All Chapters of After Three Years: She Wakes Up: Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

They say that the deepest cuts come from the ones you hold closest to your heart. But I never expected my husband to be the one holding the knife while another woman twisted it in deeper. Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? _______“Sorry, ma’am, I can’t find your boarding details,” the woman at the airport counter said.“What?” I asked, blinking as the attendant handed back my passport. “My husband booked this flight—it’s our anniversary.”The attendant peered at me sympathetically. “I’ve checked every spelling. There’s no Ariana Carter booked for any flight to Miami today or tomorrow.”My voice trembled. “Are you sure? My husband even sent me the boarding pass last night. He said he’d meet me on the plane…” I fumbled through my phone, pulling up the ticket app. Flight 254 to Miami, two seats side-by-side—our first real vacation together in ages.I’m Ariana Carter, married to Misha for three years. We’ve been passionate from the start, though lately he’s been distant—CEO dutie

The next morning I woke up suddenly, confused and blinking, a sound from the next room startling me awake. The still-warm sheets let me know that Misha was still around. Usually he’d be gone by now, or nudging me awake to make him breakfast, but today he let me sleep in. Smiling, I thought of our night together. We made love like newlyweds, and as I uncurled my body, I could feel the ache of his attention in every sore muscle.As I took my first, deep breath, the inviting aroma of freshly-brewed coffee blended with the sizzling flavor of melting butter awakened my hunger. Curious, I rolled over and slipped my feet into soft slippers. Of all the things I had imagined I’d find, I hadn’t been expecting to find my husband wearing an apron over his fine suit as he stood in the kitchen, flipping pancakes with careful, practiced precision. “Good Morning, Angel,” my husband called over his shoulder at my approaching footsteps. “Breakfast’s ready.” Misha, a man who has sworn for years that

Staring at the phone, I was unable to process what was happening. None of this made sense.Why did Misha change his password? Why hadn’t he told me?As I stood there puzzled, the mysterious caller kept sending more messages. Misha’s phone always shows a small preview of each time he receives a text. This time his phone chimes and the preview read, “Do you like my new lingerie?” The next message, from the same number, was several linked pictures followed by another short sentence of text. “What do you think? Is this sexy enough?” I couldn’t see the image, but I didn’t need to.I had seen enough. The blood drained from my hands leaving me cold as the truth sunk in: Misha was cheating on me. My hands were hands shaking with anger by the time Misha came out of the bathroom, steam curling around his mostly naked body. “Hey, Angel,” he grinned when he noticed me, “Welcome home…” I looked up, and Misha froze, the next words falling silent as his eyes met mine. “What’s wrong, Ari? Did