The Comments Told My Husband I Didn't Love Him

My arrangedmarriage husband has more energy than any man alive, and out of nowhere he won't even touch me. It used to be that all I had to do was lie there.

He had energy to burn, and everything between us was in perfect harmony. Lately, though: no more abs pics. He comes out of the shower with the towel wrapped all the way up.

At night he doesn't even try — he just rolls over and goes to sleep.

I was still trying to work out why when a line of text drifted through the air in front of me. [If the female lead is just lying there, she isn't into it.

Can't you tell she's already at her limit with you?] Chapter 1 I've been a lowenergy person since I was a kid.

Waking up makes me sleepy, leaving the house makes me tired, and any kind of effort makes me want to die. So.

While everybody else was grinding extracurriculars, grinding grades, and working whatever connections their families had, I was home asleep.

While they were traveling the world and posting the photos, I was home watching nature documentaries.

While they were winning at both family and career, I was beautifully inheriting the family company and living off my parents. My whole brand: horizontal.

I lay there like that until I was twentysix, and my parents finally couldn't take it anymore. They decided to find someone to run the company for me.

So they went to a matchmaking service that specializes in families like ours, and I started going on introduction after introduction. The first one.

The trustfund heir took a genteel sip of his coffee and smiled with everything except his eyes. "So you're telling me you leave the house about once every two months, you don't ride, you don't golf, and your greatest hobby is sleeping?" I nodded, and added, "I do get exercise, though.

I have to go up and down the stairs for meals." That one fell through. The second one. Across the table sat a guy with new tech money.

Selfmade, doing extremely well, and completely incapable of saying what he meant. "You know everybody in your circle, right? I've got everything lined up at this point.

I just need somebody to open a door for me. You know what I'm saying?" I nodded. New markets. Got it. So I added him to my gaming voice chat. That one fell through.

A few more rounds of that and I was completely wiped. So when I walked in and saw Evan Sheridan, with that face, that build, and the way he carried himself.

My brain started arguing with itself. So handsome. But I don't want to try. Such a good body. But I don't want to try. Love at first sight. But I don't want to try.

Finally I made up my mind. I sat up straight and put out my hand like a respectable person. "Hi.

I'm Margaret Thorne." Evan's lashes lowered and he looked at my hand for a long moment without moving. Not impressed, apparently. Well, that's my effort for the day.

Levelten quitter, reporting for duty. But just as I was pulling my hand back, he took it. Long fingers, veins standing out, a whole lot of sexual tension in one handshake. "Hello.

Evan Sheridan." "How does next month work for the wedding?" Me: ? Evan and I got married. My parents were thrilled with him.

The Sheridans go back more than a hundred years, and the money is real.

Evan, the heir of his generation, had clawed his way up through the blood on the floor, and he was capable and ruthless in equal measure.

He signed the prenup without a second's hesitation. He would never touch Thorne family assets, and if we ever divorced he'd walk away with nothing.

He would never make me do anything I didn't want to do, which was the clause I liked best. … Evan's only request was the other sheet of paper lying beside the prenup.

That one laid out how the two of us were going to treat each other once we were married. Including but not limited to checking in with each other every day, hugging, kissing.

I thought about it. Not a bad deal. Reasonable. What I hadn't counted on was how much energy Evan had. He could send me a thousand texts a day. [Got to the office.

You awake?] Asleep. Do not disturb. [In a meeting. Awake yet?] I yawned and sent him a photo. [Eating brunch.] [Good.

Take a break if your jaw gets tired.] He looks cold, but he's pretty thoughtful. Chapter 2 [At the gym. What are you doing?] Then a few abs pics.

I saved them, delighted. [Looking good. I'm out for a stroll.] My actual range was the garden by the front door. [Okay. Don't go too far.

Save some energy.] Evan would finally make it to the end of a workday, and the first thing he did when he got home was come find me.

I generally respawned at random on either the couch or the bed.

He always knew where to look, and once he found me he'd hug me. "Thank you for waiting up for me." Really I was just too lazy to go anywhere. But I didn't say that.

So after a whole day of getting through a pile of work, Evan could still put in a shift in bed at night. I don't like to move, so he ran the entire operation on autopilot.

I'm bad at it and I still want to play, so he kept switching things up. Start to finish, my whole brand: lie there and enjoy it. Anyway.

Evan really did do everything written on those two sheets of paper. So. Even though our habits didn't line up in a hundred ways, the two of us got along fine.

Until the night Evan got off work too late. By the time he came home I was already asleep. The old Evan would have covered me in kisses until I woke up.

This time he just sat down on the edge of the bed.

I surfaced halfway and got a scare from the dark shape beside me. "Babe?" Without thinking I put my arms around his neck and leaned up to kiss him.

He turned his face away, smoothly enough that it barely showed. Then, coldly, "I'm tired. I'm going to go shower." And I believed him. He'd been living at that intensity nonstop.

Of course he was tired. I'd have been dead on the floor a long time ago. What I didn't expect was how long Evan stayed tired. A solid week, and he was distant the whole time.

No more texts, no more gym pictures. He came home and didn't come find me. He didn't touch me, either. I even offered to shower with him and got pushed right back out.

And when he came out he was wrapped up to the neck, no generous display of abs or chest anymore. Got into bed and went straight to sleep. No dessert. I could not work it out.

So I asked, delicately, "Is there another woman?" It was the only thing I could think of.

Evan denied it instantly. "Of course not." Then he stared into the empty air with his brows drawn tight.

It took him a while to speak again. "It's not like I have someone I grew up with." I nodded. "Uhhuh." Wait. Someone he grew up with. Where did that come from?

Before I could ask, Evan said, in that same hollow voice, "Bowen's coming back, isn't he?" That stopped me. Bowen Tennant is the one I grew up with.

He went overseas five years ago, and he was flying back tomorrow. He had messaged me specifically to ask me to pick him up at the airport.

I remembered all the things I'd made him do for me when we were kids, so I'd said yes. But how did Evan know?

I nodded. "That's right, I have to go get him from the airport tomorrow.

How did you know?" Evan stared up at the ceiling, expressionless. "And you're having dinner together after?" I said yes. He stopped talking.

He turned off the light, then rolled onto his side with his back to me. "Get some sleep.

I won't bother you." He knew going out tomorrow would wear me out, so he was making sure I got to bed early. So thoughtful. Touched, I told him good night.

About five minutes later, Evan moved. There was a faint thickness in his voice. "Margaret. Do you hate me?" Nothing out of me for a long moment.

So he shifted slowly and leaned over to look at me. And found that I was asleep. Sleeping great. Chapter 3 The comments went scrolling past above my head. [Dying.

The female lead does not have the second male lead on her mind even a little.

He's still crying and she's already getting her beauty sleep for tomorrow's date.] [Honestly though, tears are the best cosmetic work a man can get.

The second male lead looks even more wrecked now. I want to be so mean to him.] [Give it up, second male lead.

The guy who shows up out of nowhere never beats the guy she grew up with.

If the male lead hadn't gone abroad you'd never have gotten this marriage in the first place.] [The second male lead is purely there for the female lead to practice on.

Once she's with the male lead she'll be beautifully in charge and eating VERY well!] [Once she sees the male lead tomorrow she'll find the second male lead has no flavor at all, and she and the male lead will rekindle everything.] Evan was completely wrecked.

The next day. When I got up there was nobody beside me. The housekeeper said Evan had gone out first thing in the morning. "Mrs. Thorne, Mr.

Sheridan didn't seem to be in a good mood. Did the two of you fight?" I shook my head. We hadn't. I'd gone under last night practically the second my head hit the pillow.

When would I have found the time to fight with Evan? Can't figure it out. And if I can't figure it out, fine. I don't have a lot of good qualities. I just don't hold a grudge.

Thinking that, I texted Evan. [Want to get dinner tonight?

I mentioned you to Bowen and he'd really like to meet you.] Getting him out of the house and into some new scenery might put him in a better mood.

But Evan didn't answer for a long time. I assumed he was busy with work and left it alone. After dinner that night.

Outside the restaurant, Bowen leaned against the wall and gave me a smile I couldn't read. "Your husband isn't coming to get you?" A few years away had made him even louder to look at.

Platinum blond hair, and a piercing through his brow. I checked my phone. Still nothing new. I had to force a smile up onto my face. "He's pretty busy.

It's fine, I'll just call a car." Bowen's gaze drifted off into the distance and came back fast. "All right.

Guess I'm not meeting your husband today." He sighed like it was a shame, then opened both arms. "Now that I think about it, you didn't even hug me when I got here.

What, five years and we're strangers? Got a husband, forgot your best friend?" It was a bizarre thing to say. But I dragged myself through a hug anyway. So tired.

Socializing is exhausting. I miss my couch. I miss my bed. I want to go home and lie down. I let go fast. "Okay, I'm calling a car." The second I said it, a horn sounded behind me.

I turned around, startled, and saw Evan with a cold look on his face. He stepped out of the car and put his hand out to Bowen. "Hello.

Evan Sheridan, Maggie's husband." I almost never got to see the outside version of Evan.

A dark suit cut to fit him exactly, back straight, every movement carrying the weight of a man who had been at the top for a long time. His brow was low, his eyes cold and far away.

Nothing at all like the man at home. It hit me for the first time. The Evan Sheridan other people talked about, the one who moved fast and took people apart without mercy.

Was my husband. Bowen pulled his mouth into something like a smile and shook it. "Heard a lot about you. Bowen Tennant. Maggie's friend since we were kids.

We go way back." Evan didn't bother with any more courtesy and let go quickly.

Then he took the bag off my shoulder and put his palm along the top edge of the car door. "Let's go home." I let out a breath and got in immediately.

Then I rolled the window halfway down and waved goodbye to Bowen with a smile. His eyes crinkled. "See you next time." Not if I can help it.

Chapter 4 I would not be leaving the house again for a month. I put the window up fast and the smile dropped off my face. That smiling wore me out. Evan had just gotten in.

He saw it and paused. Then he looked out the window and didn't say a word. My husband appeared to be giving me the silent treatment, unilaterally. But I didn't know why. Men.

Who knows what's going on in there. Can't figure it out. Carb coma. Getting sleepy. Before long I tipped over onto Evan's shoulder and started dozing.

The person beside me seemed to sigh. Fingertips touched my face. Cold.

I nuzzled into them, and he pulled them back fast, murmuring. "You smile like that the second you see him." "Does being with me really make you that miserable?" Mumble mumble.

What is he saying. Great sleeping, though. I don't remember getting out of the car. All I know is I woke up in bed. No warmth beside me. I yawned and got up.

Found Evan sitting on the couch in the living room.

His back slightly curved, looking completely defeated. "Babe, what are you doing?" I shuffled over in my slippers, and only then did I see the document lying on the coffee table.

At the same moment, Evan finally deigned to turn his head.

The hair he always combed back so precisely was a mess, and his eyes and the tip of his nose were red, like he'd just been crying.

His black tie was pulled loose, his collar hanging half open, showing a broad stretch of bare chest that should have stayed covered.

To put it bluntly, objectively, truthfully, without beating around the bush, and right on the nose. It was a whole different flavor. My mouth watered.

All Evan's fault for feeding me so well before. Once you've gone carnivore you can't go back. So there I was, admiring him with a red face.

And Evan said, with no expression at all, "Margaret. Let's get divorced." "?" What just happened? Before I could get anything out.

I saw a strange line of text drift through the air. [The second male lead finally asked for the divorce.

Look how happy the female lead is, her face is red from holding the laugh in.] Me: ??? More and more of them drifted past in front of my eyes