Chapter 1

My wife had severe social anxiety. Being in crowded places always made it hard for her to breathe.

Yet, right before my birthday, I found two VIP tickets to a Drake concert in her drawer.

When she noticed, she casually told me, "See you there." I genuinely thought she was willing to conquer her deepest fears just for me.

I waited until the stadium emptied, but she never showed up. Instead, I saw a post from her male best friend on social media.

The caption read, "My little princess would cross an ocean of crowds in a wedding dress just to see me."

Attached was a picture of the two of them dancing wild and tight in a packed nightclub.

My heart shattered into dust. Our five-year relationship had officially reached its bitter end.

......

After the concert let out, I dialed my wife Shelby's number once more.

To my surprise, the call actually went through this time. But all I heard was a wall of deafening, chaotic noise.

Pumping club beats and roaring crowds were the exact things Shelby claimed to despise most.

Just as a wave of panic hit me, wondering if she was in danger, a man's smug voice came through the receiver.

"Oh, hey, Declan?"

"Is something up? Shelby's with me right now."

Even though I had braced myself, a sharp, cold ache pierced straight through my chest.

"Where are you two? Put Shelby on the phone."

Chase let out a low, mocking chuckle. "Shelby's passed out. If you need anything, tell me, and I'll pass it along."

"She mentioned today's your birthday, right? Happy birthday, buddy."

His tone dripped with pure provocation and casual entitlement, as if he were her real husband and I was just an afterthought.

I lowered my gaze and quietly ended the call.

A few days ago, I stumbled upon those two concert tickets at home.

When I asked Shelby about them, she merely murmured, "See you there."

I had naturally assumed it was her surprise birthday gift to me.

Back then, my heart was racing with excitement.

Because of her crippling crowd anxiety, she had always refused to step foot outside for any event with me.

I truly believed she was making an exception to celebrate my special day.

Yet, since yesterday evening, she hadn't come home.

She ignored every text and declined every single call, completely shutting me out.

Her only response had been a dismissive text saying she was busy, followed by radio silence.

I ended up attending the concert completely alone, watching my phone stay dark the entire time.

Turns out, she had ditched me to be with her best friend, Chase.

What hurt even worse was realizing she hadn't forgotten my birthday at all.

Throughout our five years of marriage, she had maintained an infuriatingly messy entanglement with Chase, completely lacking boundaries.

Every single anniversary or holiday, some urgent excuse would magically trap her at Chase's side.

I had fought with her, screamed at her, and begged her, but it was always like punching a wall of wet cotton.

She would just watch me unravel with cold, dead eyes.

Once I ran out of breath, she'd calmly sneer, "Are you done throwing a tantrum? If Chase and I actually had something going on, do you really think you'd even have a chance with me?"

"He has feelings for me, sure. He stayed single all these years because of me, but in my heart, he's just a close friend."

Over time, I learned to swallow my dignity, brainwashing myself into believing she would eventually change.

So no matter how blatantly Chase provoked me, I rarely lashed back anymore.

Because I knew Shelby was the one handing him the loaded gun.

My hands clenched into tight fists as waves of suffocating misery threatened to drown me whole.

The sharp pain in my palms from my digging nails dragged back a sliver of sanity.

I took a deep breath, planning to deal with this when I got back to the house.

Right at that second, Chase dropped another post on his feed.

"Thank you for conquering your fears just for me, my sweet princess."

The photo showed them grinding intimately on a packed, sweaty dance floor.

The same Shelby who always acted untouchable and haughty with me was looking up at Chase with an eager, shameless smile.

She clung to his side, doing whatever it took just to make him grin.

I thought my heart was already dead and buried, but seeing that image still made my chest throb with agonizing pain.

My throat tightened so hard I felt dizzy from the lack of air.

It finally hit me―Chase was the only exception Shelby would ever make.

Five years of stubborn devotion collapsed into ruins in a single heartbeat.

I turned around and dialed my lawyer, instructing him to draft a divorce agreement immediately.