My Devoted Husband

Chapter 1 After pretending to be her sister and married with Julian for three years, Eleanor Vance can finally leave him now. "Your sister will be back in a month. For this one last month, you will continue to play her part perfectly." On the other end of the line, her mother Mrs. Vance's voice was as cold as ever. "After everything is over, I'll give you thirty million to live the life you want." "Understood." She replied softly, her voice as still as stagnant water. Hanging up the phone, Eleanor looked up at the enormous wedding photo on the wall. In the photo, Julian was sharp in his suit, handsome as a god, while she, in a priceless wedding gown, smiled with gentle charm. "Three years..." she murmured, her fingertips lightly tracing the frame. "It's finally ending." Three years ago, the century marriage between the Blackwood and Vance families was a global sensation, and her twin sister, Alina Vance, was the Blackwood family's chosen daughter-in-law. But on the eve of the wedding, Alina ran away, leaving behind a letter: "Dad, Mom, I don't want to be tied down by a strategic marriage, but I know this is my responsibility. Give me three years to find my freedom. After three years, I will come back." To save the partnership between the two families, the Vance parents had no choice but to bring back their younger twin daughter, who had been left in the countryside since childhood, overnight. And so Eleanor, the girl who grew up in the countryside and wasn't even qualified to attend family gatherings, took on Alina's name and became the substitute bride. "Julian doesn't love your sister. He loves that poor student his family sponsored." The night before the wedding, her mother warned her coldly, "Life won't be easy for you after you marry him, but you just need to behave yourself and endure these three years under your sister's identity." Eleanor remembered just nodding obediently at the time. Of course, she knew who Julian was—a regular in financial magazines, the most famous young master in high society, the object of countless debutantes' desires. She had also heard the story of him and Sophia Reed. The poor student sponsored by the Blackwood family, who got into a prestigious university on a scholarship. Julian loved her so deeply he was willing to defy his family to be with her. But Sophia was aloof and proud; unwilling to accept a love blessed by no one, she chose to break up with him and go abroad. The Blackwood family was overjoyed and immediately arranged a strategic marriage for Julian. Life after the wedding was even harder than she had imagined. Julian's study was filled with photos of Sophia, and he flew to Paris every week to see her in secret. Meanwhile, Eleanor, his wife, wasn't even allowed into the master bedroom and could only sleep in the guest room at the end of the hall. Eleanor was cautious and meticulous, trying her best to play the role of Alina. To not jeopardize the partnership between the two families, she had been insanely good to Julian for these three years. When he worked late, she would leave the entryway light on all night waiting for him; his stomach was weak, so she woke up at five every morning to make porridge; he liked quiet, so she made herself the quietest presence in the house. Gradually, rumors began to spread in their circle that Mrs. Blackwood was desperately in love with Mr. Blackwood, and the way Julian looked at her seemed to have subtly changed. The photos of Sophia in the study disappeared, the weekly trips to Paris were canceled, he started remembering her birthday, would come home early when she had a cold, and even... shared an intimate relationship with her. Eleanor almost believed that some real affection had blossomed in this substitute marriage. Until three months ago, when Sophia returned. Everything was back to square one. Julian's heart was once again consumed by Sophia. He started staying out all night, his study was filled with Sophia's photos again, and everyone laughed at Eleanor as if she were a joke, but she just smiled quietly, never making a fuss. Because she had never loved Julian. The only reason she stayed by his side was for the money and freedom her parents had promised. His love would certainly make her life easier, but if he didn't love her, she didn't care. No one knew that although Eleanor and Alina were twins, their fates were completely different. When their mother gave birth to Eleanor, she hemorrhaged and nearly died. From then on, her mother's gaze was always filled with disgust, and her father, who doted on his wife, saw her as a jinx. At the age of five, she was sent to a nanny's house in the countryside. She remembered that winter, the nanny's stove was broken. She shivered from the cold, without even a thick coat to wear. Meanwhile, Alina was in a warm villa, wearing an expensive wool dress, cherished by her parents. Eighteen years of being treated differently had long since worn away any expectation she had for familial love. Now, in just one month, she would receive the thirty million for playing the part of Alina for the past three years, leave this city, and live a life that was truly her own. Just as she was feeling cheerful, her phone suddenly vibrated, and the caller ID lit up the screen. Julian. She took a deep breath and answered: "Hello?" "Bring some feminine products to the Night Club within twenty minutes." Julian's voice was as cold as ice. "The overnight kind." The call ended abruptly. Eleanor clutched her phone, instantly understanding who they were for. Julian remembered Sophia's period more clearly than his company's IPO date. Rain was pouring outside. The drive from the Blackwood estate to the Night Club normally took at least forty minutes. But Eleanor still grabbed an umbrella and went out. Halfway there, the traffic came to a dead stop. She glanced at her watch—twelve minutes left. Gritting her teeth, she pushed open the car door and ran into the rain. The rain quickly soaked through her clothes. Her high heels slipped several times on the slick pavement, and with a stumble, she fell hard into a puddle, her knee burning with a sharp pain. But she ignored it, scrambled back up, and kept running, finally arriving at the club in the nineteenth minute. At the door of the private room, just as she was about to knock, a burst of laughter came from inside. "Mr. Blackwood, in a storm like this, you really made your wife bring those over? It's at least a forty-minute drive from your place, isn't it?" "Sophia is in a lot of pain." Julian's voice was faint. "She'll find a way to get here." "True. Everyone knows your wife is crazy about you. For these past three years, she's stood by you without complaint, even though your heart belonged to someone else." Someone teased, "But seriously, Mr. Blackwood, a beauty who's so head over heels for you... in three years, you haven't felt a single thing?" The room suddenly fell silent. Eleanor held her breath. She heard Julian pause for a few seconds, then say: "No matter what, between Sophia and her, I will always choose Sophia." Such merciless words, yet Eleanor wasn't sad. Instead, she felt a sense of relief. She waited for the conversation inside to finish before raising her hand to knock. When she pushed the door open and walked in, everyone stared at her in shock. "Holy s**t, she's right on time!" "Your wife... how did she get so soaked?" Julian stood up, his brow furrowed: "How did you get so disheveled?" Eleanor handed him the sanitary pads she had carefully protected: "Didn't you say you needed them within twenty minutes? I was afraid you were in a hurry, so I got out of the car and ran over." She didn't mention the fall she took, nor did she say her knee was now trembling with pain. Julian's expression shifted, and he suddenly took off his suit jacket and wrapped it around her: "Put it on." Then he pointed to the sanitary products in her hand: "Take them to the women's restroom." Eleanor nodded and obediently walked towards the restroom. As she knocked on the door, she heard Sophia's delicate voice from inside: "Who is it?" "Delivering the sanitary pads." There was silence from inside for a few seconds, then the door opened a crack. Eleanor handed the items in and turned to leave. Back home, she took a hot shower, the wound on her knee aching faintly. Lying in bed, she thought about how she would soon be completely free, and an indescribable sense of relief washed over her. Just as she was about to fall asleep, the bedroom door was suddenly kicked open. Julian rushed in, grabbing her by the wrist: "Get up!" Before Eleanor could react, she was roughly dragged out of bed and stumbled as she was pulled to the top of the stairs. "Julian? What are you do—" Before she could finish, a massive force struck her, and she was thrown backward, the back of her head hitting the steps hard as she tumbled all the way down the stairs. Excruciating pain instantly engulfed her entire body. She lay at the bottom of the stairs, her vision blurry, a warm liquid trickling down from her forehead. "Why..." she struggled to prop herself up, "do this... to me?" Julian stood at the top of the stairs, his expression obscured by the backlight, but his voice was bone-chillingly cold: "Did you push Sophia down?" Eleanor looked up, bewildered: "What?" "Stop pretending!" He descended the stairs step by step, "Playing the magnanimous wife these past few months, all just waiting for today, weren't you? Do you have any idea? You pushed Sophia from the windowsill, causing her to suffer multiple fractures. She almost died!" "I didn't..." she shook her head weakly, but the movement aggravated the wound on her head, and a wave of dizziness hit her. Julian crouched down, grabbing her chin: "Alina, has my kindness to you these past few years given you delusions? Let me tell you again, ours is just a strategic marriage. There are no feelings involved." He leaned close to her ear, enunciating each word: "The love you want is something I can never give you!" The pain made Eleanor's vision go black, and she suddenly wanted to laugh. But, she had never... wanted his love in the first place.