Semua Bab The Affair Revenge My Bestfriend's Husband Offered Me: Bab 1 - Bab 10

My fifth wedding anniversary was the day I learned my husband had never stopped loving her. But I should have known much earlier.The first time I heard him whisper her name was during the first month of our marriage. I was standing in the kitchen with a glass of water while he was in our bedroom, packing for our honeymoon. I could hear the tremor in his voice. The soft, desperate way he said "Jovi" made my stomach drop because I'd heard that exact tone before. When we were seventeen. When she was still his.I stood there for a long time, telling myself I'd misheard, that I was simply being paranoid. I convinced myself that now we were married, he would slowly move on and learn to look only at me. He never mentioned her name in front of me again, and I took that silence as proof that he was finally healing.He didn't. Even after we married, I could still see the sadness whenever he thought I wasn't looking, the quiet grief of a man who had lost the person he once believed was his whole

“Jovienne.”Vance said her name quietly, but Jovi reacted as though the single word had struck her. She lowered her hand from her mouth and stared at him, while Zane instinctively shifted closer to her.“There you are,” Vance added.Jovi's eyes moved between us, her face pale beneath the makeup that had looked flawless only a few hours earlier. She seemed unable to decide whether to look at Vance or at me, as though either choice would force her to acknowledge what stood in front of her: her husband had found her at a hotel with another man, while that man's wife was standing beside him.“Vance,” she whispered.Zane stepped slightly in front of her. The movement was small, almost instinctive, but I noticed it immediately. His body had always moved that way around Jovi, placing himself between her and anything he believed might hurt her. I had seen him do it years ago when she was upset, when someone spoke too harshly to her, whenever she needed someone to take her side.I had simply ne

“Gentlemen,” he said, and the room immediately settled. “This is Nerissa Sullivan, my lead data analyst. She oversees our European analytics and has been working directly with the Zenith data. She'll explain what the current proposal is missing.”I glanced at him. Lead data analyst?That wasn't my official title. He knew it, and I knew it, but he had given me the title without hesitation, placing more authority behind my name than I technically carried. There was no time to question him about it, so I walked toward the screen, connected my laptop, and brought up the first slide.Harrington, seated at the center of the table, looked from me to the presentation.“We're short on time,” he said. “We've already reviewed the cost projections, and they're too high.”“I know,” I said, turning toward the screen. “That's because they're based almost entirely on the North American models.”I brought up the comparison with the results recorded in Oslo.“Zenith's core technology has been operating

The Lexington Club was exactly the kind of place Vance would choose for our first public appearance together. Quiet, expensive, and discreet enough to make people feel private while giving everyone around them plenty to watch.I saw him near the entrance, speaking to the maître d' with his phone in one hand. He looked exactly as he had in the office, composed and perfectly in control, until he looked up and saw me.He stopped speaking.It lasted only a moment, but I noticed.His gaze moved over the black dress I had bought that afternoon before returning to my face. I had spent more time than usual on my makeup, not because I wanted to impress him, but because I had spent too many years looking exactly the way other people expected me to look. Tonight, I wanted to see someone different when I looked in the mirror.Vance seemed to be doing the same thing.His expression remained controlled, but something in his eyes changed before he looked away and collected himself."You came prepared

237 unread messages.The newest ones appeared every second.Wait... isn't Ms. Sullivan married?Wasn't she seen with Mr. Blackwood tonight?Tell me this isn't about the promotion...I knew something was going on.Someone had attached a blurry photograph.Vance.Me.Laughing across the table.Someone had circled the distance between us in red.I stared at the picture.It had been taken from inside the restaurant.Not by accident.On purpose.I hadn't slept well that night. Every time I closed my eyes I saw the photograph.By morning it had spread farther than I wanted to imagine.The email went out at 9 AM.Subject: Leadership AnnouncementPlease join me in congratulating Nerissa Sullivan on her promotion to Vice President of Strategic Operations...My inbox exploded within minutes as if they had anticipated and waited for this moment. Congratulations from people who'd never spoken to me. Questions from colleagues. A calendar invite from HR for a "transition meeting."At 9:15, my phone