Chapter 1

As I breathed in the familiar air of the States, I called Elliot, but he didn’t answer.

I wondered if he remembered today was our third marriage anniversary. Smiling to myself, I headed towards the airport’s exit.

I was away on a week-long work trip to inspect a piece of land Thompson Industries had acquired in Siberia. Elliot was looking to secure his dominance over the region before rival company KGC had the chance.

KGC belonged to Damon Kensington. The illegitimate son of William Thompson, Elliot’s dad.

17 years ago, an 18-year-old boy emerged out of nowhere, claimed William as his father, and demanded his share in Thompson’s empire. Chaos erupted, but he didn’t yield until he got what he wanted.

Fast forward to today, Kensington was no longer a scandal. It was a legacy.

Anyway, this was the first time Elliot had entrusted me with one of his business affairs in 3 years of our marriage, so even though the climate was harsh and relentless there, I didn't let it deter me. 

And now I was back.

As I exited the airport, I called him again, only to slip into his voicemail. He had said he would send a car. The car had yet to show up, but soon a group of reporters crowded around me, leaving me confused.

“Why did you cheat on Mr. Thompson? Was he not able to satisfy you?” a reporter demanded, throwing me for a loop.

“What?” I blurted out, baffled.

“What do you have to say about your leaked pictures?" another popped in.

“What pictures?” I asked, not able to make sense of their questions.

“The ones showing you having sex with other men. How many affairs did you have during your marriage?” someone asked.

My mind went reeling. What the hell were they talking about? I opened my phone and clicked on the news. 

I felt the ground slip away from beneath my feet, my palms turning cold. In pictures, I was shown in intimate positions with strangers. Some parts of the pictures were blurred, concealing my bare body parts.

The questions faded into muffled noise as I studied each picture.

It wasn't me.  

 Someone had circulated my fake pictures.

“What was Mr. Thompson's reaction to this? Did he know about it?"

I glanced up. “These are fake pictures. This isn’t me. I don’t even know these men,” I defended earnestly as panic set in. Tears blurred my vision.   

“Mr. Thompson stood by you even after learning about your infertility. How did your conscience allow you to betray him?" My gaze snapped to the reporter who asked. Her face looked familiar.  

Commotion died down at once as everyone processed the new piece of information. 

“You are infertile? Is that the reason you slept with countless men hoping someone would be able to impregnate you?” A female reporter asked. 

After my infertility was exposed, reporters bore down on me from every side. Their questions turned even crueler, tearing me apart like bloodthirsty vultures. 

“Shut up,” I finally snapped. They froze.

I shoved through the crowd. Before they could trap me again, I slipped into a random cab and told him to move.

Throughout the journey, I couldn’t stop crying. With trembling fingers, I dialed Elliot, but to no avail. I wondered if he also believed I had cheated on him. The thought sent a wave of anxiety through me. 

Someone’s framing me. I’ve never cheated on you. Please, call back when you see the message. 

I typed with trembling fingers and sent the message.

I hoped he was home so that I could explain myself to him. I had no idea who had done this, but whoever they were, I wasn’t going to leave them.

I climbed out of the car and headed straight into Thompson’s mansion. The mansion was empty, no staff in sight.

On the way to my room, I called Elliot again. This time I heard his phone's ringtone drifting from our room. I was relieved to know he was home.

I hastened my strides and pushed open the door. 

I froze. 

It was Kelly in our bed.

They were in the center of my bed. A man mounted her, his bare back and buttocks visible as he drove into her again and again, his face buried in her neck while her legs spread wide beneath his hips. 

Just then, Kelly's eyes flew open, locking with mine. Instead of guilt, her lips curled into a serpentine smile. I was stunned.

“Isn’t today your marriage anniversary, Elliot? You should be with Azalea,” she said, holding my gaze.

“Don't sour my mood. I don't want to talk about her,” Elliot replied sharply. My heart broke into a million pieces.  

“Why are you still with her if she is so much of a burden?” she asked. He didn't reply for a moment. 

“She is just a bargaining chip, nothing more. I wish you were my wife. I swear I would fuck you every day and night,” he ground out. 

“But we've been fucking every day and night for two years. It’s just your stupid wife doesn’t know it yet,” Kelly replied, her smile turning more vicious. The revelation struck me like a bolt of lightning. Two years?

“Oopsie. Your wife caught us,” Kelly finally announced my presence in a sing-song voice. 

Elliot froze for a brief moment and then moved to pull out but Kelly stopped him. “I am close. Finish me first,” she demanded with a sense of entitlement. I was flabbergasted. They wouldn’t fuck right before my eyes, would they?

I felt bile rising in my throat when Elliot resumed. She moaned obscenely. I couldn’t bear it any longer, so I bolted straight out. A sense of disbelief still clung to me as I dragged myself to the living hall and collapsed to the floor.

My husband and my best friend….. The stab of betrayal threatened to bleed me to death. I crumbled into a mess of tears and sobs.

A few moments later, I heard their footsteps.

“Ohh, she is still here,” Kelly sneered before adding, “Hope you had a good show, bestie,”

My bloodshot eyes snapped to hers. Her smirk conveyed cruel satisfaction. 

My gaze drifted to Elliot, who regarded me with cold indifference. “It was about time you find out,” he said, not a hint of remorse. 

The nerve.

I leaped to my feet and bounded over to him. I grabbed him by his collar and demanded furiously, “Why the fuck did you do this to me? Why?”

A hard expression set across his features before he seized my wrists and pushed me away.

“You’re fucking barren, Lea. He prefers his woman beautiful, glamorous… and of course someone who can give him an heir," Kelly replied on his behalf. Her lips spread into an arrogant smirk as she pressed her palm to her belly and added, “I am pregnant with your husband’s child, Lea. Won’t you congratulate me?”

I went rigid. 

“Pregnant?” I mumbled.

“Yeah. You see, not everyone is barren like you. It’s a shame he married you, but I am the one giving him his heir. Just how useless could you be, Lea?” A sickening amusement laced her voice as she taunted me.

My gaze hardened. “Are you sure it’s his child? Whores like you usually don’t know who the father is.”

“Did you just call me a whore? How dare you?” Kelly snapped and slapped me hard. “You are a loser, Azalea. A fucking loser. You should just kill yourself at this point.”

Fury surged through me, and I slapped her back, sending her head jerking sideways. “And you’re a backstabbing piece of shit,” I hissed.

Everything stilled for a moment before, I received another slap. This time from Elliot. My ear rang for several moments. 

“Touch her again, I’ll fucking rip you apart and no motherfucker will be able to piece you back together," Elliot snarled. "Kelly, slap her back in her face,” he instructed. Kelly obeyed. 

I cradled my cheek that burnt with pain. 

Elliot closed in on me, eyes spewing venom as he hissed, "A man needs an heir to continue his legacy and you are not even capable of giving me that. Kelly is pregnant with my child. If you so much as dared to look their way, I swear I’ll make you regret your existence.”

His warning drove the pain deeper into my chest.

Then he pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled a sigh as if I was testing his patience. After "calming himself down," he reconnected our eyes and said, "Look, I am going to divorce you and marry Kelly. But that doesn't mean I am throwing you away. You can still stay here. Nothing has to change between us."   

I couldn't believe the shamelessness of his proposal. "So you want to divorce me, marry her, and keep me around as your mistress you can bed whenever you want?" 

His expression told me I had gotten him right. 

"Let's be real. No man will accept you after those pictures. You should be glad I am giving you a chance," he seethed. 

Realisation dawned. "It was you?" Anger replaced hurt, before I spat in his face. "You fucking cheater. I'll destroy you." Tears flooded my eyes.      

Elliot wiped the spit from his face, a vicious look in his eyes. “You’ll destroy me? You think you have it in you?  No one gives a fuck about you, Azalea. Not even your dad. Who’ll stand with you in your little revenge plan, huh?”

I had no answer to that. Honestly, I had no one in this whole wide world to lean on.

“I will make you regret it, Elliot,” I threatened, nonetheless. And then I fixed my gaze at Kelly. “You too, bitch.”

I turned around for the door. 

"Go wherever you want. No one will accept you, only I will," I heard him say as I marched out of the door.