When I Saw My Husband’s True Colors, He Begged Me to Stay

Faye Luthor was known in their circle as a succubus in human form. The tiny red mole at the corner of her eye looked like a poisoned hook, and she had been born with a kind of beauty that could steal a man's soul. Because of that, a wager spread like wildfire through the upper crust. Who could be the one to win over this devastatingly seductive woman? Faye never cared. Until Lex Lancaster appeared. He was the cool, restrained, untouchable prince of the business world. When he pursued her, there was no feverish obsession, no suffocating pursuit, only tenderness held in perfect control. Faye refused to believe there was truly a man in this world who could sit beside temptation and remain unmoved. So she stopped hiding her nature and used every trick she had to tease him. When he was in a video conference, she deliberately climbed onto his lap. Yet he only lifted her down gently and said in a low voice, "Behave." She drugged his wine, and he drank it without even changing his expression. Then he explained softly, "Faye, love isn't something that should be led by instinct." Later, Faye simply tied him to the headboard, stripped off her clothes, and tried to tempt him. All she got in return was the sight of his ears turning crimson as he turned his face away in embarrassment. Still, every word he said reached her clearly. "Faye, I know you're testing me. But I'm not like them. I never took part in that bet. I genuinely want to pursue you. "And I want you to know that love is more than physical desire. It can also be a meeting of souls, something pure and higher. Will you marry me and let me show you that kind of love?" Those words struck Faye like a beam of light, carving straight into a heart that had never truly been understood. Since childhood, she had hated this body of hers that seemed to exude seduction every waking second. Even more, she hated those greedy stares and contemptuous looks. But Lex gave her the one thing she wanted most. Respect. For three years after their marriage, they shared the same bed every night, yet their intimacy never crossed the line. Even when desire overwhelmed her, he only handed her a toy in silence to help her ease it. She had once believed this was what it meant for two souls to be perfectly matched. She had believed it was the highest form of spiritual companionship in love. She had believed they were the flawless, deeply devoted couple everyone envied. Until that day, when she walked out of the mall and a sudden, brutal pain exploded at the back of her head. In the final moment before she lost consciousness, she saw a dazzling woman in a red dress. When she woke again, she was in an abandoned, half-finished building. Bodyguards in black surrounded her in a tight circle, while the woman in red sat in front of her, hatred surging in her eyes. "Who are you?" Faye forced herself to stay calm. The woman in red let out a cold laugh. "A cheap slut like you doesn't deserve to know who I am." She kicked aside a nearby box, revealing it was packed full of cash. "Whoever cuts that seductive little mole from the corner of her eye gets all this money!" As soon as she finished speaking, the bodyguards swarmed forward. Faye was shoved to the ground. Her hands were pinned beneath heavy shoes, and the crushing pain in her joints made her vision go black. Before she could recover, someone yanked her hair up violently. A flash of cold steel followed, and a piercing agony tore through the corner of her eye. They had actually used a knife to carve out her beauty mark. Blood gushed out. Faye clamped a hand over the wound, but red seeped through her fingers. The woman in red gave her no chance to breathe. She snatched a leather whip and lashed it across Faye with a sharp crack. "You b***h! Having Lex still wasn't enough for you? You even dared to seduce the man I love! "I'm going to ruin that face today. Let's see how you keep flirting after this!" The whip came down again and again, each strike tearing through skin and flesh. "Three years! Three whole years! Because of you, he wouldn't even spare me a glance! Every day, all he did was stare at your photo! "Faye! I'll kill you!" The woman in red looked completely unhinged. "I'll kill you today, and then he won't be able to think about you ever again!" Pain made Faye's whole body convulse, but she clenched her teeth and refused to let a single tear fall. Just as the next lash was about to come down, she suddenly reached out and caught the tip of the whip. Her bloodshot eyes locked fiercely on the woman. "I don't even know you. What gives you the right to hit me?" The woman in red froze for a second, startled by the vicious look in Faye's eyes. Then, as if she had remembered something, a cruel smile curled across her lips. "Looks like you still don't know. The reason Lex pursued you was actually because of me." Faye's entire body stiffened. She stared at her in disbelief. "What do you mean?" Before the woman in red could answer, a furious roar came from the entrance of the unfinished building. "Jean! What are you doing?" Lex rushed in with a face as cold as ice and seized Jean's wrist. Jean froze for a moment. Then she lifted her head and gave him a smile full of biting mockery. "What? After three years apart, you've been bewitched by this little vixen too?" The instant Faye saw Lex, the tension in her nerves suddenly loosened. All the grievance she had been holding back surged up at once. But before she could speak, she watched Jean wrap her arms around Lex's neck, rise onto her toes, and kiss him. Then Jean shot her a triumphant look. What Faye found even harder to believe was that Lex did not push her away. Instead, he cupped the back of Jean's head and deepened the kiss. Faye's mind went blank. She wanted to rush forward like a madwoman and demand an answer, but another violent pain suddenly struck the back of her head. Before darkness swallowed her completely, Lex's breathless voice reached her with brutal clarity. "It's been three years. Our agreement has expired. "You didn't win over the person you loved... so can you come back to me now?"