Chapter 3

Athena's beautiful face froze.

Ethan caught the flicker of disappointment in her eyes, but his expression remained cold. His thin lips parted as he said, "I'm sorry. I've told you many times. I have a cleanliness obsession."

"But, honey... I..." She desperately wanted to tell him the truth. She had already developed this addiction. She desperately needed a man to satisfy her craving. She couldn't endure it any longer.

She bit her lower lip and looked up at him with tear-filled, pleading eyes. "Just... help me... Please, honey... I feel so awful..."

Her breathing had already turned ragged. She wanted him desperately. Every thought in her mind revolved around intimacy. She couldn't suppress the overwhelming urge.

Ethan frowned. He hated seeing her behave so shamelessly in front of him.

His voice turned even colder. "If you're that desperate, figure it out yourself."

His indifferent, contemptuous words pierced the most vulnerable part of Athena's heart. Even so, Ethan acted as though he hadn't noticed the pain on her face.

"And don't dress like this in front of me again," he added coolly.

The light vanished from Athena's eyes. The ache in her chest spread until it consumed her. Her husband still refused to touch her.

She lowered her head and replied softly, her voice weak and defeated. "I understand."

Ethan gave her one last look of undisguised disgust. "One more thing. Starting today, we're not sleeping in the same room."

Athena looked up at him in shock. "Honey?"

Was he separating from her?

"I'll be sleeping in the room next door. Without my permission, you're not to enter my room again." After delivering his warning, Ethan got out of bed and walked out without a second glance.

Athena stood there in a daze as a veil of tears gradually clouded her eyes.

She had been married to Ethan for a year. His constant rejection and emotional distance, coupled with their long-term lack of intimacy, had driven her to develop this addiction. Yet instead of helping her as her husband, he had chosen this moment to move into another room.

To Athena, it was nothing less than adding insult to injury.

After Ethan left, the bedroom, which had only begun to feel warm again, turned unbearably cold.

The fire raging inside Athena's body, however, showed no sign of fading. Instead, it burned even hotter.

Ethan's ruthless rejection had reopened every wound inside her. Her addiction flared again, leaving her unbearably uncomfortable from head to toe. Every inch of her body cried out with unsatisfied desire.

"Mmph... it hurts... I want it so badly..."

Her cheeks burned. Before she realized it, her thoughts drifted back to the examination bed earlier that day, and to the male doctor who had stood beside it.

'Good Lord...' Athena immediately shook her head.

Why was she thinking about that doctor? She was married. She had a husband. Yet she was involuntarily fantasizing about another man.

When had she become so shameless?

But Ethan refused to touch her. At this point, having a husband was practically no different from not having one.

Her thoughts drifted back to the doctor once more, especially the moment when he had asked her to get into his car outside the hospital.

She had finally seen his entire face beneath the mask. He was incredibly handsome. Even more handsome than Ethan.

'If only I could be with him...' Athena abruptly cut the thought short.

Even if Ethan wouldn't touch her, she couldn't let herself think about another man. Wouldn't that be a betrayal of her marriage?

Yet she could no longer control herself. Her trembling hand reached into the bedside drawer and took out the item hidden inside.

During the past year of marriage, every time Ethan rejected her and her addiction flared up, she had always imagined it was him while seeking relief.

But tonight was different. The man in her thoughts wasn't Ethan. It was that doctor.

...

A long while later, Athena finally calmed down.

A faint trace of moisture lingered at the corner of her lips, and every ounce of strength had left her body.

Breathing heavily, she knew she couldn't keep living like this. She quickly got out of bed, opened her purse, and found the medicine the man had prescribed earlier that day.

There was no water left in her bedroom.

She slipped on a robe and quietly headed downstairs to get a glass of water from the kitchen.

As she passed Ethan's bedroom next door, a muffled groan suddenly drifted through the slightly open door.

Athena was no longer an innocent girl. She knew exactly what that sound meant.

Drawn by instinct, she looked through the narrow gap in the door.

In the dim light, Ethan sat on the edge of the bed with a photograph in his hand. His Adam's apple bobbed as he repeatedly murmured in a hoarse voice.

"Livie... my wifey... you're the only one I want... I'll only ever love you..."

Athena felt as though her mind had exploded.

Her eyes widened in disbelief. 'Livie, my half-sister?!'

Olivia was the eldest and legitimate daughter of the Kingsleys.

Her father, William Kingsley, had two women.

His wife, Sharon Whitmore, had one daughter, Olivia.

His mistress, Charlotte Ashford, had a son and a daughter. Their son, Nathan Kingsley, was the only male heir of the Kingsley family. Shortly after he was born, Sharon adopted him and raised him as her own.

Only Athena, the overlooked younger daughter, remained with her biological mother, Charlotte. Yet Charlotte had never been fond of her. Compared to Athena, she clearly favored both her son, Nathan, and Sharon's daughter, Olivia.

Charlotte had never shown the slightest interest in Athena's marriage. Instead, she left the entire matter to William and Sharon.

Before agreeing to marry Ethan, Athena had quietly investigated him herself. After learning that he was interested in one of the Kingsley daughters, she accepted the marriage proposal.

She had believed he meant her. Now she realized she had only been deceiving herself. The woman Ethan had loved from the very beginning was Olivia.

Because he was the illegitimate son of the Fosters, he considered himself unworthy of Olivia, so he had settled for marrying Athena instead.

After their wedding, he hid behind his so-called cleanliness obsession to avoid any intimacy with her. And Athena had foolishly believed every word.

Only now did she understand how naïve she had been. Ethan would rather satisfy himself than touch her. He had been saving himself for Olivia all along.

Ever since they were children, everyone in the Kingsley family had adored Olivia. William treated her as the apple of his eye. Both Sharon and Charlotte cherished her to the core, and Charlotte even treated her as if she were her own daughter.

Only Athena had always been the unwanted one. Neither her father, Sharon, nor even her own mother, Charlotte, had ever truly cared about her.

She had believed marriage would give her a fresh start. Instead, even her husband was in love with her sister.

Athena found the irony almost unbearable.

As she listened to Ethan call Olivia's name again and again, each word felt like another slap across her face.

Lost in a daze, she recalled all the times Ethan had visited the Kingsley estate before they married.

Back then, he had always been gentle, patient, and every bit the perfect gentleman. Every visit came with a carefully chosen gift for her. That was why Athena had developed such a favorable impression of him.

Now she finally understood the truth. He had never visited the Kingsleys because of her. He had come for Olivia all along.