Years and you close together

For three years, Caleb had been obsessed with Joyce’s body.

Before the floor-to-ceiling window that mirrored their tangled forms, Joyce murmured playfully against his lips, “Caleb, it’s been three years. Don’t you ever get tired of me?”

Caleb only deepened the kiss, his reply muffled. “I’m crazy about you. I wouldn’t tire of you in thirty years.”

Afterwards, he left. But at the corner, Joyce heard him say to his friend:

“Three years of this act with Joyce. I’m so done.”

“I need to speed things up, bankrupt LinCorp, and get Anna her revenge.”

Ice water seemed to flood Joyce’s veins. She left a divorce agreement on the desk and fled the country.

After she was gone, Caleb lost his mind.

* * *

For three years, Caleb had been obsessed with Joyce’s body.

In the private elevator, he pushed up the silk of her cheongsam and pressed her against the wall.

She let out a soft gasp, turning her head with a shy glance. “Caleb, the board meeting is about to start. Not here.”

Nibbling her ear, his voice dropped to a low, seductive murmur. “I’ve been away three days. Don’t you miss me, sweetheart?”

That intimate endearment melted half her resolve. She yielded, leaning into the elevator wall as he took her from behind, her sounds growing increasingly unrestrained.

The elevator stopped on the 33rd floor—Caleb’s private domain. No one dared come up without his permission.

He carried her from the elevator to the adjoining lounge, where the carpet soon bore the evidence of their passion. With a final, sharp cry, Joyce collapsed into his arms.

Satisfaction washed over his face as he pressed a tender kiss to her chest.

“Rest here, sweetheart. I have to go to the board meeting. Go home after and wait for me.”

Joyce gave a drowsy murmur of assent. The moment he left, exhaustion pulled her into a deep sleep.

She slept for two hours, finally stirring to the sound of male voices outside the lounge—three or four of them, all Caleb’s inner circle.

“Caleb, you’re something else. Delaying the board meeting an hour just for a quick one with Joyce. Three years of this performance. What a sacrifice.”

His voice answered, lazy and unbothered. “What choice do I have? I spent three days with Anna. Had to pay the wife some attention when I got back.”

*This performance? Anna?* Joyce’s mind went blank. A cold dread settled in her chest.

The banter outside continued.

“Give me a break. Joyce, that elegant ice-princess in her traditional dresses, going at it with you anywhere, anytime. And you’re complaining?”

“You don’t know the half of it. Caleb gave up everything for Anna. Went to insane lengths to get close to Joyce, offered up his own body, methodically bought up LinCorp shares until he had majority control. All while funneling money to Anna on the side, helping her family stage a comeback. What he feels for Anna… no society beauty can compare. So, Caleb, when are you dumping Joyce and marrying Anna?”

“Soon.” His voice was cold, stripped of all feeling. “The Lins destroyed the Huang family. Drove them to bankruptcy overnight, left them with nothing. Anna hates every last one of them.”

“Only after LinCorp is bankrupt, after Joyce has suffered everything Anna endured… only then will she let go and marry me willingly.”

Tears burst from Joyce’s eyes. Clamping a hand over her mouth, she used every ounce of strength to stifle the sob fighting its way out.

The voices outside faded. Joyce waited a long time, checking and rechecking that the coast was clear, before she finally slipped from the lounge.

Standing before the floor-to-ceiling window on the top floor of LinCorp, she trembled uncontrollably. Her heart felt seared over an open flame, burning with a pain too profound for words.

Three years of marriage. She had believed hers was the happiest in the world.

It had all been a lie.