Goodbye, My Heartless Husband

At night, they clung to each other in passionate intimacy. By daylight, they might as well have been strangers. At that moment, Michael looked more irritated than anything else, clearly annoyed that his rest had been interrupted.

A spiteful impulse rose in Noreen's chest. She turned toward Hayley, her voice edged with mockery. "So when you sent me that picture, were you already done?"

For a split second, Hayley's expression tightened before she looked away and played innocent. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

A glacial smile tugged at Noreen's lips. "Oh, I know exactly what I'm talking about. You might want to take Michael to see a men's health specialist. He didn't even make it thirty minutes before passing out. If it's premature ejaculation, better deal with it before it gets worse."

The remark crashed into Hayley without warning, leaving her stunned. She had sent that photo to embarrass Noreen, never imagining she'd dissect it so mercilessly from a single glance.

As Noreen turned to leave, she caught sight of Michael's expression. His face had gone completely dark. The look on him was enough to send a surge of grim satisfaction through her.

The two of them could rot for all she cared!

...

Hayley stepped into the room with reddened eyes, looking as though she'd been holding back tears for far too long.

"Michael," she murmured, heartache bleeding into her tone. "Noreen really hates me, doesn't she? This happened because I crossed a line. I shouldn't have gotten so involved. Maybe... maybe it'd be better if I stayed away from you from now on."

"She's merely someone I sleep with. Don't pay attention to her," Michael said without emotion.

And that was precisely what gnawed at Hayley. Noreen possessed something Hayley could never understand. Michael had no feelings for Noreen. That much was obvious. Yet despite that, he seemed incapable of completely distancing himself from her. More importantly, throughout all these years, Noreen was the only woman he had ever touched.

Hayley had worked hard to secure a place in his heart. She had gotten closer to him than anyone else, becoming someone special in his life. Yet even after all that effort, she still couldn't get him to spend the night with her.

Hayley had spent a long time wishing she could be the one to fix Michael's "peculiar ailment." While they rode in the car, she quietly slipped off her jacket and shifted closer, letting herself rest against him.

"Michael..." Her voice came out soft and hesitant. "You actually have some free time today. Would you... maybe like to come back to my place later?"

Michael was no clueless teenager. The meaning behind her invitation couldn't have been more obvious. Any other man would have been distracted by the soft, enticing body leaning against him. Michael, however, felt absolutely nothing. No matter how much he liked her, not even the slightest hint of desire surfaced.

Keeping his gaze fixed on the road, Michael lifted a hand and turned the air conditioning to full blast.

"I'll make it up to you, but not now. I'll do so once I've fully recovered," he remarked evenly.

The icy rush from the vents swept over Hayley, sending a sharp shiver through her body. Swallowing her pride, Hayley tugged her jacket over her shoulders, her jaw rigid with resentment and embarrassment.

...

Noreen was still standing outside the hospital, waiting for a taxi, when a black Maybach glided to a stop at the curb directly in front of her. A faint crease appeared between her brows.

As the tinted window slid down, Michael's chiseled side profile came into view. "Get in," he said, leaving no room for refusal.

Her immediate reaction was to decline. Unfortunately, his car was parked right in front of the hospital entrance. In the short time it had been sitting there, a line of vehicles had already begun piling up behind it. Unwilling to attract attention or cause a public scene, Noreen swallowed her irritation, pulled open the door, and climbed inside.

The moment the door shut, the air seemed to turn heavy. Michael sat beside her with the same cold, unapproachable presence he always carried.

"Why were you at the hospital?" he demanded, a hard edge creeping into his voice.

Noreen instinctively tightened her hold on the medical file resting against her knees. The dryness in her throat made even the simplest words feel heavy. After a brief pause, she finally answered, "I came in for a heart checkup."

A slight twitch crossed Michael's brow before disappearing just as quickly. He'd seen her take pills more than once over the years. The thought of asking what they were for had simply never occurred to him. "Is it bad?" he asked, sounding almost indifferent.

Without missing a beat, Noreen swung her gaze toward him. Not a flicker of warmth crossed his striking features. His expression remained cool and detached, and his eyes held nothing that resembled worry.

Or maybe there was a trace of concern after all. Not for her. He was afraid of losing what she represented. If she died, he'd have to spend time searching for another woman whose body matched his so perfectly—someone just as convenient, just as suited to his needs.

Too tired to keep pretending, Noreen finally abandoned every last bit of restraint. "Yes," she said, her voice devoid of emotion. "I'm dying."

The edge of Michael's mouth lifted into a sharp, humorless curve. That sliver of disdain struck harder than any slap, cutting straight through Noreen's chest.

In that instant, Noreen understood. He hadn't believed her for even a second.

In his eyes, she was still the calculating woman who had destroyed his previous relationship and maneuvered her way into becoming his wife. To him, her claim wasn't the truth—it was just another desperate performance, another cheap attempt to win his attention.

Turning away, she fixed her gaze on the passing scenery beyond the window. A quiet laugh escaped her lips, tinged with bitter self-mockery.

A soft breeze drifted in, lifting a few loose strands of hair from her face. With her skin drained of color and her features delicate to begin with, the illness only made her seem more fragile. There was an almost unreal vulnerability about her now, the kind that instinctively stirred a man's urge to shield and protect.

Her physical appeal struck at the one weakness Michael couldn't seem to overcome.

There was something about her that drew him in completely—her face, her body, all of it. It wasn't simple attraction anymore. It had long since crossed into an obsession that refused to loosen its grip.

That was why he kept subjecting himself to endless examinations and consultations, clinging to the hope that one day he could rid himself of this "peculiar ailment." Yet all those efforts seemed meaningless now. With her sitting only inches away, the discipline he had painstakingly built was crumbling fast. Desire burned through him, leaving him consumed by a single urge—to finish what they'd begun the night before.