13.15
Chapter 1
She’d declared that after twenty years of being single in our past life, I deserved to experience a man in this one. She raved about
General Thorne’s physique, promising me he would deliver nights of earth–shattering pleasure.
I’d snuck a peek at him once at the training grounds. The way his sweat–soaked tunic clung to his torso, outlining every single one
of his eight abdominal muscles…
I was hooked.
So, Selena had bartered a red lace camisole I’d made for her to convince the Emperor to issue a royal decree of marriage.
But a year into our marriage, Marcus Thorne hadn’t laid a finger on me.
He had court duties. He had troops to drill. He rose before the chickens and went to bed after the dogs. I, on the other hand, need- ed fourteen hours of sleep a day.
He wasn’t home when I went to sleep, and he was already gone when I woke up.
Even on the nights I forced myself to stay awake, waiting for him, he would just lie beside me, stiff as a board. A few times, I’d mustered the courage to place a hand on his chest or wrap a leg around his waist, and he would instantly sit bolt upright.
“What do you think you’re doing?!” he’d bark.
It made me feel like some villainess forcing herself on an innocent maiden, or a desperate, lonely widow. Overcome with shame, I eventually stopped trying.
Slowly, the household staff realized I was a wife in name only. The quality of my food, my clothing, my general care… it all began to slip.
The winter was harsh, and my already fragile health gave way to a high fever. With the limited medical technology of the era, I was sick for a month. During that entire time, Marcus never once checked on me, let alone cared for me.
What was the point of staying with a man who didn’t even see me as his
wife?
I had made up my mind. Today, I was going to the palace to ask my best friend to help me divorce Marcus Thorne.
