Three years into our arranged marriage, my aloof, CEO husband started acting strange. He became even colder. He refused my advances. And his lawyer was frequenting his home office. I thought I understood: Carter had finally reconnected with his "White Moonlight"—his high school crush—and was preparing to divorce me. Being the sensible wife, I drafted the divorce papers myself. The next day, just as I was about to board a plane for my "Eat, Pray, Love" world tour, I received a video. It was Carter. He was standing on the edge of a rooftop, eyes red and swollen, hugging my beagle and sobbing uncontrollably. "She wasn't supposed to leave us until next year! Why did the timeline change?!" "Buddy, you have to promise me... you have to bite that other man to death for Daddy, okay?!" 1 Carter got into a car accident. By the time I rushed to the hospital, he had already been awake for a while. He lay on the hospital bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, looking exhausted. The nurse whispered to me, "Mrs. Sterling, since he woke up, he hasn't eaten or drunk anything. He seems... troubled." I sat by the bed and opened the thermos. "Carter." As I brought the spoon to his lips, he frowned almost imperceptibly and pulled back. I could tell something was off. So, I put on my sweetest voice. "Honey, try it. It's still warm. I made it myself." This time, his eyes were cold and distant. "I don't want it." He rejected me again. There was zero warmth in his gaze. He was a completely different person from the man who had cuddled me to sleep the night before. I tried one more time, patiently. "Really? I simmered this chicken soup for hours. Just one sip?" Carter remained silent. He studied me, as if analyzing my next move. I mentally rolled my eyes. I turned the spoon around and swallowed the soup myself. Fine. Starve then. 2 Carter Sterling and I are in an arranged marriage. Our families—the Sterlings and the Yorks—merged assets, and we merged lives. We were high school classmates, but we ran in different circles. He was the stoic loner; I was the social butterfly. After the wedding, we were polite roommates. Things changed in the second year. One day, I came home and bumped into Carter walking out of his room wearing only a towel. I froze. Who knew my buttoned-up husband was hiding that kind of body under his suits? Carter slammed his door shut, clearly annoyed by my ogling. But that image stuck in my brain. After a week of... interesting dreams, I realized something. He is my legal husband. Sleeping with him is literally my right. 3 From then on, I made it my mission to seduce Carter. But he was tough. He didn't drink, didn't smoke, had no hobbies. His life was a scheduled loop: home, office, weekly dinners with parents. He was an NPC. I couldn't find a crack in his armor. Until one day, I wandered into his bedroom and saw our high school graduation photo on his nightstand. In the photo, Carter stood tall, slightly smiling. Next to him, a girl with a cute bob was leaning toward him. Her name was Zoey. The "White Moonlight." The one that got away. I remembered the rumors. Carter’s mom had paid Zoey off to leave the country so Carter would focus on the family business. Suddenly, I felt bad for him. He was the classic tragic hero—forced apart from his true love, emotionally shutdown. But that was fine. Before I unbuckled his belt, I would listen to his trauma. Eventually, I succeeded. We slept together. In the heat of the moment, I whispered magnanimously, "Carter, I saw the photo. It's okay. I understand." He froze. Then he kissed me with a sudden, fierce intensity. 4 After leaving the hospital, Carter was still icy. He was avoiding me. Tonight, it was almost midnight, and he was still in his study. I put on my new silk nightgown and decided to take the initiative. I knocked and walked in, circling his desk to sit on his lap. "Honey, I had a nightmare. I'm scared." Usually, he would hug me and carry me to bed. I straddled his lap, ready for action. But Carter just looked at my neckline. Then, his long fingers reached out... and buttoned my top button. "Go to sleep, Harper." What?! I stared at him. "But we agreed to try that new thing this week!" "I have work." "You said that yesterday." Carter looked up. "Harper... is sex that important to you?" He stumped me. But I thought about it. We had no emotional foundation. Physical intimacy was the only thing holding this marriage together. So, yes. I nodded. Carter closed his eyes, looking pained. "I understand. Leave me alone." 5 Over the next few days, I barely saw him. His lawyer, Mr. Shen, was always there. One day, I was bringing fruit to the study when I heard them talking. "Miss Zoey's funds and apartment are arranged." "Good." "And this agreement... are you sure? It's very unfair." "Not a penny left for her?" I froze. Carter replied coldly, "Do your job, Shen." Mr. Shen sighed. "I know you said you 'saw the future' and that you're dying, but... this seems extreme. Harper was just cutting fruit for you..." "So everyone knows we have a bad marriage," Carter laughed bitterly. I backed away silently. I understood. Carter thinks he's dying. He's probably having premonitions about reuniting with Zoey in the afterlife or something. And now, he wants to divorce me. And leave me with nothing. 6 I was done. I moved into the guest room immediately. I called my lawyer to draft divorce papers and booked a full-body health checkup (just in case). Late that night, I was lying on the rug in the living room, venting to my best friend on the phone. "...If anyone says Carter is a good guy, I'll scream. It's a moral issue!" "I knew arranged marriages were a scam!" I started crying. "You don't know how hard my life is! Carter is so mean! I miss you so much, babe!" Click. The living room light turned on. I froze and looked back. Carter was standing there like a ghost. He stared at my phone, his face pale. "Harper." "Is it him?" 7 "Who I talk to is none of your business," I snapped, hanging up. "And eavesdropping is rude." Carter looked like he was in physical pain. "Is calling another man 'babe' privacy?" "I'm your husband. You've never called me that." I laughed. He wants me to call him babe? Go ask Zoey! I smelled alcohol on him. "Babe," I said, my voice flat and dead. "Happy now?" Carter lowered his head, hiding his red eyes. "Can I go to sleep now?" I asked, walking past him and slamming the guest room door. 8 I didn't know that after I left, Carter stood in the dark living room for hours. He covered his face in despair. It was happening again. The cold look. The annoyance. The slam of the door. It matched the visions he saw while in his coma. In his visions, Harper falls in love with another man. She smiles at him, kisses him, and then ruthlessly divorces Carter. In the vision, Harper mocks him: "Carter, you are boring. Sex was the only interesting thing about you, and now even that's boring." "I hate you. My kindness was all an act." "You loved me for ten years? Wow, you're such a ninja. Want a medal?" "Your love makes me sick." So, that was her truth. When Carter woke up from the coma, he wrote down a list of every potential male rival. It was ten pages long. He felt like he was going crazy. Has the man already appeared? No. Harper wouldn't do this. She must have been manipulated by that "Other Man"! Who is he?! Carter took a deep breath. He had one year until the divorce timeline. He had to change fate. This time, the man Harper lives happily ever after with... must be him.
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