Chapter 2

VANESSA'S POV

I don't remember sinking to the floor.

One moment I was standing in the doorway of my bedroom, staring at Isabella's hand resting protectively over her stomach, and the next I was on my knees, unable to breathe.

Pregnant.

My best friend was pregnant with my husband's baby.

"How long?"

My voice came out strangled, barely a whisper. I slowly looked up at Sebastian, who already stood behind me in the doorway, his arms crossed over his bare chest.

"How long have you been sleeping with Isabella?"

He stared down at me with those cold, empty eyes that once used to look at me with warmth, with love, and with promises of forever.

"Does it really matter?" he asked flatly.

"Does it matter?" I repeated, my voice breaking. "Yes, Sebastian, it matters! She's my best friend! You're my husband!"

"Five months," Isabella answered for him, as though she didn't care about my pain. "I've been sleeping with your husband for five months, Vanessa."

Five months.

Her words echoed in my head, refusing to make sense.

Five months meant this started right after I lost our baby. Their affair began after I'd spent three days in the hospital, bleeding and crying and mourning the child we'd never met. It was right after Sebastian drove me home in silence, his jaw clenched, and his hands tight on the steering wheel.

I'd thought he was grieving over my miscarriage. I'd thought he needed space.

But he'd been with her.

He'd been holding, touching, and fucking my best friend while I cried myself to sleep every night, my arms empty and my heart shattered.

"Sebastian, please," I choked out, tears streaming down my face. "Please tell me this isn't true. Please tell me Isabella's lying to me."

"What does it matter what I did?" His voice was cold. "You cheated first, Vanessa. You fucked my brother, so don't stand there acting innocent."

"I didn't!" I pulled myself up from the floor, my legs shaking so badly I thought they'd give out. "I've never touched another man since the day I met you!"

"The sex tape says otherwise."

"The sex tape is FAKE!" The scream tore from my throat, raw and desperate. "Someone created that video to destroy us! Can't you see that? Someone wants to hurt us!"

"Or maybe," Sebastian said slowly, his lips curling into something cruel, "you're just a lying whore who finally got caught."

The word stabbed through my chest.

Whore.

My husband—the man who'd promised to love me forever—just called me a whore.

"I would never cheat on you," I whispered, my voice breaking completely. "I love you. I've only ever loved you."

"You already did!" He pushed past me into the bedroom, heading straight for the dresser. "You betrayed me. And you've been lying to my face every single day since."

"I haven't! Sebastian, please, you have to believe me!" I followed him, stumbling over my own feet. "I'm your wife! Why won't you believe your own wife?"

He yanked open the bottom drawer—the one that was always locked—and pulled out a thick envelope.

My heart stopped.

"What… what is that?" I asked, though somewhere deep inside, I already knew.

Sebastian pulled out a stack of papers and threw them onto the bed as though they were nothing.

"Divorce papers," he answered flatly. "And an NDA."

The room tilted.

I grabbed the edge of the bed to keep myself from collapsing.

"Divorce?" The word barely made it past my lips. "Sebastian, no. No, please—"

"I want a divorce, Vanessa!"

His words shattered me into a million pieces.

"In a few days, my company is signing a deal that's worth 2.3 billion dollars," he continued, his voice cold and businesslike, as though he were in a board meeting instead of destroying his wife. "I'll be on every major news channel, every business magazine, and every social media platform in the world. I'm going to be one of the richest men in the world, Vanessa." He paused, his eyes boring into mine. "And I can't have you anywhere near me."

The betrayal hit me like a physical blow.

"You don't want me near you?" My voice cracked. "Sebastian, I'm your wife—"

"A wife no one knows exists," he cut me off sharply. "And that's exactly how it's going to stay. You'll sign that NDA, keep your mouth shut about our marriage, or I'll destroy you. I'll make sure you lose everything."

My heart skipped a beat.

Because he was right.

No one knew I was his wife, except his family members. Not his business partners. Not even his friends. In our three years of marriage, he'd never once worn his ring in public, never once called me his wife in front of anyone.

I'd met Sebastian four years ago at Morrison's Diner, where I worked as a waitress. He'd come in every Tuesday and Thursday, always sitting at table six, always ordering black coffee and a turkey club. He'd been charming, attentive, and kind. He'd always asked about my day as though he actually cared, left generous tips, and made me feel seen for the first time in my life.

When he proposed six months later, I'd cried tears of joy because I thought I was the luckiest woman alive.

There was no real wedding. It was just a quick courthouse ceremony with two strangers pulled from the hallway as witnesses. I never wore a white dress. No flowers. No family. No photos.

"We need to keep it private," Sebastian had explained as we'd left the courthouse, his hand warm in mine. "It's just for a little while, Vanessa. You'll be in danger if my creditors find out we're married. Once Lancaster Global Industries is stable, we'll have a real wedding. I promise you, baby. I promise."

Lancaster Global Industries was the company he'd inherited from his late father. It was also the company that had been drowning in debt when we'd met, barely staying afloat.

I'd believed him.

I'd believed every lie that fell from his lips.

Every time I'd asked when we could tell people that I was his wife, he'd had a reason to wait.

"Just until this deal closes."

"After we secure this investor."

"Once the quarterly reports come out."

But it'd been three years of waiting, three years of being his secret wife, and three years of being introduced as "a friend" to everyone in his life.

And I'd accepted it all because I loved him. Because every night when it was just the two of us, he'd hold me close and make me believe that I was his everything.

But it had all been lies.

"You're ashamed of me," I murmured, the realization cutting deeper than any knife. "You've always been ashamed of me."

"You were a waitress, Vanessa." His words were cruel and designed to hurt me. "What did you expect? That I'd introduce you to billionaire investors? That I'd bring you to charity galas where tickets cost more than you make in a month?"

Each word was a dagger to my heart.

I still couldn't believe he could say such cruel things to me.

"I helped save your company," I reminded him, my voice shaking with anger and hurt. "When Lancaster Global Industries was three months from bankruptcy, who took out loans to save it?"

His jaw tightened, but he said nothing.

"Seventy-five thousand dollars, Sebastian." Tears streamed down my face. "I'm still drowning in debt from those loans. I worked triple shifts and went days without proper sleep—all to save your company." My voice broke. "And now that you're about to become a billionaire, you want to throw me away like garbage?"

"I never asked you to do all that."

"You didn't have to ask!" I screamed, my composure shattering completely. "I'm your wife! I did it because I loved you! Because I thought we were building a life together!"

"Well, you thought wrong." He pulled a pen from his pocket and dropped it on top of the divorce papers. "Sign them, Vanessa. And sign the NDA. You breathe a word about our marriage to anyone, and I'll destroy you."

"Sebastian, please—"

"You're worthless to me now," he added, his voice devoid of any emotion. "You're barren. You can't give me children. You can't help my company anymore. You're just… useless."

His words knocked the air from my lungs.

He'd called me barren, worthless, and useless in less than a minute.

Before I could reply, he suddenly turned to Isabella, who was still standing in the doorway with that victorious smile, and pulled her close. His hand rested on her stomach—on the baby growing inside her, the baby that should have been mine—and he kissed her.

He kissed my best friend right in front of me.

When he pulled away, he kept his arm around her waist and looked at me with empty eyes.

"I'm going to make Isabella my wife, Vanessa," he announced. "And this time, I'll be revealing it to the whole world. There'll be a real wedding—everything you wanted. Except you won't be the bride. She will."

Something inside me died.

I stared at them—at my husband holding my best friend, at his hand on her pregnant belly, at the way he looked at her as though she were everything—and I finally understood.

I was just the poor waitress he'd hidden away, used when convenient, and discarded when I couldn't serve a purpose anymore.

"Sign the papers!" Sebastian ordered again, his voice leaving no room for argument. "It's over between us, Vanessa."

I looked down at the divorce papers, at my name typed in cold black letters, and felt the last piece of my heart shatter.

Then I looked up at him—at this man I'd loved with every fiber of my being, this man I'd sacrificed everything for—and snapped.

"No, I'll never sign those papers!"

His eyes narrowed dangerously.

"What did you say?"

"I said I will never sign those divorce papers, Sebastian." My voice was stronger now, fueled by the pain ripping through my chest. "I won't let you erase me like I never existed."

"Then you'll regret it," he shot back coldly. "I promise you that."

I couldn't stay there anymore.

I couldn't watch him hold my best friend.

So I turned and ran.

Out of the bedroom, down the stairs, and through the front door into the cold night. My lungs burned, my vision blurred with tears, and my body shook with sobs I couldn't control.

I stumbled down the street, my mind replaying everything on an endless, torturous loop—the fake sex tape with Nicholas, Isabella's pregnancy, Sebastian kissing her, calling me worthless, barren, and useless.

"You're just… useless."

My husband's cruel words replayed in my head.

I wasn't watching where I was going.

I didn't care anymore.

"WATCH OUT!" someone yelled.

But it was too late.

I looked up just in time to see the car barreling straight toward me, running a red light, and there was no time to stop.

The impact was deafening.

The world spun violently, and I was thrown to the ground, my head slamming against something hard. Pain exploded through my skull as I realized I'd just been hit by a car.

Then everything went black.