I've been married to Austin Salazar for five years. Every time I accidentally touch him, he'll force me to kneel in a pool of disinfectants while reciting verses from the Bible.

But there was once when I noticed a bright red hickey on Austin's collarbone. Instincts propelled me to touch it for a fleeting moment.

While Austin did lose his temper at me before storming out of our home, for once, he didn't tell me to get down on my knees.

Naively, I thought that he's starting to get used to my touch.

But the next day, my virginity is set to be auctioned off at the auction house where the rich and the powerful of Bannerton regularly visit. The auction will officially start in two days.

While Austin's buddies calculate the price they can afford to bid with lewd expressions, he remains unmoved as he keeps cleansing his collarbone with disinfectants repeatedly.

"How dare she touch the spot Carol has kissed before! Who does she think she is? Just the sight of her taints my vision!"

"Carol just came back from her travels. Do you know how long Austin had been waiting for her one kiss? How dare Stella touch him there so shamelessly with her bare hands! She deserves to be taught a huge lesson!"

My husband of five years, Austin Salazar, scoffed dismissively and said, "How is this going to be a lesson for her? Nobody's ever touched her for five whole years. I bet she'd be over the moon if she knew some rich millionaire was willing to bid for her virginity. Do you guys even know just how desperate she is?

"It's just like she can't ever survive on her own without a man by her side!"

A burst of loud, mocking laughter rang around the room.

"Carol's allergic to Stella's scent and would always get nauseated if she ever caught a whiff of it, forcing Austin to always disinfect himself every time after he touches Stella.

"I bet Stella probably still thinks that she's really dirty and unclean!"

"This auction is going to be the perfect opportunity for her to feel like a woman again. She won't have to fear dying a virgin anymore. She's going to be ecstatic!"

My face suddenly turned icy cold as I heard them laughing and jeering loudly at me, behind my back.

It felt as though there were a pair of hands squeezing and gripping my heart. It hurt so much that my vision began to blur.

Every time Austin touched me, he would immediately recoil as if he'd just touched something utterly disgusting.

At one point, I thought that I was carrying horrible germs on me, so I would soak myself in a bathtub full of disinfectant every night.

Over time, every inch of my skin became severely blistered and damaged. Even a light breeze would be enough to irritate my skin, causing rashes to break out.

Austin even purposely switched out our double bed in the master bedroom for two single beds, fearing he might catch my germs.

After my incessant hounding and countless questions about it, he simply threw a medical report in my face and said, "I have severe mysophobia! You're not allowed to touch a single hair on my head ever again!"

Yet, I only knew now that everything he said and did was just because of Carol Parker, his ex-girlfriend, who said that I was disgusting and therefore she was allergic to me.

What a pathetic excuse.

Austin's family and mine had been close friends for generations. We were even betrothed to each other when we were children.

As we grew older, the betrothal gradually faded from both of our families' views. We all thought that we should be free to fall in love with a partner of our choice, and that was the right way to go.

However, Austin's grandmother, Enid Melton, had been plagued by illness for years, and she was also very traditional in her thinking. She insisted that we both had to marry each other as agreed.

She knew that Austin had feelings for Carol and that I was also dating someone else at the time, but she still insisted that we both marry each other, and we had no choice but to oblige.

Since I was still hesitant, she offered me a way out.

"I sincerely hope that you will both stay together until the end. However, if Austin really betrays you, I will personally bring him the signed marriage dissolution papers and make him set you free."

Yet, on the day of our wedding night, Austin locked me out of the room.

I thought that he still needed some time to accept me, so I was patient with him and very accommodating to his "mysophobia".

However, I ended up waiting for him for five whole years.

For the past five years, I humbled myself to the extreme while living with him, and yet, the truth was such a cruel one after all.

I called Grandma on the phone and said in a numb voice, "There will be enough to prove that Austin betrayed me, at the auction house in Bannerton city center, just two days later.

"Please just set me free, Grandma."

I got home fairly late that day. Surprisingly, Austin didn't treat me as coldly as usual. In fact, he seemed a lot more assertive with me that night.

However, the sight of the lipstick stain on the coffee mug that wasn't mine and the underwear scattered in the couch cushions slit still stung my eyes.

"You've always wanted to sleep with me, haven't you? It's been five years. I don't believe it if you say that you've never wanted it," Austin said.

I turned back in shock to meet his gaze, watching as the corners of his eyes turned a little red.

Yet, as I recalled the filthy things he'd said to his friends about me just now, I averted my gaze at once.

"I'm tired. I just want to rest," I said.

The lust in Austin's eyes vanished almost immediately when he heard me turning him down. Instead, a look of impatience appeared in his eyes.

"You used to beg me to touch you. What's your problem now? You're my wife, so behave like one. Be good."

Then, he forcefully pinned me against the wall before stripping off every last clothing item on my body, exposing my naked body to the air.

I gasped in shock. However, a split second later, I was suddenly shoved into the master bedroom while he stayed outside the door and locked it from the outside.

He coldly said, "I'm still busy with other things. Stay in there by yourself for the night."

I searched the entire master bedroom but couldn't find a single shred of clothing anywhere. Even the bedsheets and curtains had all been removed.

Just when I thought perhaps it wasn't too bad since I was only naked inside a room, I suddenly caught sight of something glinting from the windows in the villa opposite our own.

It was from a pair of binoculars, and several men were falling over themselves trying to have a look through the lenses.

"That's her! That's Stella Leblanc, the woman whose virginity was put up for auction! What a good thing that Austin let us check out the goods beforehand so we could bid higher later. This is just brilliant!"

"Let me see! Let me see! Oh, my god! She looks pretty good. I just don't know if we can beat any of those big shots at the auction, you know? The people attending it are all big bosses and tycoons."

"That's something else to worry about for another day. Let's just feast our eyes on her for the time being! It's not like we're risking anything for this free show anyway—we've got nothing to lose!"

I stood frozen in place. Those perverted men's lewd, obscene gazes pierced through my entire body like sharp thorns, causing excruciating pain everywhere. And the worst part was that I had nowhere to hide.

Amidst the lewd laughter and exclamations that still made their way to my ears, I hugged my body in an attempt to hide myself as I shivered in a corner.

Meanwhile, Austin made himself busy downstairs. I could tell from his voice that he was happily cuddling with Carol somewhere on the couch.

"Stella actually thought that I was going to touch her! You should have seen the near-deranged look in her eyes just now. It was as if she wanted to devour me straight away. Such a shameless bitch!"

I even heard the sound of disinfectant being sprayed around as Austin spoke.

"But don't worry, Carol. You're the only one who can touch me like that. I will never let myself get filthy by sleeping with other people."

Then, the sounds coming from downstairs became increasingly obscene and vulgar.

I hugged myself tightly, feeling utterly hopeless. I would probably be numb to it all if there were even more eyes on me at this point.

It wasn't until long after midnight that Austin finally unlocked the bedroom door like nothing had just happened. He then said in an indifferent voice, "I forgot about you because I was too busy with work. Put this on and go to sleep. Don't go around catching a cold."

He then tossed a sleeping robe at me hastily, as if just the mere sight of me would make him "unclean".

I wrapped the robe around my body at once, but the chill in my bones just wouldn't go away.

Austin then looked at his phone and muttered to himself, "That's strange. Grandma hasn't recovered yet, so why did she suddenly get herself discharged?"

I lied and said, "Maybe she was getting bored and decided to come out for a little breather."

Then, his phone buzzed again with another incoming text message, and I happened to catch sight of the text in the preview notification.

"Hey, Austin! The nude video really worked! Some rich dude just said he'd bid three million for her, but he's pushing 70. Stella's virginity is in for a treat! Haha!"

It wasn't until then that I realized there had also been a hidden camera in the bedroom, the kind that could be watched and monitored in real time.

In other words, it hadn't only been the perverts in the next villa who saw me naked—even all the other wealthy businessmen and tycoons who qualified to attend the auction had also seen every inch of me.

Austin hurriedly put his phone away, his eyes flashing in slight guilt as he changed the topic.

"I just asked you to wait for a moment. There's no need for you to look so down and upset about it. I'll try my best to overcome my phobia next time. There'll be other opportunities soon."

My heart clenched when I saw the casual and even disgusted look on his face.

He could fully enjoy sexual pleasure whenever he was with Carol, and his "mysophobia" certainly didn't happen then.

However, when it came to me, he would probably never "overcome" his phobia and physical aversion to me.

I clench my fists tightly, no longer able to feel any physical pain.

Meanwhile, Austin rummaged through his wardrobe for his suit while casually remarking, "Go and shower. I'm bringing you to an auction with me. I heard that there's a highly anticipated last lot for the auction this time around.

"Practically everyone is going for it tonight. Let's go and join in on the fun."

I felt as though I'd been electrocuted as soon as I heard him say that. I shook my head in terror and refused.

"I'm not going. I'm not planning to bid on any collectibles anyway."

At that, Austin's expression turned dark instantly.

"What's with the tantrum? And to think that Carol even told me to bid on a few more jewelry sets for you this time. Why are you still acting like a spoiled child at your age now?

"I don't care. You're going there even if you don't want to. Ever since we got married, all you do is just cook and clean, and nothing else. Even the maids don't have anything to do anymore. Anyone would think you were trying to steal their jobs.

"You are coming out with me to see the world tonight if it's the last thing you ever do!"

My gaze fell on my rough, battered, and calloused hands. I suddenly found everything just too hilarious to be true.

I had been compromising and accommodating to his so-called "mysophobia" for so many years that I washed the bedsheets twice a day in the morning and at night, and also hand-washed his clothes every day.

As it turned out, he only saw it as me acting like a maid after all. He even thought that it was unseemly.

Austin's patience wore thin when he saw me staring at my hands. He dragged me off and shoved me into my personal "disinfecting bathtub".

After I was done washing up, he looked like he was mustering all of his courage to dry me off with a towel, his disgust clearly visible on his face.

When he was done drying me off, he then disinfected himself once more before dragging me into the car.

As soon as we arrived at the auction house, I saw everyone clinking champagne glasses and discussing the upcoming auction.

When Carol caught sight of me, she immediately rushed over with a smile on her lips as she carefully examined my hands.

Both my hands were bright pink from being washed with disinfectant. My skin was also as thin as a membrane and even covered in red rashes.

"You've got such delicate skin, Stella! I heard that Austin can't even bear to touch you for fear that you'd break, right?"

Just a split second later, someone exposed her unexpectedly and said, "Of course not! It's not because he's afraid of hurting her—it's because he just simply doesn't want to touch her at all! Otherwise, how could she still be a virgin after five years of marriage?"

Another wave of laughter rose and fell, overwhelming me without mercy.

I frowned. My face burned as I said coldly, "Are you all done yet?"

Austin clicked his tongue in displeasure, his eyes turning dark and dangerous.

"You're not happy about being praised as a virgin? Don't you know praise when it happens to you? Anyone else would have been ecstatic to hear that. Don't be so ungrateful."

When the others saw that my expression was still as icy as ever, someone picked up a glass of wine and handed it to me, saying, "Yeah, he's right, Stella. Don't be such a spoilsport. They were just praising you.

"Here, have a drink. This wine is very expensive."

I looked around, noticing everyone's gazes fixed on me.

I immediately understood why as soon as I recalled that they were going to auction off my virginity. I pushed the glass away coldly and said, "Wasn't this only supposed to be an auction? I don't drink."

Austin's grip tightened on his wine glass, his knuckles turning white. He was barely able to suppress his anger as he growled, "If you still refuse to behave yourself when we're still being nice to you, you're going to have to suffer the consequences later.

"I already said that you've gone mad from staying at home all day. You can't even take a joke, and you even refuse to drink now. What the hell do you want, exactly?"