"Aria, you don't have an ounce of femininity."
That single sentence shattered four years of marriage. Alexander didn't just break our vows; he humiliated me while clutching his returned long-lost love, desperate to reclaim the youth he felt he’d missed. He looked at me with pure disdain and delivered the final blow: "Looking at your cold face, I can't feel any desire as a man."
My heart didn't just break; it pulverized. I finally stopped clinging to the ghost of our relationship and walked away with the only thing I had left: my dignity.
When our paths crossed again, I had changed so drastically that Alexander didn't even recognize the wife he had discarded. But the rest of the world did. Powerful men pursued me relentlessly, and even the deadliest Alpha reserved his rare smiles exclusively for "his dear Aria."
Now, witnessing my rise has driven Alexander to madness. The man who once called me unlovable now waits outside my door every night, piling territory deeds and jewels at my feet, willing to sacrifice everything for a second chance I will never give him.