Chapter One
001.
Aryna's POV
~ Gina isn't feeling too well. I have to take a flight to Germany to check on her, the anniversary could wait.
The smile on my lips disappeared, the happiness bubbling inside of me, drowning.
It was our wedding anniversary. Ryan and I had been married for three years and today, I thought he would create some private time for us, but he stood me up to attend to his childhood friend.
I had wanted to share the news about his seed growing in me. I was two weeks pregnant— what we had been looking forward to for three years had finally come.
I have been happy ever since I came back from the hospital. I couldn't stop beaming a smile, but Ryan's text threw every excitement in me off balance, everything.
He had always cherished his childhood best friend more than me, but because I loved my husband, I didn't complain or argue about it.
All I wanted was his love, affection and care, but he deprived me of them and showered it all in abundance on Gina.
She wasn't only his best friend, but his everything.
To him, I was just the woman his grandma had chosen for him. He only saw the marriage between us as gratitude for a debt—saving his life— showing up at the last minute to be his saviour.
Four years ago, when Ryan was bedridden and his life was hanging by a single thread. He had to undergo surgery, but he couldn't find a blood donor to help him as the doctor said it would be impossible without that.
Amidst the looming chaos, I stepped in as a volunteer since our blood group matched.
His grandma was happy, and she had insisted that Ryan pay back the favour by getting married to me.
The excitement that welled within me was insurmountable. Finally, my dream of getting married to the man I had always admired from afar had come true.
"You should understand, Aryna, that I'm only doing this because of my grandma. "If you think I'm in love with you, then you're so wrong," Ryan had said to me the night after our wedding.
His words broke my heart. I had never expected him to say such horrible words to me.
He was ungrateful but my love for him kept burning still.
He didn't touch me that night and on the second day when he stepped out of the bathroom, having only a towel wrapped carelessly around his groin; water dripping from his brunette hair to his toe.
He was so irresistible and handsome that I instantly felt hot by merely staring into his captivating green eyes.
I stripped naked, walking closer to him. I was caught by his dazzling charms. I couldn't call myself to order.
I wrapped my hands around his broad back, my head rested on his chest. His heartbeat gave me hopes that he'd love me one day, maybe after that night, but I was stunned when he pushed me away.
I staggered backwards, holding the nightstand for support.
I looked up with a frown on my face. I thought he was going to make love to me. After all, we were still on our honeymoon vacation.
"Don't be so shameless, Aryna." His voice was cold as ice, his jaws clenched. "I have no time for this." Gina broke her knee and I had to be with her. She needs me."
My lips trembled, my knuckles turning white in anger as I tightened my grip on the nightstand.
My heart thudded with a pang of pain as I watched him dress up and leave. Again, he had left me to attend to Gina.
I wanted to grab his arm, pull him back and slam my lips on his. To tell him I love him and beg him to stay, but I guess it would be of no use.
All that was on his mind was Gina. He would break if anything happened to her.
Begging for his attention would be useless. He had his mind made up.
I pulled out the pregnancy test results from my purse and a tear slipped down my cheek as I stared at it.
Every member of Ryan's family, especially his mother, thought I was barren. His mother had thrown endless tantrums and preached many sermons about how useless I was to the family.
I would always look at Ryan, hoping he would interfere and defend me, but he wouldn't even spare me a glance. I was that disgusting to him.
I used to work at Hilltop City Hospital, which Ryan actually owns. I applied as a nurse there and declined juicy offers from better hospitals.
His beautiful face was all I craved.
After working at his company for two years, he promoted me to be an assistant doctor to him and this gave me more chance of bumping into him often.
My career was driven by the passion to save lives. Watching my own mother die was so painful. I couldn't even help her, she died in my arms.
The scene played in my head and I grabbed the chair so that I couldn't fall as my legs wobbled.
Wasn't I so useless as Ryan had always taunted?
Ryan only treated me well when the hypothesis research I ran for him brought him more fancy opportunities and his hospital kick-started more progress.
He stopped me from working at the hospital a year after we got married. He wanted me to be just a housewife to him, no job.
"Remain at home. You're more useful in the backyard."
I was his backup research engine.
The moment I remembered that night we shared together, more tears spilled down my cheeks.
He had come back home late at midnight, his hair like a bird's nest, his buttons undone. I moved closer and grabbed him as he was falling.
His cologne wafted through my nose but beneath the sweet scent lay something strange, unfamiliar.
The perfume of a woman. But I ignored it. I didn't want to get him annoyed.
He was drunk, so wasted.
I was stunned, surprised. Ryan had never come home drunk. I was thrown into a fit of confusion, but first, I had to help him to his room.
He had made it clear: the master bedroom was his while the guest room three doors away was mine.
I never came to his room unless I had a good reason for it.
I gasped when he grabbed my waist as I tried to leave, yanking me on the bed as he towered over me.
Our gazes locked, my chest thudding so loud. He claimed my lips, his kiss rough and fighting for dominance.
I couldn't resist his touch. I wrapped my arms around his back, while he bit my neck, leaving visible hickeys.
We had only had s*x once, and it was on that night when he got drunk. I never knew our intimacy would result in this pregnancy. I wondered how he was going to react to the news of it.
I snapped out of my trance when my phone suddenly beeped, numerous notifications flooding in.
My eyes popped out of their sockets at the sight of the headlines.
RYAN MOORE AND GINA MAY SPOT TOGETHER AT THE AIRPORT
My heart died in my chest when the pictures flooded in. There was my husband — the man I had dedicated three years of my life to, with his childhood best friend.
His hands on her hips and their lips locked together!
