Chapter 1
On our third wedding anniversary, I walked in on my husband, Desmond Kramer kissing his new secretary.
When I confronted him, he just shrugged. "Relax, it's just a game. Don't take it so seriously."
But to me, he was already tainted.
I handed him the divorce papers calmly. "Let's divorce."
Outside the city hall, he smirked. "Adira, don't come crawling back. Without me, you'll never survive."
He didn't know that just a few weeks earlier, my grandmother had given me her multinational company.
*****
As I stepped out of the bar's private room, I suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure in the room next door.
It was Desmond Kramer, my husband. But he was supposed to be out of town for work.
So what was he doing here?
The scene that unfolded next gave me a jolt, and my head almost exploded.
With everyone around them cheering them on, Desmond kissed his secretary and junior, Lois Mullin.
Moreover, today was our third wedding anniversary.
Not only did he lie to me, but he was also making out with another woman here.
And the two of them were completely lost in each other, kissing like they meant every second of it, for a whole minute.
Whenever Desmond and I were intimate, he'd barely brush his lips against mine, always in a hurry to get it over with.
I used to tease him for being a lousy kisser, never affectionate enough.
It seemed I was wrong about him.
It wasn't because he didn't know how to, nor was he cold. He just reserved all his passion for someone else.
Three years of trying, of giving everything I had, and I still couldn't melt his heart.
I closed my eyes, my heart utterly still, and turned to walk away.
After saying goodbye to my best friend, Evie Wyden, I got in the car and headed home.
It was already eleven at night, and Desmond still hadn't come home.
I pulled out my phone and called him.
"Desmond, we need to talk," I said.
"What's up? Just say it," he replied.
He sounded impatient, and there was a lot of noise in the background.
Just then, Lois's voice came through the phone. "Hey Desmond, is that your wife on the line?"
Desmond ignored Lois, and suddenly everything on his end went silent.
I said coolly, "I want to talk to you face to face. Don't even try to tell me you're out of town. I just saw you."
Not even twenty minutes later, Desmond came home.
He walked in arrogantly, not a trace of guilt on his face. "What is it you want to talk about?"
I calmly played the video I'd recorded at the bar for him.
"Shouldn't you explain this to me?" I asked.
He just gave me a dismissive look, as if it was nothing.
"It was just a game. Don't take it so seriously," he said.
I kept pushing. "Weren't you supposed to be out of town for work? So why were you there?"
He scratched his head. "The trip got canceled last minute. Some friends pulled me over. It was Lois's birthday."
Even now, he was still lying to me.
I'd already called his assistant and found out he never had any business trip planned for today.
He really went out of his way for his precious junior, Lois's birthday.
I had to give Lois credit. She really knew how to get in with people. She'd only been his secretary for less than six months, and she was already chummy with all of Desmond's friends.
It seemed he'd been bringing her around a lot.
Meanwhile, me, his wife, never got that kind of treatment.
I used to try to fit into his circle.
But he'd always shoot me down, cold as ice. "You don't know anything about business. Why would you even come? You wouldn't even know what to talk about."
Back then, I thought he had a point. What a fool I was.
He'd always looked down on me for being just a housewife, thinking I was beneath him.
Money and power really could change a man.
It didn't matter how much a woman silently did behind the scenes. He just ended up looking down on her even more.
I was completely done with Desmond now.
I pulled my gaze back and pointed at the divorce papers I'd already laid out on the table.
"Desmond, let's divorce," I said.
He got all riled up, his voice rising. "Are you out of your mind? Didn't I already explain? It was just a game. Do you really have to go this far?" he snapped.
I stared him down, unflinching. "You call this a game? You were wrapped up with her, kissing like you meant every second. That's your idea of fun?
"Can you honestly swear you never had feelings for her?"
A few days ago, when I brought him lunch at the office, I could tell from the way Lois was looking at him that she liked him.
She was always by his side, calling him 'Desmond' affectionately.
And he, always so serious with everyone else, would talk to her all soft and gentle.
"She's just my junior. Her family's from out of town. I'm just helping her out, that's all," he said. "Can't you just be a little more generous?"
Generous? Seriously? I couldn't believe he said this to me.
He was the one who cheated, the one who trashed our marriage, and now, instead of feeling even a little guilty, he accused me of being petty.
Was this really all I was worth?
Do I really have to settle for sharing my husband with another woman?
"Desmond, do you even remember what today is?" I demanded.