Chapter 1

1 The first day we were together, Mark told me, "If you ever find out I've done something to hurt you, don't give me a chance to come back. If I cross that line, I deserve to lose you."

So later, when he hooked up with an intern, he made damn sure nobody told me.

He told his buddies, "Jen is the love of my life. I'm never divorcing her. A guy can have a little fun, but he always comes home, right?"

Too bad the intern thought she was something special.

She started sending me anonymous texts, and even created a fake account to add me on social media, just so I could see their lovey-dovey crap.

"Mark's a total catch. He's going to want young blood, so you should just pack your bags, honey."

I smiled, but didn't reply.

If Mark wanted thrills, he could deal with the consequences.

...

Got home, like 10:30 PM.

Still had that anonymous text on my phone.

"Jen, wanna know what Mark's like in bed?"

Seven years of marriage, and I never thought Mark would cheat on me.

The magazine on the coffee table had Mark's picture on the cover.

In the interview, the reporter asked him who he wanted to thank the most.

He said, "My wife. We were nobodies when we met, and we've been together for seven years now. Our anniversary is coming up."

"I wouldn't be where I am today without her support. She's not just my love; she's the one who believed in me."

Staring at Mark's face on the cover, I froze for a second.

His words in that business magazine blew up online.

Everyone envied me, saying it was a real-life romance novel.

Someone even found a picture of us seven years ago, selling lemonade at a street fair. We were crammed under a tiny umbrella, grinning like idiots.

We were high school sweethearts, and Mark finally told me how he felt after college.

I turned down a scholarship and stayed here to help him build his company.

When we were broke, we split every dollar in half, and drank tap water when we were hungry.

We used to sit in our crummy apartment and dream about the future.

Now all those dreams were real, and he'd changed.

Mark got back close to 1 AM. He saw me on the couch and jumped.

"Jen, what are you doing up?"

I just stared at him, not saying a word.

He looked guilty for a second, then gave me a fake smile and pulled a velvet box out of his pocket.

Inside was a ring. A huge diamond sparkled.

"They say diamonds are forever! Haha, see if you like it!"

He was trying to be cute, doing a bad impression of a jewelry commercial.

After seven years, I knew him too well. He only spent that kind of money when he felt guilty.

I took it without saying a word, put it on the side table, and said I was tired. I didn't even look at it.