Chapter 1

Serena’s Pov

The red candles were properly set on the table and around the room, I knew I had done a very good job. I arranged the final touches on the dining table, setting the three-course meal, which was his favorite, prepared perfectly. Everything seemed to be perfect, it had to be.

He was late. Alexander was supposed to be home by now because tonight wasn’t just any night. It was our wedding anniversary.

Five years of marriage.

Not like these five years had been rosy. Being married to Alexander felt more like a duty than a love story but I still held on, I loved him so much, so I wasn’t ready to give up. Not yet.

I looked at the clock again, and my heart sank in fear. I was starting to doubt that he would return home tonight but I shook the thought off and grabbed my phone. 

I checked the time to see that it was almost 9 PM. I took a deep breath, trying to stay calm, then my phone buzzed and it made me hopeful to see the message was from him but the moment I saw the message, my lips pursed and my eyes got clouded with tears.

‘Something came up. Don’t wait up.’

That was it. No apology. No explanation. Just another excuse, just like all the other times.

My hands shook terribly while I put the phone down. I spent the entire day preparing everything, foolishly believing that tonight would be different. That he would remember, that he would show up, that he would see me.

But of course, he hadn’t.

I swallowed hard, trying to fight back the tears that threatened to fall from my eyes. Crying wouldn’t change anything.

I took a wine glass and was about to pour it into a glass when my phone buzzed again. This time, it wasn’t a message. It was a news alert.

I opened it at once and almost skipped a breath when I saw the content.

A photograph filled the screen, it was of Alexander, looking effortlessly handsome in his tailored suit, sitting at a high-end restaurant. And beside him, the other woman was laughing and leaning close to him, Pristine Carter, the woman he always loved.

The caption beneath the image hurt me deeply; ‘CEO Alexander Calloway was spotted at an intimate dinner with Pristine Carter. Business or pleasure?’

I tightened my grip on the phone.

So this was where he had been. Not at work. Not in some urgent meeting. But here, with Pristine. On our anniversary.

I was burning in pain, my legs couldn’t even carry me, so I held the table for support. I was frozen for a moment, and my mind kept struggling to process it all but something inside me snapped.

Enough is enough. I wasn’t going to sit here and drown in my humiliation. If Alexander wanted to celebrate our anniversary with another woman, then he would have to do it with his wife watching.

I grabbed my coat and walked out the door.

I cried all through my drive to the restaurant and it made my vision blurry. My mind kept on thinking about all the lies and excuses he could give, every lie that he could tell.

But I made up my mind that I wasn’t going to let him take me for a fool. 

I pushed through the doors of La Belle Vie, and my eyes scanned the room in search of him. From the decorations of the restaurant, anyone could tell that this wasn’t the type of place for workers or business partners, it was the type of place meant for lovers.

My eyes finally landed on them.

They were seated in a secluded corner and Alexander had a very relaxed posture, he was even smiling sheepishly at her, something he would never do around me. They were all touchy but it wasn’t just that that made my blood turn cold. It was the necklace resting against Pristine’s collarbone.

That was a delicate, intricate piece, a sapphire pendant set in gold. The one I had admired months ago in a jewelry store window when I and Alexander went out to shop, I clearly remember how he had brushed it off as not my style.

I grabbed my chest, pressing it like it would stop the pain. So he bought it for her.

Now, I was not only filled with pain, I was angry and I couldn’t contain it any longer, so I straightened my shoulders and walked to their table.

Pristine was the first to notice me. Her lips curved into a smile, and I could see the mischief in her fake smile. She seemed happy to see how miserable I looked.

I stopped beside their table. “Am I interrupting something?” I said with a very calm and controlled voice.

Alexander turned, with a blank expression. “Serena.” He said my name as though my presence was an inconvenience. “What are you doing here?”

Pristine placed a manicured hand on his arm, feigning surprise. “Serena! Oh, what a pleasant surprise.”

I forced a smile. “Imagine that. My husband took another woman out on a date on our anniversary, and I had to find out through the news.” My gaze turned to Alexander, waiting for an explanation, or a form of remorse but there was none.

Pristine sighed, tilting her head. “Don’t get yourself worked up over nothing, Alex…”

“Shut that hole, you dirty whore, I am talking to my husband!” I screamed at her, calling attention to our table.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, Serena?” Alex spoke up. “You are disgracing me.”

I scoffed. “Disgrace? That’s all you can say?”

“You know what? Maybe it’s time to stop pretending. You deserve to know the truth,” Pristine said, giving me a hostile look.

“What truth?” I muttered, my toes curling up in my shoes.

Her hand moved to her stomach, with a slow motion. “I’m pregnant.”

It felt like I was losing my mind and the whole place was spinning. Did she just say she was pregnant? There was no need for her to specify who had the baby, it belonged to Alexander. Hence his reason for always running to her.

My stomach knotted. “No,” I whispered, my voice was barely audible. I turned to Alexander, begging him with my eyes to deny it, to tell me that he was just with her because she was his friend and she had no other person to take care of her but he said nothing.

The silence was my answer.

I sucked in a deep breath, summoning the courage to ask my next question. “For how long?” My voice trembled, but I held my ground. “How long have you been screwing her?”

Alexander exhaled sharply, rubbing his temple as though I was the problem. “Serena, stop acting like a victim. We have been married for five years, and you haven’t given me a child.”

What? He was shifting the blame for his infidelity to me.

“So now you think this is my fault?” My laugh was hollow, bitter. “You think I’m the reason we don’t have children?” I leaned in, my voice getting sharp. “Maybe if my husband touched me, I would have given him a child.”

Pristine gasped, pretending to be shocked, while Alexander’s expression darkened. “Serena, enough.”

“Enough?” I repeated, raising my voice. “You humiliate me, betray me, and now you want to blame me?”

I reached for the wine bottle on their table and poured myself a glass. Lifting it in a mock toast, then I met Alexander’s cold eyes.

“To the happy couple.”

I downed the drink in one go, the alcohol burned my throat but it was nothing compared to the fire raging inside me. Then, without another word, I turned and walked away. I didn’t look back.