CHAPTER 1: The Fall From Grace

I opened the bedroom door, eager to share my good news with my husband, but the words stopped in my throat.

Xavier was there but not alone. He lay in our bed with Victoria, completely naked. Her golden hair covered my pillow as his hands explored her body,my husband is having sex with a Mistress on our matrimonial bed.

My heart raced, wildly beating against my chest. The joy I felt moments ago vanished like a bubble bursting. Victoria's giggle cut through me. "Well, well," she taunted, her voice dripping with sweetness and mockery. "Look what the cat dragged in."

Xavier finally looked at me, his expression not one of shame, but annoyance, as if I interrupted something trivial. "Isabelle," he said, addressing me like an inconvenience. "What do you want?"

What did I want? My head was spinning. I desired him to be the man I believed he was. I wanted Victoria to disappear and time to rewind. All I received was a brutal blow to my reality.

"What do I want?" I managed to whisper, my voice shaking with suppressed rage. The heat rushed to my face as I held my fists at my sides. I stepped closer, feeling an intense urge to pull Victoria off him, to scream and demand he comprehend the gravity of his betrayal.

But Xavier was quicker than I expected. In an instant, his hand struck my cheek with a sickening slap. The pain shot through my head, and I stumbled back, my feet tangling with the rug, crashing onto the floor. The air left my lungs that instant,my husband slapped me because of a whore….

The slap stung fiercely, a burning sensation that radiates across my skin, covered only by the humiliation consuming me. Xavier, my husband who vowed to cherish me,who vowed to love me, had struck me down as if I were a misbehaving child.

Tears threatened to spill from my eyes, but I fought them back. I refused to let them see me cry or witness how deeply they had wounded me. I wouldn't give Victoria the satisfaction of seeing me weakened,not yet.

Xavier stood over me, breathing heavily, his eyes filled with a cold rage that was foreign to me. He seemed like a stranger. "Don't you dare touch her," he growled, his tone threatening. "You're nothing, Isabelle. Just an annoyance. You're in the way, pathetic bastard."

Victoria watched, her smile smug, tracing circles on his chest, her eyes shining with malicious delight as she enjoyed my suffering.

I pushed myself off the floor, trembling with a mix of pain and fury. My cheek throbbed with pain, and my head swirled, yet I refused to show any weakness. I held my chin high and met his eyes defiantly, though inside I felt shattered,I felt broken,how could he do this to me.

"Get out," he ordered, his tone leaving no room for debate. "Make arrangements for Victoria to take the guest room. She'll be staying here from now on."

The guest room. Not even a proper space. That's all I was now an unwanted guest in my home, in my marriage. An inconvenient afterthought.

Nausea gripped me. I swallowed, fighting back the bile that threatened to rise. I wanted to scream, to protest the sheer injustice of it all, but I knew it would be pointless. Xavier had made his choice, and I could do nothing to alter his decision. He had already moved on.

With my shoulders sagging and my spirit crushed into piece, I turned to leave, feeling like a puppet with severed strings. Just as I reached the door, Victoria's annoying voice cut through the silence.

"Make sure there are fresh towels, maid," she declared, savoring the term. "And don't forget the champagne. The good stuff. We have quite a bit to celebrate, don't you think, darling?" She fluttered her eyelashes at Xavier.

I remained silent. If I opened my mouth, I knew I'd either vomit or unleash a torrent of words I'd regret.

I stumbled out of the room, tears blurring my vision as I wandered aimlessly down the hallway, my footsteps echoing in the heavy silence. The house that once radiated love now felt cold and hostile, a prison of my own making. Every corner echoed memories of what was lost.

The staff, who used to greet me with warmth and respect, now averted their eyes, their expressions mingled with pity and indifference. They sensed the shifting power dynamics. I was no longer the lady of the house; I had become an embarrassment,a typical embarrassment.

I retreated to our bedroom, now Defeated and violated. The stillness magnified Victoria's laughter and Xavier's harsh words. Her perfume lingered, a constant reminder of his betrayal.

I sank onto the edge of the bed, once shared with Xavier in intimacy and dreams, now feeling foreign and uninviting. The sheets were rough against my skin, no longer comforting.

My body shook with quiet sobs, the ache in my heart heavy, a weight that threatened to crush me. It felt like my heart was being torn from my chest.

How could he? How could they? Questions clawed at my throat, yet there was no answer to it. I was left with the burden of betrayal and a chilling sense that my life was about to descend into chaos. My mind raced as I sought to comprehend the incomprehensible.

Staring into the mirror, I barely recognized the stranger staring back swollen cheeks and haunted eyes. The vibrant, confident Isabelle was gone, replaced by a broken and lost soul, stripped of dignity and identity.

An alarming realization ran into my mind, coiling around my shattered and Broken heart. This was not solely about infidelity; something more sinister lurked beneath. The coldness in Xavier's eyes harbored calculated cruelty I had never witnessed. And Victoria... Her eyes revealed an insatiable ambition that chilled me to the bone. They weren't just having an affair; they were methodically destroying my life.

I was losing not just my husband, but my home, my identity, my place in the world. I was being erased totally,and this is happening gradually.

Just when I thought the pain couldn't deepen, Xavier appeared at the door, leaning against the frame, arms crossed, his expression a mask of cold indifference. He looked at me as if I were a failed business venture.

"I want a divorce," he stated flatly, each word like a nail driving into my coffin. "And I want you out of this house by the end of the week. My lawyers are already informed."

His declaration shattered my last glimmers of hope. My world fell apart. I was losing everything: my home, my security, my future. Everything I had built with him lay in ruins.

I stared at him, blank, numb, unable to grasp the weight of his words, as if observing someone else's life unravel. But it was my reality.

My husband wanted me gone. My marriage was over. My life is over...