Natalie Bennett and Ethan Fletcher\u2019s marriage was the hottest topic in South City\u2019s high society. One was the heiress of the Bennett family\u2014reckless, rebellious, and possessed of a beauty so lethal it felt like a trap. The other was the stoic patriarch\u2014reserved, clinical, and holding the reins of the Fletcher family fortune. Two extremes, bound together for three years. In their first year of marriage, the Fletcher family presented Natalie with a manual of the Fletcher Mandates. Three thousand rules to memorize and obey. Natalie flipped through a couple of pages. Right before the family elders, tore it into pieces and let them scatter across the floor. \u201cWhat century is this? You\u2019re still doing this?\u201d Her eyes were full of raw defiance. The consequence? She was banished to the family chapel\u2014a cold, hollow fortress\u2014and locked away in silence for three days. By the second year, the chains tightened. No more clubs, no more parties. Natalie responded by grabbing her Ferrari and smashed right through the iron gates of the family estate\u2014the very gates mean to symbolize \u2018order\u2019. The roar of the engine echoed through the whole manor. \u201cYou want to stop me from going out? Only if I\u2019m dead!\u201d Back then, she was locked in solitary confinement for half a month,completely cut off from the outside world. Third year\u2014time for children. Margaret Fletcher, the mother of Ethan Fletcher, delivered an ultimatum. Natalie was dragged off to the hospital for a round of fertility testing before IVF. Cold instruments. Doctors talking in a flat, businesslike tone. It all made her sick. When a nurse approached with a needle, Natalie snapped. She flipped the tray, knocked aside the bodyguards, and sprinted straight out. She got in her car and drove straight to the Fletcher Group headquarters. Enough was enough! She\u2019d hidden her claws for three years, trying to play the role of Mrs. Fletcher. What did she get in return? Even tighter chains. She wanted Ethan Fletcher to know\u2014she couldn\u2019t take these suffocating rules for even one more day! Natalie Bennett was born to be free\u2014not to wither and die in the Fletcher family\u2019s gilded cage. She rushed into the CEO\u2019s private elevator. The secretary tried to stop her, but Natalie silenced her with a single glare. At the top floor, the office door was slightly open. Inside, the sound of easy, casual laughter drifted out. Natalie\u2019s hand was on the handle when she heard her own name. \u201cEthan, is your wife raising hell again?\u201d one of his childhood friends teased. \u201cHonestly, I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a woman in South City more beautiful than Natalie\u2014she\u2019s got the face, she\u2019s got the body, she\u2019s incredible! Only trouble is, she\u2019s too rebellious. Like a mustang nobody can tame.\u201d \u201cBut seriously, Ethan, if she wasn\u2019t your type, why go through all that trouble\u2014staging that whole rescue at the equestrian club, making her fall so hard she\u2019d chase you right into marriage?\u201d Outside the door, Natalie felt as if lightning had struck her\u2014every drop of blood in her body turned to ice. That so-called heroic rescue\u2026was planned? Three years ago, her horse went wild at the equestrian club, heading straight for the fence. Ethan appeared like a god and caught her in his arms. Always untouched, always unbothered. That day, she gave her heart to him. She\u2019d checked up on him afterwards, learned that they were opposites. She was blazing sunshine; he was cold discipline. She lived boldly; he held back. She loved freedom; he loved rules. She knew they were worlds apart. But what Natalie wanted, she went after\u2014so she got close to him, tried everything, and finally made him say yes. She always believed it was her effort\u2014her persistence, her destiny. But now? It was all just a trap he\u2019d set from the very beginning? Why? Why would he do that to her? Just then, another man\u2019s voice spoke, half sighing, laying everything bare. \u201cWhy else? For Vivian, obviously.\u201d Vivian. Ethan\u2019s sister-in-law, married to his troublemaker brother, Lucas. \u201cVivian\u2019s the one Ethan really cares about. But she comes from a family without status. You know what the Fletcher family is like: rules above everything. Margaret never made things easy for her. Ethan couldn\u2019t stand to see her suffer, so he married someone wild, someone who could stir up trouble and draw all the attention away. That way, Vivian could have a decent life here.\u201d \u201cAnd who better than Natalie? She\u2019s beautiful with a solid family background. The most important is that she\u2019s wild enough to set the world on fire.\u201d \u201cBut honestly, Ethan must be madly in love with Vivian. If I had a wife as stunning as Natalie, I\u2019d want to have babies with her! Ethan, though? He wanted all the focus on Natalie, so he secretly got a vasectomy. He cut off any chance Natalie could have kids! Talk about sacrifice\u2026\u201d Natalie stood outside the door, a cold wave racing up from her toes to the crown of her head, leaving her frozen. A vasectomy? He\u2019d gone that far\u2014for Vivian? Married Natalie just to make her the lightning rod for the family\u2019s rage, all so Vivian wouldn\u2019t have to suffer? It was utterly absurd, almost laughable. Her heart twisted in her chest, the pain so sharp she could barely breathe. She bit down on her lower lip, so hard she tasted blood, but she didn\u2019t even notice. All she wanted was to hear Ethan\u2019s answer. Even a single word of denial. The room was quiet for a long moment, then Ethan\u2019s voice sounded\u2014cool and measured as always. \u201cVivian\u2019s too soft. She can\u2019t handle being treated badly. Natalie\u2026she can take it.\u201d She can take it. So all these years, every bit of Natalie\u2019s struggle, her defiance, her pain\u2014he didn\u2019t miss it. He just decided she could take it. That meant it was fine for her to be used. Fine for her to be the shield that kept another woman safe. Natalie was shaking. She was about to burst through the door, out of control\u2014when Ethan\u2019s phone rang.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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