Chapter 1

"It's only a fake marriage to grant her dying wish. You will always be my only wife."

Those were the words Caspian Fuller had whispered to Aurelia just hours before he publicly slipped a diamond ring onto her sister's finger.

For four years, Aurelia had been the perfect substitute bride. She had endured her family's coldness, managed her billionaire husband's life, and thought she had finally melted his frozen heart.

She believed his promise.

But right now, standing outside his office door with her fake marriage certificate in her trembling hands, she heard her sister's voice.

"Didn't you fake a marriage with Aurelia four years ago just to wait for me?" Yasmin chuckled softly.

Aurelia held her breath, waiting for her husband to deny it.

Inside the room, the man who used to drive across the city at 2 AM just to buy Aurelia her favorite candy didn't say a word.

Instead, came the sudden rustle of clothing, followed by the unmistakable sound of him kissing Yasmin fiercely.

"Yes. I never got over you," Caspian growled, his voice thick with a dark, hungry desire he had never shown Aurelia. "I only spoiled her for four years to force you to come back."

Outside the door, Aurelia felt her blood turn to ice.

Two months ago, Yasmin had returned with a "terminal cancer" diagnosis. To grant her "dying wish," Aurelia’s father had locked Aurelia in a dark room for thirty days, forcing her to give up her husband.

During that agonizing month, Aurelia thought Caspian was fighting for her. He had smashed glasses, threatened her family, and pulled business deals.

When they finally unlocked her door, she had stumbled straight into his arms. But he had just held her and said he had to marry Yasmin to appease their parents.

Aurelia had accepted the fake marriage certificate. She had stood by and watched him throw Yasmin an extravagant wedding, enduring the humiliation because she thought Caspian's heart was still hers.

What a pathetic, cruel joke.

He hadn't been fighting for Aurelia at all. The shattered glass, the canceled deals—it was all just a desperate man throwing a tantrum because he wanted his true love back.

Her meticulous care. His endless patience. The unlimited black card.

It wasn't love. It was bait. He had spoiled Aurelia rotten, all just to put on a show to make Yasmin jealous.

"So tell me, Yasmin," Caspian’s hoarse voice drifted through the crack in the door again. "How do you plan to repay what you owe me?"

Aurelia dug her fingernails into her palms until they bled.

Her four-year marriage had been a farce from the very beginning.

Slowly, she closed her eyes, refusing to let a single tear fall for a man who had manipulated her soul.

If this was the choice Caspian had made, then so be it. She would let him go and allow him to fly free with the woman he truly loved.

Without pushing the door open, Aurelia turned around. She walked away from the office, dropping the fake marriage certificate onto the cold marble floor, leaving her four years of pathetic devotion behind forever.