The Zillionaire's wrath

CHAPTER 2: The Taste of Betrayal

My body was frozen to the spot like an ice sculpture.

Every sharp, animalistic moan emanating from that room tore apart another fragment of my sanity and my heart.

I didn’t want to believe it. My hand, trembling so violently it felt like it belonged to a different person, pushed the door. It swung open slowly, its creaking sound ringing into my ears like a death sentence.

I stepped into the living room, my breath hitching. Samantha was screaming now, a sound I had never heard in three years.

For our entire relationship, she had kept me at arm’s length. “Not yet, Henry,” she’d whisper, her eyes wide and innocent. “What if things go wrong? I can wait for you. We’re building a future.”

I had believed her, like a fucking idiot. I had worshipped that lie like a sacred vow. I looked at the sofa; her clothes were scattered like refuse, and next to them sat the dark, expensive suit of a man who looked down on me every time we crossed paths.

My heart ached with every step toward the bedroom, a dull, throbbing pain that went deeper than muscle and bone. Even now, some pathetic, broken part of me was trying to manufacture excuses for her.

Maybe it was pressure? Maybe she lost control? Maybe nothing, you stupid fuck!

The door was already ajar. I pushed it open, and my world stopped spinning like it’d hit an anchor.

They were naked, two bodies tangled in a way that made my vision blurry. At first, they looked like blurred shapes, but then the focus snapped into place. Samantha was the one on top, her full breasts bouncing with every thrust, her head thrown back in a display of ecstasy she had never once shared with me.

She was riding William Blackwood like he was the savior she’d been waiting for.

I couldn’t hold back the sob that escaped my throat. My heart shattered on the spot, and in the vacuum left behind, a cold, fierce rage ignited.

"Samantha!" I roared, the name tearing from my throat.

The room went silent. For a few heartbeats, time itself stood still. She lulled her eyes toward the door, locking gazes with me. William beneath her stiffened, startled, but there was no apology in those eyes…only annoyance.

"Henry?" She sighed, the sound laced with boredom rather than guilt. She climbed off him, reaching for a blanket. "What are you doing here?" She asked calmly.

I stared at her, my mind reeling with disbelief. "What am I doing here?! I’m looking at you in bed with another man! What the hell is going on, Samantha?"

William groaned, shifting to sit up with an imperious, arrogant smirk. "Come on, Samantha. Are we done?"

"No, darling," she replied, her voice smooth as silk. The way she said it made my blood turn to ice. "We just need to get rid of the trash first."

"Trash?!" I exclaimed, the word echoing off the walls. "I walk in on this, and that’s what I am to you? After everything?"

"It’s been going on for months, buddy," William sneered, his eyes flicking over my tattered appearance with disdain.

The world went white before my eyes. The girl I had poured my life into, the girl I had sacrificed everything for, wasn't just cheating—she was mocking me.

"Samantha, talk to me," I pleaded, my voice cracking as my anger suddenly dissipated into a pathetic sadness, desperation clawing at my throat. "We can fix this. I can work harder. I can change things. Look..." I fumbled with the box in my shaking hands, thrusting it forward. "It’s our anniversary. I bought a cake. I forgive you, okay? Just take this. Everything can go back to normal."

She stared at the box for a heartbeat, her expression unreadable. Then, she took it. My heart lightened—a foolish sliver of hope brewing in my chest.

Then, she yanked the cake out and smashed it directly into my face.

The sponge and cream smeared into my eyes, cold and nauseating. I tasted the cream and smelt the sugar as my heart dropped. Their laughter erupted from the bed. It was loud, cruel, and devastatingly mocking.

"I'm done with you, Henry!" she shrieked. "You think a girl like me, who can have anyone she wants, is going to stay with a pathetic loser like you? My mother hates you, I’m disgusted by you, and you have absolutely nothing to offer! William works at a top-tier firm and pulls six figures. You? You’re a charity case. Get out!"

I tried to wipe the cake from my eyes, desperate to see her, to see the girl I’d loved, but a hand clamped around my throat and shoved me backward. I hit the wall, sliding down to the floor with an ache in my back.

"You heard her, loser," William growled, his humor vanishing into pure malice. "Get out before I stop being polite."

A hot, intoxicating fury flared in my chest. I rushed at him, blind and reckless. I didn't care that he was twice my size. I just wanted to hurt him. But my fist never landed. He caught me with a crushing blow to the jaw that sent stars dancing across my vision.

 I crumpled to the ground, and they laughed as they dragged my limp body to the door and dumped me into the hallway.

"She’s mine now, buddy," William snarled, his spit landing on my cheek. "Don't stick around, unless you want to hear her sing like a bird all night."

The door slammed shut. The laughter faded, but the sound of it trailed me like a curse as I dragged myself up from the hallway floor.

The pain in my jaw was a constant, throbbing reminder of my reality. I had to get home somehow. My apartment, the only sanctuary I had left. I limped for an hour, my body feeling like a discarded punching bag, until I reached my front door.

I fumbled for my key, slid it into the lock, and twisted.

Nothing.

The fuck?

I tried again. The key wouldn't turn. My phone vibrated in my pocket and I picked it up without looking.

"Hello?"

"Henry Rowland, you stinking rat!"

Samantha's mother. I’d know that shrill, venomous voice anywhere. "Mrs. Miller?"

"Don't you 'Mrs.' me!" she snapped. "I hope you’ve noticed the lock, Henry. I’ve been paying your rent for a year because you were with my daughter. The circus is over. Find somewhere else to rot. You're finished."

The line went dead and my body trembled with a cold, frightening sensation. I stood in the dark hallway, my face caked in rotting cake, my jaw broken, and my entire world reduced to zero.

I had absolutely nowhere to go.