Plain and ordinary as I was, I somehow ended up marrying the brilliant guy next door.<\/p>\n
Everyone said my marriage to him was nothing short of a miracle, and that I should be at his beck and call.<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t disagree.<\/p>\n
So while the world watched with envy, I spent years twisting myself into knots just to please him.<\/p>\n
I always assumed Vincent married me because I\u2019d saved his life when I was eighteen, running into a fire to pull him out.<\/p>\n
But today, on our anniversary, I came home clutching a bouquet of roses, buzzing with excitement\u2014only to walk in on him pinning my aunt, Gianna Haywood, to our bed.<\/p>\n
He was kissing her with a mixture of longing and tenderness.<\/p>\n
Gianna turned her head away, her voice trembling. \u201cVince, don\u2019t! Your wife is Becca!\u201d<\/p>\n
Vincent gripped her waist, his voice low and frantic. \u201cI only married her to get close to you! And you know it!<\/p>\n
\u201cGianna, I love you. From the moment I first saw you, I haven\u2019t been able to stop thinking about you!\u201d<\/p>\n
Gianna froze, then stopped fighting him.<\/p>\n
Slowly, she lowered the strap of her top, baring her bosom. \u201cVince, I don\u2019t want to hurt Becca\u2026 but I can\u2019t help myself. I love you, too. Just for tonight, let me forget everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vincent\u2019s eyes burned with desire. He leaned down, unable to wait another second. I stood in the shadows, tears sliding silently down my face.<\/p>\n
One was the husband I\u2019d grown up with. The other was the aunt who had raised me on her own\u2014just five years older than me.<\/p>\n
They were the two most important people in my life.<\/p>\n
I just couldn\u2019t bring myself to make things awkward for them.<\/p>\n
So I left the house, feeling hollow and shattered inside.<\/p>\n
Then I pulled up the security feed on my phone and watched the two of them entangled until they finally separated. Only then did I step back inside.<\/p>\n
When I opened the door, a flicker of guilt crossed Gianna\u2019s face before she took my hand with her usual affection.<\/p>\n
Her brow furrowed as she touched my skin. \u201cYour hands are freezing! You know you get cold so easily\u2014why didn\u2019t you put on something warmer?\u201d<\/p>\n
Vincent took my hand, about to warm it the way he used to\u2014but when he noticed the sadness in Gianna\u2019s eyes, he let go at once.<\/p>\n
Realizing he was being a bit strange, he said, his tone a little too stiff, \u201cYou\u2019re hopeless when it comes to taking care of yourself. I\u2019ll run a bath for you. You need to get warm.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pretended not to notice and turned to Gianna with a smile. \u201cGia, when did you get here?\u201d<\/p>\n
When Vincent and I first started dating, he\u2019d say, \u201cBecca, Gia didn\u2019t have it easy raising you. We should take her with us when we go out, so she\u2019s not lonely.\u201d<\/p>\n
I believed him.<\/p>\n
For five years, every anniversary and birthday had been a group event.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2026 I just got here,\u201d Gianna stammered, the tips of her ears turning red. She handed me a gift box. \u201cBecca, happy fifth anniversary. To you and Vincent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inside the box sat a pair of matching rings.<\/p>\n
Vincent hated wearing rings; he claimed they got in the way, so when we married, we didn\u2019t even buy wedding bands.<\/p>\n
I forced a smile, about to refuse, but Vincent snatched the box before I could.<\/p>\n
He steered me toward the bathroom. \u201cBecca, the water is ready. Go get in before it gets cold.\u201d<\/p>\n
I managed one last smile for Gianna and stepped into the room.<\/p>\n
Before the door could even click shut, Vincent\u2019s lips were on Gianna\u2019s.<\/p>\n
He looked desperate and eager, like a teenager with his first crush.<\/p>\n
Gianna glanced my way, looking guilty, and I lowered my eyes, shutting the door.<\/p>\n
I wanted to pretend I hadn\u2019t seen it, but his longing was impossible to miss.<\/p>\n
The warm water enveloped me, but I was shivering uncontrollably.<\/p>\n
The wet sounds and panting from the other side of the door sent a sharp, physical pain through my chest.<\/p>\n
My fingers shook as I pulled out my phone and called my boss.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Gordon, I accept the permanent overseas assignment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood. Your flight is at three tomorrow afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n
I hung up just as the noises outside stopped.<\/p>\n
A relationship couldn\u2019t work with three people.<\/p>\n
I would be leaving and letting them have exactly what they wanted.<\/p>\n
Nothing Fell Apart by Mark Twain 1 Plain and ordinary as I was, I somehow ended up marrying the brilliant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-unfaithful-husband-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22834\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}