“Yes. Send the divorce papers by email.”
I spoke softly into the phone, my back turned to the door as I stared out at the city lights from our bedroom window. My chest felt tight, each heartbeat loud and uneven in my ears.
After ending the call, I slowly turned around.
Marcus was there.
My grip on the phone nearly slipped. He stood in the doorway, still dressed in his office suit, his face drained of color, eyes wide with something close to panic—something I had never seen from him before. He had heard everything.
“Divorce?” he repeated hoarsely. The word felt heavy in the air between us. He stepped forward, his hands unsteady. “Nora… what are you talking about? Divorce?”
My stomach dropped. If he found out, if he realized I was leaving him, everything would collapse. He would trap me again. He would drug me again if he had to.
So I laughed.
Light. Effortless. A sound that didn’t match the fear clawing at my throat.
“Oh, Marcus, you scared me,” I said, walking toward him as I slipped my phone into my pocket like nothing had happened. “It’s not what you think. It’s Megan.”
His brow furrowed slightly. “Megan?”
“Yeah. My college friend,” I continued smoothly. “She called me crying. Found out her husband’s cheating on her. Can you imagine? After everything she did for him.” I shook my head as if disgusted. “So I told her to file for divorce right away. I even said I’d help her talk to Simon—you know him, right? My lawyer friend.”
The tension in his body loosened instantly. His shoulders dropped, and he let out a breath he seemed to have been holding too long.
“Oh… thank God,” he muttered, dragging a hand through his hair. Then he pulled me into his arms, tight enough to hurt. He buried his face against my neck like he needed to feel I was still there. “I thought… I thought you meant us. I thought you were leaving me.”
His hold didn’t loosen.
It never really did.
“You scared me, Nora,” he whispered. “Don’t ever say that word again in this house.”
I stayed still for a moment, then slowly patted his back like I used to.
“Why would I ever leave you?” I said softly, tilting my head up to meet his eyes. “Unless… you cheated on me?”
For a split second, his expression changed. Just a flicker. Something unreadable passed through his eyes before he smoothed it away.
“Of course not,” he said quickly, almost offended. His hands came up to cup my face, thumbs brushing my cheeks like I was something precious. “I would never do that to you. You’re everything to me, Nora. Everything. How could you even think that?”
“Good,” I whispered, calm but edged with something sharp underneath. “Because I could never forgive betrayal. Not that kind.”
“You’ll never have to,” he said, kissing my forehead. “I’d never hurt you.”
Then he smiled—warm, charming, the same smile that once made me believe him.
“Forget this,” he added, brushing it off. “Tomorrow is our anniversary. Let’s go out tonight instead. There’s a charity auction at the gallery. I’ll get you something beautiful. Anything you want.”
I nodded gently. “Alright. Let’s go.”
---
The auction was all polished elegance and quiet power—black suits, glittering gowns, champagne under crystal lights. Cameras followed us like we were part of the exhibition itself. The perfect couple. The golden pair everyone admired.
Marcus kept my hand in his the entire time, guiding me through the crowd like I was something to display.
I stopped at the catalog and pointed lightly. “This one.”
Item 45. A sapphire necklace. Deep blue, elegant, almost haunting in its beauty.
“It’s beautiful,” I murmured.
“You want it?” he asked immediately, tightening his hold on my hand. “It’s yours.”
But once the bidding started, it spiraled out of control. Numbers climbed fast, voices rising, until it became a war of wealth. Marcus tried a few bids, but then a phone bidder pushed it far beyond reason.
“Going once… going twice… sold to the bidder on the phone.”
Something in me sank.
“It’s fine,” I said quietly, forcing a small smile. “It was too expensive anyway.”
But Marcus suddenly stood.
He walked up onto the stage, took the microphone, and the entire hall went silent.
“I may have lost that necklace,” he said smoothly, voice carrying confidence and charm, “but I won’t let my wife leave here empty-handed. I’m buying the rest of the pieces in this collection—for her. Because nothing is ever too much for Nora.”
The room erupted. Applause, admiration, envy.
A woman beside me leaned in. “He really adores you. You’re so lucky.”
I smiled faintly and gave a small wave, like I belonged in the picture they all believed in.
---
That night, the house fell into silence again.
Or so I thought.
I went to the kitchen for water, taking a sealed bottle I always kept hidden, when voices drifted from the study.
“You didn’t even bring me,” Cassie snapped. “I had to watch everything online like I didn’t matter. And that speech—‘nothing is too good for Nora’? Seriously?”
I moved closer, pressing my ear against the door.
“Everyone’s talking about you,” she went on bitterly. “You’re practically trending. ‘Husband of the year,’ they’re calling you. It’s ridiculous.”
“Relax,” Marcus’s voice came, calm and low. “It’s part of the image. I have to keep her happy. She can’t suspect anything.”
“Well, I’m not happy,” Cassie shot back.
“I got you something,” he said after a pause.
A rustle. A soft click. A box opening.
Cassie gasped. “The sapphire necklace…”
“You were the bidder?” she asked, breathless.
“Of course,” he chuckled. “She wanted it, but it belongs to you. It suits you more anyway. Blue looks better on your skin.”
My stomach twisted violently.
He hadn’t lost it.
He had stolen it twice—once from me, then from everyone else—just to hand it to her in secret.
“Marcus…” Cassie whispered, softer now. “Do you love me?”
“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “You know I do.”
“Then divorce her,” she said immediately. “I’m tired of hiding. I don’t want to be the secret anymore.”
“I can’t yet,” he replied, voice dropping. “Not until I get my inheritance. My grandfather’s trust requires me to stay married—no divorce on record. I’ll get it next month.”
“Next month?”
“Just wait,” he said. “After that, I’ll handle everything.”
Then his tone shifted, quieter. “And you know your brother. Nathan would lose it if he found out. He already hates me. If he learns I cheated on my wife… I’m done.”
I stepped back without thinking.
The floor creaked.
I froze.
Inside, they didn’t notice.
“Just a little longer,” Cassie whispered.
“Yeah,” I whispered under my breath too, barely audible even to myself. “Just a little longer.”
My hand tightened around the bottle.
“You’ll never see me again.”
