My wife has a fear of intimate contact

chapter 1

"I have intimacy phobia, don't force me." Taylor gently pushed away my hand reaching toward her, turned around, and said nothing more.

Yes, we've been married for exactly ten years, yet we've never had a real married life.

I've always longed to have children, and both sets of parents have urged us many times. But whenever I wanted to take things further with Taylor, she would always coldly refuse, claiming she was "afraid of physical contact." Helplessly, I could only tell others that I was too busy with work and had no energy for family matters, shielding her from relatives' gossip.

I love Taylor. I believe she has some unspeakable difficulty, so I never force her, only retreating to the bathroom alone to take care of myself.

Perhaps she also sensed that her coldness had hurt me. After I returned, she would turn around and hug my waist, nuzzling affectionately in my arms. "Honey, let's go to sleep."

Feeling her shallow breathing, a strong unease slowly welled up in my heart.

To dispel this feeling, the next day I deliberately finished work at the hospital early, booked a high-end restaurant, wanting to surprise her and strengthen our relationship.

But after waiting two hours, she never showed up.

I called her colleague and learned that their company was having a dinner party today.

The colleague said: "This gathering was scheduled by Ms. Larson a week ago."

But Taylor never told me. In the early days of our marriage, she used to share everything in her life with me.

Looking at the messages on WhatsApp that hadn't been replied to for a long time, I drove to the KTV where they were having their dinner party.

The moment I saw what was happening inside, my hand froze on the door handle, and my body instantly felt like it had fallen into an ice cave.

Taylor was being held in the arms of a young man, not struggling, not dodging. Amid the crowd's cheering, she closed her eyes and calmly accepted the man's deep kiss.

After the party ended, I overheard her conversation with her best friend Andrea Evans in the hallway corner.

She said: "Actually, before marriage, I really loved George. Being apart for just a morning would make me miss him so much I'd panic. But after marriage, whenever he gets close to me or wants to touch me, I can always smell blood, making me so nauseous I want to throw up. I lied to him about having intimacy phobia, and I didn't expect him to actually believe it. Ten years of marriage, appearing loving on the surface, but behind closed doors, I haven't done a single thing that married couples should do with him."

"Bottom line, you just don't love him anymore," Andrea said flatly, seeing right through her.

Taylor chuckled softly, neither confirming nor denying.

Andrea asked: "What about today's intern? Jayden Howell, right? Don't tell me you're actually falling for him?"

Taylor casually ran her fingers through her hair. "No, not quite there yet."

Andrea said: "I'm warning you, playing around is fine, but don't go too far. You and George were the most famous couple on campus back then. He treasures you like his life. If you ever go too far and something really happens, no one will be able to save you."

Taylor scoffed. "Thirteen years of feelings - would he really be willing to let go?"