Chapter 1
In the fifth year of my secret marriage to Madeline Shaw, a female CEO, she finally agreed to go public on our anniversary.
I was up late designing the venue when I overheard her video chatting with her best friend, Olivia Lane, in Vallorian.
"Madeline, are you really going public with that Vallorian guy? Alex has been hiding for five years for you. Aren't you afraid he'll make a scene?" Olivia asked.
Madeline glanced at me, her eyes carrying a hint of casual mockery.
"He's dull and boring. Nothing like Noah, who's always passionate and romantic. It's natural I got tired of him," she said.
My hands froze for a second, but I quickly resumed my work as if nothing had happened.
Madeline turned back, looking satisfied, her tone completely unguarded.
"I promised Noah; I'd make it official for him. When the time comes, distract my husband. After I announce Noah's identity and most of the guests have left, bring him in," she added.
She finished and looked at me, effortlessly lying to me. "Honey, make sure you're ready for our anniversary. I asked Olivia to help you pick out a suit. You'll be the most handsome guy there."
She had no idea I understood Vallorian.
I smiled and nodded, swallowing the ache in my eyes and forcing myself to look unfazed.
I'd make sure to be ready.
I'd make sure they would get a surprise they would never forget.
*****
Madeline tossed her phone onto the couch and stretched lazily.
The silk nightgown she wore hugged her curves perfectly. I'd designed it for her five years ago.
Now, it was our company's best-selling item.
"Honey, how's the venue design coming along?" Madeline asked.
She walked up behind me and rested her hand on my shoulder.
Her perfume was a cool, woody scent, but there was something else mixed in, a whiff of some unfamiliar cologne.
I recognized it instantly. It was that cheap cologne from Southern Valloria.
"Almost done. I promise it'll blow everyone away on our anniversary," I replied.
I set down my brush and stretched out my sore neck.
Madeline casually massaged my shoulders, then bent down and pressed a kiss to my cheek.
"I know you're the best, honey," she said.
The doorbell rang, and Madeline hurried to answer it.
A blond, curly-haired Vallorian guy walked in, swept Madeline into a big hug, and kissed her right on the lips without hesitation.
For a moment, she seemed to forget I was even there.
She finally pushed him away, a little breathless, and turned to me.
Madeline said, "Honey, don't get the wrong idea.
"This is Noah Laurent, the Vallorian designer I signed.
"It's just a Vallorian greeting. They're really enthusiastic about it."
I forced a smile but didn't say anything.
He was literally kissing her and she told me that was his way of greeting. How ironic.
Noah walked up to me with a smirk and said something in Vallorian.
Madeline chuckled and said, "He doesn't speak Vallorian, so don't tease him."
I looked at Madeline, feeling a chill run through my body.
Noah had said, "Hello, Madeline's useless husband."
She heard it, but she just smiled, as if nothing had happened.
Noah threw his arm around Madeline's shoulders, a flash of contempt in his eyes.
He sneered, "So this is the husband you can't even bring out in public?
"He looks like some dried-up monkey; no wonder you never let anyone see him.
"Seriously, how did you survive with this guy for so many years?"
He kept pointing right at me as he talked.
Madeline covered her mouth and chuckled, not even bothering to defend me.
My knuckles turned white as I gripped the pencil, the tip digging right through the paper.
She turned to me, her face softening into that perfect, gentle look she always put on for me.
"Honey, Noah just got here, and we've got a ton of work to go over. We're heading back to the office. You'll have the bed to yourself tonight," she said.
I lowered my head and slowly tore off the ruined sheet of paper.
"Go ahead. Work comes first," I said.
Madeline let out a sigh of relief and took Noah's hand, heading out the door.
The two pairs of slippers, sitting side by side in the entryway, were painfully conspicuous.
We'd been together for seven years, married for five, but we kept it all a secret.
She went from being the ice-cold campus beauty to a boss lady running her own company.
Back when we were broken, we'd split a sandwich, and she'd always save the only sausage for me.
She promised me that on our fifth wedding anniversary, she'd go public with our relationship and even have a baby with me.
What a joke.
She always complained I didn't have the romance that Vallorian men do.
She had no idea I'd actually lived in Valdoria for eight whole years.
I didn't just understand Vallorian. I could even catch a thick provincial accent from the countryside in Noah's speech.
I stood up and walked into the master bedroom.
The closet was filled with white shirts she'd bought for me.
She used to say she loved seeing me in a white shirt, lost in my drawings.
Now, those shirts were nothing but reminders of how boring and lifeless I'd become.
I threw them all into the trash.
Our seven years of love, like those shirts, had outlived their purpose. There was no reason for them to exist anymore.
It was three in the morning.
The master bedroom was already looking half-empty.
Everything I owned was crammed into a single suitcase.
I sat on the edge of the bed, my phone screen glowing in the dark.
It was a photo from our wedding anniversary four years ago.
Back then, our company was just getting off the ground, and we were so broke we couldn't even afford a hotel room.
Madeline made me a birthday cake in the rental apartment.
She hugged me tight, crying as she made a promise.
"Alex, when our company goes public, I'm going to throw the biggest wedding ever. I want the whole world to know you're my husband," she said.
Her tears back then were real.
But now, her disdain was just as real.