Chapter 1

Chapter 1

After Silas Sterling ditched me for the twenty-seventh time to run back to his first love, I found the resort tickets he had left on his desk.

He looked at me with those cold, indifferent eyes and said, "Since you found them, I guess I'll see you this weekend. Stop complaining that I never have time for you."

That night, I stood at the entrance of the resort in Aspen, shivering in the pouring rain for hours. Silas never showed up.

When I finally dragged my soaked body back home, I saw his first love's Instagram post. It was a photo of them together in D.C.

"Someone lost the tickets, but since he took me on a trip to the capital, I guess I can forgive him this once!" her caption read, followed by a smug emoji.

In the past, I would have called him immediately, crying and demanding to know why he treated me this way. But this time, I was just done.

I tossed my phone onto the coffee table and walked into the bathroom. As expected, Silas hadn't come home.

A cold laugh escaped my lips. Raina Lockwood had posted that photo specifically for me to see. If she wanted to play the lead in this drama so badly, I decided to give her the stage.

I pulled my marriage certificate from the back of the drawer. Then, I took a screenshot of Silas and Raina's happy little getaway post.

I uploaded everything to X with a caption that would set the internet on fire. After hitting send, I packed my bags and left the house that had started to make me feel sick.

"You two love the spotlight? Fine. Enjoy the view from the top of the trending page," I whispered, laughing through the sudden ache in my chest.

But as I laughed, a bitter saltiness filled my throat. Silas, if you didn't love me, why did you keep making these empty promises? Even a loyal dog gets tired of being kicked eventually.

I had barely checked into a hotel when Silas started blowing up my phone. The ringing was relentless, a piercing scream in the quiet room.

Finally, out of some lingering shred of sentiment for our years together, I picked up. The man on the other end was hysterical, his voice a jagged roar.

"Selene Montgomery, are you insane? Do you have any idea what this scandal is doing to Raina's career? She's in the hospital right now because of your lies!"

"She's threatening to end it all because of your black heart. Post a retraction right now, or I swear I'll burn your family's business to the ground," he threatened.

"And what if I want you both to burn with it?" I asked, my voice surprisingly steady.

Silas hesitated, his tone shifting to a desperate, low plea. "Selene, please. I know I messed up the weekend, but Raina is innocent. I'm the one who chose to go to her. Don't take it out on her."

"She's just starting her career in the industry. She can't handle this kind of hate. I can't stand to see her suffer like this," he continued.

"What about me? I'm your legal wife! What did I do wrong to deserve being left in the rain while you played house with her?" I finally snapped, the anger boiling over.

"Ten years! I've been by your side for ten years! Every time she has a minor headache, you run to her like she's the only person in the world."

"Why did you even marry me? Answer me!" I screamed into the phone, but there was only a heavy, suffocating silence on the other end.

"It's not like that, Selene... Look, just take down the post. We'll talk at home, okay?" he said, still only worried about his precious Raina.

If he wanted to protect her so badly, they could rot together for all I cared. I hung up and silenced my phone.

"Silas Sterling... you're a piece of trash, and I'm finally throwing you out."