Chapter Two

The car was silent except for the sound of the road under us. I hadn't slept the night before, and Callan hadn't said much since he picked me up.

My thoughts were scattered the whole drive. Part of me still prayed, stupidly, desperately, that I was overthinking all of this, that Corin loved me too much to ever do what Callan said he was doing, that he was still away on his business trip, Corin had called me last night,asked about how I was doing,part of me wanted to confront him and tell him what Callen said but I held back myself.

It was better to see it myself than believing anything anyone says, because right now I didn't even know who was lying to me Callen or Corin but the next few hours will tell.

We drove for almost an hour before the villa came into view, tucked behind a row of trees at the end of a private road. I knew this place. Corin bought it two years ago, right after our honeymoon. He said it would be ours, a place just for us, away from everyone, a place no one else would ever set foot in. He'd meant it when he said it, or at least I had believed he meant it, the way I believed most things he told me. How could he just hand it to her, this place that was supposed to be the one thing untouched by the rest of our lives.

My heart was heavy and I couldn't think straight anymore because seeing this villa was already proving a point.

Callan parked around the corner, out of sight of the main gate, and we walked in on foot to avoid suspicion. An insider let us through the back, someone who worked the grounds, paid off or convinced, I didn't ask which. My legs were already shaking before we reached the house, the insider led us to the pool.

And then I heard the sounds first, my mind went blank. I wanted to turn and run away but I felt my leg moving forward. Then I saw them.

Corin, in the water. Bianca's arms around his neck, his mouth on her neck, he was buried inside her, thrusting in and out, Bianca's moans were all over the place she didn't even try to hide it. He was with her in the house we spent our honeymoon,built wonderful memories in.

I staggered back, my hand flying to my mouth. It felt like a dream, except dreams end and this didn't. This was real, happening in front of me.

Tears slipped down my face before I even realized I was crying.

I opened my mouth. Nothing came out. I wanted to scream his name, to run down there and drag her off him with my bare hands, but my throat had closed completely, like something had reached in and taken my voice at the exact moment I needed it most. I just stood there, frozen, watching.

"You're so beautiful," I heard him say as he pushed deeper inside her. "I could stay here forever."

Fix months, I thought. Five months since he touched me like that, and here he was giving it away like it cost him nothing.

My knees gave out.

Callan caught me before I hit the ground, his hand steadying my arm just enough to keep me upright. He didn't ask if I was okay. He just pulled me back way from the pool, away from the sound of her.

I wondered, distantly, how he wasn't more affected by any of this. His own wife, right there. But his face gave away nothing.

By the time we reached the car, everything in me broke loose. Tears, shaking hands, a chest so tight I could barely breathe. I'd told myself I needed to know for certain, but some foolish part of me had still hoped I was wrong.

Callan pulled the car door shut and turned in his seat, gripping my shoulders, steady and firm, turning me to face him. "Stop," he said, his voice low but certain. "They don't deserve a single one of your tears."

I stared at him, my breath coming in broken pieces.

"You trusted the wrong people," he said. "That's on them. Not you."

His hands stayed where they were a moment longer than I expected. I was surprised he'd touched me at all.

"How are you so calm," I managed, my voice cracking. "Right now, after everything you just saw. How."

His jaw tightened. "Bianca made her choice. She chose to betray me despite everything I gave her. She doesn't deserve my emotions anymore."

I didn't know what to say to that. I only wished I had the same mind as him but this was Callan Whitfield we're talking about,I don't think anything would ever affect him, considering he found out himself it won't be much of a surprise to me but still it hurted me seeing my husband fucking another woman..

My phone rang, breaking the moment.

Callan's hands fell away at once, and he reached into his jacket, pressing a folded handkerchief into my palm before settling back into his seat, his eyes forward.

Corin.

I stared at the screen for a long moment before answering, forcing my voice into something that sounded like me.

"Hey, my love," I said softly.

"Hey, baby." His voice was warm, easy, exactly the way it always was. "I miss you already. I feel so bad for staying out this long,it'll be over soon baby."

I closed my eyes feeling disgusted,this is the first time I've actually felt disgusted by his words.

"It's fine," I said. "Work is work."

"I'll make it up to you, I promise, the second I'm back."

Somewhere behind him, a giggle. Soft, close, unmistakable.

"Who's that with you?" I asked, my heart slamming against my ribs, some small foolish part of me still hoping he'd say something true for once.

"Just a coworker," he said, without even a pause. "We're heading into a meeting."

"Okay."

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too," I said, because that was what I always said.

The call ended.

I stared at the phone in my lap, and the tears came again, one after another. Love. He said he loved me with her laughter still hanging in the air behind him.

He didn't love me. Maybe he never had. Maybe I had spent four years loving a man who only existed in the version of himself he let me see.

Everything hurts. My chest, my throat, the backs of my eyes. I curled into myself in the seat, arms wrapped around my own body because there was no one else to hold me together, and let it all come out, every bit of it, four years of loving someone who had never really been mine.

Beside me, Callan said nothing, only drove, though I felt him glance my way once, briefly, before returning his eyes to the road.

I had one thought sitting heavy in my chest after thinking for so long what I was going to do.

A divorce.

The word felt strange in my mouth, foreign almost, but for the first time since that message came through on my phone, it didn't feel wrong to want it.