Public Betrayal: My Husband's COO

Hort

hared future, gone. The paper in my hand, a confirmation of the procedure, felt strangely light, yet weighed a ton. My body ached, a dull, insistent throb, but the pa

a grey canvas of hurried footsteps and distant sirens. I needed coffee. Strong, black, hot enough to sca

and

ugh a war, or perhaps a particularly wild night. Bryon had his arm wrapped tightly around her, supporting her, his concern etched clearly on his face. Their

ing me, Bryon. And my throat... I think I swallowed fire last night." She pres

for it last night. Drank us both under the table." He chuckled, a soft, intimat

told me it was okay. You said you loved watching me... unwind." She looked up at him through he

ning in, just us. I' ll make sure you' re taken care of, my love. Anything you want, you' ve got it." H

haustion, anything to avoid intimacy. "I'm just not in the mood, Hazel. It's been a long day. Can't you understand?" He would snap, leaving me feeling rejected, undesirable, and const

usy with her. He didn' t want me. He wanted her. He wanted the thrill, the indiscretion, the illicit passion. My child, our child, had been nothing more than an inconv

eliberate, spread across her face. "Well, well, if it isn't Hazel. Looking... refreshed. Must be all that alone time you're getting now." Her voice dripped with malice. "Tell

for Dorian, now registered pure shock as they landed on me.

I mean, besides a trust fund and a daddy who buys you companies." She tossed her head back, a mocking laugh es

t it was too late. He turned to me, his voice low and placating, "Haz

th her when you could be with me?" She turned to Bryon, her gaze intense. "Tell her, Bryon.

tightened his arm around Dorian. His eyes, cold and defiant, met mine. "Dorian is right, Hazel,

ering kiss, right there on the street corner, as if I didn't exist. As if the world revolved around their disgusting display

just about Bryon, or Dorian, or their betrayal. It was about everything I had sacrificed, everything I had believed in, crumbling into dust right before my eyes

de the bile rise in my throat. My body rebelled, a sudden dizzy spell washing ove

um

pavement. The crumpled paper flew from my hand, landing pre

hing to my side. She had been hurrying past, and I had wal

, a second ago filled with passion for Dorian, now morphed into a mask of thinly veiled panic. He recognized me

ked, his voice laced with feigned concern.

nated, a betrayal against my very skin. His face darkened, a flash of annoyance replacing the fake concern. His eyes, s

AS

who had been watching Bryon with a possessive gla

tumbling out of the alley, clutching her head, a trash can overturned near h

again!" Dorian cried, her vo

still on the ground, without a second thought. He shot to his feet and sprinted towards Dorian, his face a contorted ma

g there, abandoned, forgotten. The crumpled paper, the evidence of my sacrifice, remained on the dirty pavement. My heart, already a barren wasteland, felt a fresh surge of b

lked away with another woman. But in that moment, as I stared at the confirmation of my procedure, a new clarity settled over me. There was no more "us." There was only