The Wife He Couldn't Keep

Married to Mason Crawford for two years, Summer Thorne became the city's notorious jinx. As the legitimate Mrs. Crawford, she could only watch helplessly as her own family went bankrupt and her father was convicted, with no one willing to lend a hand. Mason Crawford looked at her coldly: "Summer Thorne, do you think anyone in Valois would dare to help you if I didn't give the word?" Everyone watched her hit dead ends everywhere, bruised and battered, standing by with cold indifference. Until that snowy night in the deep mountains, she was tricked by others and left to walk alone in the snow, when a man on horseback galloped over, pulled her onto his steed, and wrapped her in his embrace. * The first time they met, she lit a cigarette for him; The next time they met, he said, "Miss Thorne, how much are you planning to spend to buy me?" Timothy York, a gentleman from a prestigious family—upright, dignified, aloof, and noble, a man who had never made a single misstep, praised by everyone in Valois. Yet, on that one day, Summer Thorne was photographed leaving Timothy York's residence early in the morning. The entire city was in an uproar. The most unattainable flower of Valois had actually stolen another man's wife! * Everyone said Summer Thorne was a master of seduction, but they received Timothy York's four-word reply— "I initiated it." The wind rose in Sombren Forest, and snow fell into his arms. From the very beginning, it was he who initiated it.