Selena Myers-Knight

“Lucian, what exactly do you take me for?” she asked the minute he slid the Ruby-Dean diamond necklace towards her on their fourth wedding anniversary.

Taken aback by her sudden question, Lucian frowned.

“I don't understand what you mean.” Selena laughed, but there was nothing happy about it. Her expression twisted into disgust when she was done. She cleaned her hands with the napkin, dropped it onto the table, and folded her arms as she stared at Lucian with an amused expression.He continued eating without a care in the world.

Noticing his wife's eyes on him, he finally looked up.

“Why are you being like this?”

“Because you are fucking one of my best friends while coming home to me every day, acting all fake and shit.”

Her voice rose slightly, but she didn't care. The restaurant was fully booked for the two of them anyway.

“Tell me something, Luce. Was I that much of a joke to you that you thought you could cheat with one of my closest people and still be buying me flowers and chocolates every time you meet her?”

The chocolates. Claire's younger sister had made them for him to give her but she didn't know that, yet.

Selena stared at his face, searching for guilt, regret, a mistake—anything she could hold on to.

But what she saw was coldness.

It chilled her to the bones.

Lucian didn't even look at her twice. He simply continued eating.

“Eat your food, Selena.”

One Day Ago

Selena had been on her way to work when Claire called, saying she had something to tell her.

From Claire's tone, Selena immediately knew something was wrong, and it stayed on her mind the entire day. So when she finally left work, she went straight to Claire's house.

“Babe, are you okay?” she asked immediately when Claire opened the door.

Claire gestured for her to come in. She looked physically drained.

“What's wrong? You're scaring me.”

“Can you at least sit first?”

Claire sat down, and Selena, with no other choice, sat beside her.

“Anything I can offer you?”

Selena gave her the Girl, Are you being serious right now? Look

Claire gave up and sighed. “I'll tell you why I brought you here, but first, you have to promise me one thing.”

Selena was already impatient. “What?”

“You will not panic. You will be calm, and—”

“Panic?”

“Don't start,” Claire said weakly. “Just promise me.” Selena agreed without hesitation. She wanted to soothe her bestie's mind, but deep down, she already knew that if things went south, she was going to attack and shut down whoever had put her once-lively bestie in this state.

With Sel's affirmation, Claire brought out her phone and opened something on it. She hesitated for a few seconds before finally handing it to Selena.

Selena took the phone and played the video. Two people—a man and a woman—were in the sheets together. Selena looked at Claire, confused.

“Why are you showing me a video of two people having sex?”

Claire had gone pale.“Just keep watching.”

Selena, now heavily worried about her, had no choice but to continue. The man changed positions, and the woman's face came into view.

Selena froze.

It was Katie. Claire's younger sister. She still didn't understand why Claire had shown her the video, but she kept watching out of curiosity.Then she noticed the man's shoulder. There was a tattoo on his shoulder blade.It wasn't completely clear, but Selena knew that tattoo.Then the man spoke, and the sound of his voice made her entire world come crashing down.

Lucian. Her Lucian.

Her feet felt glued to the ground. All the air around her seemed to disappear. Her face turned tomato red, and she became completely speechless. Speechless would have been putting it mildly.

For almost a minute, she sat there staring at the screen without moving an inch, as though moving would somehow make everything real.Then the dam broke.

She wasn't sobbing loudly. The tears simply began falling. Slowly, she turned to face her best friend, who was now crying fully.

Finally finding her voice, Selena asked, “What is this?”

Claire shifted closer to her, but Selena moved back until her body hit the armrest of the couch.

It broke Claire's heart. “I'm sorr—”

“I asked WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?”Selena stood up and screamed at the top of her voice.

“Sel, please calm down.”

Claire stood as well, trying to comfort her friend, but Selena's next question shook her.

“Why are you crying?” Selena looked straight into her eyes. “Did you know about this?” She pointed towards the phone.

Claire tensed.

Selena's shoulders dropped. Her hands fell to her sides, and the phone slipped from her fingers, clattering softly onto the floor.

“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I didn't know at first either. I only found out after I caught them going into Hotel Brine.”

Claire was weeping profusely, her eyes red and her face flushed. Selena could see the guilt written all over her face. She could even see the veins standing out on Claire's forehead and neck. It hurt.It hurts so much.But Selena was angry. Furious.

And she knew that if she opened her mouth right then, she was going to make Claire drown in guilt. She would call her later. When she was calmer.For now, she needed to leave before she said or did something she would regret.

She grabbed her bag and headed for the door. Claire grabbed her before she could leave, wrapping her arms around her and apologizing over and over. Selena started crying again too. She wanted to hug her best friend. God, she wanted to hug her so badly.

But she felt betrayed, and she needed to clear her head.

So she gently pushed Claire away and left the house, ignoring her frantic calls.

She didn't go home. Of course she couldn't. How was she supposed to go home and face that bastard?

She knew she was going to pick up one of the flowers he had brought her every time he went to see Katie and stab him with it.

So instead, she went to the place she always went when things got rough.The place she went when she needed to cool down.

She had come here when it felt like the burden of the world was on her shoulders, Whenever life became too much, she came here. This time, she cried freely. She didn't hold anything back. She cried so badly her chest hurt.

How could Lucian do this? After everything she'd done to become the perfect wife, both in his eyes and in the eyes of his parents.

Selena had come from a humble background in a quiet town in the Midwest.

Her parents weren't rich, but they were happy. They worked hard to provide for their family and gave Selena a simple but loving childhood.

Selena had always been a bright and intelligent child. That was why her father's younger sister, Moraine, who was a principal at one of the schools participating in a prestigious academic competition, had come to persuade her parents to let Selena participate. They were reluctant at first, but seeing how excited Selena was, they eventually agreed.

She arrived in the city two weeks before the competition. It wasn't a lot of time, but it was enough for her to study and prepare.

It was her first time in the city, so navigating it was difficult. Thankfully, her aunt was always there to guide her and help her prepare.

The competition was meant for students from prestigious schools, but Moraine, being the principal of one of the competing schools, had been able to bring Selena in on one condition:

She had to help the school win.

Come the day of the competition, Selena was fully prepared.

Still, she was nervous.

A little encouragement from Moraine brought her confidence back, and once the competition began, Selena quickly proved why she'd been chosen.She advanced to the finals. But at the last minute, her final competitor was changed. Someone else had to take his place.

Five minutes before the final round began, the new student came backstage to introduce himself. And Selena forgot how to breathe. He was the most handsome boy she had ever seen. She had only ever seen someone that handsome on television. She wanted to approach him, but before she could, they were called out for the finale.

They were both impressive. Question after question, they answered almost seamlessly.

Then they reached the final question. The commentator finished speaking, and the boy immediately slammed his hand on the bell but Selena didn't. It surprised him. It surprised the judges. It even surprised the people from their schools sitting in the crowd. But Selena knew the question was a trick. She had no intention of rushing to answer it. She let him go first. And luckily for her, he got it wrong. The question was passed to Selena. She answered flawlessly, explaining her reasoning so clearly that even the judges looked impressed.

When she finished, they were sent backstage to wait for the results. Selena had planned to approach the boy afterward.

His name, she had learned, was Lucian. But she decided to wait until the results were announced.