[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":10},["ShallowReactive",2],{"viewer-data-26032258F3A3-517":3},{"id":4,"number":5,"name":6,"content":7,"isLocked":8,"price":9,"hasRead":8},517,3,"Chapter 3: \"You Never Believed Me?\"","\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Everyone knew Elaine Miller had been chasing Marcellus Spencer for years.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Back when the Miller family still held its own, she’d tag along behind Marcellus, calling him \"brother\" with every breath, dreaming of the day she could officially be his wife.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Then, the collapse. The family company went under, and debts piled up until they choked the life out of everything. When her parents finally threw themselves from a high-rise, Elaine was only left breathing because Greta Spencer took her in, out of some lingering, cold charity.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Elaine buried her feelings deep, knowing full well she was no longer a match for a man of his stature. When Greta suggested she marry Marcellus’s frail older brother as a \"good luck\" charm for his failing health, she simply nodded and agreed.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">But the night before the wedding, Morgan Rose—Marcellus’s fiancée—stopped by with a cup of tea. Elaine drank it, and the next morning, she woke up in bed with Marcellus.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The fallout was immediate. Morgan wailed as if her soul were being ripped from her body, and a pressured Greta was forced to make Elaine the mistress of the Spencer estate, effectively handing over the keys to half the empire. Overnight, Elaine became the city’s favorite villain: a slut, a homewrecker, a viper who’d bitten the hand that fed her.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">She tried to explain, her voice hollow and frantic. \"I don’t know what happened. I never wanted this.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">No one believed her—except, so she had once convinced herself, for Marcellus.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He used to pull her into his arms, whispering reassurances. \"I know you, Elaine. You’re not capable of this.\" He would brush her hair aside, his gaze searing. \"Don't listen to them. They don’t know you like I do.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">For a while, he was tender. He seemed to accept her as his true wife. Elaine fell for the charade. She couldn't help it; he was the man she’d loved since she was a girl. She let herself believe this was all just a messy, accidental stroke of fate. She even believed he loved her back.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">That delusion shattered the moment her three children were taken away from her, one by one, like pawns in a game. But even having faced that jagged reality, hearing the casual cruelty in his voice now made her blood turn to ice.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">She parted her lips, her voice barely a whisper. \"What did you just say?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"You never… actually believed me?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The sheer weight of her despair caught him off guard. Marcellus hesitated, a brief flicker of regret crossing his features. \"That’s not what I meant—\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">His phone buzzed. Morgan’s name flashed on the screen.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Marcellus, I’m having nightmares again. Can you come over?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">His expression shifted in an instant. He lunged out of the room without a backward glance.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Elaine stayed on the bed, staring at the empty space where he had been. Her eyes burned, aching with a pressure that wouldn't release. She reached up to touch her cheek, but found it bone-dry.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">They say a broken heart hurts, but it turns out when the pain reaches its peak, you don't even have the tears left to cry.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">A bitter, jagged laugh escaped her. She picked up her phone and dialed her assistant. \"Get the divorce papers ready.\"\u003C/p>",false,0,1774272928071]