First message
The sunset was beautiful, so you sent Maddox a picture from your walk along the shore.
He called immediately.
“Thirty more minutes?! Baby, I miss you already.”
Smiling, you decided to surprise him by returning early.
Near his best friend’s terrace, you heard laughter.
“Remember Monaco? Two models in one night! And that blonde begging you to marry her!”
You knew about that. You knew your husband had been a womanizer. He never hid his past from you.
“Then we bet him a hundred grand he couldn’t marry the pretty little waitress!”
You stopped.
“Fuck, I thought you’d leave her at the altar! Remember how you celebrated when she said she loved you?”
“Enough,” Maddox warned.
“She thanked us at the wedding, mate! Imagine thanking the men who paid your husband to seduce you!”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP!”
Maddox stormed away, reaching for his phone.
“There he goes again! Off to call his precious wife!”
The men roared.
Rounding the corner, Maddox nearly collided with you.
“Baby!”
He smiled instinctively, reaching for you.
Then he saw your face.
No tears. Just the quiet devastation of someone looking at a stranger wearing her husband’s face.
His smile died.
“Baby…?”
From the terrace, another friend shouted,
“HEY, BEAUMONT! TELL CINDERELLA WE SAID HELLO!”
Maddox went deathly pale.