Chapter 1
DIANA'S POV:
My breath stops as every pair of eyes turns toward me.
Normally, that wouldn’t be strange. It’s my two-year wedding anniversary, and it’s our party, but they aren’t watching me. They’re watching my husband, Eric, who is dancing with his best friend, Tia Reign.
“Your dress is beautiful,” he says to her as he leads her to the dance floor.
“They are just best friends,” Anya, Eric’s cousin, whispers, squeezing my hand.
I force a laugh, sipping from the glass of wine in my hand. “I know, and I’m fine.”
I am not. How could I be? Eric and Tia have been best friends since childhood, but they never married. Eric and I met at a charity event my father organized, and we hit it off immediately. Six months later, we were engaged and married. This was a power move to merge our family’s companies as top cybersecurity experts.
Things fell apart a year later after my father died. Now Tia has returned, making what’s left of my marriage crumble.
“You know what? I cannot do this!” I tear my hand away from Anya, walking straight to them.
I tap Eric’s shoulder. “What do you think you’re doing?”
He frowns. “Have you gone blind, Diana?” he whispers through his teeth.
“It’s our anniversary. People are watching. How can you dance with her?” I ask in a low tone, even though people around can hear.
“I told you that you should have asked her to dance first. I’m so sorry, didi,” Tia lies through her teeth, feigning concern for me.
“It’s fine, dear,” Eric says, caressing her shoulder. Then he turns to me. “I’ll be with you in a moment, Diana. Tia and I are just catching up. Do not make a fuss about it.”
Make a fuss? His lackadaisical attitude toward my humiliation leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
“I don’t know what game you’re playing, Tia, but there’s no room for you in this marriage.”
My voice goes an octave high. This causes the entire room to go silent as people fixate their gaze on us. Tia looks around, smirking at me, before bursting into tears.
“What? I’m not trying to get in your marriage!”
Before I can speak, she rushes out of the room. Eric attempts to go after her, and I grab his hand.
“I will not be humiliated further in my own home,” I whisper, and his eyes drop to my hand on his arm. They find my eyes again, colder this time.
“Let go!”
He yanks my hand away, and I almost fall to the ground, but Anya breaks my fall. People start whispering, looking at me with pity. The crowd is full of friends and business partners. I can already see the headlines tomorrow, talking on how I can’t hold down my marriage, blaming me for my husband’s infidelity.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you’re enjoying the party. Tia is actually ill, and Eric is the only one closest to her right now who can hold her down in this difficult time,” Anya speaks, covering her cousin’s shame.
I wait for her to do the same for me, but she doesn’t. Then she drags me away from the center while the murmuring continues.
“What the fuck was that, Diana?” Anya whispers, and I yank my hand away from hers.
“Why don’t you ask your cousin? All you do is protect him and point fingers at me.”
“You know what? You need some rest,” she says softly, dragging me out of the hall.
She convinces me to go upstairs to rest, and I take her advice. Just in front of our matrimonial room, I hear voices, and smooching. My heart pounds in my chest, and I try to believe I’m somehow dreaming.
I open the door to see Eric and Tia with their lips locked.
Tia’s hands are tangled in his hair, and his hands grip her waist. The straps of her dress have fallen, baring her shoulders, and her bra is fucking visible.
“Eric,” I squeak.
I lose my balance and grab at the wall as my heart shatters into a thousand pieces. My knees give out, and I crash to the floor. Eric pulls away, and for a second, I think he’s remorseful.
“Diana,” he calls out, taking a step toward me.
Tia falls back onto the bed, holding her ankle and letting out a scream. “Eric, my ankle!” she calls out, and he pauses halfway, going back to her while I lie on the floor, paralyzed.
I watch him squat to the ground, rubbing her foot like he’s some doctor. But he doesn’t even know the basis of fucking first aid. One time I got a nick on my finger, and he didn’t even know the difference between cotton wool and a bandage, but now he wants to play doctor.
“Come on,” Anya says, grabbing my hand. She scoops me off the ground to my feet, and I try to resist.
“Take her to her room, and I’ll be there in a moment,” Eric instructs her like I’m invisible.
Anya takes me out of the room, shutting the door, but I’ve had enough.
“No, Anya. I’m going downstairs to call off this marriage. I’ve given everything to Eric, and—”
“Chance Pierce is the biggest stakeholder in your company. Pardon Eric, because Tia and him are inseparable. She’s going through a divorce, and she needs a shoulder to cry on!” she scolds me.
“Seems more like a dick to cry on, if you ask me.”
“Diana!” she cautions. “Eric cannot slip up right now, and Tia is volatile. If he doesn’t do what she wants, she might influence Chance to pull out. The company will fail.”
I hear her try to cover my husband’s infidelity with business, like I’m some child who can’t tell her left from right. As she helps me onto the bed, the only thing I can see is Eric and Tia making out—the image looping endlessly in my head.
My heart aches, and after crying for hours, I feel empty and broken. Business or not, nothing justifies this kind of humiliation. I know how much he cared about Tia, but I didn’t think he’d be attracted to her to the point of cheating on me on our anniversary.
Shortly after, Eric opens the door. I sit up, waiting to hear an apology, but he appears with Tia, who now has her leg bandaged.
“Anya says you have a wounded knee, and Tia brought her friend over to help,” he says, and Tia smiles at me as a female doctor walks in.
How generous...
