1. I*******M POST

CELESTE POV

The first time I saw my husband cheating on me was on I*******m.

Not in person, not even through a rumour, but via a post his secretary had ‘mistakenly’ tagged me in.

“Some nights are too perfect to share with others,” I read the caption aloud.

11:59 pm.

In sixty seconds, my first wedding anniversary would officially be a corpse. I sat alone in the centre of a restaurant I’d paid five figures to empty, staring at a chair that had been vacant for four hours. The boy band I’d hired had packed up their instruments an hour ago, their pitying glances stinging worse than the cold champagne in my glass.

I couldn’t even smell him coming. Any other Luna would have known her mate was blocks away, but me? I was Harrington's defect. I couldn’t smell a lie even if it was pressed against my nose.

“Ma’am,” the waitress’s voice was laced with unbearable clarity. “We’re closing.”

“I was just leaving,” I said, forcing a smile that felt like it was cracking my face in two. My eyes darted to the gifts that were perfectly wrapped on the table. “Keep the gifts. Share them with the staff. I’m sure they’ll make better use of them.”

The night air hit me like a slap the second I stepped out. Salt water stung my lips as I wiped away my tears. One year of marriage, and I was a punchline. I hadn’t even asked for a kingdom, just for him to show up.

Inside my car, my phone screamed with notifications. Hilary, my best friend, was blowing up my phone screen. “Stop having sex and tell me everything!” 

“Make cute babies!”

A sob caught in my chest. I opened the I*******m app again, my fingers trembling. I didn’t need to zoom in this time. I knew those shoulders. I knew the way his hair curled at the nape of his neck, but it was the shirt that broke me. A custom black silk I’d designed for his birthday, with D.B. stitched in silver on the cuff. The same cuff is now draped over Avery’s shoulder.

I pulled up his location from iMessage. I had expected him to be in the office. Maybe a hotel, not this.

“Take me to Noir 44,” I choked out.

The driver hesitated. “Ma’am, that club is…”

“Now.”

The second we hit the driveway, I was out. My steps quickened as I made my way to the club, but the bouncer stopped me before I could make it past the entrance.

“You can’t go in dressed like… that,” he said, eyeing my dress like I was a lost Victorian doll. I didn’t argue, I just flashed a stack of cash. 

Noir 44 wasn’t a place for ‘decent’ outings. That was common knowledge.

“I’m sure we don’t want the Harrington heiress causing a scene on the sidewalk, do we?”

He stepped aside.

A cold sweat ran down my spine the moment I stepped in. Girls walked around barely covering any part of their bodies, entertaining greedy old farts who probably have children their age at home.

Bile rushed to my throat, as I searched the room.

“Would you like me to show you a nice time?” a man dressed in absolutely nothing but a sheer pair of pants thick enough to cover only his balls spoke beside me.

A scream tore out of my throat, earning me a mocking laugh from the people watching.

What the hell was Declan doing in a place like this? I spotted one of Declan’s lapdogs disappearing into a VIP suite and I followed him. I pushed the door open slightly, and there he was.

Declan sat at the centre of the room like a King. Avery was at his feet, her hands wandering recklessly, and he didn’t bother to stop her.

I slapped a hand across my mouth, as tears stung my vision.

She kissed his cheeks, and he pulled her closer, deepening the kiss while their friends cheered them on.

“What are you going to tell that boring wife of yours?” one of his friends barked, followed by a roar of laughter.

“Isn’t today your wedding anniversary? She’s probably home, crying for her sweet husband.”

“I’ll just tell her I got caught up with work,” his voice was dismissive, colder than the sweet one that warms up my heart every time I hear him speak. He yanked Avery up by her neck, his thumb stroking her throat. “A little apology, and I’ll have her wrapped around my fingers all over again.”

He leaned in, whispering loud enough for the room to hear. “I’m just waiting for my father to pass. He’s the only one who wanted this marriage. I’m filing for divorce the second he takes his last breath.”

I staggered backwards, lips quivering as the room began to shrink.

Who else knew about this?

Every time I went to his office to deliver lunch myself— did they wait for me to leave before laughing at how stupid I was? Was he ever going to tell me that he fell for someone new?

The more I thought about it, the heavier my chest felt. Tears streamed down my face and my heart raced so fast it felt like it was going to explode. I clutched hard at my chest, struggling to inhale a breath, but it felt like something was stuck in my lungs, blocking the air.

I had given up my dreams and my dignity to be a shadow for a man who was just waiting for me to disappear.

I didn’t stay to watch the rest. I ran.

I hit the sidewalk. The neon lights of the club are blurring the faint colours of red and blue. My heart raced so fast it felt like it was going to shatter against my rib. My legs gave out before I reached the car. I blinked once, twice, trying to understand what was happening, when a sharp pain shot through my veins.

“Happy anniversary,” I muttered to myself before everything went black.