Claimed by my Ex's archenemy

I stood in the plush, carpeted hallway of the high-end restaurant. The velvet box holding Brian's fifth-anniversary gift dug sharply into my palm. It was a limited-edition watch. I had spent months tracking it down.

I raised my hand to push open the heavy oak door of the VIP room.

"I only married Fairy so Rida and Shawn could be together without any issues," Brian’s voice drifted through the narrow gap.

I froze. My hand hovered inches from the brass handle.

A roar of laughter erupted from his friends inside. Glasses clinked.

"Seriously, man? Five years with that ice queen?" a guy asked. "I don't know how you survive."

"If Rida hadn't begged me to help her out, I would never have tied the knot with such a boring woman," Brian replied. His tone was flat. Indifferent.

My chest tightened. The air in the hallway suddenly felt too thin to breathe.

"So, what? You're playing the martyr?" another friend teased. "Taking one for the team so Shawn gets the girl?"

"I've only ever had Rida in my heart," Brian said. "As long as she gets to be happy, anything I do is worth it."

Five years ago, Shawn dumped me at the altar. He left me for my half-sister, Rida. I became the ultimate joke of the city's elite circles. Whispers followed me everywhere.

Then Brian stepped up. He proposed to me in front of everyone at a charity gala. He shook my father's hand and promised he would cherish me for the rest of my life. I thought he was my savior. I thought he was the only good thing to come out of that nightmare.

A lie.

Every single day of our marriage was a calculated lie.

I didn't push the door open. I didn't scream. I turned around and walked straight out of the restaurant, dropping the velvet box into the nearest trash can.

The drive home was a blur of neon streetlights. My hands gripped the steering wheel until my fingers ached.

I pushed open the front door of our house. Silence blanketed the living room, but a faint noise drifted down the dark hallway.

Skin slapping against skin. Wet, heavy sounds.

I walked toward the master bedroom. The door stood ajar.

"Fuck, Brian, right there," a woman gasped.

Rida.

"You like that?" Brian grunted.

I shoved the door wide open.

They were tangled on the center of my bed. Brian was driving into her from behind, his hands gripping her bare hips. Rida's breasts bounced with every hard thrust, her face buried in the pillows I slept on every night.

"Fuck, I love fucking you," Brian growled, slamming his groin against her ass. "Tell me whose pussy this is."

"Yours, Brian, it's yours," Rida whined. "Don't stop, keep fucking me."

"I'm going to fill you up," he grunted.

My stomach violently turned. I dropped my purse. It slammed against the hardwood floor.

Brian froze. He pulled his cock out of Rida. It was slick and wet, leaking onto my sheets.

Rida shrieked. She scrambled across the mattress to pull the duvet over her naked body.

Brian didn't flinch. He didn't panic. He reached for a discarded shirt and draped it over Rida's bare shoulders, shielding her from my view.

Then he turned to me. His face was a mask of cold annoyance.

"Why didn't you knock?" he demanded.

"Knock?" I choked out. "This is my bedroom."

"You're home early," he stated, completely ignoring the tears welling in my eyes.

"You're fucking my sister. On our anniversary."

Rida peeked out from behind his solid frame. "Fairy, don't be mad at him. We couldn't help it."

"Shut your mouth," I snapped.

Brian stepped forward, his jaw set. "Don't talk to her like that. We've been over this. I married you for her."

"So you could sneak around and fuck her while her husband is oblivious?" I asked.

"Shawn knows," Brian said flatly. "We all know. You were the only one kept in the dark."

The floor seemed to drop out from beneath me. Shawn. Rida. Brian.

"Shawn agreed to this?" I asked, my voice trembling.

"Shawn loves Rida," Brian explained, his tone condescending. "But his family would never accept an illegitimate daughter as his wife. They wanted you. The perfect, legitimate heir."

"So he dumped me to make a point," I realized aloud.

"And I picked you up to fix the mess," Brian finished. "I gave you a respectable life. In exchange, Rida gets to be with Shawn, and I get to be with Rida whenever I want."

"You're sick," I whispered.

"I'm practical," he countered. "We all got what we wanted."

"I didn't get what I wanted!" I yelled.

"You got a husband who provides for you," Brian shot back. "You live in a mansion. You buy whatever you want. Don't act like a victim, Fairy."

"I was a shield," I said. "A convenient prop for your twisted games."

"And now the game is over," he said. "Get out."

"It's my house, Fairy," Brian reminded me. "I bought it. You're the one who needs to leave."

"You want me out?" I asked.

"Pack your things," he ordered. "I'll have my lawyer send over the divorce papers tomorrow. Don't try to fight me for alimony. You won't win."

I didn't argue. I turned on my heel and walked straight to the guest room.

I grabbed a suitcase from the top shelf of the closet and threw it onto the bare mattress.

Tears blurred my vision. I wiped them away with the back of my hand. No more crying over a man who never loved me.

I tossed in three pairs of jeans, a few sweaters, and my toiletries. I left the expensive jewelry Brian had bought me. I left the designer dresses he picked out to make me look the part of a dutiful wife.

I zipped the bag shut.

The house was dead quiet now. They were probably still in my bed.

I pulled my phone from my pocket and scrolled to the very bottom of my contacts. A number I hadn't dialed in seven long years.

I pressed call.

It rang twice.

"Hello?" a raspy, authoritative voice answered.

"Grandpa," I said, my voice cracking.

Silence stretched across the line.

"Fairy," he finally said.

"I want to come home."

I gripped the handle of my suitcase, my knuckles turning white.

"You've been gone a long time," Grandpa noted.

"I know."

"Are you done playing house with that pathetic family?" he asked.

"I'm done," I promised.

"You're finally willing to come back to me," Grandpa said. The sternness in his voice melted into something much warmer. "The position of heir to the Howard family has always been waiting for you."

"I'm ready to take it," I told him.

"Good. The Howard name commands respect. No one steps on us."

"I'll remember that."

"I'll send a car. Give me twenty minutes."

"Thank you."

The line went dead.

Footsteps approached the guest room. The door swung open.

Brian stood in the doorway, wearing sweatpants and nothing else. He leaned against the frame.

"Are you done yet?" he asked.

"I'm leaving," I said, grabbing the handle of my suitcase.

"Leave your keys on the counter," he instructed. "And don't bother trying to call my parents to complain. They already know about Rida."

I stopped walking. "They know?"

"Everyone knows, Fairy." He crossed his arms over his chest. "My mother never liked you anyway. She thinks you're too quiet. Too boring."

"So she prefers the woman who sleeps with two men at once?" I asked.

Brian's eyes flashed with anger. He took a step toward me. "Watch your mouth."

"Or what?" I challenged. "You'll hit me? Go ahead, Brian. Show me exactly what kind of man you are."

He stopped. A cruel smile touched his lips. "I don't need to hit you. You're already broken. You have nothing. No husband, no family, no money."

I stared at the man I had called my husband for five years. He looked like a complete stranger.

"You're right," I said quietly. "We never belonged together."

"Glad we finally agree on something." He stepped aside to let me pass.

I walked down the hallway, the wheels of my suitcase rolling over the expensive rugs. I placed my house keys on the kitchen island.

"Fairy?" Rida called out from the bedroom.

I ignored her.

I walked out the front door and let it slam shut behind me.

The night air was freezing. I stood on the sidewalk, wrapping my coat tighter around my shoulders.

Headlights swept across the dark street. A sleek black Maybach pulled up to the curb, its engine humming quietly.

The driver stepped out. He wore a sharp suit and white gloves. He bowed deeply.

"Miss Howard," he said. "Your grandfather sent me."

"Put the bag in the trunk," I told him.

I climbed into the backseat. The leather was warm.

As the car pulled away, I looked out the tinted window at the house I used to call home. Brian and Rida thought they had won. They thought they had ruined me.

But the game was just starting. And the Howard family never lost.