Chapter 1 Prologue

• Anna
• "Faster, baby! Oh, Collins. Yeah, yeah, right there! Oh God."
• I stopped dead in my tracks, my mind going straight into overdrive.
• Did I just hear Collins?
• Collins...like, Collins Black.
• My own Collins Black.
• To my disbelief, Collins's sharp grunts fill the air, confirming my suspicion. I grip the blue banister hard, my legs wobbling, almost giving way beneath me.
• No. No! It couldn't be. Surely, I must be mistaken...
• They are going at it in the last room down the corridor. The room Collins and I began sharing since we got married to each other. Diana, my childhood best friend who'd also helped me move my things from my private room to him is the same one shamelessly fucking my husband right now.
• My man.
• Throwing away so many years of our friendship for...this? How long have they been seeing each other?
• I can't take it anymore. I have to confront them. I have to catch them red-handed. Collins owes me an explanation.
• Where did I go wrong?
• We've been so happy and in love with other, and I never thought this would be possible.
• Was he drunk? Out of his mind?
• Did she drug him?
• I need an answer.
• Seized with a wary sense of desperation, I storm down the hallway and kick the door with twice as much rage as I could muster.
• Through my blurry, teary vision I see the full picture — Diana on the mahogany reading table, legs spread apart, her cheap Balenciaga gown hiked up to her waist, her acrylic nails digging into Collins bare butt as he slams into her like a monster from hell.
• "Holy fucking shit!" I scream, drawing their attention to me.
• Collins casually pulls out of her and moves away, pushing his black hair back from his forehead. He doesn't even bother trying to fix himself,.or look remorseful. Beside him Diana only sighs, brows furrowed at me in annoyance for disrupting their little fun. "Couldn't you have knocked at least? You scared the shit out of us."
• Tears well up in my eyes. “How could you...” my eyes flit to Collins as the tears fall uncontrollably. “What — ”
• “Hey, Anna..." He trails off coolly, sizing me up and down. “Good to see you're home.”
• I don't know how I'm still standing upright. It's hard to believe that this is the man I got married to over a year ago. The dates, the flowers, the affection, have they all been a lie?
• Betrayal courses through my veins. As well as guilt. If only my writing job isn't so demanding...
• "H-How could you?" I manage to ask, hating how scratchy and hoarse I sound. “Where did I even go wrong? And how long has this been going on?!”
• “Three months,” Diana supplies.
• Collins glares at her. “Quiet now, Diana.”
• “I need an answer, Collins. Or is your guilt eating you up so bad that...”
• “There is no guilt,” he deadpans, the weight of his words resting on my shoulders, making them sag in sorrow. “It was only a matter of time until you found out. I want to say I'm sorry, but that would be me lying...”
• Blood rushes to my ears. I can't believe what I'm hearing. “What? You're... you're not — ”
• “No,” he shrugs. “You brought this upon yourself.”
• “Excuse me? I made you cheat?”
• “Yes.”
• “Unbelievable.”
• “You choose your job over us, Anna. Months of being away, in faraway cities, entertaining other men, while I sit back home and rot — horny and in need of someone to talk to. You are never there when I need you.”
• “Why are you making it sound like I've got any choice in this? You're an actor, Collins. Your job is equally demanding.”
• “That's not the point. The point is, you got married to me, knowing fully well that you're not ready to be a wife.”
• His words sting me so hard, and so deep, I'm so close to wailing. As a script writer working for Belfast Pictures, I'm often required to be on set in case of any adjustments or improvisions. It's tasking and challenging, and I thought Collins understood. He's always been my biggest supporter.
• It was all a lie.
• In reality, he was envious. Envious of me.
• “Collins, I — ”
• “Save it,” Diana hisses, picking up a bundle of paper from the desk and tossing them at my face. “Enough has been said. Those are divorce papers. We'll need you to sign them.”
• I blink. “You're not serious.”
• “Oh, but we are,” she moves to plant herself in front of me, her eyes shinning. I can't even recognize her anymore. This is not the Diana I graduated from college with. “Collins is done with your ass. Sign. Those. Papers. Now.”
• “I can't believe you're doing this to me, Diana...” I shake my head. “After all we've been through together. This is how it ends between us? You and Collins...”
• “I have no regrets about anything, Anna. Collins and I were always meant to be, and you know it. At college, he had the hots for me. You were happy for us, until we had a minor disagreement, and you stole him from me.”
• She bends and picks up the papers. “This was always going to be your fate from the moment you walked down that aisle with him. And your job helped him realize that he's been chasing the wrong thing all along. Now, he wants to set things right. And we need you out of the way. Sign those papers.”
• My eyes flit to Collins once more. He's so calm, so indifferent...it stirs up something in me. Taking the pen Diana offers, I sign my name quietly at the end of the pages. “You two will pay for this. I'll never forget this day, Diana Lynch. And God help me, you've just dug your own grave, and I will see to it that I bury you well. Mark my words.”
• Without a word more, I swivel around and throw the closet doors open. Packing my things quietly with them watching is hard, but I do it anyway, the tears now dried up, and firm resolve lodged in my chest. I mean every word. I will make their lives a living hell.
• I don't take whatever Collins has got for me, just stuff I personally bought for myself. Dragging my suitcase outside the room, and out the front door, I look at the house I called home for the past one year and realize I won't miss it.