Chapter 1: The Other Woman

The morning started like any other.

The sky outside was dull and grey, matching my mood as I emptied the dryer, folding clothes in neat, practised movements. I lined the sleeves of Gabriel’s dress shirts just right and creased the slacks the way he liked them. Routine made things feel safe. Predictable. Manageable.

I stacked his folded laundry on the counter, humming softly, trying not to think about how little he’d been home lately.

"Business trip," he always said. "Late meetings.

"The excuses were old, but I accepted them. Not because I believed them. But because it was easier than confrontation.

I reached for his navy wool coat—one I hadn’t seen before. Italian, expensive, heavier than it looked. I searched the pockets before putting it in the dry-cleaning pile.

Lint.

A pen.

And—

My hands wrapped around something unexpected. Cold. Rectangular.

A phone.

Not his.

Not his phone.

My stomach dropped.

I turned it over in my palm. Small. Burnt edges. No case. Cheap. Discreet. The kind you buy to hide something.

My fingers moved on autopilot as I pressed the power button. The screen lit up.

No password.

Just a string of notifications.

One from an app I didn’t recognise.

Another from “Emily”. Attached to her name was a kissing emoji.

My hands trembled.

I tapped the first message.“Can’t stop thinking about last night.”

The next:

“You left your tie here, G. It smells like you.”

Then a photo.

Legs. Red sheets. Nothing else.

My husband’s tie draped on a woman’s thigh.

My heart twisted.

For a long moment, I didn’t blink. Didn’t breathe.

My hands, normally so steady, shook as I scrolled through messages, photos, and voice notes. All from the same woman.

All within the past few weeks.

All during the nights Gabriel claimed to be “in meetings”.

I stood up too fast. The phone slipped from my hand and clattered to the tile floor. I stared down at it, as if it had just confirmed something my heart already suspected.

Gabriel was cheating.

The image of his perfect smile, his crisp suits, his cold kisses—all of it cracked like glass in my mind.

The truth wasn’t subtle. It didn’t whisper. It screamed.

My ears rang.

I picked up the phone again and kept scrolling. Severe morning sickness. My stomach churned, but my eyes kept searching, like I wanted to hurt more. Like I needed to feel it.

There was a video.

I didn’t open it.

I didn’t have to.

I deleted nothing. Instead, I walked to the kitchen, dropped the phone into a Ziploc bag, and tucked it into the back of the freezer behind frozen peas.

I would need it later.

Gabriel came home that night around 11 p.m.

I was seated in the living room, in my robe, the TV playing some muted documentary I wasn’t watching.

He stepped inside like nothing was wrong.

Suit jacket over his arm, hair perfectly in place, face unreadable.

He looked at me once—and walked past toward the stairs.

“Where have you been?” I asked.

No emotion in my voice. Just quiet. Too quiet.

He paused halfway up the steps.

“Late meeting,” he said over his shoulder.

“You’ve had a lot of those lately.

”He turned. “That’s how the business works, Eve.

”I stood slowly, my hands clasped in front of me. “Do you know someone named Emily?”

A muscle twitched in his jaw.

He didn’t answer.

“Because she knows you,” I continued, voice low. “Intimately.”

“Don’t start this tonight,” Gabriel said, descending the stairs one step at a time. “I’m tired. I don’t want drama.

”I tilted my head. “Are you sleeping with her?”

He stopped at the bottom step.

Silence.

Long. Heavy. Final.

“Yes.”

I flinched like he’d slapped me.

But I didn’t cry.

I nodded once, as if checking something off a list in my head.

“How long?”

“Does it matter?” he asked coolly.

“No,” I replied. “Not anymore.

”His voice was flat. “Then don’t make this harder than it needs to be. We can handle this like adults.”

“Like adults,” I repeated. “You mean quietly? Like you’ve already planned my silence?”

Gabriel didn’t answer.

I laughed. Just once. Short. Bitter.

“Were you ever going to tell me?”

“Eventually.”

“I gave you everything.” My voice cracked, but only once.

“And I gave you a life most women only dream about,” he snapped.

I took a step forward. “You gave me loneliness and lies.”

“I gave you freedom from struggling.”

“No, you gave me a cage and called it a castle.”

They stood facing each other in the quiet of their luxurious home—two strangers bound by a dying marriage.

I turned away.

“Go sleep in one of the guest rooms tonight,” I said.

“You’re being irrational.

”I looked over my shoulder, my eyes colder than he’d ever seen.

“No, Gabriel. I’m being very, very clear.”

The next morning, I called a lawyer.

My hands didn’t shake anymore.

My voice was steady.

“I want a divorce,” I said. “Today.”

Later that day, I stood outside the glass doors of the law firm with my paperwork in hand.

I took a breath. This was the beginning of something, though I didn’t know what. Just that it wasn’t him anymore.

As I moved to step inside, a voice rang out behind me.

“Pretty suit,” a woman said casually.

I turned.

I didn’t recognise her at first. Tall, red lips, long waves of brunette hair.

The woman smiled, holding a cup of iced coffee. “Gabriel always had good taste.”

I blinked.

Emily.

I didn’t have to guess.

“I thought he’d keep you longer,” Emily added, sipping her coffee. “But I guess even diamonds crack under pressure.

”I stared at her, stunned, my heartbeat thunderous.

Emily winked.

“I’m sure this will be quick. You were always… the simple one.”

Then I turned and walked away.

I stood there, trembling.

Not from fear.

From fury.

The kind of fury that changed people.