Chapter 1

Three days after our wedding, I received a photo from an unknown woman.

In the photo, my new wife, Nicole, lay in bed.

And the man pressed intimately beside her was none other than my most trusted friend, Austin.

When I confronted her, Nicole dropped to her knees, begging for mercy:

"I had too much to drink on our wedding night. The power went out and the lights were off. I genuinely thought Austin was you."

Austin backed up her story, swearing up and down that he had gotten wasted and stumbled into the wrong suite by accident.

Just as I forced myself to swallow the pain and move past it, Nicole got into a car accident.

I rushed to the hospital in a panic, only to pause outside her room when I heard her friends burst into laughter.

"Nicole, you're a genius! Pretending to be wasted just to spend the night with Austin?"

"Wait, even the car crash was fake?"

Nicole's laugh carried through the door, completely devoid of guilt.

"Of course it was fake."

"If I didn't pull something drastic, how could Logan ever forgive me?"

"Besides... I'm already pregnant with Austin's baby."

Standing outside the door, I felt as if lightning had struck me.

Everyone—my wife, my best friend, everyone—had conspired to help her cheat on me.

Through the small window, I saw Nicole's face glowing, radiant as a blooming rose.

Had all that guilt and trembling distress she put on in front of me been nothing but an act?

A woman wouldn't look this flushed and energized in a hospital bed without a man's recent touch.

"Didn't I already explain it to you guys?" Nicole's voice drifted out casually.

"Austin is Logan's mother's nephew. When Logan's uncle passed away, his dying wish was for Austin to carry on the family bloodline."

"Logan's mom loves Austin like a son, so she orchestrated the whole thing for us."

"You guys know Austin was my high school crush. Even if I couldn't marry him, getting a taste of that gorgeous, muscular body was totally worth it. I can die happy now."

Outside the room, my soul felt completely hollowed out. My mind went blank.

On our wedding night, I hadn't just gotten drunk on my own—she had intentionally poured drink after drink down my throat. Then the breaker tripped, plunging the room into darkness. Unable to see clearly, I had fallen into an unconscious stupor, trusting that everything was fine.

It was all an elaborate setup.

A sharp, tearing pain ripped through my chest. Breathing became nearly impossible.

I braced one hand against the wall just to keep my legs from buckling.

"Hearing you say all this... I honestly don't even know what to think," one of her friends sighed.

"It's insane. It's like something out of a wild reality TV show."

"Wait, did Austin stop by for another round before we got here?"

Nicole let out a coquettish giggle and stayed silent. Her silence was a blatant confession.

No wonder her cheeks were flushed with that satisfied, post-coital glow.

I felt as if someone had delivered a humiliating slap across my face, leaving me helpless and burning with disgrace.

"Nicole!" her friend warned, her tone sobering up.

"What?"

"Your situation is a complete mess right now."

"You're married to Logan, but you're sleeping with his cousin and best buddy. If word gets out..."

"What about your reputation? What about your pride?"

"More importantly, if you really are carrying Austin's baby, there's no way in hell Logan will accept it."

"You should just divorce Logan and marry Austin legally."

Her friends' words plunged Nicole into a brief silence.

A moment later, she looked up, her voice ringing with stubborn certainty.

"I'm not letting Logan go. Nobody loves me the way he does."

"I can sign the divorce papers for now. Once I have the baby, I'll win him back."