2. Mark's a Damn Cheater

Ella POV

“To be honest, I can’t wait for us to have a baby, you know?” Mark was saying, a gentle smile on his face as he held my hand across the table, the beautiful dinner he’d prepared being savored by both of us. “I want our baby to look like you because you’re the most beautiful person in the world, inside and out.” He kissed the back of my hand and went back to eating.

I could only muster a faint smile in response and resumed eating too, because it was absurd to even think about it. Was he seriously talking about us having a baby while his mistress was pregnant? What kind of man was Mark? All of a sudden, I realized bitterly that I didn’t know him at all.

Three years of marriage, three years thinking he loved me, only to find out in the most ridiculous way that he was cheating on me? Vanessa Monroe, a gorgeous blonde model famous for gracing the covers of luxury brand magazines. As soon as I saw the evidence of my husband’s affair with her, I couldn’t resist and stalked her online. She was seductive and cunning, flaunting her body for the media and living a life full of superficiality. But never, in a million years, would I have imagined that she and my husband were having an affair.

Just thinking about it made me want to throw up. The beautiful dinner Mark had prepared had clearly lost its flavor; it was as if I were eating sand, it was so unpalatable. For me, it was more personal because this reopened a wound in my life.

I had grown up watching my mother cry in corners because my father was always unfaithful to her. She fell into depression because of it and died before her time. That pain was too deep for me, and Marcus knew it. He knew I had trauma around infidelity in marriage. He promised me he’d be an amazing husband, but even so, it seemed he couldn’t resist the charms of the stunning and priceless Vanessa Monroe.

Not that I wasn’t beautiful—far from it. With my long black hair, gray eyes, and delicate features, I knew I could pass a modeling test if I wanted to. But apparently, Marcus wasn’t satisfied with just me.

Good heavens, I couldn’t even look at him now. And to think I’d been willing to give up everything for him tore me apart even more.

“Yeah, a baby would be great,” I mumbled with a weak smile, just agreeing with him. Yes, I was avoiding this topic because maybe I was afraid of starting the destruction of what was already destroyed.

“We could start making our baby tonight, what do you think?” Mark teased, brushing the back of my hand with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Of course, all he needed was an opening to push our dinner to the floor, put me on the table, and make wild love like we always did. But today, I instinctively pulled my hand away from his, subtly reaching for my wine glass.

He noticed my hesitation, of course. “Is everything okay with you, Ella?” he asked, his brow slightly furrowed.

“Are you asking if I’m okay? I just saw you in bed with freaking Vanessa Monroe, and you have the nerve to ask if I’m okay?” I almost threw that in his face but held back. Things were already hard enough; the last thing I wanted was a fight with him over this. “I’m fine, just… a bit of a headache and worried about an important surgery tomorrow,” I lied.

He nodded, stroking my arm. “I get it, love. Sometimes I forget my wife is a freaking superhero who saves lives,” he chuckled, teasing as always and still being attentive.

He was always attentive to me, always had been. I thought he was the best husband in the world, so maybe that’s why it hurt so much to know he was having an affair—and that his mistress was pregnant.

I stood up, unable to bear it any longer.

“Love?” He looked concerned, standing up to support me.

“No, no need. I’m fine, just tired. If you don’t mind, I’m going upstairs, okay?” I asked.

“Of course. No problem, I’ll take care of things here.” He gestured to the messy kitchen.

But I just walked away, and for the first time since I’d known him, I felt repulsion at his touch. It was understandable, considering my marriage had just been shattered by him.

---

The next day, my attentive husband drove me to work.

“I’m worried about you,” he said, handing me a coffee. “Last night, you were so exhausted. I know being a doctor can be tough, so I’m taking you to work today.”

Every day, Mark gave me another reason to love him more. He tried so hard and showed his love for me so well, but today, I just wanted to cry. I simply couldn’t understand why he had to do this, betray me like this. If he didn’t love me anymore, why didn’t he let me go instead of making a fool of me all this time?

But I let him drive me to the hospital, his hand resting on my thigh as he drove, caressing it. “I’m not working today,” he said. “I want to take care of you. I’ll make some popcorn, pick out a good rom-com for us, how about that?” He smiled, ever the charmer.

“You know that’s my favorite genre,” I replied.

“Of course I do, my love. I live to make you happy, you know?” He planted a quick kiss on my lips.

“No, Marcus. You just ruined my life…” I almost said that but instead grabbed my bag and got out of the car as soon as he parked in front of the hospital.

I stood there, waving as he turned the corner and drove off, but I needed to see if this was real. I had to give Mark the benefit of the doubt. Nowadays, malicious people could easily photoshop messages and photos. I had to trust Marcus and hope this was all a big lie.

So, I quickly hopped into a taxi. “Please, follow that car,” I told the driver. My patients could wait a bit; right now, I needed to fix my marriage.

The taxi followed Mark discreetly through the streets of Seattle. He didn’t even notice I was tailing him, and the route he was taking was definitely not toward our house. When he stopped at a secluded corner, I paid the fare and got out, heading toward where Marcus had parked.

I hid behind a building so he wouldn’t see me, but of course, he wouldn’t suspect I was there since he was completely engrossed with his mistress. To my dismay, I realized he’d arranged to meet her here. She was already there, inside his car, sitting on his lap, kissing him passionately, her blouse pulled down as they made love right there, like a couple so desperate for each other they couldn’t even make it to a damn motel.

I nearly vomited at the sight, the repulsion and shock nearly swallowing me whole. So it was true—Mark was a damn cheater.