Before Sebastian could finish speaking, the smell of alcohol hit him.
"Have you two been drinking?"
He knew exactly what it meant for a driving instructor to get behind the wheel after drinking.
Carmen quickly looked up, rushing to the man's defense. "We weren't drunk driving. We just had a couple drinks for fun."
"Exactly!" the instructor chimed in. "It's one of those guy things—you're a man, you should understand."
Sebastian's expression was stone-cold. "Since you've both been drinking, you're not fit to drive. Step out. We're towing the vehicle."
Carmen didn't want to comply, but regulations were regulations.
The moment she stepped out of the car, she nearly screamed.
Because she was staring at my back—and it was unmistakably familiar.
Her breathing turned ragged. She stood there like a cornered animal, unable to keep still.
Just as she was about to call out my name, the instructor swept her up in his arms.
"Come on, babe, let's go!"
"There's a hotel right nearby. We didn't get to finish what we started—gotta give the story a proper ending, right?"
Carmen wriggled free in a panic and jumped down, her face drained of all color. Her eyes were locked on my back, unblinking.
The instructor followed her gaze, froze for a second, then let out an easy laugh.
"Relax. It's not him. If it were, he'd have come over to catch us in the act already."
That was enough to put Carmen's fears to rest.
"You're right. There's no way that's my husband."
"He's probably home resting by now."
"Send him a message—tell him you're not coming home tonight, that you're staying at Olivia's."
Carmen nodded, her cheeks flushed, and sent me a text.
After Sebastian finished writing the citation, he handed it to the instructor.
"Fine by me. A ticket's a small price when you've got a beauty to keep you company tonight."
Sebastian watched the two of them walk off together and let out a heavy sigh.
"Whose wife is that? Shameless—sneaking around behind her husband's back."
What he didn't know was that the man standing right in front of him—me—was that woman's husband.
A humiliation like this, I swallowed in silence.
Thank God Sebastian didn't recognize Carmen. Otherwise, by tomorrow, the whole department would know I'd been made a cuckold.
When I got home, the first thing I saw was the wedding photo that once made me feel like the luckiest man alive.
I walked over, lifted it off the wall, and smashed it to pieces.
Shards of glass bit into my flesh, but I didn't feel any pain.
Because the ache in my chest was a thousand times worse.
That was when my father called.
I picked up the phone with a bloodied hand. After I answered, the words wouldn't come. He didn't seem to notice anything off. Instead, his usual commanding tone softened into something almost gentle.
"Son, do you really love her that much? I've looked into her family—they've never thought you were good enough. They think a traffic cop is an embarrassment. I've also found out they're all the same—shallow, money-hungry, every last one of them. That's exactly why I never approved of the marriage, and why I had you hide your identity. It was a test—years of it—to see what she was really made of."
"Someone like Eleanor Henson—she's the one you were always meant to be with."
"Dad, I agree to marry her."
My words sent a beat of stunned silence through the other end of the line. I could hear his breathing grow heavier.
"Give me three days. Once I've settled everything here, I'll come home for the arrangement."
After I hung up, a message from Carmen came through—a photo of her and Olivia together.
Proof that she wasn't lying. Proof I could trust her.
Except now I knew the truth: she had been lying all along.
Those photos were staged in advance.
And it hit me all at once—every night she hadn't come home, had she already been with the instructor?
