Done Being His Contract Wife, I Left My HusbandChapter 1
At three in the morning, I received a call from the anti-prostitution squad for the 199th time in my five years of marriage.
My husband had been caught again—this time with his widow sister-in-law.
When I arrived, the squad members looked embarrassed, scratching their heads.
"Ms. Sandler... today's team was all new recruits. They didn't know you'd asked us not to arrest Mr. Romulo and Ms. Brown before."
I shook my head, my expression perfectly calm.
Oliver's collar was open, a red mark at his throat, and he held the crying Czarina in his arms, soothing her relentlessly.
He glanced at me with annoyance. "Last time you told them in advance, didn't you? What's the point of sending them after me and Czarina today?"
Instinctively, I touched the scars left on my fingers from when he had snapped my nails one by one after my infamous meltdown at the police station.
"Sorry... it won't happen again," I replied calmly.
Oliver blinked, then, for the first time, his expression softened and tried to explain. "Once Czarina gets pregnant to carry my brother's bloodline, I'll come home on time."
"But lately she's been... unstable, you—"
I didn't even hear the rest. I stepped outside and signed the report.
The squad member gave me a knowing look. "He'll remember how good you are, eventually."
I finally forced a smile. I didn't need him to remember how good I'd been.
After all, the five-year marriage contract sealed with thirty million was about to expire anyway.
——
I had just gotten into my car when the rear door opened. Oliver got in with Czarina in his arms.
The mixed scent of their perfumes made my stomach turn. I rolled down the window, and through the rearview mirror, I saw him frown.
"In this freezing weather... why open the window? Czarina is fragile; she can't catch a cold."
And with that, he rolled it back up.
I said instinctively, "You're really thoughtful."
Three years ago, after a single phone call from Czarina, he had left me stranded on a six-thousand-meter mountain—snowstorm raging—and hadn't even bothered leaving me a coat. Later, when I got out of the ICU, he had sheepishly admitted he'd forgotten.
"Enough. You don't need to act all passive-aggressive. Czarina owes you nothing. If she hadn't saved my brother and me back then, you wouldn't even have a chance to marry me with the thirty million my mother gave you."