Chapter 1
The seventh time Sophia Sterling went in for intimate rejuvenation surgery, the doctor frowned. But if she didn't do that, Adrian he won't want to sex with her.
“Miss, even for commercial wear and tear, you shouldn’t put your body through this.”
She gripped the sheet, humiliation burning her cheeks. “My husband likes it.”
The truth was, her marriage to Adrian Sterling had once read like a perfect campus romance. She was a housekeeper’s daughter. They met when she was ten. She fell for him at eighteen. On the night she came of age, she gave him everything.
At twenty-four, Adrian threw her a fairy-tale wedding. Five years of marriage followed, and every one of them burned white-hot. They had christened his private helicopter, the beach house in the Hamptons, the rooftop of Sterling Tower — everywhere they went, they left traces of each other behind. Thousands of condoms over the years.
Then came their seventh anniversary.
Sophia wore something sheer. She tried to seduce him—nine times, from dusk to dawn. He stroked her sweat-damp back and said gently, “Let’s stop, Sophia. I’m tired.”
The shame was instant, suffocating. She scoured the internet for solutions — toys, supplements, every trick in the book — but nothing sparked even a flicker of interest in his eyes.
Except one thing: the surgery. Only after her intimate rejuvenation did Adrian show any interest again.
After the seventh procedure, she came home still burning between her legs. He pushed her down onto the bed, and when his breathing grew ragged and his body tensed above hers, he whispered a name.
“Bella.”
Her blood turned to ice. It wasn’t her name.
So it wasn't that Adrian couldn't perform. He simply had no interest in her anymore.
A dull, throbbing ache spread through her chest. She stared up at the man moving above her, and tears rolled silently down her temples. One hot drop landed on his arm. He froze, as if startled awake, and cupped her face in both hands, pressing gentle kisses across her cheeks.
"My love, why are you crying? Does something hurt?"
He gazed at her with such focus that his dark eyes held nothing but her reflection. If she hadn’t heard the other woman’s name, she might never have doubted him.
“Who is Bella?” The words came out before she could stop them.
Adrian paused, then laughed. “You're jealous? She’s just my secretary. If you don’t believe me, check my phone.”
There were no secrets between them.
There never had been.
She typed his birthday. The top contact was “Wifey 💖.”
She scrolled down. Found Bella’s chat. Mostly work. The only personal messages were Adrian asking Bella for gift advice for Sophia.
But a woman’s instinct snagged on something else.
【Is Your wife still mad? The plane tickets to Hawaii are booked.】
【All women love jewelry. Don't forget a gift for anniversary — I've already picked out a few options and left them in your office.】
【Still not in the mood for your wife? Maybe a change of scenery will bring back the spark.】
Her thumb froze. Her thumb hovered over the screen as a chill crawled through her body despite the summer heat.
Adrian was fiercely territorial — about his personal space, about his inner world.
Yet he discussed the most intimate details of their marriage with Bella. That crossed every boundary.
The shower stopped. Adrian stepped out in a cloud of steam, water still trailing down the hard lines of his stomach before disappearing beneath the towel slung low around his hips.
Someone had once warned Sophia, “Your husband is so handsome and successful. Women will throw themselves at him. You have to watch him.”
She hadn't worried then. She had watched it happen firsthand: a business rival had once sent a naked woman to Adrian's hotel suite. The moment the door opened, his expression turned to ice. He shoved the woman out without a word, scrubbed himself raw with disinfectant ten times over, and drove home that same night. He knelt at Sophia’s feet.
“My love, another woman touched me. I’m dirty. You won’t leave me, will you?”
A man like that could never cheat.
His phone buzzed on the nightstand. **Bella White** flashed across the screen.
Adrian didn’t flinch. He answered in front of her. Then gave her an apologetic look.
“Sorry, honey. The company needs me.”
He dressed quickly and left.
Thunder cracked outside. Sophia flinched and curled into herself beneath the sheets, making herself as small as possible.
Adrian knew she was terrified of storms, but he didn’t come back.
At midnight, her phone jolted her awake. She answered groggily. Adrian’s voice was breathless on the other end.
“Sterling Group, 28th floor. The executive office.”
She opened her mouth to ask if he needed documents. He cut her off.
“Condoms. Ten minutes.”
Her mind went blank.
She drove through the rain. When she reached his office, the door was open a crack.
Adrian—who went limp at the sight of her—had his secretary pinned beneath him.
“Didn’t the wife satisfy you? You're insatiable tonight.” Bella's voice was breathy, teasing.
“Any woman gets boring after ten years. Even one you love.”
“Then why don’t you divorce her?”
Adrian lit a cigarette. Smoke blurred his features.
“She was my entire youth. I’ll love Sophia forever. I’m just not interested in her anymore.”
The pain didn't hit all at once. It seeped in slowly, numbing everything — her fingertips, her chest, the part of her brain that still wanted to scream. Sophia released the door handle without making a sound.
Adrian, if you don't love me, then let me go.
She, Sophia Sterling, had always known how to walk away.