All Chapters of The night that ruined my marriage : Chapter 1 - Chapter 6

I don't sleep.At 6 AM I'm showered, dressed, and sitting at our kitchen island like I'm waiting for a job interview. Or an execution. I've made coffee in our fifteen hundred dollar espresso machine, the one Julian bought because it's what they use at his favorite café. My hands are steady as I pour. I've had four hours to get steady.Four hours to decide who I'm going to be when he walks through that door.The sun rises over our penthouse balcony, painting everything gold. It's objectively beautiful. I spent three years perfecting this space, this view, this life. Choosing the right shade of white for the walls. The right texture of linen for the curtains. Everything calibrated to reflect success, taste, arrival.I want to burn it all down.At 6:47, Julian appears. He's already dressed for work, charcoal suit, light blue shirt, no tie yet. He looks perfect. He always looks perfect. That's part of his power, I think. Looking like someone who couldn't possibly be doing anything wrong.

We finish both bottles of wine by four in the afternoon.Maribel orders Thai food. I can't eat. She forces two spring rolls down my throat anyway, saying something about how I need to keep my strength up for what's coming. What's coming. Like this is a war and I'm a soldier preparing for battle.Maybe I am.Julian texts at 5:30. Working late. Don't wait up.I stare at the message. Wonder which one he's with tonight. If she knows about me. If she cares. If any of them care, or if they're all just playing the same game he is, collecting experiences like baseball cards."Let me guess," Maribel says, reading my face. "He's working late.""Yeah.""Perfect." She refills my wine glass with water this time. Responsible. "That gives us time.""For what?""To make the call."My stomach drops. "I didn't say I was going to do it.""You didn't say you weren't." She pulls up the website again on her phone. "Look, I'm not saying you have to sleep with anyone. I'm saying you should meet someone. Have

We sit in silence for a while.Not the uncomfortable kind. The kind where words aren't necessary. Where two people who were strangers twenty minutes ago have somehow found a pocket of peace in the middle of chaos.I should leave. I've gotten what I came for, even if it wasn't what I expected. Connection. Witness. Someone who looked at me and didn't see Julian's wife or a trophy or a problem to be managed.But I don't want to leave."Tell me about Ivy," I say instead.Lucien's whole face changes. The careful mask drops, replaced by something genuine. Love. The kind that doesn't have conditions attached."She's everything." He pulls out his phone, shows me a picture. A little girl with dark curls and enormous eyes, grinning at the camera with missing front teeth. "She lost those last month. Cried because she thought the tooth fairy wouldn't recognize her anymore."I smile despite everything. "She's beautiful.""She is. Smart, too. Too smart sometimes. Asks questions I don't know how to