Her Betrayal Made Me a Billionaire

Just then, several comments appeared across my vision.

"Alex still has no clue. Melanie and Hayden have been together for years. They've probably lost count of how many times they've slept together by now."

"And here he is booking a restaurant for his seventh wedding anniversary. He has no idea Melanie and Hayden's fourth anniversary is tomorrow."

"I hope this guy comes to his senses and divorces her. The guys before him who did got at least five million dollars in cash, and the mystery prizes keep getting better every time. I can't even imagine what his will be."

The comments were already wondering if my mystery prize would make me rich overnight, but I couldn't care less.

My grip tightened around my phone until my knuckles turned white. My chest ached so badly I could hardly breathe.

It had all started on our third wedding anniversary. I got stuck at work and didn't make it home with a gift for my wife, Melanie Rowland, before midnight.

Every anniversary after that, she would get upset and refuse to celebrate with me.

I wanted to make things right between us, so I worked myself into the ground, putting in overtime to earn those project bonuses.

I didn't find out the truth until today.

Every year, when Melanie walked out on our anniversary, she was actually leaving to celebrate one with someone else.

I clenched my jaw.

I could hear Melanie in the study, on the phone with Hayden Locke as they planned for the apocalypse.

"We can buy an abandoned warehouse outside the city and turn it into a safe house. It shouldn't cost much to buy, but renovations and supplies will add up. How much money do you have left?"

"None."

Panic crept into Melanie's voice. "Didn't I just send you 300,000 dollars last month?"

"I bought a new car and took a trip. It's all gone."

Their words hit me hard.

After we got married, Melanie said we should start saving for a bigger place.

I made 12,000 dollars a month, but I was only allowed to keep 200 dollars for myself. I handed the rest over to her.

For seven years, I'd pinched every penny, only to find out Hayden had been living it up on my money.

Just last month, Mom was hospitalized with acute appendicitis. Her surgery was going to cost over 30,000 dollars.

When I asked Melanie for the money, she said it was locked up in investments and told me to figure something out myself.

It was sweltering that day. With Mom's surgery weighing on me, I walked all the way home after working overtime.

As I passed the convenience store at the entrance to our apartment complex, the heat was getting unbearable. There were ice pops in the freezer for one dollar each.

I stood there for almost a full minute. In the end, I walked away without buying one.

Mom's surgery was going to cost more than 30,000 dollars, so every dollar mattered.

I was scraping together every dollar I could for Mom's surgery. Meanwhile, Melanie had been spending my money on another man for four years.

Just like that, all the pain of her betrayal turned into hatred.

Hayden soon came up with a way for Melanie to raise the money.

"Let's take out loans online. The apocalypse is coming anyway. Once everything collapses, no one's going to care if we pay the money back. Anything we can borrow now is basically free.

"We'll each borrow 500,000 dollars, then get Alex to borrow a few million."