4

I sat on the edge of the bed, carefully helping Serena rub ointment on her twisted ankle.

Guilt gnawed at me—I should have been home with my wife right now, but Serena’s situation felt too urgent to ignore.

I’d always worried about her, and honestly, she’d been there for me through so much. I’d promised myself I’d always return the favor.

She smiled softly and wrapped her arms around me. “I know it’s your anniversary, but can you please stay with me tonight?”

“I can’t, Serena,” I said gently. “Bella’s already so angry she’s not even talking to me. She can’t find out I came here first. I had to lie to her like you suggested, or she’ll completely misunderstand.”

“But I feel so lonely,” she whispered. “I need you here. What if I can’t find my inhaler again and have another attack?”

I sighed, torn between staying and rushing home to my wife. Serena had no one. Her family had abandoned her and her mother years ago, and then she’d lost her mom in that terrible accident. Man after man had broken her heart, and I had advised her not to let anyone in for a while.

“Sorry, Serena. My wife needs me,” I said, standing up. “I promise I’ll be there for you every other moment.”

Serena’s sad expression made me look away quickly. If I stared at her one second longer, I knew I’d cave and stay.

“Fine,” she said quietly. “I need to use the toilet. Can you lift me?”

I took a deep breath, then turned back and carried her bridal-style into the bathroom. Once she was done, I carried her back to the bed. She sighed as she watched me leave.

As I hurried to my car, slammed the door, and drove straight home, all I could think about is Bella. I’d never seen her this angry before, and the guilt was eating me alive. The second I killed the engine, I jumped out, slammed the car door again, and ran into the mansion.

The house was eerily quiet. I unlocked the door, breathing hard. The living room was empty. The kitchen was empty too, the dinner table still set exactly as I’d left it.

Panic surged through my chest. “Bella!”

I pushed open the door to our bedroom and stepped inside, scanning every corner. I checked the closet, the bathroom—nothing. Heart pounding, I went through every room in the mansion one by one. The beds were still neatly made. There was no sign of her anywhere.

Even when she was furious, Bella would usually wait for me—either pretending to be asleep or sitting at the dinner table.

Fuck. Where did she go?

I pulled out my phone and dialed her number. It rang twice before going to voicemail.

‘The number you’ve dialed is not reachable.’

My worry deepened. Bella never went out without telling someone.

Just then, my phone buzzed with an incoming call from an unknown number. I answered immediately.

“Sir, it’s your secretary. I just saw your wife at a bar—”

“What?” I exclaimed. Bella would never go to a bar. She knew how much I hated them.

“Send me the location right now!” I snapped, already rushing out of the house.

The second the location pinged in my inbox, I sped out of the mansion, praying she hadn’t drunk too much.

This was all my fault. I never should have left her sitting at the dining table in the middle of our anniversary dinner. But I just couldn’t abandon Serena—she needed someone who cared about her.

I pushed through the heavy doors of the bar, the stench of stale beer, cigarette smoke, and cheap perfume slamming into me like a gut punch.

The place was a haze of dim red lights, thumping bass that vibrated through my chest, and the sight of half-dressed women grinding on strangers while men cheered like animals.

My eyes darted wildly through the crowd, heart slamming against my ribs as I shoved past a group of laughing drunks.

“Bella!” I shouted, my voice raw and desperate over the noise. Heads turned—some recognizing me as the CEO who occasionally made the headlines—but I didn’t give a damn. All that mattered was finding her.

And then I did.

In a shadowed corner booth, half-hidden behind a curtain of fake vines and low-hanging lamps, there she was. My wife tangled up with some random asshole.

His hands were all over her, one gripping her waist, the other sliding up her thigh under the table. She was pressed flush against him, her fingers twisted in his shirt as they kissed like they were the only two people in the world.

Her body arched into his, a half-empty bottle of liquor and two shot glasses cluttering the table beside them, her hair was messed up, lipstick smeared.

Betrayal hit me like a freight train, ripping through my chest and twisting everything inside. This wasn’t happening. She can’t be my Bella, on our fucking anniversary, after everything I’d rushed through to get to her. I’d left Serena for this? For her to throw herself at some lowlife in a dive bar?

My fists clenched so tight my knuckles cracked. I stormed over, knocking a chair out of the way with my leg.

“What the actual fuck, Bella?!”

She jerked back from the kiss, her eyes hazy and unfocused from the alcohol, but they sharpened with shock when they landed on me.

The guy turned slowly, his arm still draped possessively around her shoulders, a lazy, smug grin spreading across his face like he’d just won some prize.

“Luke?” Bella slurred, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, not even bothering to pull fully away from him. “You finally decided to show up? After ditching me for your little charity case?”

The stranger chuckled, his hand squeezing her thigh right in front of me. “This is the husband? The one who left on anniversary dinner? Damn, man. She’s been telling me all about it.”

Rage and pain boiled up so fast I could barely see straight. Betrayal clawed at my throat, choking me. I’d worried myself sick driving here, imagining her hurt or lost, and this is what I walk into? Her lips still wet from his, her body still leaning into his touch like she belonged there.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I growled, my voice low and trembling with fury. “I come home after dealing with Serena’s emergency, rushing straight to you, searching every goddamn room in that house like a madman, and I find you here? Like this?”

“Wrapped around some random prick like a cheap whore on our anniversary? After everything we’ve built? You know how much I hate this shit, Bella. Bars, strangers, all of it. And you do this to me? To us?”

Bella’s eyes flashed with her own anger, but she didn’t move away from him. Instead, she leaned in closer, as if daring me to react.

“To you? Oh, that’s rich coming from you, Luke. You left me sitting at that dinner table like I was nothing! Hours, Luke. I waited while you played savior for Serena again. ‘She needs me, Bella. She’s lonely.’ What about me? When do I get to be the one who needs you? When do I stop coming second to your precious little project?”

The guy smirked wider, his fingers tracing circles on her arm. “Sounds like she’s tired of your excuses, bro. She deserves someone who actually shows up.”

“Shut your fucking mouth before I shut it for you,” I snapped at him, stepping closer, my body coiled tight like a spring ready to snap. I wanted to drag him out of that booth and smash his face into the sticky floor, but I forced my eyes back to Bella. The woman I loved. The one who was ripping my heart out right now.

“You’re drunk and hurting, and I get it, I fucked up by leaving. But this? Letting him touch you like that? Kissing him while I’m out there losing my mind worrying about you? How could you betray me like this? After all the times I’ve chosen you, defended us? I lied to her for you tonight, rushed home, and this is the knife in my back?”

Bella laughed, but it was bitter and broken, tears glistening in her eyes even as she clung to the edge of defiance. She stood up shakily, the stranger rising with her, his arm sliding around her waist like he owned her.

“Let her go!” I yelled and he just smirked before leaving us alone.

“Betray you? You betrayed me first! Every time you run to her, it’s a betrayal. ‘She has no one, Bella. Her mom died, her family left her.’ Well, guess what? I feel alone too! Tonight I decided to stop waiting. He listened, "I do not want to feel like some afterthought again while you play hero for your best friend.”

“I’ve given you everything, Bella. The house, the life, my loyalty even when Serena calls crying, I drop shit for you eventually. But tonight you couldn’t even wait? Couldn’t pick up the phone or scream at me when I got home?” I shook my head with disappointment. “Instead, you run here, get wasted, and let some nobody paw at you like it’s nothing? I feel disgusted and betrayed. Like everything we swore to each other means jack shit right now.”