Page 182 of My Ruthless Husband

“Why would I?” His frown deepens, as if the notion of stargazing here baffles him.

“I mean, you love stargazing and come here on business trips often.”

“Exactly. Business trips.”

“Then why did you decide to come now?”

“Because I finally have a reason,” he says, glancing at me. His words seep into my heart, making it pound faster. I’m speechless.

“River, when I go on these business trips, all I do is work, eat, and sleep for a few hours before diving back in. I compress months’ worth of work into just a week or two.”

“Why?” I ask, genuine concern threading through my voice. It must be exhausting, shouldering such a burden alone.

“I do that so I can come home. To you. As soon as I can.”

“For sex?” My voice is weak.

“I have a high libido.” He agrees bluntly.

“But you can get sex anywhere,” I blurt before thinking.

“True,” he replies, cutting me to the bone. “But I don’t want anyone else.” His voice drops, turning dead serious. “You brought this up last time, and it seems you still have doubts. Payattention because I won’t repeat myself. I never cheated on you. Not once have I so much as looked at another woman since you ran after me at the Four Seasons two years ago.”

I sit there, too stunned to say anything.

“And about cheating, It’s not just out of respect for you or your feelings. I find adultery distasteful and beneath me. If I wanted someone else, I’d be man enough to tell you and walk away. But that’s highly unlikely because I only want you. Anyway, I would never betray you or insult our marriage like that.”

My heart flutters at his words, a rush of relief washing over me. “Then why did you treat me like I was invisible the whole year we were married?”

“Because I thought doing so would ease my guilt.” He looks away.

“Guilt?”

He stares at the dark sky. “I felt fucking guilty for wanting you all the time. Being on business trips helped me maintain the illusion that I didn’t marry you. Not having you in front of me makes it easier to pretend you don’t exist.”

“What?” I am shaken by his confession.

“I wasn’t supposed to marry you, River.” He delivers another blow without even sparing me a glance. “I was never meant to marry the daughter of the man who ruined my life. But you... you were so innocent, so giving and loving like an angel. I got greedy. I became selfish. I took you even when I shouldn’t have. That’s why I said you weren’t in my plan.”

“Will you ever tell me what my father did to you?” I ask desperately.

“You would never believe me.”

Try me, I want to say but he turns his head, capturing my lips.

He kissed me, not out of desire, but to soften the sting of his words, masking his lack of trust in me.

For some reason, Damian thinks I’d never believe him which only makes my stomach sink lower.

Dad… what did you do?

Chapter Forty-Six

“How does it feel to be back?” Vicky asks, settling on the plush sofa across from me in the mansion’s sprawling sitting area. It’s surreal, finally being home after two months of constant travel.

I take a deep breath, my gaze drifting over the familiar contours of the room. “It feels…” I pause, struggling to find words. “I don’t know,” I admit, giving her a soft, helpless smile. And it’s true—I can’t quite grasp everything that’s been building up inside me.

Right after our stargazing night, Damian and I had to drop everything and fly to Greece for an urgent business crisis. A minor issue spiraled out of control. A single conference call with his executives would’ve saved days of fallout, but Damian had switched off his phone when we were out that day and there were consequences.

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