Chapter 5

Bella lay wide awake in the dark, staring at the ceiling fan spinning slowly above her. Julian’s soft snores filled the room, steady and peaceful, like nothing in the world could touch him. She turned her head slightly and looked at him. His face looked so calm, so innocent in sleep. The same face that had kissed her forehead earlier and told her “that was great” after two rushed minutes.

She couldn’t sleep. Not after everything.

The lingerie receipt kept burning in her mind. That expensive, slutty set. in all her two years in marriage Julian has never bought her things not suprise her.

she would not blame herself for marrying him right he was a very sweet boy while they were dating not until he got married to her and changed overnight.

Carefully, so she wouldn’t wake him, Bella reached over Julian’s sleeping body and picked up his phone from the nightstand. The screen lit up, bright in the darkness. Her heart beat faster as she entered his passcode. She knew she shouldn’t be doing this, but she couldn’t stop herself.

she needed to be sure before concluding.

She opened his messages and went straight to that unsaved number.

The latest conversation was right at the top.

**Unknown:** Baby I miss you already. My body still feels you from yesterday. When are you coming to see me tomorrow? I need you deep inside me again.

**Julian:** I’ll come in the afternoon. Told Bella I have important meetings. Can’t wait to fuck the hell outta your pussy.

Bella’s breath caught in her throat. She scrolled just a little more, her eyes stinging. She didn’t want to read everything. She couldn’t handle it. But one picture caught her attention.

It was a nude. The woman had taken it lying down, from her neck to her hips. Her face wasn’t visible. Just her skin, full breasts, and between them — resting against her cleavage — a delicate gold necklace with a small teardrop pendant.

Bella froze.

That necklace.

She had seen it somewhere.

Her hands started shaking so badly she almost dropped the phone.

*Wait… why is this necklace so familiar? It can’t possibly be Scarlett, right? No. She wouldn’t do that. She’s my sister. She wouldn’t…*

Tears blurred her vision. She wiped them away quickly, but more came. They slid down her cheeks silently as she stared at the photo. The delicate chain. The way it sat perfectly between the woman’s breasts. It looked identical.

She locked the phone and placed it back on the nightstand with trembling fingers. Then she turned away from Julian, curling into herself on her side of the bed. The sobs came quietly at first, then harder. She pressed her face into the pillow to muffle the sound.

Everything hurt.

The man sleeping behind her had been texting another woman about fucking her for hours. He had bought her expensive, filthy lingerie. He had complained about how fast he finished with his own wife. And now this necklace. The one her own sister had been wearing today.

Bella cried until her chest ached. She cried for the marriage she thought she had. For all the nights she had convinced herself that two minutes was normal. For the way she had started looking at Jax with guilt eating her alive while her husband was out doing this.

She wiped her face with the back of her hand, breathing shakily.

Enough.

She sat up slowly in the dark, looking at Julian’s sleeping form. Something cold and sharp settled inside her chest.

“Julian…” she whispered, voice barely audible. “You started this.”

She stared at him for a long moment, tears still drying on her cheeks.

“Now I’m ready to play this game with you.”

Her mind drifted to Jax. To the way he had looked at her in the living room. The hunger in his eyes. The power in his voice when he said her name. The way her body had reacted even through all the shame.

If Julian could hurt her like this…

If he could betray her so easily…

Then maybe she didn’t have to keep punishing herself for wanting someone who actually made her feel desired.

Bella lay back down, staring at the ceiling once more. Her heart was pounding with a new kind of resolve.

If you think you can hurt me like this… then I’ll choose your father.