My husband doesn't touch me on our wedding night. He claims he's too tired and asks me to wait. Then, he sneaks into the basement in the wee hours of each night. Whenever he returns, he needs to shower to wash away an indescribable smell.

I ask him what he does down there, and he tells me he works out. Why would anyone work out in the middle of the night?

I can't take it anymore. One night, I decide to sneak into the basement to see what's going on down there. He chases after me and grabs my pajamas, roaring, "Come back up here! I'll divorce you if you step foot down there!"

Clutching the railing, I began to tremble with anger. My parents had spent a huge chunk of their life savings to purchase this small villa for me as my marital home.

This was my home, so why wasn't I allowed to enter the basement?

Not just that, but as my husband, how dare he spit such venomous words at me?

I took a deep breath to get my fury under control. "Zane, how could you speak to me like this?"

Zane Kors kept a death grip on my pajamas. "Honey, let's go upstairs first. I'll explain everything once we get back to the bedroom."

"Can't you explain things now?" I pointed toward the pitch-black basement. "Why can't I go down there? Do I not have the right to do so?"

"I'm working out these days, and I keep my prized equipment downstairs. However, you can't see them yet." Zane walked to the bottom of the stairs, standing in my way.

"Why not?"

"Because it's not the right time yet. When the time is right, I'll definitely show you!"

My stomach sank. I took another deep breath, trying to calm my emotions.

"If that was the case, why did you have to say those harsh things when you came running after me just now?"

"I… I just got a little worked up. Besides, you know what kind of person I am—I have a sharp tongue, but I'm a softie inside."

Chuckling coldly, I turned to walk upstairs. As if a man was capable of having a sharp tongue and a soft heart!

Fine. I'd wait until he went to work tomorrow to go downstairs and find out what was going on.

…

After returning to bed, I tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

Something fishy was going on in the basement, and it must be something big.

Could Zane be hiding a shameful secret?

I turned to look at him. It seemed like he wasn't able to fall asleep either. He stared at the ceiling with his eyes wide open, looking like there was something on his mind.

The moonlight illuminated his defined side profile, making him look incredibly handsome. His muscular body made him look even more alluring.

Thinking back to the time when he pursued me, I had been so excited and could hardly believe it. He was so handsome, while I was just a plain Jane. Just what did he like about me?

He'd told me that he liked my gentleness and quietness, as well as my unique presence.

I'd believed him.

However, if that was true, then why did he never touch me at night?

After all, I was his young, sweet wife. We hadn't even made it past our honeymoon yet; was this normal?

At last, I couldn't hold back anymore. I reached out to caress his face.

"What are you doing?" As if he'd been shocked, he rapidly shrunk back to his side, glaring at me with disgust. He was looking at me the same way people regarded beggars or dirty stray dogs.

Having come to a realization, I flipped over angrily.

However, I couldn't swallow my rage. If he didn't have feelings for me, why did he pursue me? Why did he get into a relationship with me?

With these thoughts in my head, I suddenly turned around again. Glowering at him, I said, "You said that we can't do it for now because of your health reasons, which I can understand. But all I did was touch you with my hands. Why did you react so drastically?"

"I've told you countless times that I have a psychological disorder. I'm looking for a psychologist now, so you have to be patient and wait for me." Zane picked up his phone and gently patted my shoulder with it. "Honey, please wait for half a year longer. After six months, I promise I will love you properly."

He couldn't even use his hands to touch me and had to do it with his phone. Was I that dirty? How could I believe his words?

However, I didn't have any other choice but to wait for now. Sighing quietly, I flipped over.

Come to think of it, I had given my husband everything. Since we started dating, I had fulfilled all of his wishes.

He'd said he liked watches, so I'd bought him a luxury watch that cost six figures.

He'd said he liked to travel, so I'd gone around the globe with him.

He'd said he wanted to make money through investments, so I'd lent him money to learn how to invest.

In other words, so long as he wanted something that I could provide, I never held back.

However, after we became newlyweds, this was what I got in return.

This was all because of that basement!

I hated the basement! Even if I had to turn it upside down, I was going to find out the truth!

The sun was up. As usual, I made Zane's favorite breakfast. Yet, he still remained indifferent. He ate quietly without saying a word to me.

It felt like I wasn't his wife but his maid.

After breakfast, I drove him to work. We both worked in sales at the same perfume company. After parking the car, I strode into the office.

Once he was gone, I left a colleague with some instructions before quickly leaving the office. I didn't take the car but instead called a cab to drive me home.

Flinging open the main door, I crossed the living room as quickly as I could and rushed toward the basement. However, when I arrived, I was dumbstruck.

The door to the basement had been changed! Without my knowing, it had been changed to a door with a password lock! And, without the password, it was impossible to enter.

I took out my phone and took a photo of the door. I wanted to find out if there was a universal key for this type of door.

"What are you doing?" Zane exclaimed, suddenly appearing at the stairway.

It turned out that he had felt uneasy, so he'd followed me!

He stalked up to me and slapped me across the face. "What did I tell you?"

"Did you just hit me?" I put my phone away.

"What did I tell you?" he roared again.

"This is my house! Do I not have the right to enter? Besides, shouldn't you have let me know that you were going to change the door?" I screamed back.

"You were supposed to wait until I had free time to tell you!" He raised his arm to hit me again.

I leaned back, dodging his strike. "I'm calling the police!" I said, taking out my phone. My face was stinging from the pain, and I was so furious that I felt like I was about to combust.

We hadn't even been married that long, and he was already abusing me. Things would only go downhill from here!

Panicking, Zane grabbed my hand. "Why are you calling the police?"

"This is my house, so why won't you allow me to go downstairs? And why did you hit me? Can't I call the police over this?" I insisted on calling the cops.

"Honey, calm down," he said, lowering his voice. "I… I had acted impulsively."

"Is impulsiveness a reason to hit your wife?" I shook his hand off. "Let go! I have to call the police!"

He grabbed my hand once again. "Honey, is this so big of a deal that you have to call the police? If you feel like things won't work out between us, you can file for divorce."

Divorce?

When I heard that word, I took a step back, falling silent.

Even though we weren't getting along as husband and wife, we weren't at the point where we should get divorced. Moreover, my parents had placed high hopes on our marriage. They were even looking forward to grandchildren.

More importantly, if we got divorced, he would get half of this villa. That would be a huge loss for my parents!

It wasn't like I agreed to it either!

"If you file for divorce, you have to give me the villa," Zane continued. "If you don't want to get divorced, then we can continue to live life the same way we used to, and you go back to work now."

After pondering it carefully, I shot him an angry look before storming upstairs.

I had no choice. I couldn't give up the villa that my parents had bought with their hard-earned money!

"Get back here!"

I stopped in my tracks, turning to look at him.

"For disrespecting me, don't you owe me an apology and a guarantee?" Zane asked.

I burst into tears from anger and slammed my fist against the handrails. Blood spilled from my hand. Giving him one last glower, I quickly left.

…

When I returned to the office, my colleague, Jane Dorca, asked, "Chloe, what's wrong? You look upset."

I told her I was fine and sat down to start work. My right hand was bandaged, so I had to use my left hand to turn my computer on. I didn't want Jane to see it, so I kept my right hand under the desk.

"Hey." Jane sat next to me and patted my shoulder. Winking at me, she continued, "Even though you're on your honeymoon with your husband, you need to slow down. Or else, you'll drain him dry."

I smiled wryly. If it was my honeymoon doing this to me, I'd admit it.

"It's the weekend tomorrow, and we're going out for our company team-building excursion. The theme is family-related, so we have to bring our spouse or partner," Jane reminded me. "If you don't show up, you'll get penalized."

I wasn't interested in team building, but I didn't want to get penalized. However, Zane really loved traveling. He had never missed a single company team-building activity in the past.

"I'll go if Zane goes," I said.

"I asked him earlier, but he said he's not going. If that's true, you two are going to lose your bonus this month!"

"Let me ask him."

I got up and walked toward the office space on the other side, which was where he worked. As soon as I entered, I saw him gossiping with two other male colleagues.

Two months ago, an accident had occurred in front of the office. A female driver had run over and killed three of our company's staff before running away. Until now, the female driver still hadn't been caught.

That was the topic of their conversation.

I stopped beside Zane and asked softly, "Aren't you attending the company team-building event?"

"No," he replied coldly.

"If we don't go, the company will penalize us," I continued quietly.

"Let them do it then."

"I don't think that just because we fought, we—"

"You're so annoying!" Zane suddenly shouted. "I'm staying home, you hear me?"

The office immediately fell deathly silent. Our colleagues gaped at us in utter shock.

My face flushed red. I badly wanted to hide under a desk. He had just raised his voice at me, his newly wedded wife, in front of everyone in the office!

What else could I say? Bowing my head, I turned and left.

It was at that moment that all my illusions about Zane died completely.

When I returned to my desk, Jane wrapped her arms around me. "Chloe, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pressured you," she apologized quietly.

"It's alright."

Suddenly, something popped into my head. I took out my phone and sent her a photo. "Jane, you know a lot of things. Could you help me find out if a password-locked door like this has a universal key?"

Jane looked at the photo on her phone for a while before nodding. "Sure. I have a friend who sells doors like this. I'll ask her for you."

Nighttime rolled around. While making dinner, I unlocked my phone to check the surveillance camera again.

Just like what I saw this morning, it was broken. Could Zane have done this on purpose?

I finished preparing dinner and brought the plates to the dining hall. Zane had just returned, holding a cake in his hands. However, he was acting suspiciously. He hid the cake in the storage room so that I wouldn't see it.

I glanced over and still managed to catch a glimpse of the exquisite mousse cake.

I was taken aback. It wasn't his birthday today, nor was it mine. What was he up to?

Since he didn't say a word to me, I naturally didn't ask either. During dinner, we still barely spoke to each other. He was like a customer who'd walked into a restaurant, and I was the waitress.

Around bedtime, it was about time that I changed the bandages on my right hand. I carefully unwrapped it. After applying some anti-inflammatory ointment, I rewrapped it in gauze.

Meanwhile, Zane lay next to me, turning a blind eye.

"Oh, right. Have you given it some thought, Chloe?" Zane suddenly asked.

I was stunned. "Given what some thought?"

"The divorce. Have you given it some thought?" he asked again.

I laughed coldly. Just what were this bastard's intentions? Did he marry me just to scam me out of a house?

"What do you think? Do you want to get divorced?" I asked him back.

Zane said nothing.

"If you think that being with me is meaningless, then you can file for divorce," I said magnanimously. "I won't hold you back from your happiness."

Zane's face fell. He flipped over suddenly so that his back was facing me. "Let's go to sleep!"

"You asked me to give you time for your psychological disorder to improve, and our relationship will get better. What do you say?" I said pointedly.

"Let's see," he said, growing impatient. "I'm tired. Let's go to bed."

After I was done cleaning up, I turned the lights off and got some rest.

Even though we were a couple, we clearly had different goals. It was unbearably torturous to live life like this. But at this point in time, I had no choice but to endure it.

Before I knew it, I fell asleep.

Perhaps I'd been conditioned, or maybe it was my subconscious at work, but I woke up in the middle of the night. Beneath the moonlight, the room wasn't as illuminated as it was during the day, but I could still see clearly.

When I turned my head, I saw that Zane wasn't here! He must have gone to the basement to "work out".

This time, I wanted to see with my own eyes what kind of "workout" he was doing.

When I sat up, I heard a rattling noise as my left hand was pulled down. I tugged harder, only to find a silver handcuff around my wrist! The handcuff was connected to a chain that was firmly tied to the leg of the bed frame!

I pulled even harder until my wrist began to burn with pain, but I couldn't budge!

"This is going too far!" At that moment, I wanted to kill him!

Just so he could go to the basement to do some shameful thing, he'd actually chained me up like I was a victim of human trafficking!

He wasn't even treating me like a proper human being!

At that moment, I heard footsteps outside. Zane had returned!

I swiftly lay back down and pretended to be sound asleep. I was a woman; if I fought him head-on right now, I would lose. Therefore, I'd rather fight fire with fire using my wits.

Not long after, Zane snuck over and carefully sat down. He gently picked up my left hand and unlocked the handcuff. Then, he unlocked the other end of the chain and put it away.

Throughout the entire process, the chain didn't make any loud noises.

After that was done, he carefully lay back down. Then, as if testing me, he used his phone to tap my shoulder.

I remained unmoving, like I was still asleep.

He let out a sigh before finally laying down, relieved.

Once again, I caught a whiff of shampoo and the smell of cake. Not just that, but there was another indescribable smell mixed with the two scents.

Had Zane brought the cake down to the basement? Was he eating cake while exercising, or was there something hiding in the basement?

I couldn't figure it out.

Not long after, he began snoring lightly. Meanwhile, I couldn't fall asleep. I could only stare into the distance with my eyes open.

When the sun rose, I looked into the mirror to find dark circles around my eyes. I wasn't beautiful, but I was still vain. Seeing the dark circles, I felt even more upset. I urged myself that I had to put an end to this as quickly as possible.

If this went on, I wouldn't be able to endure the mental torment any longer!

After breakfast, I purposely peeked into the garbage can in the living room. There was a cake box inside, and it was clearly the same cake that Zane had brought home last night!

In that case, who had eaten the cake? Could there be a person hiding in the basement?

My heart sank.

Was Zane hiding a woman in the house? Could he be keeping a trafficked female college student down there?