Chapter 3
Married to My Monster
Adrian's gaze clung to my bandaged face, heavy and suffocating like a web I couldn't escape.
Beneath the blanket, my hands curled into tight fists. I felt my nails digging into my palms as cold sweat dampened the back of my hospital gown.
His fingers brushed along my bandaged cheek before slipping behind my ear, searching for the raised scar that had once been there.
But it was gone.
Just as I was deciding how I was supposed to react, Sienna burst into the room.
The moment she saw how close we were, she rushed over, pulled Adrian away, and practically threw herself into his arms before lifting her face to kiss him with reckless hunger.
I had to fight my muscles to stop myself from laughing.
All those carefully crafted stories I had fed her about my so-called life with Adrian had paid off.
This had always been one of the little things I used to do when I wanted to draw him in.
As expected, Adrian's body stiffened for the briefest moment when it happened.
I immediately recognized his reaction—desire.
His expression shifted, and he dragged Sienna into the bathroom with barely concealed urgency.
…
A few moments later, I heard muffled sounds drift through the room, followed by Sienna's deliberately breathy noises. It was obvious that she wanted me to overhear. She wanted to rub it in my face.
And I did listen, but with satisfaction.
Thankfully, Adrian was never reckless in public.
He was not a man easily ruled by lust, but he knew my body well enough that I had worried he might sense something was different.
Instead, everything happening behind that closed door told me exactly what I needed to know.
All those spa appointments I had dragged Sienna to, every skincare treatment, every routine meant to make her skin as soft and familiar as mine, had not been wasted.
Adrian probably believed "I" had simply become bolder after reflecting on our marriage.
After all, men only ever see what they want to see.
When it was over, Adrian left the hospital looking thoroughly satisfied without sparing my bed a single glance.
Sienna adjusted her rumpled clothes at an unhurried pace, her eyes gleaming with triumph. "Leola, Adrian and I are meant for each other. We're perfect for each other in bed. Unlike you, you were stiff as a corpse. I'm the only one who can keep him wanting more."
She stepped closer and grabbed my arm, her nails biting hard into my skin.
"Don't do anything stupid, understand? Stay where you belong, be Sienna, and maybe I'll keep you around like a well-trained little pet. Just do as you're told."
I nodded through the pain.
Before she left, she interrogated Chester about my condition and insisted he keep me confined.
Naturally, Chester seized the opportunity to squeeze another fortune out of her before offering reassuring promises.
The foolish woman left with a skip in her step.
…
A few days later, Chester told me it was time to remove the bandages.
As the final layer came away, he stared at my face with open pride. "Leola, I told you. This would be my masterpiece."
I gazed into the mirror and smiled, seeing a woman who looked nothing like my former self. This woman in the mirror was even more beautiful than I ever was.
Before I fully settled into my expensive new identity, I anonymously sent the police evidence proving Chester and his assistant had been practicing illegally and extorting patients.
On the day he was taken into custody, I was in the crowd. When he saw me, he yelled at me to help him. Silently, I mouthed, "My thank-you gift."
In another life, Sienna had used medication Chester supplied to slowly destroy me, slipping it into my food until my emotions spiraled out of control and Adrian's abuse became even worse.
Chester might not have held the knife himself, but he had always been a willing accomplice.
When Sienna learned he had been arrested, panic consumed her. She hired people to search for me, only to discover I had never actually been disfigured.
She became terrified I might return to Adrian, so she clung to him with even greater desperation. Her obsession with Adrian made her blind to the irritation growing in his eyes.
Soon, the house was filled with the sounds of crashing objects and a woman crying out in pain, the incidents becoming more frequent by the day.
She was worrying for nothing.
I had no intention of running back to Adrian, not even for a day.
Instead, I returned to the design industry and started my own company.
Even my former professors were stunned.
The industry sat up and took notice after I launched my first designs.
I was positively showered with praise as contracts came one after another.
Soon, I became the designer everyone was talking about, some even whispering that I might surpass Adrian himself.
Eventually, Adrian's company approached mine.
As for whether he would recognize my work?
I was never worried about that.
After we married, he constantly looked down on my designs. He would tear them apart and mock them as if they were truly inferior. However, he secretly depended on my talent to safeguard his reputation.
Still, I suppose I owed him something.
If it weren't for him, my skills wouldn't have improved by leaps and bounds.
Yet, I knew one thing for certain. Sienna would recognize my work, and honestly? I had been waiting for that day.
…
When she finally arrived, she was wearing long sleeves and pants despite the warm weather, hiding behind oversized sunglasses and a face mask.
I understood what had happened.
I thought absentmindedly, 'So Adrian would've become a drunk even without Sienna goading him into it.'
She looked exhausted.
There were obvious dark circles shadowing her eyes.
The moment she stepped into my office, she dropped to her knees in front of my desk. "Leola... please. Please help me."
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