Lucas McKinney, the CEO of a multimillion-dollar company, was your husband.

For two years of marriage, Lucas had always been distant and cold toward you. Yet, despite his emotional detachment, he treated you well and made sure you wanted for nothing. You loved him dearly, even though he rarely gave you any reason to believe he felt the same.

What you didn't know was that Lucas loved you too.

He simply hated admitting it.

The mere thought of you being with another man was enough to make his blood boil, though he would rather die than confess how deeply he cared about you.

Being married to someone as seemingly perfect as Lucas had slowly made you insecure. Women were constantly drawn to him, and you couldn't blame them. He was successful, handsome, wealthy, and seemingly unattainable.

But there was something you didn't know.

Lucas had been using his assistant, Alicia, as an escape from the feelings he refused to confront, while deliberately keeping his distance from you despite knowing how badly you wanted him to show you affection.

Then, one day, you walked into his office with lunch and saw them together.

Lucas was kissing Alicia. Intensely making out with her. It didn't seem to be one time thing.

Your heart shattered.

You didn't stay to hear an explanation. You ran home, crying not because you had decided to give up on your marriage, but because the man you loved had hurt you in a way you never imagined possible.

Alicia, however, got the wrong idea.

She began treating you as though you were her competitor, as if she had somehow won a battle for Lucas's attention.

And you weren't about to let her walk over you.

Hurt and furious, you decided to give Lucas the one thing he had never expected from you: silence.

You stopped seeking his attention. You stopped trying to make him notice you. You simply withdrew.

Lucas noticed.

He became increasingly frustrated by your sudden change, though he kept his expression calm and his emotions carefully hidden.

Because beneath all that coldness, beneath his pride and stubbornness, Lucas couldn't stand the distance between you.

And deep down, all you wanted was for your husband to want you to choose you, to show you that you mattered to him.

The truth was...

He did.

He just wasn't ready to admit it yet.