The Cheating Wife's Worthless Husband Is the Apocalypse King

Chapter 2: The Mask Comes Off

Valentina stood frozen for a second, her mind refusing to accept what she had just heard. Marco never spoke to her like that. Not once in five years.

"Are you insane?" Her voice cracked between fury and disbelief. "You hit my father and now you want a divorce? Marco, think about what you're saying."

She stepped closer, trying to soften her tone, the way she always did when she needed to pull him back into line.

"You're just stressed. You don't mean any of this. Let's talk calmly, okay? We can fix whatever is bothering you."

Marco said nothing. He simply stared at her, his eyes flat and unreadable, like he was looking at a stranger wearing his wife's face.

Footsteps came from the hallway, light and unhurried. Lorenzo strolled in wearing a smug grin, his hands tucked into his pockets like he owned the place.

"Wow, listen to this noise." Lorenzo's voice was dripping with mockery, his eyebrows raised in fake surprise. "Did the family dog finally grow a backbone? Careful, Marco, barking that loud might get you put down."

Something inside Marco snapped clean in half.

He crossed the room in two strides and slammed his fist into Lorenzo's jaw before the man could even blink. Lorenzo's body hit the floor hard, his head bouncing off the wood with a dull thud.

"You don't get a say in my family." Marco's voice was ice cold, each word landing like a slap. "You're nothing here. Open your mouth again and I'll break more than your jaw."

Lorenzo lay sprawled on the ground, blood trickling from his split lip, his eyes wide with shock and pure hatred.

Valentina's scream tore through the room. She rushed to Lorenzo's side, dropping to her knees, her hands hovering over him like she was afraid to touch broken glass.

"What is wrong with you?" Her eyes filled with tears as she glared up at Marco. "First my father, now my cousin? Have you completely lost your mind?"

Marco watched her cradle Lorenzo like a wounded child, and something bitter rose in his throat.

He walked toward her slowly, his footsteps quiet against the floor, his voice dropping low enough that only she could hear it.

"You know very well whether Lorenzo is really your cousin or not, don't you?"

Valentina's whole body went stiff. Cold sweat broke out across her forehead in an instant, her hands trembling against Lorenzo's shoulder.

"What... what are you talking about?" Her voice wavered, the confidence draining out of it word by word.

Marco leaned in closer, his expression calm, almost gentle, which made his words even more terrifying.

"I know about the baby too." He watched her face drain of color completely. "It's not mine. We both know exactly whose it is."

Valentina's lips parted, but no sound came out. Her eyes darted to Lorenzo, then back to Marco, panic flooding every inch of her face.

"If you want to keep pretending none of this happened, fine." Marco's voice stayed level, almost bored. "But if you refuse to sign the divorce papers, I will make sure everyone in this town knows exactly what kind of woman you really are."

Valentina's jaw clenched so tight it looked painful, her nails digging into her own palm.

She had no idea how Marco had figured any of this out. Yesterday he had been an obedient fool who flinched at her tone. Today he stood in front of her like a man who held all the power in the room.

"Fine." The word came out through gritted teeth, sharp and bitter. "We'll divorce. Are you happy now?"

Marco's lips curled into a faint, humorless smile.

"There's one more thing." He glanced around the living room slowly, like he was already seeing it without their furniture cluttering it. "Your entire family needs to be out of this house by tonight."

Sergio, still nursing his shoulder on the floor nearby, shot upright with a furious snarl.

"Out of the house?" His face turned a deep, ugly shade of red. "This is my daughter's house too, you ungrateful mutt! Who do you think you are, throwing us out like garbage?"

Marco's gaze swept over him without a flicker of fear.

"This house belonged to my parents before I ever married Valentina." His tone stayed flat and final. "It's mine. It was always mine. None of you ever had a real claim to it."

Valentina's mother appeared in the doorway just in time to hear this, her face twisting with outrage.

"You can't just throw us out on the street!" she shrieked, clutching the doorframe like it might save her position in the house. "We are your family! Have some decency!"

Valentina wiped her eyes and stood up straighter, her panic shifting quickly into calculation.

"Fine, we'll talk about the house later." Her voice turned sly, testing the waters. "But if we're really getting divorced, you owe me a proper settlement. A real one. Don't think you can just kick us out with nothing."

Marco let out a short, humorless laugh, shaking his head slowly.

"You really don't know when to stop, do you?" His eyes studied her like she was something pitiful and small. "Even with everything falling apart around you, you're still trying to squeeze money out of me."

Valentina lifted her chin, refusing to back down, her eyes hard and demanding.

"You owe me five years of marriage, Marco. I deserve compensation."

Marco's smile faded into something colder.

"You'll regret this." His voice dropped so quiet it almost sounded gentle, which made it worse. "Every single thing you're doing right now, you will regret."

He turned without waiting for her response, his footsteps steady and unhurried as he walked toward the front door.

Behind him, Sergio was shouting something about ungrateful dogs, and Valentina's mother was wailing about disrespect, and Lorenzo was still groaning on the floor with blood on his chin.

Marco did not look back once.

He pulled the door open, stepped out into the cool morning air, and walked away from the house that no longer felt like a home at all.