My life revolved around Ethan, the secret husband I loved fiercely, despite the feud between our families. Then, Chloe Vance, his ex-girlfriend and now stepmother, cornered me in a powder room with a cruel bet: ten chances to make Ethan publicly claim me, or I'd sign divorce papers and disappear. Each attempt to win his affection ended in public humiliation. He remained cold, his attention always on Chloe, who openly delighted in my torment. He looked at me with disgust when I tried to bridge the distance, abandoned me in a fire, and watched me suffer an acid attack – his only concern for her. Despite my agony, he later tried to make me take the fall for her sordid scandals. How could the man I loved treat me with such brutal indifference, repeatedly choosing his ex-girlfriend while I withered? Was I merely a convenient shield, a secret to be hidden, while his true devotion remained with another woman? The casual cruelty, the dismissive betrayal, chipped away at everything I believed. Watching him side with her after that horrific attack, something inside me irrevocably shattered. My foolish, stubborn love for Ethan Gold finally, completely died. I decided then that I wouldn't just leave; I would reclaim my life and dignity, severing every last tie to the man who never truly saw me. And he would finally understand what he had lost.
My life revolved around Ethan, the secret husband I loved fiercely, despite the feud between our families.
Then, Chloe Vance, his ex-girlfriend and now stepmother, cornered me in a powder room with a cruel bet: ten chances to make Ethan publicly claim me, or I'd sign divorce papers and disappear.
Each attempt to win his affection ended in public humiliation.
He remained cold, his attention always on Chloe, who openly delighted in my torment.
He looked at me with disgust when I tried to bridge the distance, abandoned me in a fire, and watched me suffer an acid attack – his only concern for her.
Despite my agony, he later tried to make me take the fall for her sordid scandals.
How could the man I loved treat me with such brutal indifference, repeatedly choosing his ex-girlfriend while I withered?
Was I merely a convenient shield, a secret to be hidden, while his true devotion remained with another woman?
The casual cruelty, the dismissive betrayal, chipped away at everything I believed.
Watching him side with her after that horrific attack, something inside me irrevocably shattered.
My foolish, stubborn love for Ethan Gold finally, completely died.
I decided then that I wouldn't just leave; I would reclaim my life and dignity, severing every last tie to the man who never truly saw me.
And he would finally understand what he had lost.
Chapter 1
Chloe Vance cornered Ava Chen in the powder room of the St. Regis.
Her voice, smooth as poisoned honey, cut through the air.
"Ava, darling. We need to talk about Ethan."
Ava's heart hammered.
Ethan Gold, her husband. A secret husband, thanks to the war between their families, the Chens and the Golds.
And Chloe, Ethan's first love, now his widowed stepmother.
"What about Ethan?" Ava tried to keep her voice steady.
Chloe smiled, a flash of perfect white teeth.
"He's mine, Ava. He always has been. But you're a persistent little thing."
She leaned closer, her expensive perfume cloying.
"So, a wager. Ten chances. Ten public events, or significant private moments. Make Ethan publicly claim you, show real love. Not just a polite arm on your elbow."
Ava felt a chill. "And if I don't?"
"All ten failures?" Chloe's eyes gleamed. "You sign the divorce papers I'll have ready. No fuss, no fight. You just disappear from his life. And mine."
Ava thought of Ethan. His rare smiles, the stolen moments that felt like sunshine.
She loved him. She truly believed she could win his heart, break through his cold exterior.
"I accept," Ava said, her voice barely a whisper, but firm.
Chloe's smile widened. "Excellent. The annual Gold Foundation Gala is next week. Let that be your first test."
Ava's initial confidence was a fragile thing.
At the Gala, she reached for Ethan's hand on the red carpet.
He was a statue, his fingers stiff, pulling away subtly as photographers flashed.
Later, she saw him in a quiet corner, deep in conversation with Chloe, who looked artfully distressed.
Chloe caught Ava's eye and gave a tiny, triumphant smirk.
One down. Nine to go.
The failures piled up. A charity dinner, a weekend at his parents' estate (now Chloe's too, in a way), a business conference. Each time, Ethan was distant, his attention fixed on Chloe's feigned needs, her "fragility."
Desperation gnawed at Ava. This was attempt number four.
They were at the Gold family's desolate Hamptons beach house. Ethan was working, as usual.
Ava had read about aphrodisiacs online. A tasteless powder.
She slipped it into his whiskey, her hands trembling.
She just wanted him to look at her, to touch her with something other than indifference.
He took a sip, then another.
A flush crept up his neck. He looked at her, a strange light in his eyes.
For a moment, Ava's hope surged.
Then, his expression hardened. He stood up, his chair scraping loudly.
"What did you do?" His voice was ice.
Ava stammered, "Nothing, I just..."
"Don't lie to me, Ava." He gripped her arm, his fingers like steel. "You think you can trick me into... this?"
He looked at her with pure disgust.
"Pathetic."
The word struck her harder than a slap.
He released her, turning his back. "I'm going out."
"Ethan, please..."
He didn't look back. He just walked out, leaving her alone in the vast, silent house.
Later that night, Olivia, Ava's sister, sent her a link to a gossip site.
Paparazzi photos. Ethan, looking concerned, "comforting" a tearful Chloe outside an exclusive Hamptons club.
The caption read: "Ethan Gold rushes to stepmother Chloe Vance's side after a trying day."
Ava stared at the screen, the image blurring through her tears.
He left her, alone and humiliated, to rush to Chloe.
The realization was a cold, heavy stone in her stomach. Chloe was his priority. Always.
The next morning, Chloe called. Ava saw her name on the caller ID and almost didn't answer.
"Darling Ava," Chloe purred. "Did you have a lonely night? Ethan was such a comfort. He said the sea air was doing wonders for my nerves."
Ava felt sick. Chloe was gloating.
"Four down, sweetie. Only six more public embarrassments before you sign those papers. I have them drafted already, you know. Very neat, very tidy."
Ava hung up, her hand shaking.
She sank onto the cold tile floor of the beach house bathroom.
Defeated. This attempt, this desperate, foolish act, had been a disaster.
Her marriage felt like a hollow shell. What was she even fighting for?
A man who looked at her with contempt?
She remembered the first time she saw Ethan Gold.
It was at a university lecture. He was a guest speaker, already a young titan in the real estate world.
He wasn't handsome in a conventional way. He was sharp, intense, with eyes that seemed to see everything.
There was an energy about him, a controlled power that fascinated her.
She'd been a naive design student, full of romantic notions. He was different. He was a challenge.
Then, a few months into their cautious, secret dating, Olivia had told her.
"Ava, you need to know about Ethan Gold and Chloe Vance."
Olivia, ever the pragmatic lawyer, laid out the facts.
Chloe had been Ethan's first serious girlfriend. A passionate, tumultuous affair.
Then, Chloe had shocked everyone by marrying Ethan's much older, incredibly wealthy father, Arthur Gold.
"He still wears that silver watch Chloe gave him years ago," Olivia had said. "The one she had engraved."
Ava had noticed the watch. Ethan never took it off.
One evening, desperate to understand, Ava had gone to a charity event she knew Arthur and Chloe Gold would attend. Ethan was there too, ostensibly for business.
From a shadowed alcove, she saw them.
Chloe, beautiful and radiant, laughing up at Ethan.
He wasn't looking at his father. He was looking at Chloe.
Then, Chloe had leaned in, whispered something. Ethan's hand had gone to her waist, a brief, possessive touch.
Chloe's eyes met Ava's across the crowded room, a flicker of triumph in them before she turned back to Ethan.
Devastation washed over Ava. It was real. Their bond was real.
Still, Ava had persisted.
She told herself she could be better for Ethan than Chloe.
She could offer him stability, genuine love, not the drama Chloe thrived on.
She chased him, with little self-respect, she now admitted.
She ignored the warning signs, the way he always kept a part of himself back.
Then came the secret marriage.
Their families, the Chens and the Golds, were locked in a bitter business rivalry that spanned generations.
A public union was unthinkable.
"We'll tell them when the time is right, Ava," Ethan had promised. "When things calm down."
He'd slipped a simple gold band on her finger in a sterile courthouse office.
No family, no friends. Just a shared secret.
But the time was never right. His promises remained empty. He was always busy, always distant.
He consistently rejected her attempts at intimacy, at building a real marriage.
"Not now, Ava, I have an early meeting."
"I'm tired, Ava."
Sometimes, he'd look at her with a flicker of something unreadable, then turn away.
He'd make her feel cheap for wanting her own husband.
The hypocrisy was staggering, given what she knew about him and Chloe.
Now, Arthur Gold was dead. Chloe was free, a wealthy widow.
And she was openly, cruelly, playing her game with Ava.
This bet, these ten chances, felt like Chloe tightening the noose.
Ava had tried everything. Seductive lingerie, his favorite meals, trying to engage him in conversations about his work, her work, anything.
He'd look through her, or worse, at her with that polite, chilling indifference.
The memory of his face last night, the disgust, the single word: "Pathetic."
That insult, more than anything, had cracked something deep inside her.
His love, the love she'd pinned all her hopes on, wasn't just absent; it felt like it had never existed for her at all.
He wasn't just emotionally stunted. He was actively cruel, using her.
She was a shield. A placeholder. A secret to be managed, not a wife to be cherished.
His public image was a carefully constructed facade. The driven, ascetic business leader.
Underneath, he was a man tethered to a toxic past, to a woman who played him like a violin.
A small, bitter part of Ava acknowledged the failure of this latest, desperate attempt.
The thought of leaving, truly leaving, began to take root, a tiny, bitter seed.
Chloe's voice echoed in her mind, "Six more public embarrassments."
San Francisco. Her family was there. The Serene Collection had its headquarters there.
It was an island of sanity in her churning world.
But the bet wasn't over. Not yet. She had made a promise.
Chapter 1 1
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Chapter 2 2
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Chapter 3 3
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Chapter 4 4
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Chapter 5 5
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Chapter 6 6
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Chapter 7 7
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Chapter 8 8
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Chapter 9 9
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Chapter 10 10
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Chapter 11 11
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Chapter 12 12
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Chapter 13 13
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Chapter 14 14
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Chapter 15 15
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Chapter 16 16
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Chapter 17 17
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Chapter 18 18
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Chapter 19 19
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Chapter 20 20
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Chapter 21 21
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Chapter 22 22
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Chapter 23 23
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