Chapter 2

Danae Hodges POV:

Divorce. The word echoed in the silence of the bedroom, a desolate bell tolling the end of everything. It was the only word I could utter, the only path I could see. My heart, once so full of a fragile, newfound hope, was now a hollow cavity, aching with a pain far deeper than any depression I had known.

Clay, however, wasn't ready to let go of his perfect life, his perfect wife, his perfect facade. The day after my discovery, a text message arrived from him. "Danae, please. Let's talk. Don't make any rash decisions. We can fix this."

Fix this? There was nothing to fix. It was shattered beyond repair. But Clay didn't see it that way. To him, this was a problem to be managed, a loose end to be tied up quietly.

He called me again, his voice smooth, persuasive. "I've arranged a family meeting, Danae. Just to talk things through. Everyone's worried about you."

Worried about me. That was his angle. He would frame my anger, my heartbreak, my legitimate demand for a divorce, as a relapse, another episode of my "mental instability." I knew it, just as I knew the sun would rise. He was gaslighting me, painting me as the crazy one, the ungrateful one, the one who was breaking up our "perfect" life.

I walked into his lavish living room, the scene already set. His mother, Bertha, sat stiffly on the velvet couch, her lips pursed in disapproval. My mother, Dianne, fidgeted beside her, her eyes darting nervously between me and Clay. My father sat opposite them, his arms crossed, a stern look on his face. Clay stood by the fireplace, looking calm, collected, the picture of a concerned husband.

"Danae," Clay began, his voice soft, almost sympathetic. "Everyone is just worried about you. You've been through so much, and this sudden talk of divorce... it's just not like you."

Bertha chimed in immediately, her voice sharp as a razor. "Honestly, Danae. After everything Clay has done for you, standing by you through your... difficulties... and now you throw this at him? It's ungrateful. It's selfish."

"Bertha," Clay interjected, a hand raised in a placating gesture, but his eyes held a subtle triumph. "Please. Let's keep calm."

My own mother, Dianne, wrung her hands. "Danae, darling, please think about this. Clay is a good man. He provides for you. What would you do without him? Where would you go? Your father and I... we can't afford to take you back." Her words were a soft blow, but they landed hard, reaffirming my status as a burden.

"She's right, Danae," my father boomed, his voice sending a tremor through the room. "You have a good life here. A stable life. Don't throw it away over some silly misunderstanding. If you leave Clay, don't expect us to welcome you back with open arms. You made your bed."

The room spun. Allies. They were all his allies. My family, who should have been my refuge, my anchor, were just another arm of his control. They weren't seeing my pain, they were seeing the potential scandal, the financial fallout.

"There's no misunderstanding," I said, my voice barely a whisper, but laced with a steel I didn't know I possessed. "Clay cheated on me. With Charity. They've been having an affair for months, possibly years."

Clay stepped forward, his expression grave. "Danae, I've already told you, it was a mistake. A moment of weakness. It meant nothing. You were struggling, and I... I was lost. But I chose you. I always choose you." He turned to our families. "I never intended for any of this to happen. My focus was always on Danae's recovery. This was a deviation, an anomaly."

Bertha nodded vigorously. "See? He admits his mistake. A man makes mistakes, Danae. But he's here, he's begging for your forgiveness. You should be grateful he's willing to work through this."

"Work through this?" I scoffed, a dry, bitter sound. "He planned to name our children after her, Bertha. 'Charis' and 'Donny.' Don't you see? It was never about me. I was just a placeholder."

Clay's face tightened. "That's not true! I loved you, Danae. I swear. I never wanted a divorce. I want to make this right. I want to explain everything." He pulled out his phone. "Here, I'll even call Charity right now. She'll tell you herself that it meant nothing." He put her on speakerphone, his finger hovering over the call button.

My stomach churned. No. Not her. Not now.

But he pressed the button. The phone rang once, twice, then Charity's voice, smooth and confident, filled the room. "Clay, baby? What's up? Did you finally get rid of that pathetic wife of yours?"

My blood ran cold. The air in the room seemed to freeze. Clay's face went ashen, his eyes wide with panic as he fumbled for the speaker button, but it was too late.

Charity's laugh, a sharp, mocking sound, cut through the silence. "Oh, wait. Is she there? Still clinging on, huh? Honestly, Danae, just let him go. You're yesterday's news. He never loved you. You were just a charity case, a project for him to feel good about himself."

A red haze descended over my vision. Pathetic wife. Charity case. The words echoed my mother's and Bertha's sentiments, but from her, they were poison. "You manipulative bitch!" I screamed, snatching the phone from Clay's hand. "How dare you! You wrecked my life, you homewrecker!"

Charity's laughter stopped abruptly. Her voice turned venomous. "Oh, she found her voice. Good for you, Danae. But it changes nothing. He's mine. He always has been."

Before I could retort, before I could even think, a searing pain exploded across my face. Clay's hand, open and hard, had connected with my cheek. The sound was a loud, sickening crack in the stunned silence of the room. My head snapped back, the world dissolving into a blur of stars and ringing ears. My cheek burned, a throbbing inferno.

I stood there, momentarily paralyzed, my hand flying to my face, touching the rapidly blooming redness. Clay had slapped me. In front of everyone. The man who had vowed to protect me, who claimed to love me, had just struck me. The betrayal was complete.

Charity's last triumphant cackle, tinny and distant, drifted from the phone as it slipped from my numb fingers, falling silently to the plush carpet. My vision swam, not from the physical blow, but from the realization that everything I had ever believed, everything I had ever hoped for, was a cruel, elaborate lie.