chapter 6

Damien, Owen and Chloe all grew up in the same village.

Before the revolution, Chloe's family was a major landowner. Damien and Owen's families had worked as tenant farmers for the Davis family for generations.

Then came the political upheaval. The Davis family got labeled as enemies and were publicly humiliated.

Chloe got caught up in it too, and her life became hell.

Owen had grown up with her and was already making a name for himself in the military by then.

He wanted to save the woman he loved from all that suffering. Despite his family's objections, he married Chloe even though she came from a landlord family.

He brought her to live on the military base with him so she could escape the hard labor and constant harassment from other people.

Owen took a huge risk with his career and won Chloe's heart. He got the girl in the end.

Damien liked Chloe too, but he didn't dare take that kind of chance. All he could do was wish his best friend and the woman he loved well.

Three years ago, Damien came to my village to visit his grandparents. He happened to save me when I fell in the water. My parents basically trapped him into marrying me, so he did it even though he didn't want to.

My parents never liked me. I got beaten and yelled at constantly. I suffered through so much just to finish high school.

Right after I graduated, I got a job at the county food processing plant.

But my parents took that job away and gave it to my brother instead. Then they tried to sell me off to some mountain village so they could get money.

I'd never forget how greedy they looked.

"High school graduate! She'll bring in good money!" they said.

I ran away in the middle of the night and ended up falling in the water. That was when Damien pulled me out.

My parents saw their chance and threatened him. They said he had to marry me and pay five thousand dollars, or they'd report him for taking advantage of me.

Damien had no choice but to go along with it.

I never held it against Damien for not loving me or touching me.

He saved me from being sold off like cattle. He let me follow him to the base and get away from parents who treated me like garbage.

I only felt guilty and grateful toward him.

So I tried my best to take care of his meals and daily needs, making sure he didn't have to worry about anything at home.

After Owen died, Damien could openly take care of the woman he loved under the guise of helping his dead buddy's family.

He loved Chloe but was too worried about gossip to divorce me.

When it came down to life and death, he abandoned his wife and threw away his own child.

We'd been married three years, and he could be this heartless.

Damien, you were supposed to be my husband and our baby's father. Why couldn't you show us just a little favoritism?

You wanted to be Chloe's husband, so I was going to let you have what you wanted.

The louder someone yelled, the more guilty they usually were.

The more Damien raised his voice, the more it proved he knew I was right.

I watched him lose his temper with cold eyes, then turned around and went into the kitchen. "Whether this is really about Owen or not, you know the truth."

I quickly made myself some sandwiches, ate them, and cleaned up the kitchen.

Damien sat in the living room, watching the kitchen hopefully. When I came out empty-handed, he couldn't help asking, "You ate by yourself and didn't cook anything for us?"

He'd been watching the kid all morning and was starving by now.

When he saw me go into the kitchen, he thought he'd finally get some hot food. He never expected me to not make anything for them.

I made an annoyed clicking sound with my tongue.

"So what if I'm being selfish? What are you going to do about it? If you're hungry, make your own food. Or go eat at the canteen. You managed to feed yourself before we got married, didn't you?"

Damien didn't have an answer for that.

I didn't want to deal with him anymore, so I went into the bedroom and shut the door behind me. That cut off his reproachful stare.

I had no idea how Damien handled lunch, and I didn't care.

When I woke up from my nap, the house was completely quiet.

That afternoon, I went out for a walk and ran into Chloe picking up her son.

I had to admit Chloe had some serious nerve. Even after I'd scammed her out of two thousand bucks, she could still smile and chat with me like nothing happened.

"Scarlett, I'm here to get Zach. I hope he wasn't too much trouble today. Sorry about that."

I didn't sugarcoat it. "If you know he's trouble, then don't bring him over! Not that I really care. Damien's the one watching him, and he absolutely loves it."

Chloe lifted her chin, obviously proud of how much power she had over him. But she pretended to be humble. "He's only helping because we're helpless—a widow with a kid. It's not what you think."

That comment made it pretty obvious she wasn't mean what she said.

What she really meant was—"Look, Damien treats me better than he treats you, his actual wife!"

I was tired of dancing around the subject with her.

"Here's what I'm thinking. How about I divorce Damien and you marry him instead? He's been into you for ages anyway."