Arthur Sterling had a virgin complex. When he sent his newest kept woman to me for a hymenoplasty yet again, the girl gloated, "I heard you guys have been married for five years and still haven't slept together?" "We've only known each other for ten days, and he's practically dying of pleasure on top of me. He'd rather pay for me to get a repair surgery than touch you." I didn't lose my temper. I just stuck to the routine, professionally asking about her medical history. I sat there calmly, listening to her recount their bedroom escapades and how many positions they had tried. What she didn't know was that before her, I had performed ninety-nine of these surgeries for Arthur Sterling's various little canaries. I used to get furious. I used to abandon all my dignity, crying and screaming at Arthur. All it ever got me was his contemptuous laugh. "Be a good girl, Stella. Do you really think your father could afford to let you divorce me?" "Just sit back and enjoy being the wealthy Mrs. Sterling. When I've had my fun, I'll naturally come home." As the girl was wheeled into the operating room, Arthur stopped me. "Make it look pretty. She cares about aesthetics." When I didn't reply, he chuckled lightly and slipped a premium credit card into the pocket of my scrubs. "Your compensation." This time, I wasn't enraged. I simply took the card and tucked it away securely. He had forgotten. The time stipulated in our prenuptial agreement was finally up. I never had to wait for a man who refused to come home ever again. 1 After the surgery, I dialed a number I hadn't called in a very long time. "Grandpa, I saw the flight itinerary. Thank you." "Stella, I'm so happy you're finally coming back." Just as the call disconnected, Arthur appeared behind me out of nowhere. "Who were you on the phone with?" I put my phone away, lowered my eyes, and gave a dismissive answer: "Just a telemarketer." Arthur was already looking down at his own phone. He just gave a distracted "Oh," clearly not caring. Then, he held his phone up to my face. "What do you think of this bracelet?" It was a bracelet I had circled with a pen while flipping through a fashion magazine a while back. I never expected Arthur to actually remember. For a brief second, I felt a flicker of emotion. Then he smiled and said, "Lily will love this, don't you think?" I froze, then nodded numbly. "It's beautiful. She'll love it." Perhaps because I was unusually calm this time, Arthur surprisingly offered to drive me home from work. "Since Lily is still asleep, I'll take you home first." We had been married for five years. Aside from the wedding car, this was the first time I was ever riding in his car. I casually reached to adjust the passenger seat, but Arthur stopped my hand. "Stella, sit in the back." "Lily has quite the temper. If she finds out someone sat in her seat, she'll throw a fit." He had a look of absolute indulgence on his face as he said it. I was stunned for a moment, then cleanly moved to the back seat. A fuzzy pink blanket was draped carelessly over the sleek black leather seat, looking somewhat jarring against his usual aesthetic. It still carried the lingering scent of Lily's perfume. Arthur caught my look in the rearview mirror and chuckled. "She's young. She likes all that pink, girly stuff." I lowered my eyes, remembering that when I married him, I was that exact same age. On our wedding night, he saw my pink silk nightgown and gave a careless, dismissive laugh. "Stella, I hate pink." "You're not my type either. Not touching you is my way of being responsible." When he handed me the prenuptial agreement, he still wore that same gentle facade. "Sign it. It's just a business marriage. We go our separate ways in five years." "But don't worry, I'll make sure you enjoy all the prestige of being Mrs. Sterling." In that single moment, my ten-year-long, secret teenage crush was utterly annihilated. Along with all my hopes for our marriage and every romantic fantasy I held for our wedding night. I never wore pink again. I forced my eyes away from the blanket and couldn't help but sneeze. Almost by reflex, Arthur handed me a tissue, his voice as gentle as always. "I'll turn up the heat." Only then did I notice the tissue box was Disney-themed. Even though we had a sexless marriage for five years, Arthur and I had shared a few bland but cozy moments. When we first got married, I was young, and Arthur was willing to accommodate me in many ways. The only exception was that he refused to go to Disneyland with me. No matter how much I begged or acted cute, he absolutely wouldn't go. He said he was afraid his business partners would laugh at him. It turns out, he was perfectly capable of breaking his own rules. He just wasn't willing to break them for me. When we got home, Arthur headed straight for the kitchen. I was a bit taken aback. After a moment of hesitation, I spoke up, "What do you want to eat? I'll make it." Arthur shook his head, staring intently at a video tutorial on his phone. "No need. I promised Lily I'd personally make her chicken soup." I stopped dead in my tracks. The great CEO Sterling, a notorious germaphobe who had never touched a cooking utensil in his life, was now personally cooking for Lily. For some reason, the corners of my eyes grew damp. I remembered a time when I had a dangerously high fever. I begged Arthur to pour me a glass of water. He frowned in sudden annoyance. "I hate the smell of grease in the kitchen. Just wait, I'll call the butler to get it for you." But then he got busy and completely forgot. By the time the butler found me, my fever was so high I had almost suffered brain damage. Watching him bustling around the kitchen, the corners of his mouth turned up in a smile, I couldn't bear to look anymore. I turned and went upstairs. I packed my bags and fell into a deep sleep, only to be shaken awake in the middle of the night. 2 Arthur looked completely disheveled as he woke me up. "Stella, I can't figure this out. You have to teach me." He dragged me downstairs. Looking at the several ruined pots of chicken soup, my already numb heart flared with a sharp, prickling pain. Arthur was never a patient man. When he went with me to try on wedding dresses, he had lost his patience by the second dress and used a work excuse to leave. Yet now, he had ruined several pots of soup for Lily without giving up. With practiced ease, I prepped the ingredients and started the stove. Arthur watched the heat levels carefully. It was a rare moment of tranquility between us that we hadn't shared in a long time. After pouring the soup into a thermos, Arthur pressed a kiss to my forehead. "Stella, thank god I have you." With that, he rushed out the door. His mind was entirely on Lily at the hospital, completely ignoring the burn on my finger from the hot pot. After treating my burn, I saw that Lily had updated her Instagram. "Chicken soup made personally by my sweet hubby." Arthur, who never posted or commented on social media, broke his own rule to leave a passionate kissing emoji in her comments section. My finger hovered over the screen for a few seconds, but I ultimately didn't hit 'like'. When I backed out of the app, a message popped up. "Where does hubby want to do it next time?" The message was immediately unsent, followed by a voice memo from Lily. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, sister! I meant to send that to Arthur, I can't believe I sent it to the wrong person. You didn't see that, did you?" Before I could reply, she continued, "Your profile pictures are so similar, I got totally confused. I'll tell him to change his, so I don't make this mistake again." I didn't reply, nor did I think Arthur would actually change his profile picture. That picture was taken by his late mother. I had once thrown a tantrum, demanding we use matching couple profile pictures, and he had sternly refused. He even called me childish. Out of spite, I found a picture that looked similar to his and set it as my own, treating it as a matching set. He never brought it up, so I assumed he didn't mind. But when I refreshed my feed later, I saw that Arthur's profile picture had changed to a cartoon character, perfectly matching Lily's. My fingers trembled slightly as I refreshed the page again and again, confirming it. Then I let out a self-deprecating laugh. Five years couldn't compete with ten days. Fireworks erupted over the downtown skyline, and Lily updated her Instagram again. She was being held in Arthur's arms on a rooftop, the sky behind them ablaze with brilliant fireworks. "Happy ten days." I froze, instinctively rubbing the numbers tattooed on my wrist. It was the exact same day. Today was my and Arthur's fifth wedding anniversary. The first canary Arthur ever kept was a rebellious teenager covered in tattoos. That was the first time I lost all my composure and threw a massive fit. It was the first time I cried and screamed at Arthur, demanding he kick her out. He just watched me lose my mind with quiet detachment, then gently promised it was just an act for appearances and that she would never threaten my position. But later that night, he still vanished from my side to go keep another woman company. I copied that girl and got a tattoo, inking our wedding anniversary on my wrist, desperately hoping it would make him love me. When he saw it, he just laughed. "Stella, get that lasered off. It's ugly." I fell asleep lost in those memories, plagued by nightmares. I was finally jolted awake by the frantic ringing of my phone. It wasn't even fully light outside yet. The hospital director's voice was urgent. "Dr. Hayes, did you perform Lily Lin's hymenoplasty?" "There's a massive complication. Get to the hospital immediately." 3 When I rushed into the hospital, the first thing I heard was Lily screaming. When she saw me, she pointed at me hysterically, cursing, "Did you do this to me?!" "You're jealous of me! You're jealous that Arthur would rather touch me than you, so you intentionally ruined me down there!" Crying beautifully, she clung to Arthur's arm. "Arthur, I'm bleeding so much, it hurts so bad." Arthur looked at me, his face dark and brooding. "Stella, apologize to Lily." I picked up my medical instruments and met his gaze, my voice steady: "Shouldn't I at least be allowed to examine her first to see if I'm actually the cause of this complication?" Lily yanked herself backward violently. "No! I don't want this quack touching me!" "I'm so scared I won't be able to be with Arthur anymore." Arthur pulled her into his arms, comforting her with incredible tenderness. The director had no choice but to bring in another doctor—Dr. Carter, a colleague who had always held a grudge against me. Half an hour later, the surgery was over. Dr. Carter brought out a blood-soaked piece of gauze, about the size of a fingernail. Arthur frowned deeply at me. "You did this on purpose?" I looked at Dr. Carter in sheer disbelief. "That's impossible. I have never made a mistake on a minor procedure like this." Dr. Carter shrugged with feigned innocence. "Well, that doesn't rule out the possibility that the esteemed Dr. Hayes was using her position to settle a personal vendetta, does it?" He looked at Arthur. "After all, the relationship between the patient and the doctor isn't exactly amicable." Very quickly, a hospital-wide notice went out, and I was stripped of my position and fired. I knew it was Arthur's doing. He was avenging Lily. When I was kicked out of the hospital, everyone looked at me with disgust. Someone posted the video of Lily cursing me out online. Almost instantly, former patients tracked me down. They slapped me across the face, screaming, "You quack! No wonder my boyfriend still found out even after the surgery! It's because your skills are garbage!" As I was being beaten by the mob, Arthur walked by with Lily. He covered her eyes. "Don't look, it's bad luck." He then coldly instructed his bodyguards, "Bring her up later." My face was bruised and bleeding, and I had urine thrown on me. When the bodyguards dragged my pathetic, battered form into Lily's hospital room, Arthur was gently coaxing her to drink water. "Be a good girl, I blew on it so it's not too hot. Drink up." I couldn't stop the tears from falling. This was a scene I had desperately hoped for, for five long years, yet never received. Lily had gotten it so effortlessly in just ten days. Seeing me, Lily became agitated and buried her face in Arthur's waist. "Arthur, what is she doing here? Is she here to hurt me again?" "My incision still hurts so much, Arthur, I'm scared!" Arthur gently patted her back, glaring at me with dark, vicious eyes. "Stella, I told you, as long as you didn't cause trouble, I'd gladly let you sit comfortably in your position as Mrs. Sterling." "But you've been a very bad girl." "Lily is different from those other women. Touching her is crossing my absolute bottom line." He looked at Lily, his voice softening instantly. "Don't be afraid, Lily. I brought her here so you could take out your anger on her." A flash of triumph crossed Lily's eyes, but her voice remained timid. "Really? I can punish her however I want?" "She's your wife, won't you feel bad?" Arthur smiled and kissed the corner of Lily's mouth. "No one is more important than you." Lily looked at me provocatively. "Then I want her to feel the exact same pain I did!" Arthur agreed without a second thought: "Done." He casually ordered the bodyguards, "Get a doctor." I stared at the heartless man in front of me in utter disbelief. "Arthur, I am your wife!" I struggled violently, but I was pinned firmly to the floor. Arthur's voice floated over, light and airy. "Stella, when you make a mistake, you have to be punished. Don't you agree?" I was dragged into an operating room. After an examination, a colleague went to find Arthur, looking extremely awkward. "Mr. Sterling, your wife... she's still a virgin." 4 "Isn't this... a bit too cruel to do to her?" The anesthesia was injected into my veins. I gasped lightly, calling out Arthur's name. "Arthur, please don't do this to me. I'm begging you." The man paused, about to speak, but was distracted by Lily's sudden, agonizing screams of pain. Lily broke down, rushing to the window. "Arthur, I'm bleeding again! Dr. Carter said I have an infection and I'll never be able to have your children!" "I might as well just die!" Arthur panicked. "Lily, don't do anything stupid!" He shot a murderous glare at the doctor. "She's a virgin? Then fix that right now!" "Every ounce of pain Lily suffered, I want her to pay back ten times, a hundred times over!" He pointed randomly at one of his bodyguards. "You! Do it!" I never imagined that the operating table I was once so proud of would become my own personal hell. The man thrust into me over and over again, completely ignoring my screams and my begging. Until blood pooled beneath me, and I was left tossed on the operating table like a dirty, ruined rag. When Dr. Carter walked in, he let out a sleazy, repulsive laugh. "Dr. Hayes, when you publicly humiliated me for lacking medical ethics, did you ever imagine this day would come?" "Tsk tsk, still a virgin, huh? The grand, untouchable wife of the Sterling Group CEO, taken by a lowly bodyguard." "Your husband wouldn't even touch you, I don't know what you were always acting so arrogant about." The anesthesia had long since worn off. He shoved a jagged, spiked piece of metal deep inside me, then stitched me up. He leaned in close to my ear and whispered smugly, "That piece of gauze from earlier? Miss Lily gave that to me." I was numb with pain, completely incapable of making a sound. But Arthur wasn't done with me yet. He had me thrown into a pitch-black, windowless room. "Stella, your father is asking me for another two hundred million dollar investment." "Since you refuse to behave, I really can't feel confident doing business with the Hayes family." "Spend some time reflecting on your actions. Once you've figured it out, go apologize to Lily, and I'll wire the money to your family's account." I dragged myself to the door, pounding on it with everything I had. "Arthur, it's too dark in here! Let me out!" He knew. He knew I had severe claustrophobia. Once, when I was trapped in an elevator, he held me and comforted me for six straight hours. He knew exactly how terrified I was, yet he deliberately chose this method to punish me. I pounded on the door hysterically, only to realize the air conditioning in the room had been dropped to below freezing. It was snowing outside, a prolonged cold snap. I was going to go into shock very quickly. Lily's crisp voice drifted in from outside. "Arthur, do you think she'll be cold in there?" "Let me turn up the heat for her." Arthur kissed the corner of Lily's mouth affectionately. "Lily, you're so kind-hearted. How about hubby rewards you with a vacation?" My fingernails scraped desperately against the wooden door, leaving long, bloody streaks. The temperature kept dropping, and my vision began to go black. From not far away, the continuous, unmistakable sounds of their lovemaking echoed through the walls, piercing my heart like a thousand arrows, causing me to violently cough up a mouthful of blood. I gritted my teeth, my eyes bloodshot. "Arthur Sterling, I will never! Never forgive you!" As my consciousness faded, I heard a creak as someone walked into the room... A month later, a blood-soaked figure was thrown into Arthur and Lily's hotel room. Arthur recognized his own bodyguard. The bodyguard, trembling violently, held out two divorce certificates. "B-boss, save me! I violated the Madam, and she's trying to kill me!" Arthur shot up from the bed, his eyes blazing red, and grabbed the bodyguard by the throat. "I told you to put on an act! You actually dared to touch her?!" At the exact same moment, his assistant rushed into the room. "Boss, we have a massive problem. The company is in crisis..."
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