Five Years as My Wife's Lapdog

Marissa Caldwell marries me to save the man she truly loves, Damian Davenhurst. For five years, she never once treats me like her husband. To her friends, I'm nothing more than a fool who comes running whenever she calls and disappears whenever she tells me to leave. "Cyrus Halden, you're basically her lapdog. She calls, you come running. She tells you to leave, and you leave." Whenever they laugh at me like that, Marissa simply smiles and says nothing. Once, when I'm burning up with a fever that won't break, she leaves the country with Damian just to escape her mother's constant nagging. Another time, I drink until I'm vomiting blood from a stomach ulcer during a business dinner while Marissa is upstairs in a presidential suite with him. I endure it all, convincing myself that if I love her enough, one day she'll finally see me as her husband. Then Damian and I are kidnapped on the same day. When she's forced to choose between us, she doesn't hesitate. She abandons me. That is when I finally wake up from my delusion. After five years of loving a woman who has never loved me back, I decide I'm done. I will leave her for good. But the moment she realizes I'm serious, Marissa regrets everything. She grabs my hand, her voice breaking as she begs, "Cyrus, please don't leave me. I'll go crazy without you." I slowly pull my hand from hers. "I can't do this anymore." Chapter 1 Cyrus' POV Everyone knew that the person Marissa Caldwell loved most was Damian Davenhurst. The two had grown up together, sharing the same interests, the same dreams, and the kind of connection that made everyone around them assume they were destined to be together. And then there was me, Cyrus Halden. I was a poor kid who had been raised with financial support from the Caldwell family. To them, I was nothing more than a charity case who owed them everything. I was fiercely loyal to the Caldwells, and I had been hopelessly in love with Marissa for as long as I could remember. So, when Marissa's mother, Elena Bennett, ordered her to marry me, I never questioned it. By then, the Davenhurst family had gone bankrupt, and Damian had been exposed as an illegitimate child. Elena had come to despise him because of it, so in her eyes, I was the obvious choice. I was loyal to the Caldwell family, I loved her daughter, and I could help Marissa protect the family's interests. But to everyone else, it looked like I'd taken advantage of Damian's downfall and stolen the woman he loved. I became the villain who had driven a wedge between Marissa and Damian, and everyone hated me for it. Marissa may have married me, but she never once treated me like her husband. On the very first day of our marriage, she looked at me with cold contempt and said, "Cyrus, if you're shameless enough to throw yourself at me, then understand this: I will never love you." Five years passed, and the rumors about Marissa's love life never stopped. One day, she'd be openly flirting with some handsome young employee at the company. Next, she'd be taking a cruise with some male model built like a damn tank. She seemed to take pleasure in humiliating me, stripping away whatever dignity I had left and grinding it beneath her heel. And no matter how much it hurt, I stayed by her side, still foolish enough to believe that being her husband might someday mean something to her. … I found Marissa while she was partying with her friends aboard a private yacht. The sea breeze was cool against my skin, carrying the salty scent of the ocean mixed with the faint aroma of red wine. Marissa was sprawled lazily across a couch, one hand resting against her forehead, her eyes half-closed as she soaked in the afternoon sun. A freshly lit cigarette dangled between the fingers of her other hand. As I approached, I caught the sound of her friends talking about me. "Marissa, you've really got it made. Even after getting married, you don't have to play the part of some dutiful wife. You can still eat, drink, and have fun whenever you want." "Ha! You're kidding. Cyrus isn't even worthy of being Marissa's husband. He's nothing more than a dog the Caldwell family raised." "Exactly. He's basically Marissa's personal lapdog. She calls, he comes running. She tells him to leave, and he disappears." I instinctively looked toward Marissa, waiting for her to say something. But she only smiled, completely carefree, without so much as a flicker of anger. A dull ache spread through my chest and climbed into my throat. I pressed my lips together, forcing down the bitterness before letting out a faint, self-mocking smile. I knew Marissa's temper better than anyone. She was fiery by nature and fiercely protective of the people she cared about. Damian had been born prematurely and had always been in poor health, so she couldn't stand anyone speaking badly about him. Once, she overheard someone calling him a sickly weakling behind his back. Without a second thought, she kicked the person straight into the river. Then she pointed at him and coldly warned, "If I ever hear you talking about Damian behind his back again, I'll kick you into that river every single time." That was Marissa. If she cared about someone, she would defend them without hesitation. But I had never been one of those people. If anything, her silence was as good as permission for her friends to humiliate me. She sat there and let them tear apart what little dignity I had left, without ever once telling them to stop. I clenched my fists at my sides, my nails digging into my palms. After a moment, I slowly forced my fingers to relax. I took a deep breath, swallowed the bitterness rising in my throat, and walked over to Marissa. When she saw me, she casually flicked the ash from her cigarette and glanced up at me. "What are you doing here?" Chapter 2 Cyrus' POV Tonight was Elena's birthday party, and she had ordered me to attend with Marissa. I knew Marissa resented her mother and would never willingly show up, but I also knew better than to ignore Elena's threats. After hesitating for a long moment, I finally bit the bullet and went to find Marissa. "Today's your mother's birthday. She wants us to attend the party together." The moment Marissa heard that, a mocking smile tugged at her lips. She didn't even bother looking at me. "Wow. You really are my mom's favorite lapdog. She tells you to do something, and you jump." She took another drag from her cigarette before lazily waving me off. "I'm not going. Get lost." I stood there silently, thinking about my sister lying in a hospital bed, kept alive by expensive medical treatment. I couldn't afford to make an enemy of the Caldwell family, and I couldn't afford to let Elena turn her back on us either. So, I swallowed my pride, stepped closer, and pleaded, "Marissa, what would it take for you to come back with me to the party?" A strange glint flashed in her eyes. Her smile turned cold as she pointed toward the dark waters below the yacht. "Fine. Jump overboard. If you do that, I'll go with you." I followed her finger and looked down. Wave after wave crashed against the side of the yacht, the water black and seemingly bottomless beneath the moonlight. It looked as though something enormous could be lurking in those depths, waiting for me. I turned back to Marissa. Her face was cold and unreadable. "Do you mean it?" She blew a cloud of smoke in my face and answered without a hint of hesitation. "Yeah. Go ahead. Jump." The moment I heard her answer, I didn't hesitate. I climbed over the railing and jumped. The cold seawater swallowed me almost instantly. Just before I plunged beneath the surface, I caught one last glimpse of Marissa standing on the deck. For the briefest moment, the coldness vanished from Marissa's face. Her eyes widened with unmistakable fear, and beneath it, I caught something I hadn't expected to see—genuine concern. I couldn't understand it. After everything she'd done to me, after all the times she'd made it clear that my feelings meant nothing to her, why would she be afraid for me now? The truth was, things between Marissa and me hadn't always been this bad. When we were younger, she used to follow me everywhere. I first met her when Elena brought her back to her hometown for a family visit. I noticed Marissa the moment I spotted her in the crowd. She was dressed in a black dress with a matching jacket, her long hair falling neatly down her back. She rarely smiled, and her young face was almost always cold and expressionless. With her long, thick lashes and large, dark eyes, she looked like a delicate porcelain doll—beautiful, flawless, and somehow strangely empty, as though there was no emotion behind those eyes. I secretly overheard the adults talking about her. She was the precious daughter of a wealthy family, the kind of child everyone considered priceless. They called her a "golden child". At the time, I was too young to understand what that really meant. I didn't know how much wealth or influence a family like the Caldwells could have. But I remembered her name—Marissa Caldwell. A few years later, I placed first in the entire city on my middle school entrance exam. That caught her grandfather's attention, and he eventually brought me into their home, offering to pay for my education. From that point on, Marissa and I grew up side by side. The Caldwells paid for my schooling, and I attended the same schools as Marissa. In return, I stayed by her side, looking out for her and protecting her whenever I could. Some of my classmates who didn't like me would laugh and call me Marissa's lapdog. I never bothered to deny it. If being by her side meant becoming the dog that guarded his princess, then I was more than willing to wear the name. As the years passed, Marissa and I grew closer. Little by little, she began opening up to me, sharing the things she kept buried deep inside. Everyone envied the Caldwell heiress for her privileged life, but I knew how suffocating it could be behind closed doors. Marissa's father had died in a car accident when she was young, leaving her as his only child. After losing her husband, Elena became intensely controlling and poured all her attention into managing her daughter's life. From the age of eight, Marissa had been given almost no say in anything. Elena decided which schools she attended, which classes she took, what clothes she wore, what she ate—every detail of her life was carefully planned and controlled. To everyone else, Marissa had everything a girl could want. But I knew the truth. She was living like a puppet, with her mother's hand pulling every string. The first time I ever saw Marissa truly smile was when we skipped school together and went to Mount Luna to watch a meteor shower. It was the first time I'd seen her look so genuinely happy and carefree. Moonlight spilled softly across her face, and the starlight seemed to dance in her eyes. When she smiled, I could even make out the faint dimples at the corners of her mouth. That night, for the first time, I had a selfish thought. I wanted to keep that smile for myself. I wanted to be the only person who could make her smile like that, the only person who would ever get to see that side of her. But our happiness didn't last. After what happened, everything between us changed. Marissa stopped seeing me as someone she could trust. Little by little, affection turned into resentment, and resentment eventually became hate. Chapter 3 Cyrus' POV After I jumped into the ocean, they pulled me out not long afterward. The water was freezing, and I was shivering uncontrollably as I stood there, dripping wet. Marissa's pretty face was twisted with anger. "Cyrus, are you insane? Why would you jump into the ocean in the middle of winter? Do you have a death wish?" I kept my head down, avoiding her gaze as I used the towel in my hands to dry my hair. In a low voice, I asked, "Are you going to keep your word?" Her anger only seemed to intensify. With a sharp sweep of her arm, she knocked the wine glasses off the table, sending them crashing to the floor. "Fine. You really are something. I'll give you exactly what you want." … Marissa kept her promise. She showed up at Elena's birthday dinner, but she brought Damian with her. Elena was furious, and whispers immediately spread among the guests. Countless eyes turned toward me, filled with contempt and disdain. I kept my expression calm, but my tightly clenched hands trembled slightly beneath the table. I couldn't help thinking that Marissa truly hated me. She never missed an opportunity to humiliate me and drag what little dignity I had left through the dirt. After dinner, Elena summoned me to the backyard of the villa and ordered me to kneel. She was furious with Marissa, but now that her daughter had grown strong enough to stand on her own, she couldn't punish her the way she used to. So instead, she punished me, using my humiliation as a warning to Marissa. What Elena didn't know was that Marissa didn't care about me in the slightest. In fact, every outrageous thing she did was deliberate. She wasn't trying to hurt me just for the sake of hurting me. She was provoking her mother, knowing that every time she crossed the line, Elena would take her anger out on me instead. My knees were pressed against the hard, uneven gravel, and the pain had already faded into a dull numbness. Worse, after spending the afternoon soaked in freezing seawater, I could feel a fever coming on. My head grew heavier by the second, and my vision kept fading in and out. That was when Marissa walked over and stopped in front of me, looking down at me with barely contained anger. "Cyrus, do you really have no dignity?" I let out a bitter laugh and looked up at her. "Isn't this what you wanted? You wanted me to live like some pathetic animal with no dignity. Isn't that exactly what you wanted?" My vision was so blurry that I could barely make out her face, but I could still feel the fury radiating from her. Her eyes seemed to cut into me like blades as she snapped, "Yeah. Someone as shameless and money-hungry as you doesn't deserve any dignity. Aren't you my mom's most loyal lapdog? As long as there's money involved, you'd do anything." Her words were vicious, each one striking straight into my heart. I dug my fingernails into my palms until beads of blood seeped between my fingers, but I barely felt the pain. The ache in my chest was so much worse. I gave her a bitter smile. Of course, I wanted to have some dignity. But what good was dignity when it couldn't put food on my table or keep me warm? What good was pride when I couldn't even afford to survive? In the end, dignity was useless. Marissa hated me because she believed I had betrayed her once. She always said the same thing: "Someone who betrays you can never be forgiven." But the truth was, I had never betrayed her. During the second semester of our sophomore year of high school, Marissa and I went on a school-organized summer camp trip. Somehow, our whereabouts got out, and enemies of the Caldwell family took advantage of the opportunity to kidnap us. They locked us in a dark, damp basement where rats and cockroaches scurried through every corner. Marissa had always been in poor health, and it didn't take long for her to develop a high fever. Her face burned with heat, her breath came out scorching, and she drifted in and out of consciousness. Eventually, she curled up in my arms, tears welling in her glassy eyes. "Cyrus, am I going to die?" she asked, her voice trembling with fear. I held her tightly, using my own body heat to keep her warm. Leaning close to her ear, I whispered firmly, "No. You're going to be okay, Marissa. You're going to live a long, healthy life. I'll make sure you're safe." The next day, desperate to get help for her, I called out to the man who brought us our food and asked him to come inside. The moment his guard dropped, I grabbed a loose piece of stone from the wall and slammed it against the back of his head, knocking him unconscious. I didn't waste a second. I hoisted Marissa onto my back and hurried out of the basement, carrying her as far away from that place as I could. Chapter 4 Cyrus' POV My fingers were bleeding from prying loose stones from the wall. I'd torn my nails and split them down to the quick, but the pain and blood didn't matter. I kept moving, carrying Marissa on my back and forcing myself forward, determined to get her out of there alive. But I hadn't eaten in so long that my body was already dangerously weak. Black spots danced across my vision, and with every step, my legs felt less steady. I stumbled through the forest until I finally found a hollow inside a large tree. Carefully, I lowered Marissa into it and made sure she was hidden from sight. She was pale and barely conscious. Desperate to keep her alive, I picked up a sharp stone from the ground and sliced open my wrist. Then I pressed it to her lips and let her drink my blood. The blood loss made my head spin even more. I shook my head, forcing myself to stay conscious, and used the last of my strength to make my way back toward the path we'd escaped along. The kidnappers hadn't gotten what they wanted, so there was no way they would simply let us go. With both of us in such weak condition, Marissa and I would never make it out of the forest together. It was only a matter of time before they caught up with us. The only way I could keep her safe was to draw them away from her. I knew there was a hunter's trap near the tree hollow, and I was certain someone would find Marissa by the next day. As long as I could lead the kidnappers in the opposite direction, she'd have a chance to survive. Once I was sure she was hidden and safe, I turned and headed back toward the path. That was my last thought before everything went black. Just as I'd expected, the kidnappers found me and dragged me back. They blamed me for ruining their plans by helping Marissa escape, and the man whose head I'd smashed was especially vicious. He glared at me with pure hatred, clearly determined to make me pay. They hung me up and whipped me with a saltwater-soaked whip, demanding to know where Marissa was. I clenched my teeth and refused to tell them. That only enraged them further. What followed was a brutal beating unlike anything I'd ever endured. They cut into my skin with blades, then poured saltwater and pepper water over the wounds. They drove needles beneath my fingernails and subjected me to every form of cruelty they could think of. They took out all their anger and frustration on me, watching with sick satisfaction as my body convulsed from the pain. For seven straight days, I was subjected to torture that felt like it would never end. By the time I was finally rescued, I could barely recognize myself. The moment I saw the people who had come to rescue me, the first thing I asked was, "How is Marissa?" No one answered. I was taken to a private hospital for treatment, and I kept asking the same question over and over, but no one would tell me anything. They wouldn't even let me leave the hospital. For three long months, I was kept there, completely cut off from Marissa and the outside world. Then, one day, a car from the Caldwell family finally arrived to take me home. I thought I would finally get some answers, but the moment I stepped out of the car, I was met with Marissa's cold, disgusted stare. Instead of asking if I was okay, she accused me of being selfish. She said that when we were in danger, I'd abandoned her and escaped on my own. She told me she hated me and never wanted to see me again. According to her, the only reason she was still alive was that someone else had rescued her. Then, just as I was trying to process her words, I saw her expression soften. But she wasn't looking at me. There was another boy standing beside her. His name was Damian. From that day on, the two of them were almost always together, looking every bit like the perfect couple. And I became nothing more than the person Marissa believed had abandoned her when she needed me most. I desperately wanted to explain what had really happened to Marissa, but Aria Whitmore, Elena's longtime assistant, stopped me before I could say a word. There was a trace of pity in her kind eyes as she led me to the study, where Elena was waiting. She explained that Damian was the only son of the Davenhurst family and that, compared to a poor nobody like me, his family was in an entirely different league. Then she told me to stay away from Marissa and stop deluding myself into thinking I could ever marry the daughter of the Caldwell family. My mind went completely blank. I opened my mouth, desperate to explain that I hadn't abandoned Marissa. I hadn't selfishly run away and left her behind. But before I could get the words out, I realized no one cared about the truth. Chapter 5 Cyrus' POV Elena clearly knew exactly what I wanted to say because she spoke before I could get a word out. "I know you were the one who saved Marissa. So what? Do you expect her to repay you for it?" She raised an eyebrow, her tone dripping with mockery. "What? You actually think you can be with Marissa? Have you looked at yourself lately? Do you really think you're worthy of the Caldwell family's daughter?" That was when I finally learned the truth. Elena had been the one keeping me confined to the hospital. She had dealt with the kidnappers and made sure they could never tell anyone what had really happened. Then she twisted the story, telling everyone that I'd been too afraid to come home after escaping and had hidden away because I was too cowardly to face anyone after abandoning Marissa. According to the story Elena had fabricated, Damian had found Marissa while he and his friends were out hiking. The moment Elena learned about his family background, she saw an opportunity. She gave Damian all the credit for rescuing Marissa and deliberately pushed the two of them together, encouraging them to grow closer until they eventually developed feelings for each other. By the time I learned what had really happened, the truth had already been buried beneath Elena's lies. In everyone's eyes, Damian was the hero who had saved Marissa, while I was nothing more than the coward who had abandoned her. Then Elena found the one thing she could use to control me. My sister was still living in our rural hometown, where my ignorant parents had been planning to marry her off to an old man in the village in exchange for money. Elena gave them enough money to abandon the arrangement, but in return, she demanded that I keep the truth to myself. Thinking of my sister, who had taken care of me ever since I was a child, I had no choice but to agree to Elena's terms. When I finally walked out of the study, my legs felt so weak that I nearly stumbled down the stairs. Aria caught me before I could fall and gently stroked my head, her eyes filled with sympathy. "Child, let it go. Mrs. Caldwell will never allow the two of you to be together." I only nodded, barely registering her words. In Marissa's eyes, I had already become a despicable man who would do anything to protect my own interests. Whatever feelings we had once shared were gone, and there was no future left for us. As Marissa and Damian grew closer, the Davenhurst family suddenly went bankrupt, throwing Elena's plans into chaos. Then she discovered something even more shocking: Damian was the illegitimate son of the Davenhurst family, and his biological mother was the same woman who had eloped with Marissa's father and caused the car accident that killed him. Elena was consumed by hatred. She vehemently opposed Marissa and Damian's relationship, but Marissa believed Damian was innocent and refused to leave him. Instead, she began secretly planning for the two of them to move overseas together. Unfortunately, Elena discovered their plans and was furious. The same woman had already taken her husband from her, and now her daughter was being taken away by that woman's son. She ordered me to stop them and bring Marissa home. But on their way to the airport, Marissa and Damian got into a car accident. Damian injured his hand so badly that he could no longer play the piano. When I pulled Marissa from the wreckage, her head was covered in blood, but the pain in her eyes wasn't what shocked me most. It was the hatred. She blamed me for everything that had happened. I'd learned the day before that she and Damian were planning to leave the country, and she assumed I was the one who had told her mother. In the end, Marissa negotiated with Elena and convinced her to send Damian overseas for treatment. In exchange, she agreed to marry me. Elena had once looked down on me because of my background, but now she saw me as something far more useful. She was afraid her daughter would eventually break free from her control, so she chose me because I was easy to manipulate. She knew Marissa would never fall in love with me again, and that made me the perfect tool to keep her tied to the family. Elena didn't care whether her daughter was happy. All she cared about was making sure Marissa would never leave her the way her husband had. After all those years, I'd finally gotten what I'd wanted. I married the woman I'd loved for so long. But she hated me and had married me for one reason only: revenge.