When Love Turns to Ashes Chapter 1

In Manhattan's elite circles, there was a saying: every woman in the world was capable of infidelity, except Victoria Hayes.

She was the epitome of loyalty—elegant, reserved, devoted only to the husband she'd loved since high school.

But in their fifth year of marriage, Ethan Brooks received proof that Victoria was having an affair.

When the photos landed in his hands, Ethan's entire body went rigid.

The man wasn't some college athlete or successful executive. He was a divorced breakfast café owner named Luke Mitchell—average looks, ordinary background, nothing special about him at all.

Yet the way Victoria looked at him radiated a love and tenderness that cut straight to the bone.

At nine that evening, Victoria came home in her usual crisp business attire, her expression cool and detached.

Ethan sat on the couch in the darkness. As she approached, he violently hurled the stack of photos at her. They scattered across the floor like fallen leaves.

"Victoria. Explain."

Victoria paused for a moment, then bent down to gather the photos one by one. This woman who was obsessed with cleanliness now tenderly wiped the dust from the man's face in the pictures.

She looked up, meeting his gaze with calm detachment. "There's nothing to explain. Yes, I fell in love with him."

Ethan felt invisible hands crushing his throat. His breathing stopped. His mind went blank.

"You fell in love with him?" Each word trembled. "What about me, Victoria? When you confessed your feelings at sixteen, you told me I was the only one you'd ever love. You said you couldn't see anyone else!"

Victoria watched his agitation with empty eyes, showing no emotion—only a deep, bone-weary exhaustion.

"I did say that." She spoke calmly, but with brutal honesty. "But Ethan, these years of loving you have exhausted me."

"We dated for four years, married for five. I loved you for nine whole years. During those nine years, every time you got upset—right or wrong—wasn't it always me who apologized? When you wanted that limited-edition collectible, I flew overseas overnight to get it. When you got jealous because another man glanced at me, I immediately fired my assistant of three years. When you wanted to see a midnight movie premiere, I stayed up with you even though I had a crucial meeting the next morning..."

She listed incident after incident—moments Ethan had cherished as proof of their love now became evidence of her suffering.

"For you, I lost almost all my dignity and sense of self. But Ethan, I'm human too. I get tired."

She paused, her gaze drifting. "Three months ago, you were furious because I forgot to buy your favorite watch. No matter how I tried to make things right, you wouldn't forgive me. I waited outside your door all night. The next morning, I was on my way to buy that limited edition when I collapsed from stomach pain in front of Luke's breakfast café."

"He gave me medicine, made me warm porridge, used his calloused hands to gently massage my cramping stomach." As she spoke, her voice took on a tenderness Ethan had never heard before. "With him, I felt a warmth I never felt with you. That day was the most comfortable, the most relaxed day I've had in nine years. I let go of all my exhaustion."

Ethan's body went rigid, his mind buzzing. He could barely stand. "So... just because of some porridge? You're throwing away nine years for that?"

Victoria's gaze returned to him, complex and distant. "Ethan, you're handsome. In all these years, I've never met anyone better looking. You're brilliant—your piano career is thriving, you're a star. But because of all that, I constantly had to look up to you, walk on eggshells around you, make you the center of my universe."

"Luke is ordinary. He's not outstanding or particularly handsome, but he cares when my stomach hurts. He makes me warm porridge, gives me massages when I'm exhausted. With him, I feel something I never had before—peace and... a sense of belonging."

A sense of belonging? Those three words pierced Ethan's heart like a knife.

Then what was their nine-year home worth?

"But don't worry—I won't divorce you."

Her tone shifted to cold business logic. "I need a husband like you—accomplished, presentable. And I promised your parents at their graves that I'd stay with you forever. After all our years together, I won't be completely heartless."

She looked at him, drawing a cruel, clear line: "But from now on, I won't love you anymore. And don't interfere with Luke and me."

"I'm sorry. I know I broke my vows. I can't control it. For the sake of how much I loved you, if you need to blame someone, blame me. This has nothing to do with Luke."

She turned and left without looking at his ashen face, her departure absolute and final.

Ethan collapsed on the couch, watching her cold, retreating figure, feeling like he'd been struck by lightning.

Nine years ago, he'd been the school's golden boy—confident, athletic, popular. She'd been the untouchable queen bee, beautiful and aloof, pursued by everyone. People said they were perfect together.

She'd fallen for him at first sight and pursued him relentlessly.

But Ethan's parents' toxic relationship—their constant fighting—had left him wary of love and intimacy.

She'd used infinite patience and tenderness to break through his walls. Every morning without fail, she brought him breakfast. When he was sick, she'd skip class to get his medicine. When someone treated him unfairly, she'd be the first to defend him... Slowly but surely, she'd opened his closed heart.

After they got together, she remained devoted. His childhood trauma made him independent and self-contained. When he saw guys asking for her number, he'd feel sick with jealousy but would just walk away silently, never confronting her.

Then came the summer after graduation. A car accident took his parents' lives.

The crushing grief nearly destroyed him, but he told no one. He handled the funeral arrangements alone, went through the motions mechanically.

Victoria, who'd been on a graduation trip abroad, somehow found out. She came racing back like a woman possessed.

She burst into the funeral home, windswept and exhausted. When she saw him in his black suit—gaunt and pale as paper—her eyes instantly filled with tears.

She fell to her knees and pulled his cold body into her arms. "Ethan! Look at me! I'm Victoria! I'm the most important person in your life! You can cry in front of me, let down all your defenses! When you're jealous, you can confront me, yell at me! Because there will never be barriers between us! I will always come to you, always stay by your side! Do you hear me?!"

In that moment, Ethan's carefully constructed walls shattered completely. He collapsed against her shoulder and sobbed, releasing all his grief, helplessness, and pain.

She was the one who pulled him out of his shell.

So for these nine years, he'd learned to express himself, to be vulnerable, to make demands and show his emotions like people who were truly loved... because he believed her when she said "I will always come to you, always stay by your side."