Prologue

"I, Aleksei Valentin, take you, Zavia. To be my cherished wife, to have and keep you. To be at your side in delight and sorrow, as well as to always adore you, in terms of thickness and thinness."

"I, Zavia Stepan, choose you, Aleksei. To be my legally married spouse, to respect and cherish you in both good and bad times. I will always love you, for better or worse."

"I promise you this from the bottom of my heart, for the rest of my life." We spoke our final vows as we looked at each other after putting on the wedding ring.

Aleksei has the appearance of a Prince Charming. He's lovely, a gentleman, protective, a combination of hard and softie, hot and cold—never he's been cold towards me, but he has been cold towards others.

Then he kisses my hand around the ring, and exactly like a magical wedding, he pulls me close after hearing the sentence, "You may now kiss your bride."

My chest was thumping so hard that I was worried he'd feel it from the artery in my neck that his hand was brushing as he cupped my cheeks. When I watched him moving closer, my eyelids closed on their own.

I felt his lips on mine at that point.

We've finally married.

Alek and I are married.

I was married to the man I adored. That made me realise that money, the firm, fame, power, and the name I hold aren't the only things that are important to me and must be protected. Those aren't the things I'd always want and never give up.

Aleksei, by his deeds and devotion, becomes the most important thing to me. I'll never be able to afford someone like him, no matter how much money I have. I adore him to the point that he has become my entire universe.

It was a fantastic start for us.

We follow through on what we promised in our wedding vows. Every day, I cherish and honour him. In both good and terrible times, I cherish him. On the same side, Aleksei accomplished it as well. When my days of grief arrived, he was there to comfort me. He had me in his happy days and made me feel cherished every day.

But everything has an ending.

As though the sun needed to rest after a long day.

"I'm asking for a divorce, Zavia."