Auctioned by Unfaithful Husband

Synopsis

The shrill ring of Marcellus's phone cut through the elegant atmosphere of Le Bernardin like a blade. I watched his face transform as he answered, the color draining from his features in a way that made my stomach clench with sudden dread. "What?" His voice cracked, raw with an emotion I'd never heard from him before. "How bad is it?" The conversation lasted mere seconds, but each word seemed to age him years. When he hung up, his hands were trembling. "Marcellus, what's wrong?" I reached across the table, my fingers barely grazing his before he pulled away. "I have to go." He was already standing, throwing his napkin down with such force that our wine glasses rattled. "There's been an accident." "An accident? Who—" "Ana." The name fell from his lips like a prayer, soft and reverent in a way he'd never spoken mine. "She's at Mount Sinai. Critical condition." Ana. The name I'd heard whispered in his sleep, the ghost that haunted the edges of our marriage. My throat constricted as I watched him frantically signal for the check. "I'm coming with