Chapter 1 She Doesn't Love Him At All

Florrie Barnes left the law office with the divorce papers clutched tightly in her hand while a gentle drizzle spread across the city.

Right when she reached for her car door, her phone lit up with her husband Alexander Jenkins' name.

For a brief second she froze, but then pressed the phone to her ear.

From the other end came Alexander's cold voice. "You're not at home?"

Something in the way he spoke gave her pause, almost as if there was a trace of concern hidden in his tone.

With her gaze lowered, she answered softly, "I'll be back soon, you..."

Before she could finish, Alexander chimed in, "Pick up some ointment for swelling before you return."

The words made her frown, and despite the divorce papers in her hand, worry stirred. "Did you get hurt? Is it serious? Is your heart acting up again? I'll come straight back and take care of you."

But in the next instant, the voice that drifted through the receiver sent a shiver down her spine. "Alex, it still aches... It's all your fault!"

A syrupy, flirtatious voice oozed from the receiver, drenched in sweetness.

It was Suzanne Hewitt-Alexander's childhood sweetheart.

Then Alexander spoke again, detached and dismissive. "I got a bit carried away and might hurt Suzanne earlier. This isn't something you can deal with. Just buy the ointment. And while you're at it, get a morning-after pill."

The line went dead before Florrie could breathe a word.

Cold wind swept through the night, and as the dial tone droned on, numbness spread to her fingertips.

Was his wife really meant to fetch a morning-after pill for the lover he kept by his side?

During three years of marriage, he had never once touched her. To him, she was nothing more than a pitiful shadow, clinging to him with blind devotion, her dignity stripped away, her love reduced to something worthless.

Yet none of that mattered, so long as his happiness remained untouched and the heart of Alexis Wallace, beating within his chest, was kept safe.

Wordlessly, she purchased both the ointment and the pill before heading back home. When the door swung open, the sight that greeted her was Suzanne lounging in Alexander's arms, a flimsy nightgown slipping from her shoulders, the skin of her neck and chest marked with deep-red hickeys.

Across the room, Alexander sat peeling grapes for her, slipping them between her lips with a teasing lilt. "Still mad at me, baby? I'll behave next time, I swear. Tomorrow we'll go out, just you and me, all day long. How does that sound?"

Suzanne leaned closer with a pout, her voice girlish and sweet. "You better not trick me again."

Even though Alexander bore the title of her husband, Florrie could see where his true affections lay. Between the two of them, there was intimacy, while she, his wife, stood as the stranger intruding.

In silence, Florrie clutched the paper bag tighter. When Suzanne finally noticed her, a shadow passed through her gaze.

Moments later, Suzanne put on a mask of innocence, her tone fragile. "Oh... Florrie, you're home?"

Pretending to panic, she shifted as if to get off Alexander's lap. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

But Alexander's arm only tightened around her waist, pulling her firmly back. "Don't waste your breath on her. Isn't this where you belong, right here with me?"

Not once did he acknowledge his wife directly, his words cutting like ice. "Leave the bag on the table and get upstairs. Don't bother Suzanne and me again."

So that was her place-the unwanted wife, treated as a nuisance even in her own house.

From the corner of her eye, Florrie caught the smirk Suzanne tried to hide, and she managed a faint smile of her own. "Be careful, Alexander. A heart that's endured surgery isn't built for reckless indulgence."

His stare turned sharp with annoyance, his voice flat. "That's none of your concern."

Nothing he said could hurt her anymore.

Her devotion had never been for Alexander himself but for the heart he carried inside his chest.

For three years, every effort she made was only to shield that heart from harm.

Alexander always assumed Florrie married him for wealth and status, so he accepted her care as if it were owed.

That fragile arrangement held until Suzanne's sudden return from overseas. With her back, everything collapsed in an instant.

Alexander rushed toward Suzanne without hesitation.

And so, Florrie decided she might as well step aside and grant him the freedom he longed for.