I Burned His 99 Flight Ticket Vows Chapter 1

After we'd made love for the 99th time, my husband brought up that meek intern.

I laughed and teased, "Don't tell me you like her?"

A flicker of panic crossed his eyes before he met my gaze.

"That girl? She could never be as good in bed as you."

But later, I walked in on them tangled together on our marriage bed.

The intern's clothes were half-undone as she leaned against my husband.

I didn't cry, didn't make a scene, didn't demand answers. I calmly burned the 99 ticket stubs from the international flights he'd taken for me.

Then I flew to London and married my stepbrother, who had been secretly in love with me for years.

Serena's POV

Adrian Thorne pursued me for five whole years. From our home country all the way abroad, taking 99 international flights before I finally agreed to be with him.

But in the fourth year of our marriage, Adrian suddenly became obsessed with an intern.

The intern had an innocent look. Though her family was poor, her personality was extremely proud.

Not only did she throw the roses he had air-shipped to her into the trash, she also publicly tore up the astronomically expensive check he handed her, declaring, "No matter how poor I am, I'll never be anyone's mistress!"

If anyone else had made such a scene, Adrian would have turned cold long ago.

But this time, not only was he not angry, he became even more obsessed, even more unable to control himself.

He pursued that intern so openly that everyone knew about it, as if he'd forgotten he had a wife at home whom he'd worked so hard to marry.

I once cried until my eyes were red and swollen, demanding to know. If he was so infatuated with Gianna Carson, what did all his promises to me mean?

And he said carelessly,

"Serena, she's different from all other women."

"I've never seen a woman who doesn't cling to power or care about money. She's fresh and interesting."

"I just want to see what it takes to make her let go of her pride and willingly let me conquer her."

"Serena, I do love you. But life is long. It's normal for me to occasionally be interested in someone else. You need to give me some space."

Adrian hurt me so deeply I wanted to die, yet I couldn't easily let go.

So from then on, I stopped fighting and making scenes. Instead, I found the plane tickets he'd saved from when he pursued me.

He once won my heart with 99 tickets.

So I decided that every time he hurt me, I would burn one.

When all 99 tickets were completely burned, that would be the day I left him for good.

The second ticket burned on our wedding anniversary. He left me alone at the restaurant. He spent the whole night at the office, just to help that girl revise her proposal.

The thirty-third ticket burned the day he left me curled up alone in the emergency room with stomach pain. He rushed off to pick up the girl who'd worked late. Just because she said, "It's raining and I can't get a ride."

The seventy-ninth ticket burned the day he pulled my art exhibition from the gallery. I'd prepared it for half a year. He made room for that girl's project. He replaced my work with the intern's immature design sketches.

The ninety-sixth ticket burned at our mutual friend's birthday party.

Adrian and I attended the party together, but as soon as we arrived, we ran into Gianna Carson, who was working there as a server.

Just because Gianna glanced at the ruby necklace around my neck, Adrian reached out, yanked it from my neck, and held it out to Gianna.

"You seem to really like it. It's yours now." His voice was gentle. "This necklace would go perfectly with that black dress of yours."

Everyone's eyes turned to me.

Before I could react, Gianna pushed his hand away.

"Mr. Thorne, I've told you. I will never accept pursuit from a married man, and I don't need your charity or gifts. Please respect me and return the necklace to Miss Wells." She turned her gaze to me. "Miss Wells, please control your husband and stop him from interfering with my work."

With that, she took her tray and turned to leave.

"Such a temper." Not only was Adrian not angry, he actually chuckled softly. "Since she doesn't want it, Serena, you keep it."

He casually shoved the necklace at me. Before I could catch it, he abandoned the guests at the party and hurried after her.

The necklace slipped through my fingers. The ruby worth hundreds of millions clattered to the floor.

No one at the scene spoke.

To ease the awkward atmosphere, someone came forward to pick up the ruby necklace and carefully handed it to me. "Serena, don't be upset. Adrian just wants some novelty."

"Exactly. Men are all like that. They just want something new. Once the novelty wears off, he'll come back to the family."

The others all agreed.

I looked at that ruby necklace, my heart throbbing with sharp pain.

This one-of-a-kind ruby necklace was a birthday gift Adrian had bought for me at auction for hundreds of millions the year we got married.

At the time, I thought the necklace was too valuable, but he said, "As long as you like it, even if it's the stars in the sky, I'll pluck them down for you."

And now, he'd so brazenly tried to give it to someone else, and when she refused, he tossed it back to me like some cheap trinket.

Most ironic of all, the woman he couldn't have had the audacity to tell me, the legitimate wife, to control my own husband.

My entire heart felt like it was being pierced by a thousand needles, over and over again.

My face pale, I forced a smile at the person in front of me. "I don't want this necklace anymore. If you like it, keep it. If not, sell it or donate it."

After that, I gave the prepared gift to tonight's guest of honor, wished them a happy birthday, and soon left the party under everyone's pitying or mocking gazes.

Back at the villa, I opened the box on my vanity, took out a yellowed ticket stub, and lit it with my lighter.

The ninety-sixth ticket was consumed by flames, becoming ash that would scatter with a breath.

The light in my eyes also gradually extinguished.

I thought that he only had three chances left.

Three more times, and I would completely let go of him and leave him forever.