The Husband She Left Behind

Chapter 3

“You don’t need to worry about anything,” she said softly. “Especially not about disturbing our honeymoon night.”

Adrian weakly shook his head. “Vanessa… I really didn’t mean to cause trouble between you and your husband.”

“You’re thinking too much,” she replied calmly, with a reassuring smile. “Darren won’t be angry. If he was going to be angry, he would have already been angry many times in the past six months. And if he truly is angry… I’ll handle him myself.”

At that exact moment, in the quiet darkness of the honeymoon suite at The Aurora Palace Hotel, Darren Vale sat completely still without interrupting or reacting. He simply listened.

Every word from the phone reached him clearly, especially the tone of Vanessa’s voice.

Darren’s eyes slowly darkened. So this is how it was. He hadn't even misunderstood. It was intentional.

His mind began to piece everything together with chilling clarity.

For months, Adrian Knox had always appeared at precise moments, always when he and Vanessa were alone or when their connection deepened. And Vanessa always chose him.

Then Darren heard a soft breath, followed by a faint, smug chuckle. With his heightened senses, he caught it immediately.

He remembered once entering a corporate building late at night to quietly retrieve Vanessa after a meeting. The lights had been dim, the hallway empty—except for Adrian, standing alone near a glass window.

Back then, Adrian had thought he was unseen, but Darren had seen him clearly. The posture was completely different. His spine was straight, shoulders tight, eyes cold and alert—like a predator waiting. Not a fragile or harmless employee.

At the time, Darren had convinced himself it was fatigue playing tricks on his perception. Now, he knew better. That memory was not an illusion. It was truth he had refused to accept.

Just then— a notification appeared on Darren’s device. Glancing down, he saw that it was a post from Adrian Knox. His eyes narrowed slightly, and without hesitation, he opened it.

It was a hospital selfie of Adrian lying in bed, pale and weak—while Vanessa sat beside him, still partially dressed in remnants of her wedding attire, carefully attending to him with visible concern.

The caption read:

“Deeply grateful to you, Vanessa Hartwell, for coming on your honeymoon night...”

Darren’s expression remained unreadable, as he scrolled further. Then, the final line of the post made him pause.

"Your current husband won't be angry, right? I hope not!"

To anyone else, the post might have looked like a simple expression of gratitude. But Darren immediately recognized it for what it really was—a calculated provocation.

Adrian had intentionally highlighted that Vanessa had left her husband on their wedding night to accompany him, then pretended innocence by ending with a seemingly harmless question.

Consumed by humiliation and fury, Darren crushed his phone in his hand. The screen shattered, and broken glass sliced into his palm, drawing blood.

However, he paid no attention to the pain. Compared to the agony in his heart, the cuts on his hand meant nothing. At that moment, all the warmth and emotion inside him froze completely.

He silently walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked out over the brightly lit skyline of Kelpton City.

As he stared into the night, memories of the past three years flooded his mind. He thought about everything he had done for Vanessa. Yet despite all of that, on the one night that should have belonged only to the two of them, she had chosen to leave him alone and rush to another man's side.

With a bitter smile that was half self-mocking and half ironic, Darren thought to himself:

"What kind of groom decides to divorce on his wedding night? What a joke."

Without another word, he stood up and walked toward the corner of the suite where a small suitcase rested untouched since their arrival.

He opened it calmly. Inside was a locked compartment, and a biometric password box hidden beneath layers of clothing. Darren hesitated for only a second, then he pressed his thumb against the scanner.

Click. The box opened.

Inside lay a sealed encrypted wrist device. It was old and unused for three years. He stared at it for a moment longer. Then he slowly powered it on.

A faint blue light flickered across the device. The system activated instantly, as though it had been waiting for this exact moment.

Darren entered a long, complex password sequence without hesitation. The screen unlocked, and a secure channel opened. He raised the device slightly and initiated a call. The connection was immediate.

On the other end—

A disciplined voice responded instantly. “Commander?”

Darren’s expression remained calm. “I’m returning.”

“Understood, NIGHTREIGN. The Shadow Titan Legion has remained in standby protocol as ordered. We have maintained full secrecy.”

Darren nodded slightly. “Good." "Prepare a divorce contract, then send it to me immediately.”

He paused slightly, eyes reflecting the distant city lights.

“Also update me on House Valecrest status.”

“Internal factions are destabilizing,” the voice replied. “There are signs of external interference from Solmire-linked agents.”

Darren’s gaze hardened slightly. “I see.”

“One more thing,” he added calmly, his grip tightening slightly around the device.

“Yes?”

“Absolute confidentiality. No one is to know I’ve resumed contact.”