became a hazy outline, but the scornful look he gave her was crystal clear. It was a look that mocked her for being so naive, so foolish.

*Love her?* The idea was laughable to him.

"Are you done?" Cedric asked, his patience clearly gone. He tried to sidestep her, but she held her ground. A woman in hysterics was impossible to reason with.

His refusal to address the real issue was the last straw.

"Let's get a divorce," she said, the words tearing from her throat. She squeezed her eyes shut, summoning every ounce of strength she had to say them. A marriage without love was not something she wanted. There was no point in showing him the video. He would just deny it, and she would only humiliate herself further by being the hysterical wife he cast aside.

"Fifty thousand dollars a month in allowance, a life of leisure where all you have to do is tend to the garden and sleep with me. Is that not a good enough deal for you?" he shot back, stopping in his tracks.

His brows knitted tightly. "What is all this drama about?"

Her pain, her betrayal—in his eyes, it was all just baseless drama.

"A deal?" Hot tears finally spilled over, streaming down her cheeks as she met his icy gaze. "Were you looking for a wife, Cedric, or just a warm body to use for release?"

Was this what marriage was to him? A transaction where she was paid to be his live- in whore? The only difference was a piece of paper that made it legal. A lifetime of being bought and sold.

No. She thought of the lavish party

he'd thrown for Sylvia, a gesture any woman

her dream of, and it hit

her it wasn't that he saw all

marriage this way. It was that he believed this was the only kind of marriage she deserved.

A sardonic smile twisted his lips, his dark eyes filled with disdain. "Am I wrong? You think if you divorce me you can just go back to being a princess at the Preston estate? Don't be naïve, Liliana. Be smart about this."

"I don't need the Prestons for anything. I can make my own way," she said, forcing herself to stop crying.

She pushed past him and went upstairs to the walk-in closet. Pulling a white suitcase from the corner, she began packing with sharp, decisive movements.

She was done with that house, done with her cold father and submissive mother.

Cedric followed her but made no move to stop her, his face a tight mask as he watched her fill the suitcase.

It was four in the morning. The world outside was pitch black, but the lights in the room were blazing, washing out her already pale face, She zipped the suitcase and walked out of the closet.

Cedric stood in her path. As she brushed past him, he said, "I don't have an endless supply of patience, Liliana. Don't expect me to come begging for you to return."