Chapter Two

Adam's POV 

The rain came down in silvery sheets, painting the city in a dull haze as it drummed against the window. It had a kind of rhythm to it—constant, relentless—like the pulse of longing that gripped me. Beyond the glass, autumn leaves pirouetted in the wind, caught in their own dance of slow decay. Their vivid colors, all reds and golds, only pulled me deeper into my thoughts, reminding me of Jules. Jules with her wild, sunlit hair. Jules with her laugh that used to make everything feel alive. We had been married for a month, but it felt like a lifetime stretched between us now. Two days apart and already, I was unraveling, craving her like an addict needing his fix.

You're in everything I see, Jules.

Henry's voice cut through the quiet, his smirk barely veiling the disdain he wore like armor. "Impatient, aren't we?"

I didn't look at him. My fingers curled tightly into fists, the urge to strike coiled just beneath the surface. Henry Shepherd was no friend—he was a mistake the world hadn't erased yet. A farmhand running from the law, thinking he could slip into our lives like a snake in the grass. He had tried to steal her, to twist Jules away from me. But she saw through him, thank God, and I had won. Or had I?

I twisted the gold band on my finger, its weight grounding me. But the anger simmered just below the skin. "Get to the point, Henry," I growled, my voice low, dangerous. "Or should I remind the authorities about your side jobs?" I let the threat dangle between us, watching his false bravado falter.

Henry tried to laugh it off. "What side jobs?"

"Don't be stupid," I said, my tone sharp. "We both know Pastor Joshua's wife didn't just die in her sleep." I watched the flicker of fear flash in his eyes, and it was a small victory—a bitter taste of satisfaction.

I took a long, slow sip of my coffee, savoring his discomfort like I might a well-aged whiskey. The satisfaction was fleeting, though. I didn't want his fear. I wanted his silence.

"Listen closely, Henry," I said, leaning forward just enough to make him squirm. "I don't care what shady business you're up to—just stay away from Jules. There are secrets far darker than yours, and compared to them, you're nothing. Now talk."

The tension between us crackled in the air, a silence thick with unspoken threats. Henry, finally breaking, reached for his backpack. He fumbled with it before sliding a brown envelope across the table. My brow arched, but I didn't move. I made him wait.

"Just open it," he muttered, his hands shaking ever so slightly.

Reluctantly, I unfolded the envelope, pulling out a series of photos. The world slowed as I flipped through them. Each image felt like a punch to the gut. Jules, her smile as radiant as ever—but not with me. No, she was tangled in Henry's arms. A sharp pain radiated from my chest, spreading through me like wildfire, burning, scalding. My grip tightened around the photos until the edges creased beneath my fingers.

Henry's voice slithered into the moment, dripping with smugness. "Just wanted to show you what you missed. Your wife, Adam. She wasn't as faithful as you thought."

The words barely registered, but the sneer in his voice... it was too much. "She doesn't know," I whispered, more to myself than to him. My voice cracked under the weight of the lie I'd told myself for so long.

Henry leaned back, the arrogance oozing off him. "Oh, she knows. They always do. You thought she loved you? She only wanted the life you could give her. Just like they all do."

I wanted to shout, to tear him apart, but the anger knotted in my throat, choking me. My world tilted, the foundation I had built with Jules—every memory, every tender word—suddenly fragile and hollow.

"You're a fool, Adam," Henry continued, the venom in his voice unmistakable. "I actually pity you. A rich man, hiding out, thinking you could escape your past. But here we are—me with the truth, and you with nothing but your broken heart."

The words were a death knell. He left, his footsteps fading as he disappeared into the rain. I stood there, unmoving, staring at the door, as if Jules might walk through it at any moment and undo the devastation in my chest.

Later, when I found myself back in my apartment, the walls seemed to close in around me. The air was thick with the scent of betrayal. I sat in the dim light, my head throbbing. I wanted to scream, to destroy everything around me. But I couldn't. The anger was too deep, too corrosive, eating away at whatever part of me was still whole.

"Hello, handsome," a voice purred. I turned, not surprised to see Elena leaning against the doorway, her eyes scanning me like a predator. She had always been there, lingering in the corners of my life. A constant shadow.

"What are you doing here?" My voice sounded raw, like gravel scraping against stone.

"You can't hide from me, Adam," she said, a smile playing on her lips. She glanced around the apartment, her gaze lingering on the expensive furniture, the paintings on the walls. "Still pretending to be someone you're not, I see."

The apartment had been meant for Jules and me, a sanctuary I had never fully revealed to her. I had tested her, kept parts of my life hidden, wanting to see if her love was real, if it was me she wanted—not the money. And now that lie had come back to suffocate me.

"Adam?" Elena snapped her fingers in front of my face, pulling me out of my thoughts. She was there, so close, so tangible, unlike the fragile dream Jules had become.

Without thinking, I reached for her, pulling her to me in a desperate kiss. Her lips were warm, but they weren't the sun. They didn't taste like wildflowers. There was no fire, no passion—just a hollow imitation of what I had lost.

I kissed her harder, trying to erase the emptiness. My hands moved with urgency, stripping away the distance between us. But even as I sank into her, the void inside me only grew.

And then, a voice—a whisper—cut through the madness.

"Adam?"

I froze. The voice was unmistakable. Jules stood in the doorway, her eyes wide, filled with a hurt I had never seen before. The world collapsed, and I was left standing in the ruins, lost and broken beyond repair.