Chapter 1

During the company meeting, Sloane Ramsey accidentally projected her home security feed for all the senior executives to see.

In the video, her husband, Kaelen Thorne, was dressed in white monastic robes, a string of sandalwood prayer beads in his hand, looking as serene as a saint on his meditation cushion.

The only thing shattering this sacred image was the woman whose head was buried between Kaelen’s thighs, her mouth working tirelessly.

The once-buzzing conference room fell deathly silent.

Sloane finished the meeting, her expression unchanged, then turned and filed her application for permanent residency in Switzerland.

Kaelen, this time, I’m the one leaving you.

...

It was getting dark by the time Sloane returned to their villa.

She pushed open the door to the meditation room and was met with the rhythmic tap of a prayer block.

"Kaelen, dinner's ready," she called out.

No one answered.

She peered through the sheer prayer flags that filled the room. The light of the setting sun streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a glow on Kaelen. His eyes were half-closed, making him look like some untouchable deity.

But all Sloane could see was the video from the meeting.

And the whispers she’d overheard in the restroom afterward—

"Sloane really is obsessed with her husband, isn't she? She can even tolerate him cheating in the very villa she bought."

"You don't know? She forced him into this. Her husband, Kaelen Thorne, was a devout practitioner at the Sanctuary at Mount Crestwood. She threatened to end her own life to make him leave the order and marry her."

"After the wedding, she not only runs her own company but also manages the Thorne family’s assets, all to give him the best life. She's a top-tier fool in love..."

The words echoed in her mind, and that familiar, suffocating feeling washed over her again.

They were right. She did love Kaelen to death.

All because he had saved her from drowning when they were children, risking his own life to do it.

She’d waited ten years for him.

Finally, five years ago, she got her wish. Kaelen left his spiritual path.

He married her, just as she’d dreamed. But he didn’t love her.

Her throat felt raw as she walked toward him. She knelt down, wrapping her arms around him from behind, pressing her body tightly against his back.

"Kaelen, we haven't slept together in so long. Tonight, can we...?"

Kaelen finally stopped the tapping. "We agreed," he said, his voice flat. "Once a month, on the fifteenth."

They were pressed so close, yet Sloane could feel his breath, his heartbeat. Not a single flutter of disruption.

For a split second, she wanted to scream, "Why is it okay for Willa, but not for me?"

Willa was the woman in the video.

An orphan raised by the charity associated with the Sanctuary.

A month ago, Kaelen had funded a major renovation of the Sanctuary, and Willa had started coming by to report on the progress.

It was only after she appeared that Sloane discovered Kaelen was capable of carnal desire after all...

She crushed the pain that screamed in her veins and forced a smile. "Alright. Let's go eat. Meditation is fine, but don't hurt your body."

They sat down at the dining table, which was covered in ascetic vegan dishes.

Sloane was a creature of impulse. She never hid her desires and hated anything bland or watery.

But after marrying Kaelen, she had shed her flamboyant personality, her habits, her tastes, all for him.

Kaelen was above worldly things. To care for him, she had secretly installed micro-cameras in every room of the house.

She never expected they would record a side of Kaelen she had never seen.

After a few silent bites, she looked at him, testing the waters. "Kaelen, I've been so tired lately. I'm thinking of clearing my schedule and resting at home for a month."

"That way, I can spend more time with you."

Kaelen frowned slightly. "Do as you wish."

He put down his chopsticks. "I'm full."

Watching him walk back to the meditation room, Sloane’s eyes grew dark.

Kaelen and Willa had been entangled for a month. So she would give herself one month to save her marriage.

If, after a month, she still couldn't win his heart, she would let it all go and leave for good.

And never, ever look back.