Sandalwood, mixed with the scent of the cigar he smoked from time to time, invaded my senses. He kissed me exactly as he always did: soft, gentle, and teasing. His masculine scent and the feel of his lips threatened to overwhelm all my senses, but before they could, he broke the kiss.

"Mmmm." I moaned in protest as I felt the loss of... him.

I almost smiled when I slowly opened my eyes, seeing the familiar deep blue hue of his gentle eyes looking at me.

I whispered his name and smiled just as how I usually greeted him. But instead of the smiling blue eyes he used to look at me, his eyes turned icy blue.

"Sophia," he said, his lips curled into an unforgiving smile. "Don't think you can ever run from me."

Frowning, I opened my lips to ask what he meant, but the man grabbed me and pulled me into a tight embrace! I cried out, but nothing! I couldn't talk. I tried saying a bunch of things, but the man couldn't seem to hear me, nor did he show any signs that he was listening to me.

Scared, I tried to pull away. But then, the man was much stronger than me, so after he tightened his grip on me, I found myself unable to break free.

"Sophia," His lips were mere inches from my lips, and I could feel his cold breath touching my skin. I shivered and then trembled in fear when he whispered, "I won't ever let you go."

...

A silent scream escaped my lips as I woke up from my dream. My whole body was still trembling from the fear the man had instilled inside me. I was breathing so hard that I had to cover my mouth to keep myself from making a sound.

'Still asleep.' I breathed slowly when I saw the man sleeping soundly next to me. Different from the man in my dreams, the man beside me had brown hair and equally brown eyes.

Slowly lowering my hand, I looked at him until my heart stopped thumping loudly enough for me to hear. Once it did, I lay beside him and slept facing him. Afraid that the man from my dreams would suddenly appear, I didn't dare blink and only watched my husband sleep, his breath slow and even.

Bob and I were married. Just a few months ago, I was still content knowing that I had Bob as a husband.

Content. Yes, that was how I could describe the feeling of knowing that I was with Bob. I might have been married to him for three years, but he'd never touched me. He kissed me but never as deeply and as passionately as Adam.

Realizing I was still thinking of the man in my dreams, I bit my lip and mentally shook my head.

'No! No! Don't think of him, Sophia,' I told myself, but thoughts of Adam filled my head. The memory and the feel of him assaulted my senses.

Adam was my first love and the first person who had ever made me feel loved. I thought I had forgotten him, but lately, his face was the only thing I saw in my dreams. The first time I dreamt of him, I brushed it off, wanting that memory to be just that: memory.

But when a few months passed and my dreams of Adam kissing and hugging me intensified, I started feeling uneasy. I thought I might be sexually frustrated with the platonic marriage I had with Bob. But while it was true that somewhere in my heart, I wanted Bob to take the initiative, it also scared me that he would.

And that was the reason the guilt weighed in on my heart. Bob was impotent, but he never refused me anything. Still, I couldn't bear to kiss him.

Unlike Adam.

'Don't go there, Sophia!' I admonished myself and, this time, shook my head until that man's name completely disappeared from my head.

...

Murphy Law. It was an epigram I once read during my university days. It meant that anything that could go wrong would go wrong. I never believed it. At least, I never thought it would happen to me. But it did, unfortunately; it happened the following Monday I went to work.

The company had been buzzing for months after our former CEO announced that a new CEO would take over his job. No one knew, and our CEO never told anyone the name of the new exec.

I was sad that our CEO would be leaving but also happy at the thought of working with a new boss.

Anxious, I stood beside my manager, Alexa, and waited for our new executive to enter the building. It was the day he would be starting with our company and the day I met Adam again.

I stood rigidly in place when I saw Adam's familiar figure enter, walking down the aisle of employees and toward me.

"Sophia, what are you doing?" Alexa asked after a few minutes. Blinking, I looked at my manager and then at Adam, who was now standing in front of us.

"N–Nice to meet you, Sir," I stuttered, but the man merely glanced at me before walking toward the elevator.

I couldn't remember what happened next. I didn't faint, nor did the ground swallow me whole, which I would have preferred after seeing Adam's blue winter cold gaze. Somewhere in my mind, I thought I expected such cruel treatment from Adam, but my heart told me otherwise.

I smiled bitterly.

'How much does he hate me?' I wondered and hoped because surely, Adam had not forgotten me. Surely, him giving me the cold shoulder didn't mean he had forgotten all about me?

'Right?'

...

I was restless while I stayed at the office. Just thinking of sitting and shutting myself in my office while Adam was a few floors above me was driving me insane.

"Isn't it enough that you keep dreaming about him, Sophia?" I muttered to myself. "Why stress so much after only meeting him in person again?!" I wanted to scream, but I didn't want to draw attention. So, I buried my face in my palm and let out a bit of my frustration with a soft scream.

When my phone sounded, I quickly took it out of my pocket.

"Bob," I whispered and hurriedly opened his message.

[Hope you bring home your appetite. The chicken soup will be waiting for you at home.]

Women in love would be swooning over now from their partner's thoughtfulness, but me? I didn't. Instead of feeling the joy of getting Bob's attention, the dagger of guilt that had already lodged in my heart dug even deeper. Because while Bob sent me another message, this time a picture of him with the chicken soup casserole, all I could think of was the man upstairs.

"Sophia?"

I almost screamed upon hearing my Alexa's voice but managed to keep myself from shouting. "A—Alexa! What can I do for you?"

Alexa's eyes grew wide with worry and curiosity, but she didn't try to pry. "Adam asked me to give this to you," she said and handed me a big box.

"What is it?"

"Adam specifically requested that you join him for the business dinner he has with Derek of XC Group tonight," was Alexa's only answer.

"Ha!" I tsked. While I was willing to help the company in every way possible, joining a business dinner with Adam to represent the company was new to me. But even if it weren't, I would never agree to such a meeting.

Derek, while very influential, was a known pervert, and I would never get even a meter near him. Still, I held my tongue and didn't ask any more questions as I opened the box Alexa gave me.

I frowned when I saw the white dress inside the box and dropped it to the floor, jaw-dropping when I recognized a similar dress Adam had given me three years ago.

Something inside me burst, and I saw red. I grabbed the dress and stormed off.

"Sophia? Where are you going?" I heard Alexa ask, but I was too angry to utter a word.

'Adam was nuts if he thought I would keep my silence!'

My heart slammed to my chest as I stomped my feet toward the elevator and all the way to the CEO's floor. When I reached Adam's office, I didn't knock and slammed the door open.

I saw Adam look up, but I was too mad to back down from his indifferent eyes.

Trembling with anger, I threw the dress right in front of him. "What the hell do you want from me?"

Adam didn't bother disguising the annoyance from his face and looked at me with evident anger. His lips moved, but he didn't say anything as he stood and advanced toward me.

"Pick it up," he said with a voice as cold as winter.

Unfazed, I didn't move and stood toe to toe in front of him.

"No," I said with a voice that, surprisingly, did not flutter.

I thought I saw surprise mixed with amazement in Adam's eyes. But even if I did, the man had easily swept any emotion from his face, his eyes turning wintry blue in an instant.

I shivered but refused to wrap my arms around me to stop myself from trembling.

"It's so not like you to be stubborn, Sophia," the man said, contrasting the fact that he remembered me as much as he wanted to hide it. "Take the dress and put it on."

When I opened my lips to say something, Adam beat me to it. "Don't make me repeat myself, Sophia. If you don't like to put the dress on, consider yourself out of work right this minute."

The confidence I was able to muster to stand up to Adam shriveled into nothing while the anger I felt toward the injustice of this all burned hot and deep inside my gut.

I gritted my teeth and swallowed the bitter words I wanted to shout at the man. I was tempted, too, to grab the dress and throw it in Adam's annoyingly serene but cold face. But then, I stopped myself, knowing full well that I shouldn't do anything to lose my job. It was the only thing that was keeping me alive right now, so I couldn't afford to live without it.

While Bob tried his best to keep me happy, I was still in a loveless marriage. And my family was… around.

'To each their own,' I always thought. So I smiled through gritted teeth and hoped my smile would still look like a smile.

"I apologize," I said in defeat, took back the dress, and gripped it to my side. "I'll change and meet you downstairs."

Even though the white dress represented purity with its color, it left nothing to the imagination. It was a dress made to entice, and it did so by hugging every curve of one's body. So when I put it on, if I could have, I would have avoided the mirror to avoid looking at myself in the dress.

I couldn't, though. The bathroom in the company building was furnished with full-length mirrors on its walls. Even the elevator I rode to get to the lower ground was designed with mirrors! So by the time I exited the elevator, I was ready to run away.

"How could he?" I kept asking myself. How could Adam force me to wear the same dress he'd given me on our first anniversary as a couple? It was supposed to be our "thing" because it was my first time wearing such a dress, and I only did so in front of Adam.

Yet the man wanted me to wear it to show a stranger — No! Derek, of all people. It disgusted me! And by the time I rode Adam's car without looking at him, I was ready to run and forget about keeping my job.

But I didn't. Regardless of my inward rants, my feet moved on their own and followed Adam inside the restaurant.

...

I didn't understand a word Adam and Derek were saying throughout dinner, mostly because I wasn't listening and had no intention of involving myself more than what was asked of me: to wear the dress and accompany Adam to the business dinner.

So I sat, quiet as a mouse, beside Adam while Derek discussed business with him across the table. As much as I hate Adam at the moment, I would still prefer sitting beside him rather than Derek. While the latter tried his best to hide it, I saw how he had been leering at me since I entered the room with Adam.

The way Derek looked at me when Adam wasn't looking and his subtle questions to get me to join their conversation were enough for me to tremble in fear and anger at both of them.

I didn't know what terrible deed I had committed in the past to deserve such a punishment from the heavens, but it seemed to me that whoever was in charge wasn't satisfied with only having me meet Adam again. So, they even made him my boss, who only had to use his authority to involve me with Derek.

Helpless, I secretly checked the time. It was now past seven in the evening, and I had not yet called Bob to inform him that I wouldn't be able to join him for dinner.

"... you'll excuse me," Adam's voice snapped me back to my senses. Frowning, I watched as he stood from his seat. "I need to use the men's room a bit."

"A—"

I wanted to protest and stop him from leaving, but Derek interjected, saying, "Take your time, Adam." He smiled at me, and my hand turned cold. "I'm sure the lady over here can keep me entertained for a bit. Isn't that right, Sophia?"

I couldn't speak and looked at Adam with pleading eyes. But intentionally or not, he didn't look at me and smiled at Derek. "That's why she's here." Adam looked at me, warning me to behave. "I'll be quick."

The thing I most feared happened the instant Adam shut the door to the private room he rented for this dinner.

"So, are you supposed to be Adam's secretary of some sort, Sophia?" Derek asked as he slowly stood and made his way to me.

I forced out a smile and tried my best not to stand up from my seat and run toward the door. "I work for Adam, but I'm not his secretary."

"Hmmm." Derek was closer now and stood beside me, his long legs directly at my eye level. He half-leaned at the table and crossed his legs, an act which boldly implied he was confident with his sex appeal.

Derek wasn't half-bad, if I may say. Whenever my workmates talked about him, I had always imagined him to be a man in his forties with balding hair and a bulging stomach.

But surprisingly, I was wrong.

Derek might not look as handsome as Adam was, but he had a good build, a thick matt of brown hair, and an amiable smile. If I wasn't married and hadn't known that Derek hid his perverted side under his smile, I might have wanted to get to know him better.

But I wasn't, and it was getting harder for me to breathe since Adam had left the room.

'Where is he?'

It had been more than five minutes since he'd left. Surely, Adam was on his way back now. Right?

I was a bundle of nerves and was afraid I would ruin this business meeting. Derek was interested in investing in our company, which would greatly help the business. So if I did something that would make Derek back off from his investment plans, all my efforts to keep my job a few minutes ago would be for naught.

"So what do you say about ditching this meeting and going somewhere… fun?" I heard Derek say a few minutes after. I understood what he meant, and I was sure my face turned red with anger. But the man must have read it as me blushing in happiness about his proposal because the next thing I knew, he started caressing my bare arms.

I shivered in disgust, but again, the man took it as a response to his "teasing."

"You like that, don't you?" he asked, smiling like a wild beast. That was when I knew I was in so much trouble.

Forget about keeping my job. I wouldn't sit there and wait for the man to pounce on me! I might not be as rich as Derek or Adam, but I had my pride as a woman.

"Adam might have lost his way here," I said while slowly standing from my seat. "I should go look —"

"Come on, Sophia. Adam is a big boy." I didn't know it was possible, but Derek's eyes turned fiercer, and his usually gentle smile turned into a scowl. "Stay here and keep me entertained." He must have seen my reluctance because he added in a threatening voice, "You wouldn't want me to withdraw from this deal, would you?"

"Of course not," I said, letting out a nervous laugh. "That's why I want to call Adam."

Derek laughed then, but I couldn't tell why. I also laughed a little and tried to talk, but I could only whimper when the man grabbed me by my cheeks.

"P–Please, it hurts," I pleaded through the pain from Derek's tight grasp. When I saw the anger in Derek's brown eyes, I knew I had dug my own grave.

I figured then that he was a man who wouldn't take no for an answer. As suffocating thoughts flashed inside my head, my whole body trembled in fear.

"Maybe you didn't understand what I was saying a while ago," Derek said in a voice that sounded so much like the grim reaper. "I'll forgive you for that. So let me say it in a way you would. Let me fu—"

"What's going on?"

Derek's hand fell on his side, and I quickly backed away from the man.

Relieved that Adam came back when he did, I felt like I could almost — almost forgive him for forcing me to wear this dress and leaving me behind. But with the relief came the dread that Adam was no longer the man I once knew.

“Adam,” Derek’s amiable smile was back. "Sophia and I were just playing around. You don't mind, do you?"

Adam's gaze fell on me, and I should have said something then but decided to shut my mouth instead.

'Let him think what he wants.' I thought stubbornly. With or without Adam's permission, I would damn well get out of this place as soon as possible.

Adam looked at me with a frown, quietly asking me if Derek's words were true, but I merely looked at him and stayed quiet.

I had no idea what Adam was thinking, but after a few seconds, he said to Derek, "Get out." Adam didn't even bother looking at the man.

"Excuse me?" Derek asked in bewilderment.

"I said get out, Derek," Adam replied, his eyes as cold as steel when he looked back at him.

"Adam —"

"Don't make me repeat myself," Adam added.

Derek looked at Adam, then at me with disbelief, then smirked. "You'll regret this, Adam," he said and left, cursing.

Left alone, Adam and I stared at each other for a full minute before I broke our eye contact.

I walked over to take my things, turned to look back at Adam, and said, "I'm leaving."

Adam didn't say anything. Not that I was surprised. Since we met again, Adam had nothing to say to me. But it was honestly— a relief. I had no words to say to him, too, anyway.

"Was I wrong then?" Right before I opened the door, I heard Adam ask.

Frowning, I turned around. "What?"

"I thought you were in trouble with Derek a while ago, so I saved you. But was I wrong?" Adam raised a brow. "Are you leaving so you can catch up to him?" I heard a tinge of anger in the way he said those words, but I stopped listening to the word "save."

'Save me?' Was he hoping I would thank him for "saving me?" If it weren't for him, I wouldn't even have to meet Derek in the first place and get myself in trouble!

So, save me? Really?

I couldn't believe Adam dared to say such a word. For three years, I had been living miserably since he left. He owed me, not the other way around.

"...guess you weren't satisfied…," Adam continued, his blue eyes flashing with contained fury.

I guessed it wasn't enough that Adam came back to embarrass me. For revenge, which I believed was his reason for showing up, he would do anything to break me into pieces — an impossible feat since I was already in pieces after he left three years ago.

"...running to meet Derek."

Adam's words were a blur. And before I could stop myself, my lips moved on their own. I wasn't sure what drove me to say those words. But looking back, I thought it was those words that sealed my fate from that day forward.

"Don't be silly," I rebuked him, my voice bordering on bitterness. "Why would I want anyone to satisfy me when I already have a loving husband?"

"You didn't really think I was just wearing this ring for a show, did you?" I asked Adam while I twirled the dazzling ring on my finger. His eyes caught the act. But other than that, he didn't reveal his thoughts or emotions.

Adam had changed, and that I was sure of. Unlike before, when I could easily gauge his mood, he had learned to hide his emotions now, so I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"Goodnight, Adam," I said and left without turning back.

"Miss, are you alright?" I turned toward the voice and saw one restaurant staff looking at me with concerned eyes. I was almost at the door when the woman staff approached me.

"I—" I hiccuped and moved to cover my lips. The moment I did, I felt the wetness of my cheek.

'Oh!' I was crying and didn't even know I was. I angrily wiped the tears away but smiled at the staff and quickly walked away.

I had no reason to cry. Adam and I broke up three years ago. And I knew, the moment I broke up with him on the day he was going to propose to me, that he would hate me.

I expected it, and so was the pain and hurt that came with it. Not that it was anything new, though. I had, after all, experienced it before, and I would move from it again. Maybe, how badly I struggled these past years could make up for the pain I also caused him. We should be quits then, right?

Still, I just hoped that Bob would still be there after everything. Selfish. I know. But Bob had always been there for me. And I might not love him as much as he did with me, but I do value our time together.

So when I stepped inside the room and Bob was there to meet me, I smiled and became the version of myself who had forgotten Adam in front of him.

...

I was a little high-strung in the days following my encounter with Adam. Thankfully, I was too busy with work, and the latter must have been too because we didn't see each other for the rest of the week.

As I worked hand in hand with Alexa in our department, she made me the person in charge of the reporting, which meant I had to make sure our reports were in order. So Saturday of the same week, I decided to do overtime to check those reports.

Absentminded, I forgot the said reports at home and only found out about my mistake when I entered our company building.

'Damn it!' I cursed, laughing at my own stupidity, and went back home.

I wasted precious time but didn't mind going home again and seeing Bob. I checked my watch and saw it was around nine in the morning. If I were right, Bob would be on his computer doing whatever he was currently working on.

I smiled and thought I could pull a small prank on him. I wanted to surprise him and get inside without him knowing.

It was a good plan but what happened afterward wasn't the scenario I had in mind.

I got inside the house just fine, without Bob knowing. But when I got to the second floor and his office, I found it open but empty. I frowned and opened my lips to call his name, but a banging sound that seemed to come from our room made me stop.

Afraid and worried, I approached the bedroom as quietly as I could. The bedroom door was slightly ajar when I got near, so I slowly and silently pushed the door open to take a peek.

"Ah, ah, ah… Hmmm."

The sound from inside became louder then, and it confused me because it didn't sound anything like Bob — not that I ever had the chance to hear Bob moan and groan during sex because we never did.

So I pushed the door a little harder.

Right then, the scene in front of me confused me. I thought I was seeing things because, for some reason, a man that looked exactly like my husband was having intercourse with a man who looked like my brother.

I must have said Bob's name out loud because, in the next few seconds, his pleasure-filled face turned into shock and horror.

"Sophia!" Bob called out my name in surprise and scrambled to get off the bed.

Eric's eyes were still closed, and he moaned when Bob suddenly left him. "Honey, Sophia won't be coming back for another — Oh. Hello, Sophia," Eric casually greeted me and smiled as he saw me.

I knew anger, and I also knew how it was to hope for something only for that hope to be dashed away. But what I never knew was the bitter taste of betrayal until that moment.

I looked at Bob, my eyes already stinging with angry tears. "Seriously, Bob? With my brother?" Those were the only words that came from my lips, my voice barely audible with the anger that shook my body.

Bob had already grabbed a boxer, put it on, and was now approaching me. "Soph, I can expla—"

"Don't be such a drama queen, Sophia."

"Eric!"

Bob hissed at my brother, but the latter only rolled his eyes and continued, "Weren't you ever curious why Bob never bed you?"

I did, but I had always thought that Bob could never get it up to… anyone. Well, it turned out I was wrong.

"So you aren't as stupid as you look, dear sister." Eric laughed. He must have seen the answer to his question in my shocked eyes.

Eric got up, not even bothering to cover himself, and wrapped his arms around Bob's arm. Instead of looking at my brother, I looked at Bob. He looked… guilty, as he should.

"Don't blame yourself, Sophia. It's just that Bob and I are in love. So it would be really nice if you stepped out of the way now."

"Eric," Bob reprimanded my brother. And before the latter could say another word, Bob added, "Go home for now. I'll deal with your sister."

Eric looked like he would protest, but Bob stopped him with a kiss.

Shocked and still reeling from the scene, I looked away. I wanted to hurl and run far away, but my feet didn't move.

"I want a divorce," I found myself saying when Eric left and Bob and I were left alone. I didn't know how I managed to stay inside the room with the two, but I did, only because I wanted the whole thing to be over.

"No!" Bob's answer made me look at him with renewed shock.

"What?" I asked. Did he really think I would stay with him after this? "Bob, are you insane?"

Bob gritted his teeth but didn't answer my question. Then his eyes turned into their usual warm smiling color as he said happily, "I told you before, didn't I, Sophia? I'll be promoted soon, and it would be bad if I had a divorce at this critical moment. So you have to stay with—"

Faced with my husband's unimaginable shamelessness, my hand moved on its own and slapped his unrepentant face to shut him up.