Chapter 5

Emily's Pov

When I woke up, everything felt wrong. My body ached, my head pounded, and the weight in my chest pressed harder with each shallow breath. 

For a moment, I laid there, staring at the ceiling, trying to convince myself that it had all been a nightmare, the office, her, Maxton… none of it was real.

But it was real. The sheets next to me were cold. He wasn’t here.

I pushed myself up, my limbs heavy as if they were betraying me. I needed to see him, to confront him again.

 Maybe there was some explanation, anything that could make the reality less unbearable. I stood on shaky legs and walked to our bedroom, clinging to the last fragments of hope that I didn’t want to lose.

But then, the door opened, and all hope shattered.

They were there, together in our bed, my bed, their bodies entwined, just like in his office. Maxton’s bare back moved in rhythm, and she, whoever she was, threw her head back in a moan, her dark hair cascading like some twisted crown.

My breath caught in my throat. The room spun around me, my heart threatening to explode in my chest. My voice died, trapped in my throat as I watched the two of them, like I didn’t even exist.

Finally, she saw me, her eyes meeting mine as if she had been expecting this moment.

“Oh, look who decided to join us,” Then I saw her face, his so-called P.A, Ebony. She sneered, her lips twisting into a cruel smile. “Feeling left out, Emily?”

My knees buckled. I collapsed, the weight of her words piercing through the shock like daggers. Ebony didn’t even flinch. She remained there, shamelessly lying beneath my husband, laughing at my humiliation.

“Maxton…” I gasped, my voice a mere whisper.

He stopped, only now reaEmilying I was there. For a brief second, I saw something flicker across his face, surprise, maybe guilt, but it vanished, replaced with cold indifference.

“Can’t you see I’m busy?” he growled, as if I was the intruder.

Ebony chuckled darkly, brushing her fingers along his back. “Let her watch, Maxton. Maybe she’ll learn a thing or two.”

Her words burned like acid, and I felt my stomach twist in knots. Every insult, every mocking laugh tore at the already fragile pieces of my soul. I could barely breathe. It was like drowning in an ocean of betrayal, suffocating under the weight of what I had just witnessed.

“Maxton, how could you?” I choked out, the tears burning at the edges of my vision. “In our bed… after everything…”

He shrugged as if I had asked him a trivial question, rolling off Ebony like she meant nothing.

“After everything?” he scoffed. “You think you have any control over what I do? After all these years of you trying to control me?” His eyes were icy, as though he no longer saw me as his wife. “Don’t flatter yourself, Emily. What happened here has nothing to do with you.”

Ebony sat up, the sheets falling away from her body, exposing her without a hint of shame. She looked at me with smug satisfaction, her lips curling into a sneer. “Face it, Emily. You’ve been replaced. He’s mine now. And trust me, he doesn’t miss you at all.”

I could feel the room closing in around me, every breath growing harder to take. My hands trembled as I tried to steady myself against the wall. My throat tightened, and I had to force the words out.

“I… I loved you,” I whispered, my voice shaking as I spoke to Maxton. “I gave you everything, and this is what you do? You betray me for her?”

Ebony stood up, walking toward me with a mocking sway in her hips. “Don’t kid yourself, Emily. Maxton’s moved on. He doesn’t need some sad, pathetic housewife holding him back.”

 She leaned in closer, her face inches from mine, her breath hot against my skin. “You’re nothing but a bitter old memory.”

My legs gave out, and I staggered out of the room, my vision blurred by tears. I didn’t know where I was going, I just needed to escape, to get away from that sight, from her cruel smile, and from Maxton’s cold indifference.

But before I could make it to the door, his hand grabbed my arm, yanking me back with a force that sent me crashing against the wall. The impact knocked the air from my lungs, and I gasped, my body screaming in pain.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Maxton hissed, his fingers digging into my arm. His voice was sharp, dripping with malice.

I struggled to free myself, my heart pounding against my chest. “Let me go,” I pleaded, the panic rising in my throat. “Please, just let me go.”

“You don’t get to walk away from me,” he spat, his hand flying toward my face. The sharp sting of his slap echoed in my ears, my head snapping to the side. Blood filled my mouth, and I struggled to stay upright, my legs weak beneath me.

Ebony’s laugh echoed in the background. “Teach her a lesson, Maxton. She needs to learn her place.”

Maxton’s grip tightened, and he hit me again, harder this time. My vision blurred, and the taste of blood grew stronger. “You think you can just waltz into my life and ruin everything? You did this, Emily! You brought this on yourself.”

I stumbled, my body crashing to the floor. I tried to crawl away, but his foot slammed into my ribs, the pain sharp and unbearable. I screamed, but the sound barely left my throat, strangled by the agony coursing through me.

“You listen to me,” he growled, leaning down, his face inches from mine. His breath reeked of alcohol, his eyes filled with hatred. “Next time you walk in on me, I will kill you.”

I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. His words sunk in like poison, suffocating me with fear. Just when I thought I couldn’t take it any more, he delivered one last blow, a hard kick to my stomach that sent me collapsing into a heap on the floor.

“What have I done to deserve this?” 

I heard Ebony’s laugh one last time before everything went dark.