Chapter 1 C1

Her whole body was feeling unwell as if she was being engulfed in flames.

Cynthia was in a dazed state. With a blurry vision, she caught hold of a man’s arm.

She wanted to cry for help. A strong masculine scent reached her. Her slightly opened lips were blocked off by a strong force.

She instinctively wanted to resist, but the man did not give her any chance to do so. He dove straight in, teasing her mouth open and consumed her whole.

Undoubtedly, towards this strange man’s kiss, she should have resisted and felt repulsed by it.

But, why is her body feeling stimulated?

In the next second, she experienced a wrenching pain in her lower body.

A strong pain seized her.

*********

Early morning.....

The golden sunlight shone through the royal style curtain illuminating the furnishings in the luxurious room.

Clothes were strewn all over the white carpet messily. The room carried a faint scent of last night’s affair.

On the bed, the slender figure of a lady was partially visible under the gold embroidered quilt.

Small oval face, exquisite and beautiful facial features, skin pale as snow, black hair cascading down her shoulders. Vaguely visible were the red marks on her body, the crude remnants of last night’s affair.

Like cherry blossoms blooming all over her body.

In her heavy state of sleep, she heard the door being pushed open. Although she did not want to open her eyes, she consciously roused herself.

Her eyes fluttered open.

Just outside the golden edge doorway, she caught sight of her grim-faced husband, Jude, and the shocked and dismayed expressions of her mother-in-law and sister-in-law by his side.

“Jude… ” Cynthia wiped her eyes. Her sight fell on the sheets, quilt, floor, and the furnishings of the room. Her mind turned blank for a moment.

This was not her room. Where was this?

“Jude… Where am I?” She asked the grim-faced man standing at the door.

He sneered. His handsome face was malicious and insidious. “You still have the audacity to ask me where this is? Tell me, who was the adulterer whom you spent the night with?”

Adulterer?

With brows furrowed, Cynthia tried to recall the events that had happened last night, but she couldn’t remember a thing. Her last memory was of herself drinking some wine with Jerry at a cafe.

At this time, she saw her sister-in-law and her mother-in-law stepped inside the room from behind Jude. Turning to her daughter, her mother-in-law said, “Queen, take a good picture, make sure to capture the appearance of your sister-in-law having gone to bed with another man.”

Gone to bed with another man? Cynthia’s brain exploded.

“I… I didn’t… ” Cynthia shook her head and tried to explain.

At this time, her mother-in-law, Cherry, walked up to the bed and tugged her long hair up. She raised her neck in pain, revealing her chest and throat which were covered in hickeys. It was a ghastly sight.

“Take, take a clear picture.” Cherry said to her daughter.

Queen, while taking photos of her neck, laughed derisively at her. “Sister-in-law, it looks like you had a great time last night!”

Cynthia lowered her head painfully looking at the traces on her chest which she had not realized had emerged on her body. Fleeting images of last night’s shameful affair came into mind. She had thought it was a dream….

Obviously not.

Alarmed, she turned to look at Jude’s handsome face, only to see his face horrifyingly cold, staring at her as if he was staring at a piece of trash, “Very good, Cynthia. Only half a year of marriage, you dare to run off track. I don’t care who you were with last night… Get ready for a divorce!”

After saying this, he gave her another disgusted glance, pushed the door open and left.

Cynthia’s face turned ghostly pale.

Divorce?

“No, Jude, listen to me… It’s not like that… ” She was bare-naked. She wrapped the quilt around herself and tried to catch up to him.

Before she could do so, she was ruthlessly pushed back onto the bed by Cherry. Stunned, she looked at her mother-in-law. “Mother…”

“You are not entitled to call me mother. You shameless vixen. How dare you carry on with another man behind my son’s back. You’re a total disgrace to our family! Let me tell you, my family will absolutely not tolerate your wanton behaviour!”

“Mom, the photos have been taken.” Queen said triumphantly while holding her phone.

“Cynthia, her mobile phone already has evidence of your adultery. Be sensible and quickly give my son a divorce. If you’re not willing to, I will send the photos to the lawyers to carry out the divorce proceedings.”

~

Jude opened the door to his Porsche SUV. An alluring figure was seated on the passenger seat. Seeing him entered, her ruby-red lips lifted into a smile. “Jude, was the plan successful?”

Jude reached out and pulled her into his embrace. With one hand clasped behind her head, he kissed her wildly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and swiftly responded to his kisses.

After a long, hot kiss, he smiled against her delicate forehead.

“Angela, it won’t be long till I can marry you.”

“I’ve been waiting for these words for a long time.”

After saying that, She held his handsome face and actively kissed him on his thin lips.

~

Cynthia sat on the bed with a pale face, eyes brimming with tears. The hickeys on her body and the unbearable pain at the slightest pull of her lower body caused a panic feeling to well up in her. She had no recollection of the incident last night.

Picking up the clothes on the floor, she rushed into the bathroom, weeping miserably and washing herself vigorously trying to rid her body of the man’s scent.

In the afternoon, Cynthia distractedly returned to her matrimonial home. In the well-lit living room, Jude sat there like the devil himself, an angry glower on his face, looking as if he would strangle her to death in the next second.

What happened this morning dealt a fatal and heavy blow to Cynthia. She knew that no explanation could possibly save her.

She looked at her husband seated on the sofa and took a deep breath. “Jude, I agree to a divorce, but I want you to return me 10% of my father’s shares. The other 5% take it as my compensation to you.”

As soon as he heard what she said, his countenance darkened. He had just secured his position as president of the Leonards Group. If she were to withdraw 10% of the shares, it would not only jeopardize his prestige and status, but also threaten his position as president.

He scoffed. “Cynthia, what qualifications do you have to demand things from me? You betrayed me and put a green hat on me. Can this simply be dismissed with just 5% of the shares?”

“5% of the shares if converted into cash would amount to more than 500 million dollars. Is this not enough to compensate you?” Cynthia argued. Her father owned those shares in the Group during his lifetime. She could not hand those shares over to the Leonards family just like that.

With a glint in his eyes, Jude went up to her and grabbed her by the neck. “Cynthia, listen closely, put the notion that the shares will be returned to you anyway. Even if you don’t want to leave this marriage, you have no choice but to do so. If you want to make a fuss of this in court, let me tell you, you will only die of mortification.”

Eyes wide open, she struggled to breathe. What hurt even more was the face in front of her. The tender and loving face he had formerly used to gaze at her had disappeared. What remained was the hideousness of a self-serving egomaniac.

However, her father’s shares…

“Jude… Those were my father’s… Return them back to me.” She cried hoarsely.

“Now they’re mine. Don’t even think of taking them out of my hands. Cynthia, wise up. Sign the papers and scram, or… I will let you disappear from the face of this earth.” Jude released her onto the floor, her face ghastly pale, and threw down a draft divorce agreement. “Sign it!”

“I will not sign it… ” Cynthia bit her lips, refusing to be forced out of the house.

“If you don’t sign it, you won’t just be losing 15% of the shares but also your reputation, or even your life.”

Cynthia trembled, looking up at the man who had sworn to love her. At this moment, there was nothing but ruthlessness, indifference and cruelty.

She felt suffocated.

Her heart sank into the pit of despair. She looked at the image of this diabolical man driven by self-interests. She knew that it would cost her, her life, if she were to insist on the return of her father’s shares.

“Alright, I’ll sign it.” She clenched her teeth and put down her signature.