At the party the night before our anniversary, my best friend Regina Larson teased Oliver Gilbert in French, right there in front of everyone.
"What man doesn't stray? Mr. Gilbert's kept himself to Melanie Henson alone all these years. Don't tell me it's because he can't perform?"
Oliver, tenderly holding a bite of cake to my lips, raised an eyebrow and answered in a careless drawl.
"Whether I can perform or not, haven't you already found out for yourself? Do you really need to ask me?"
The room went hot. The friends who understood French went wide-eyed and couldn't hold back their gasps.
Oliver frowned slightly and cut it all off at once.
"None of this reaches Melanie. She's a bit of a purist about these things. If she found out, she'd divorce me for sure."
Everyone laughed and agreed, pushing their glasses toward him, making him drink a few extra as punishment.
Oliver had gastritis. His doctor had told him not to drink too much.
I reflexively pushed all the glasses away from him, but he caught my hand.
"Today's a good day. A little drinking gets the mood going. Tonight, once Melanie's asleep, we can try a few other positions."
"Melanie would never wait on me like that. She's stiff as a board in bed."
Listening to Oliver flirt with Regina without a shred of shame, the filth coming out of his mouth turned my stomach so fast I nearly threw up.
What Oliver didn't know was that I'd grown up in France. My adoptive parents raised me to adulthood, and only then did I come back to live here.
Without thinking, I took the bottle away and slammed the cake in his hand to the floor. I tilted my head to catch his reaction, but by then his eyes held nothing but Regina's smooth, full thigh.
A few days ago I'd found proof of their affair. Oliver had hidden it for ten years, and it was a key card he'd carelessly dropped that finally gave him away.
After I fell apart, I chose to hold it in and say nothing, quietly reaching out to the adoptive parents I hadn't seen in ten years, asking them to forge me a new identity.
The whole city was looking forward to our tenth wedding anniversary three days from now. But no one knew I'd signed with the French division of the classified national institute, leaving in three days.
1
"Everyone, come look at the diamond ring on my hand."
"Pity it's so small. Hardly worth wearing."
Regina suddenly rose to show off the ten-carat diamond on her finger, her eyes brimming with triumph.
The ring caught the light and dazzled everyone in the room, and they all crowded forward to admire it.
I looked down at the one-carat ring on my own finger. Similar style, but the stones were worlds apart in size.
There was already a clear groove where the band sat, the ring worn so small I couldn't even get it off anymore.
I remembered three months ago, when Oliver and I attended the global jewelry auction. He'd promised he would buy that ten-carat piece for me, but just before the bidding, something came up and he left ahead of me.
Now that prized piece had somehow ended up on Regina's finger, and the envious voices around me pulled me back to reality.
"No way, ten carats and she still calls it small! Not like my husband, who thinks even one carat's too pricey."
"Such a gorgeous ring, who gave it to you? Regina, you're so lucky!"
Regina pressed her hand to her cheek, tilting her head, and said lightly, "From the person who loves me most, of course."
She noticed the complicated look on my face and my silence. She walked briskly over and took my hand.
"Melanie, your ring's so much like mine, but how is the diamond so tiny you can barely see it? Isn't Oliver supposed to spoil you more than anyone?"
I stayed silent and quietly yanked the ring off, not noticing that my hand had already started to bleed.
Once it was off I dropped it into the trash and looked for Oliver's reaction, but he was busy confirming the details of Regina's new jewelry with his assistant.
She looked me up and down with disdain, then threw back her head and laughed.
The moment she noticed the necklace at my throat, she said nothing and yanked hard on the chain, reaching to snatch it away.
I wouldn't let go, and we pulled against each other until the chain had scored bloody welts into my neck.
"Regina, careful!" Afraid she might fall, Oliver steadied her by the small of her back, his face full of worry for her.
In the end my necklace snapped, and blood began to seep from my neck.
In the chaos I was shoved to the ground, and Regina took the chance to pour a nearby glass of liquor onto my gown, all while acting like it was an accident.
I was a wreck. Burning with anger, I got up meaning to teach Regina a lesson, but the people around me thought I was making a scene.
"It's not a big deal, is it? Do you really need to blow up like this?"
"Regina's your best friend, isn't she? Is that any way to treat a best friend? Regina, I genuinely feel sorry for you, having to deal with someone this hot-tempered."
The jeering around me set my nerves on edge. I decided to go out alone and sort myself out.
The moment I stepped out the door I heard Oliver's voice.
"Regina, don't fight over cheap junk like that anymore. Look, your hand's rubbed red. I just ordered you a whole new set of jewelry."
"If you're upset, I'll make Melanie apologize to you…"
That necklace was the one he'd made for me by hand on our fifth anniversary. I wanted it back, but the door was locked, and my bag had been thrown out after me.
I stood at the door wiping the liquor off myself, an endless ache inside me. Outside the party hall, passersby were talking about Oliver's and my perfect marriage, sighing over how much they envied us.
I gave a bitter little laugh. The truth was, I'd found out about Oliver's betrayal just yesterday.
I'd wanted to surprise him at the end of his workday, and I'd hidden behind the curtains in his company office.
What I hadn't expected was the sound of heavy breathing. Through the curtain, I saw Oliver and Regina.
Two naked bodies pressed tight together, Regina's rose-red lingerie beaded with sweat.
They left streak after streak on the curtain, and by then Oliver was only five centimeters from me.
The setting sun traced their outlines. They stayed tangled together for six hours, until midnight.
No one knows how I got through those six hours. I only remember that after the despair broke me, there was nothing but endless numbness.
The moment I left that building, I declared in my heart that Oliver and I were completely finished.
My tears fell without my meaning them to, and the ring of my phone suddenly broke through my thoughts.
"Ms. Henson, the documents you submitted to the classified institute have been approved. In three days, someone will come to escort you."
"Your superiors have already notified your family. You may take your time to say your goodbyes."
At the mention of family, the hand holding the phone began to tremble.
My family. Once, Oliver and Regina counted as my family too.
But they had cheated, become the people who wounded me most deeply, and so they no longer counted as my family either.
