Page 48 of Shattered Dreams

She reaches for the phone, but I pull it back.

"Who is he, Ava?"

"Someone who treats me with respect."

The simple words hit harder than any slap. "Respect? You've known him for what, five minutes, and you're already planning your next date?"

"I've known Adam for two years. He's a parent at Poppy's school. He's been asking me out since?—"

"Since what?"

"Since he found out about your affair." Her chin lifts defiantly. "Turns out I had options all along. I was just too loyal to see them."

"Loyal." I laugh, but there's no humour in it. "Right up until you fucked Kieron."

"And right up untilyoufucked Annie. The difference is, I waited until you destroyed our marriage first."

"So what, this is revenge? You're going to work your way through every man who's ever shown interest?"

That will be a long fucking list, and I will kill every fucking guy that touches her, I swear to god.

"This is me moving on." She reaches for her phone again, and this time I let her take it. "This is me remembering what it feels like to be wanted by a man who doesn't see me as his boring wife."

"Boring wife? Ava, you were never?—"

"I was exactly that toyou." Her voice is quiet but deadly. "I was also the safe choice. The good wife at home while you went out and played with your exciting little girlfriend."

"That's not true?—"

"Isn't it?" She adjusts her towel, suddenly looking tired. "Adam doesn't see me as his consolation prize, Roman. He sees me as the prize itself."

The words twist in my gut like a knife. "You can't seriously be thinking about starting something with him."

"Why can't I?"

"Because you're married tome!"

"A marriageyoudestroyed." She turns toward the stairs. "I'm getting dressed. When I come back down, I don't want to discuss this anymore."

"Ava, wait?—"

"No." She stops, not turning around. "You made your choice when you chose her. Now I'm making mine."

I watch her walk upstairs, towel clutched around her, and feel something break inside my chest. Not just my heart—my whole fucking world.

Adam. Some guy who's been circling my wife like a vulture, waiting for his chance. And now he has it because I handed it to him on a silver platter when I decided to think with my dick instead of my brain.

Her phone buzzes in her hand as she reaches the top of the stairs.

"Oh, and Roman?" She looks down at me, and for a second, I think I see sadness in her eyes. "Next time you want to snoop through my phone, remember that I could do the same to yours. But I don't, because I already know everything I need to know about your relationship with Annie."

She disappears into her room, leaving me standing in the hallway, hands shaking with rage and something that feels dangerously close to panic.

I'm losing her.

Not just to my own stupidity anymore, but to another man. A man who never betrayed her, never hurt her, never made her feel like she was second best.

A man who's everything I should have been and wasn't.