Chapter 1 The Forty-Ninth Lover

The social platform practically crashed.

Gideon Bender and Jesse Knapp's announcement shot straight to the top of the trending page. In less than ten minutes, it had already racked up more than 100,000 comments.

"Ms. Knapp is so romantic! Now that's what I call true love!"

"What did Gideon do in a past life to get this lucky?"

"@AnthonyHolmes, take a look, husband of the year! Your wife found another soulmate!"

I set my phone down without so much as a flicker of emotion and took a slow sip of my coffee.

A few minutes later, the doorbell rang.

Jesse's parents stormed in.

Her dad, Dominic Knapp, was practically purple with rage. He let out a heavy sigh, then turned to me. "Anthony, Jesse's gone too far this time. I bought you a yacht—take it out for a few days if you need to clear your head."

Her mom, Haleigh Marshall, rested a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Anthony, you're family. You're Jesse's husband, and that will never change. Those random men she fools around with? Not one of them will ever be welcome in this family."

I lowered my eyes and poured each of them a cup of coffee, wearing the same patient, understanding smile I always did. "Thanks. I know."

I had no reason to make a scene.

Gideon was only Jesse's forty-ninth lover, after all.

The number was perfect, because only seven days remained until everything would finally be over.

...

The next morning, the PR director for Knapp Holdings came to the house personally with a statement already prepared.

"Mr. Holmes, we drafted something for you. If you could take a look..."

I skimmed through it and almost laughed. It was the same old script they had been giving me for years.

It read, "It was just a game, and I'm not upset. Our marriage is stronger than ever. We hope everyone will respect our privacy and stop giving this matter unnecessary attention…"

Over the past ten years, I posted more statements like this than I care to count. This time, however, the Knapp family was taking the situation far more seriously.

After all, this was the first time Jesse had ever publicly claimed one of her lovers, and she had done it in the most spectacular way possible.

I had already looked Gideon up, and it didn't take long to realize he was different from Jesse's previous lovers. He was smarter, more calculating, and seemed to know exactly when to push her and when to pull back.

Most importantly, he looked disturbingly similar to Jesse's late first love—the man she had never truly gotten over.

Not long after my statement went live, my phone exploded with notifications again.

In one private group chat filled with wealthy heirs, CEOs, and old-money socialites, someone tagged me directly.

"You're a saint, Anthony. If my wife pulled something like this, I'd have that pretty-boy side piece run out of town before breakfast."

Another message appeared almost immediately.

"That's why he's the real husband. That level of confidence? The rest of us could never."

The comments were nothing more than mockery dressed up as praise, and by now, I was used to it.

Without bothering to reply, I muted the chat and headed into my study. Tucked away in the bottom drawer of my desk was a small leather-bound notebook I had kept for the past ten years.

I pulled it out and opened it to the first page.

"Dexter Walsh, 23. Dance conservatory student. Together for three months. She bought him an apartment."

The next page was pretty much the same.

"Eliot Yates, 25. Social media influencer. Together for four months. She funded his streetwear label."

I slowly flipped through the notebook, passing page after page filled with names, ages, and the gifts Jesse had showered on each of them. Eventually, I reached the forty-eighth entry.

"Riley Lott, 22. Music conservatory student. Together for two months. She bought him a sports car."

Then, I turned to the next blank page, picked up my pen, and added a new name to the list. "Gideon Bender, 24. Drama school graduate."

I had no idea what Jesse would eventually give him, but something told me Gideon wasn't interested in an apartment or a sports car.

He wanted something much bigger.

I closed the notebook and gazed out the window as light snow began to fall, drifting softly over the garden. The large Christmas tree outside shone with twinkling lights, while our three children played nearby, building a snowman. I could hear their laughter faintly through the glass.

As I watched them, my thoughts drifted back to the day all of this had begun.

My name hadn't always been Anthony Holmes.

Once, I had been Westin Rivas.

By the time I woke up in Anthony's body, the real Anthony had already taken his final breath. Empty bottles of sleeping pills were scattered across the nightstand, and his phone still glowed beside him.

He'd been looking at a photo of Jesse in bed with Dexter.

Even after his death, one final obsession remained buried deep in Anthony's mind. "Jesse isn't a bad person. That man led her astray. Please take care of her for me."

The moment those thoughts flooded into my head, I wanted absolutely nothing to do with them.

Seriously? His wife cheated on him. Her lover pushes him over the edge, yet somehow, with his dying breath, Anthony was still making excuses for her.

That was when the System tried to persuade me, "You can't return to your original world anyway. Complete the mission, and I'll grant you one condition of your choosing."

I considered the offer for a moment before nodding. "Fine. If Anthony was so convinced Jesse could never truly betray him, let's make a deal.

"Every time she cheats on me, one year of her remaining lifespan transfers to me. If she eventually cheats away all the years she has left, my mission is considered complete."

A few seconds passed before the System agreed, "Deal accepted."

That was ten years ago.

Since then, Jesse had gone through forty-nine affairs.

She had originally been destined to live until eighty, but now, she had only one year left. Technically, though, she wouldn't even make it that long. Her time would run out on New Year's.

Once the clock struck midnight, her time would be up.

Just thinking about it filled me with a sense of freedom so intense I could almost taste it.

My phone buzzed, pulling me back to the present.

Jesse had sent me a message. "I won't be home for dinner tonight."

A few seconds later, another one came through.

"And about what you saw online... You know how it is. Gideon lost a dare. Don't take it seriously."

I didn't reply, and Jesse didn't bother following up. That was the kind of understanding we had developed over the years. By now, she could predict exactly how I would react—or rather, how Anthony was supposed to react.

I could almost hear the excuses she had repeated so many times before.

"Anthony, you're the best. I'm just having a little fun. It helps me blow off steam."

"Don't worry, you're my husband. You're the only man who'll ever have that title."

A cold laugh escaped me as I slipped my phone back into my pocket and called the kids inside for dinner. Somewhere in the distance, Christmas bells began to ring, reminding me just how little time was left.

Only seven more days.

Seven days from now, fireworks would light up the sky as the world welcomed another year, and I would finally turn to the last page of my ledger.