Daniel's POV
“You…”
Erickson lifted his wineglass, tilted it back, and drank it all in one smooth gulp.
He placed it on the table with a relaxed shrug.
“I’ve been drinking,” he said, completely unfazed. “Can’t drive.”
Just like that, Regina turned to me. No hesitation. No shame.
“Daniel, go buy a box of morning-after pills for me,” she said. “We might need it tonight.”
My hands clenched into fists so tight, I could feel the bones grinding in my knuckles.
There wasn’t a single person in this room without a shred of decency.
I had seriously misjudged Regina.
We’d been together for three years. Three damn years. She’d always come across as the quiet type—sweet, polite, soft-spoken. The kind of woman who said she hated cheating more than anything and that she could never forgive that kind of betrayal.
Now I knew that was all a performance.
She wasn’t the kind who hated cheaters.
She was the cheater.
I looked up and locked eyes with her. My stare turned ice cold.
She was still laughing at something when she caught the look on my face. Her smile faltered. Panic flickered in her eyes.
“Daniel, are you okay?” she asked, touching my forehead like she cared. “Are you feeling sick?”
She was still wearing the scent, the sweat, the mess of another man.
I leaned away from her touch, refusing to let her graze me.
“Regina,” I said, voice flat and steady, “I think we might need to postpone our wedding.”
That stopped her cold.
Real fear flashed across her face.
Regina clutched my arm as if she could hold everything together with her fingers.
“Wait, what are you talking about? What’s going on?”
I pulled my arm away and forced a smile. “Relax. I’m fine. I just think if we rush into marriage too fast, it might tie you down. We’re still young. Maybe you should enjoy your freedom a little more before discussing settling down.”
She laughed softly and looped her arms around mine, leaning her head against my chest.
“I knew you’d understand me best,” she whispered. “Thank you… for always putting me first, Danny.”
What she didn’t know was that I’d already made my decision.
I was walking away.
She thought she still had me wrapped around her finger, that I was still playing the loyal fool. She even glanced at Erickson and her friends with that smug look, as if she’d won something.
“Tsk. What a rare gem! A man still hopelessly devoted,” one of the girls said sarcastically.
“Hope his family forgives him for being this damn dumb,” another added.
They were all laughing, tossing insults like candy, mocking me, and calling me pathetic.
Let them laugh.
Whoever dares laugh at me, I’ll turn them into the joke.
I didn’t say another word. I stood up and walked out the door to buy the morning-after pill.
As I entered the hallway, I could hear them again—giggling, gasping, kissing.
No shame. No hesitation.
“Damn, you’re wild. Two guys in one night? You really went for it.”
“Oh, please. Like you haven’t.”
“Alright, I gotta go. My man’s already showered and waiting for me at the hotel.”
I picked up my pace the moment I heard that.
Outside, rain poured down heavily.
By the time I got to the pharmacy, I was completely soaked. My hair was glued to my forehead, my clothes clung to my body, and I looked exactly like what they thought I was: pathetic, soaked, and broken.
When I returned with the pill box in hand, I heard the sound of laughter before I even opened the door to the private room.
They weren’t hiding anymore.
They still used their Cajun tongue like a private chatroom no one else could enter.
“Let’s go mushroom hunting tomorrow. Sound good?”
“Ugh, pass. Too much work.”
“But outdoor sex didn’t tire you out, huh? I’m doing this for our benefit!”
I saw Erickson sliding his foot along Regina’s leg under the table. Her face lit up as if he had flipped a switch.
They all looked at me the moment I stepped in. And they laughed openly and boldly, as if I were the punchline of a running joke none of them intended to stop telling.
...
The next morning, Regina said we were heading out of town.
Some mountains. A day trip.
“Mushroom hunting.”
Sure.
At the bottom of the trail, her friends were already deep in gossip, whispering and giggling among themselves.
“You two have guts. Coming out here for a secret hookup and dragging Daniel along like your cover? What if he catches you?”
“Oh, come on. Unless one of us spills the beans, how’s he ever gonna know?”
“That’s the best part. The danger, the risk… God, it’s addictive!”
Before they’d even finished laughing, Regina grabbed my hand and led me into the woods.
We were “foraging,” apparently.
Not too far in, she stopped and glanced around.
“I need to use the bathroom,” she said, stepping off the trail. “Wait here, okay? Make sure nobody else comes over.”
I nodded, but the weight in my chest had already settled like a rock.
I stood there, frozen, staring at the trees, feeling like something had cracked open inside me.
The woman I loved was this shameless.
She had a small hiking bag slung over her shoulder. I hadn’t paid any attention to it earlier.
But when she walked away, the flap shifted open.
That’s when I saw what was inside.
A full set of sex toys.
