At first, Joel was openly hostile toward Maya.
He felt Maya was too central to my world, taking up too much of my time and attention.
I'd forget his birthday or our anniversary, but I remembered every single one of Maya's important dates without fail.
The gifts I bought for Joel were usually an afterthought while I was shopping for her.
If Maya called while I was on a date with Joel, I'd drop everything and leave.
Honestly, in my heart back then, Maya's cat was probably more important than Joel.
Growing up watching my parents’ toxic marriage, I’d long given up on the idea of love from any man.
Whether they were after my looks or my family's fortune, the eyes of my suitors were just mirrors reflecting their own selfish desires.
I only agreed to date Joel on a whim, after Maya casually mentioned I was too clingy and should try a relationship. Yet, he became the only man who ever managed to get under my skin.
When he looked at me, there was no calculation in his eyes.
There was only me.
For years, it stayed that way.
He would do anything to make me happy.
And he never demanded anything in return, not like my mother, who would shriek about what she was owed.
So, after realizing how important Maya was to me, Joel didn't try to poison my mind against her or drive a wedge between us like everyone else.
Instead, he started relentlessly setting her up with eligible men he found on Hinge and Bumble.
Predictably, Maya basked in the attention and no longer had time to meddle in my life.
Glancing at another missed call from Maya, I sighed and took the itinerary for our date that Joel handed me.
"So, this is your grand plan to score a date with me? Setting Maya up with every guy on your phone?"
"Maya won't just date anyone, you know. What happens when you run out of guys?"
Joel just smiled, wrapping a cashmere scarf around my neck.
"Then I'll download more apps. We'll see who gives out first: Maya from dumping men, or me from finding them."
"Even if she burns through every man in New York City, it won't matter."
"I have friends on the West Coast, friends in Europe."
"And if all else fails, I've got a few handsome cousins."
He made me laugh.
For the first time, a strange warmth stirred in my chest.
So, this was love? Not just passion, but endless patience and… strategy?
My parents had never taught me that. Maya couldn't have either.
It was Joel who made me want to learn how to love.
We were together for seven years, and for all seven of those years, Joel kept finding new men for Maya.
I just couldn't wrap my head around what possessed him to climb into her bed.
And how did Joel, a man who was with me nearly twenty-four-seven, manage to keep it a perfect secret?
I saved the security footage and had my assistant, Evelyn, pull all the surveillance from my home and office.
Evelyn and her team spent two hours poring over the footage and found nothing.
It was as if the whole thing had been a waking nightmare.
But I had a gut feeling I was about to find out exactly where they'd been having their affair.
