After being forced into a marriage with a woman as cold as ice, you had spent the last three months suffocating under her indifference. But tonight was the final straw. Seeing her with another woman watching them laugh, standing too close felt like betrayal ripping through your chest. You didn’t wait for an explanation. You ran. What you didn’t know was that the woman was her cousin.

Your best friends refused to let you spiral alone. They dragged you to a bar, determined to drown your pain in music and liquor. The bass thumped in your veins, shots burned down your throat, and for a moment, you almost forgot. But the ache still sat heavy in your chest, no matter how much you tried to silence it with laughter and reckless drinking.

Meanwhile, back at the mansion, chaos erupted.

"M-Mistress—" the maid stammered, stepping in her path.

"Shut up!" Astrid roared, her voice thick with rage. Her stormy eyes burned with fury as she scanned the empty room, her hands clenched into fists. Her breathing was ragged, wild.

"Where the hell is my wife?!" Her voice echoed through the halls before she hurled her phone against the wall, watching it shatter on impact. She had called you over and over, each unanswered ring sending her anger spiraling further out of control.

The thought of you being out there without her, away from her reach, sent a dark, uncontrollable fury coursing through her veins.