My Husband Faked Eight Affairs to Leave Me for My Best Friend

I listened to Lorenzo Falcone and Giuliana Conti say goodbye, my chest aching so badly I could barely breathe.

Once, his love had been a treasure that belonged to me alone.

Now I stood outside the door like a thief, listening for scraps of the tenderness that used to be mine.

When Lorenzo opened the study door, his eyes met mine.

He saw my red, tearful eyes, and his face softened with concern out of habit as he hurried toward me.

"Beatrice, why are you crying?"

I stepped back and looked him in the eye.

"Lorenzo, I heard everything you just said.

"All of this was a trap you set for me, wasn't it?"

Lorenzo stopped, and his eyes slowly went cold.

"You heard all of it?"

I nodded. My voice was so calm it surprised even me.

"Yes. I heard every scheme you and Giuliana cooked up. All of it.

"So. Are you going to divorce me now?"

He didn't answer. He just stared at me, baffled, as if he couldn't understand why I was so calm.

Every other time I'd caught him cheating, I'd made a scene.

I'd wrecked his car, smashed the antiques in the house, and sent every one of his mistresses away to another city.

The eighth time, when I caught him in a hotel with a stranger, I'd held a knife to him and sworn that if it happened again, I'd drive it through his heart.

Even with my parents and brother calling me a madwoman, I wouldn't back down.

But when I saw him holding Giuliana, I didn't have the strength to raise a hand.

Lorenzo sighed, came over, and took my hand.

"Beatrice, the truth is Giuliana and I have been together for a long time. You're the one who came later.

"But we're married, and I do have feelings for you. If you can accept Giuliana, we don't have to divorce."

I stared at him in disbelief.

His palm was warm, but my hand turned cold in his.

"Accept what? That Giuliana and I share you?"

Lorenzo spoke as if it were perfectly reasonable.

"I know you love me. You can't bear to divorce me. This is what's best for both of us.

"As long as you stop making scenes, you can stay my wife and the lady of the Falcone estate."

I yanked my hand away. I felt sick.

"Lorenzo, you disgust me.

"I could never do that. Let's get divorced."

He froze for a moment, then softened his voice to coax me.

"Beatrice, I know this is a lot to take in, but it really is the best way.

"Giuliana can't live without me. Remember how bad things got for her when we were apart."

It was true. Nine years ago, Giuliana had spent almost every night in bars until the early hours of the morning.

I worried she'd get drunk and something would happen to her, so I went with her every time.

Once, while I was shielding her from a drunk man, he smashed a bottle against my right wrist. The cut was deep, and the scar has never faded.

Lorenzo and I had only just gotten together.

He'd touched the wound, his eyes reddening at the sight of it, then personally executed the drunk who'd hurt me.

But not one of them had told me the truth.

They had already betrayed me, even then.

I looked at the face that had once made my heart race, and the tears fell before I could stop them.

"So you were lying to me even then.

"How many times have you betrayed me over the years?"

Lorenzo frowned, his eyes full of reproach.

"Giuliana is your best friend. Can't you make one sacrifice for her?"

He said it as if the answer were obvious. As if I were the one who had brought us here.

I wiped my tears. Whatever love I had left for him died.

Neither of them was willing to end this three-way arrangement.

Then I would be the one to leave.