Page 53 of My Husband’s New Fiancée

“Listen to me,” she pleads, her voice trembling. “The cyberattack attempts... I’m sure they’re after NRX-889. You know how dangerous it is. We need to keep it out of their reach.”

NRX-889.

Her secret project. The one she hoped could repair nerve damage, slow neurodegenerative diseases, and stimulate neural regeneration.

But it’s still unfinished and potentially deadly.

The audacity.

“Stop lying to me. No one knows it exists except you and me.”

My voice hardens as I add,

“You know what I think? I think you want to steal it and exploit it yourself.”

“How can you believe that? How can you think that of me? And why would I do it? I don’t care about fame or money. Give me one reason why I would.”

She’s good. I could almost believe her. Because while she speaks, I see all the passion that drives her. The same passion that made me fall hopelessly in love with her.

But that woman no longer exists. This one is a mirage.

I look at her, and whatever remained of my trust dies a little more.

“If you’d come to me directly, maybe I could’ve believed you. But all I see now is a traitor. First, you let me believe you were dead. You let me mourn you. Then you come back and steal data from my company.”

My shoulders slacken, as though my body is finally accepting defeat.

“You disappoint me so much, Valeria.”

At those words, she breaks.

A violent sob tears from her throat. Tears spill down her cheeks, uncontrollable, devastating.

She slides down against the window, collapsing.

I should feel satisfied seeing her broken.

But all I feel is an overwhelming exhaustion.

And a stupid, pathetic urge to kneel beside her and pull her into my arms. As if two years of lies had changed nothing. As if she hadn’t just betrayed me in the worst possible way.

“And to think I spent two years mourning you...”

My voice is barely audible.

“I regret ever loving you. I regret ever knowing you.”

At those words, she lifts her eyes to mine.

And what’s written in them destroys me.

Pain. Raw. Absolute.

“Stop,” she begs. “Please, Dante. You have no idea what you’re doing to me.”

Tears stream down her face.

“Yes,” I reply, with all the hatred I can muster and all the pain I can no longer contain. “I’m erasing you from my life.”