Chapter 1: Thorn in His Life

Zachary's POV

"Hey, there, handsome!" Celestine greeted me the second she answered my video call request, her voice warm through the speakers, especially when she had this gorgeous Italian accent that sounded music to my ears.

I gulped the water and cold air that was stuck inside my throat before I smiled and responded, "Hi, babe. Thank you for answering my call right away. What are you up to right now? Am I not disturbing you?"

Celestine reclined back into what looked like her cozy living room couch, a neat and familiar background that I knew all too well, "Of course not, honey. Just a quiet night in my new condo, watching K-dramas online, and missing you so much." she replied.

Her clouded eyes freckled with obsidian met mine, allowing me to witness such a heavenly-crafted masterpiece even if I saw her every day, one of the reasons I fell in love with her like crazy.

"Missed you too, Celestine. But I thought I saw your friends posting a big night out today. Are you sure you're not feeling left out?" No matter how hard it was for me to remain calm, my arms and legs kept on shivering out of too much anger and disappointment.

"Nah," Celestine chuckled, showing those two gorgeous deep dimples engraved next to her lips, any man can fall for it. I, for one, couldn't resist her charm. "They're just out for a drink, babe. I wanted to talk to you instead. Shantell's handling my social obligations."

"That's good to hear, babe," I replied, starting to grit my teeth in disbelief she could do such a thing to me. "I can see that your eyelids were about to fall. You better get back to your room to have a comfortable sleep, okay?"

"Yeah, sure. Are you in our room right now? Why is your background so dark?" she asked, "Anyway, don't forget to switch on the AC, okay? I know you are not comfortable sleeping with it switched off."

Before confessing the truth, I gradually turned my head behind me, terrified that once I removed my attention away from her, I might miss out on something from her convincing drama.

Everything I see behind me apart from the utter darkness that surrounds me is the street lights, cars whooshing at the speed of light, and people wandering the bustling streets.

But I highly doubt she could notice a thing.

So I nodded in agreement with her assumption. "Don't worry about me, babe. You should worry about yourself since I am not in the condo to cook your meals."

My furious eyes started pouring out of anger and hatred toward myself for not knowing and being blind not to see it for the past three years since we got married.

"Nah, don't worry about me, babe. I'm a big boy now, remember? Anyway, good night, Zachary. I love you so much, always remember that, okay? Couldn't wait to see you tomorrow." Celestine kissed the screen of her phone to make it more pleasing and convincing.

Getting a kiss and hearing the magic words, 'I Love You', especially coming from the woman whom I love the most was supposed to put me in seventh heaven, a butterfly in my stomach, and music to my ears.

Contrary to those sugary and flowering words, I was there, standing outside in front of the restaurant, trembling in too much anger, witnessing her fucking lies. She already lied to me that her flight back to New York from her business trip would be on the next day.

Now, this. Having a party with her circle of friends. This was too much for me to handle. Rage burned inside every fiber of my well-being while looking at them and having fun fooling me around.

Before Celestine answered the video call earlier, she ordered all her friends to shut their mouths. Imagine when her best friend, Shantell, held a piece of cloth, the same color as the curtain we had in her condo's living room, to cover the settings of the restaurant, perfectly fitting the size of my phone screen.

Chester, on the other hand, quickly covered her body with a blanket and held the tiny pillow to look like she was indeed resting in her condo the way she claimed in our video call.

Her evil friends were all up to her lies and crimes as if they already predicted it to happen that I would reach out to my wife in the middle of their party.

No. They planned it all along and my wife was the sole mastermind of this ridiculous scheme. I mean, who could not think that way? They were in the restaurant, having a party, yet they brought a pillow, blanket, and curtain with them.

For what? To make me feel like a fool?

So right after the video call ended, Shantell and Chester removed everything they put from Celestine and continued the fun, sipping off their bottles of beer, and making up a conversation as if nothing happened. Just like that.

"You love me, my foot!" I could not help but utter profanity while clenching the phone harder as if it was about to bend in a matter of seconds.

Just when I was about to slide to the door, to confront her, Sebastian, my best friend, slid to their table and grabbed his seat next to Celestine.

The next thing he did caught me off guard when he passionately kissed her on the lips, ignoring the fact that they were in front of their friends, causing me to step back.

My heart pounded in my chest as I stood frozen behind the glass wall. The scene unfolded in slow motion right before my eyes, shattering my world into a million pieces.

The betrayal cut deep, like a double-edged sword piercing through my heart. I had trusted both of them completely, to the point that I treated Sebastian as my older brother.

I told him everything about me and my wife, even the smallest thing about our marriage, and I gave him some pieces of advice on how to win a woman's heart. But how? How can he do this to me?

Tears streamed down my face, desperate to escape the devastating reality. My vision blurred in the blink of an eye when Celestine kissed him back, and she was even getting a kick out of the moment.

Since when did the two start to have an affair behind my back? How on earth did I miss out to see this? Why did Sebastian - my best friend, could betray me like this?

Those were the questions that kept running wild inside my helpless heart and brain as I started having a hard time breathing while absorbing the unbelievable sight that caught my eye. My arms and legs were stiffened like steel even if the pouring rain started soaking me.

"When are you going to tell him about our relationship, Celestine?" Sebastian asked right after they removed their lips from each other.

"Don't worry about it, babe," she reassured him while caressing his cheek with a smile on her face.

Celestine and I have been in an intimate marriage for almost four years but I haven't seen her smiling purely from ear to ear like that until tonight.

I saw her smile once, back on our wedding day, but she was not as happy as she was while with Sebastian. Celestine was the type of woman whose smile and laughter were as expensive as a piece of diamond.

You need more than a piece of good news to be able to see her smile. But with just a simple glance from Sebastian, he smiled wholeheartedly, making me question myself, why?

What does he have I don't have. On top of those questions; where did I go wrong for them to betray me?

"Give me two days, Sebastian. I'm waiting for the perfect opportunity to break up with him," she added, "Zachary has no hold over me. Once he signs the divorce paper, we can be together. And I promise to give you everything you need, okay?"

I quickly rolled my eyes upon seeing Chester and Shantell's startled expression looking at me shivering behind the glass wall across from them, making everyone turn their faces at me, including Celestine and Sebastian.

Despite the freezing temperature outside the restaurant due to the pouring rain, the burning of my blood dominated everything. It's the overwhelming rage and disappointment that helped me control the shivering.

But I have heard and seen enough from them. The truth and lies of their hidden affairs, stabbing me with a sharp knife a million times. So I mustered the courage to lift my feet and reach for the doorknob of the restaurant.

All their friends departed from their seats the moment I stepped foot inside. Without asking further questions, I punched Sebastian in the face. Hard enough he moaned out of pain and shut everyone's mouth.

"I trusted you with everything, Sebastian. Because I thought you were my best friend. After everything I did to you. How can you --?" I cut off my words when Celestine snatched him away from me as if she was blocking me before everything got out of hand.

He didn't fight back, telling everyone that he was the victim and I was the protagonist of their love story. The audacity to play the victim in this kind of situation when it was supposed to be me, claiming as Celestine's legal husband.

"You can't blame me, Zachary. It's your fucking fault you're poor and useless. You failed to give everything your wife desired," he conceded, his loud voice caught everyone's attention, not just their friends, but everyone who dined in the restaurant. "It's not my fault that your wife found that missing piece that can make her happy in me instead of you. And she loves me more than she does for you."

"What?" I frowned in disbelief, a sharp thorn was stuck inside my throat as he slapped me with the truth.

"What do you think you're doing, huh, Zachary? How did you know that I'm here?" Celestine growled at me for the first time, demanding an answer, her eyes were even filled with rage while pointing at me, and her veins popped out of her neck.

Celestine was supposed to at least apologize or explain everything to me since they were already busted, but she deprived me of hearing it. Instead, she put Sebastian behind her and faced me as if she had chosen her side of the story.

"Aren't I supposed to be the one asking you that, huh, Celestine? I saw and caught everything you and your friends did earlier. You kissed him even if you are already married to me." I debated, trying to be as professional as I am despite the hard time weighing things, then walked my gaze at Chester and Shantell with disgust.

The two dropped their eyes to their feet, guilty for what they did. I was about to grab Sebastian's collar when I was not yet done with his betrayal but Celestine held my hands and pushed me back.

Hard enough I shoved my face to the tiled floor and moaned out of pain. And there was no trace of regret in her eyes even after seeing me crawling on the floor. None of their friends dared to help me up as if they were more afraid of what she could do to them.

"Stop this nonsense, Zachary. You're already making a scene. And you're embarrassing me to my friends!" Right after that, she grabbed my hands again and dragged me out of the restaurant by force.

She pushed me inside her car next to her in the driver's seat and took off right away without contemplating.

Thirty minutes later, we reached the parking lot of her parents' mansion. Most of the security guards were taken aback when she dragged me out of the car by force. But no one dared make a comment or do something to help me.

She let go of her grasp as soon as she locked the door of our room. "Since we are on this matter already --" she cut off her words in the middle of his statement, grabbed a piece of white envelope from her closet, and slapped them on me. "Sign the divorce paper for our son's sake."

"What?" I blurted. We were no longer in front of his friends, so I raised my voice, it was the least I could do for myself.

But my heart sank into the bottom of the ocean as I realized my marriage was coming to an end. I stared at her, searching for any hint of hesitation, of regret.

Unfortunately, I couldn't see any of them apart from her furious eyes. "You heard me right, Zachary. I'm now putting an end to this endless nightmare you brought me. To this disappointing marriage. And removing the thorns in my life is the best way to do it. So, consider this a threat if you don't want me to disown our son as well."