“Let’s get a divorce,” I said, my voice calm but deadly. “I’m done. I’m done with lies, with betrayal, with everything you’ve done.”
He laughed—long, hollow. “Divorce? Never. I will never divorce you, Hannah. I will make you suffer. Watch me.” He smirked and, without a pause, turned back to the woman at his side, his hands already roaming. “I’ll moan for someone else,” he said, loud enough for me to hear as if he were savoring the insult.
“You’re doing this because you didn’t close a deal?” I asked, because the idea of him wrecking our marriage over money was ridiculous and cruel. “So this is revenge?”
He met my eyes, cold. “No. This is because you were cheating on me. And if I find the man who saved you—” His voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. “I will end him.”
He didn’t stop. He said it and resumed as if nothing more needed saying. I stood there while his pet continued, and when I thought it might end, it didn’t.
Night after night he brought someone new — women who laughed too loud and trailed perfume down the corridor. He made a show of it, leaving doors ajar, letting the house smell like someone else’s sin.
One night he tossed a small packet of condoms onto the bed where I sat, folding laundry like I always did. “Buy a bigger pack next time,” he called without looking up. “And grab extras — these never last.”
I picked the packet up and flung it back at him. It hit his chest. “Grow up.”
He only shrugged. “If you won’t, fine. But pay the girls tonight. The accountant needs the receipts.”
“You want me to pay for them?” My voice was flat. Rage warmed my palms.
“You’re the wife,” he said with a lazy smile. “Handle it. Keep the house running.”
I put the packet into my bag and went to study. I signed the transfer he’d set up without reading it, fingers steady. I’d learned to obey for now — to feed his theater while I gathered proof, investors, and strength. Let him rot in his tastes. Let him believe he broke me.
Inside, something colder settled. I would leave.
I would take everything he relied on. But until then, I kept my face composed, paid the receipts, and let the house keep burning for him.
I told my father. I expected outrage, maybe a command to leave. Instead my father’s face hardened like stone. “It’s your duty to keep him steady,” he said sharply.
“You can’t divorce him now. Not when the families and the investors are counting on the alliance. Turn a blind eye, Hannah. Think of the company. It’s your fault for not making sure he’d fall for you.”
My hands shook. “You’re asking me to stay and watch?” I couldn’t hide the hurt. “He sold me. He sold me for money—”
“You know what’s at stake,” my father said. “Sometimes sacrifices are necessary.”
I ran to my best friend Katerina's door and pounded until she opened. She pulled me inside without a word. No questions. Just a hold that made my knees stop shaking.
“Katerina…” I couldn’t finish. My voice broke. Tears fell hard and fast.
She sat me down on the couch. Jacob, three years old, clung to her skirt and peered at me with wide, trusting eyes. He toddled forward and pressed his small hand against my knee.
“Hannah?” he asked, worried.
“I’m fine, baby,” I lied. The lie felt useless.
Katerina has been my friend since college. We ate late-night noodles together. We shared notes. We shared secrets.
She’d been beside me when my father pushed the marriage. She’d watched me change from a rival to a wife.
Over the years she became more than a friend. I was Jacob’s second mother. I tucked him in, read him stories, and ran to school plays. I adored him like my own since Jacob’s father left them.
She wiped my face with one thumb. “Tell me everything.”
So I did. She listened quietly, her eyes steady. But betrayal always comes from the person you least expect.
One evening, I went home early from work. I missed her. I thought maybe I’d sleep over at her place like before. Her door was unlocked. I stepped in quietly, planning to surprise her.
Then I froze. Voices came from the hallway.
Katerina’s voice—shaky but familiar. “You should go home soon. She’s coming here. If you want us to get caught, then stay. I’m tired of hiding, of hiding Jacob. When will you make us legal?”
My stomach dropped.
Dominic’s voice followed, calm and low. “Soon. I just need time. You know how important this is. Once it’s settled, I’ll fix everything. You and Jacob will have my name… and I will dispose of her and her father.”
Katerina sighed. “You’ve been saying that for months. I can’t keep pretending. Jacob is growing, he needs a father.”
He chuckled softly. “Patience, love. She’ll find out soon enough. Then we won’t have to hide anymore.”
Her voice rose, sharp now. “She’s pathetic! She doesn’t even realize how long we’ve been cheating, how we’ve been hiding everything from her!”
I froze. Every friendly laugh, every shoulder I leaned on, every shared moment—it was all a lie. All of it.
I couldn’t stay. I left, silent. No one to turn to. No home left.
Back in my car, I drove straight to the pier—the place where Dominic once promised forever. The air was cold, the waves restless.
I pulled off my ring, stared at it one last time—at everything it had meant, every lie it carried. My hand trembled, but I didn’t hesitate.
With one deep breath, I threw it into the sea. The ring disappeared beneath the waves, swallowed whole.
Then, shaking but resolute, I pulled out my phone.
“Adrian,” I said quietly. “Pick me up. Let’s get married.”
The wind stung my face, but for the first time in a long while, I felt free.
