Chapter 1

The scent of roasted rosemary and garlic filled the house, a warm and inviting promise that Ava Green had carefully crafted. She adjusted the silk slip she wore, the fabric cool against her skin, and checked her reflection one last time. Everything was perfect. The low light from the candles flickered across the dining table, set for two with their best china, the wine was breathing on the counter, and a soft jazz playlist hummed in the background.

She was a talented architect, capable of designing magnificent structures, but building intimacy with her own husband felt like an impossible task.

For years, their marriage bed had been a cold and empty space. Mark Peterson, her husband, her childhood sweetheart, was always tired, always stressed from work, always had an excuse. Ava had tried everything. Lingerie, romantic dinners, surprise getaways, heartfelt conversations. Each attempt was a meticulously planned project, and each one ended in failure, chipping away at her heart. Tonight, she thought, tonight had to be different. She refused to let the doubt creep in.

The sound of the key in the front door made her straighten up, a hopeful smile fixing itself on her face. Mark walked in, loosening his tie. He looked handsome, charming, everything a successful man should be, but his eyes slid past the romantic scene she' d set.

"Hey, what' s all this?" he asked, his tone more weary than curious.

"Happy anniversary," Ava said softly, her voice a little shaky. "I thought we could celebrate, just the two of us."

"Ava, I' m exhausted," Mark sighed, dropping his briefcase by the door with a thud that echoed in the quiet room. "I had a brutal day. Can we not do this tonight?" His words were a familiar blow, a gentle but firm rejection that she knew all too well. All the warmth in the room seemed to vanish.

"I cooked your favorite," she said, her smile faltering. "It won' t take long."

"I' m not hungry. I think I' m just going to take a shower and go to bed." He didn' t even look at her as he walked past the table and headed upstairs, leaving Ava standing alone amidst the dying romance of her own creation. The smell of the rosemary now felt cloying, the jazz music a mockery. She stood there, frozen, the silence of the house pressing down on her. It wasn't just rejection, it was erasure. She felt invisible.

Her phone buzzed on the counter. It was a text from Chloe Davis, her best friend since they were kids. "How' s the big anniversary night going? Hope you' re finally getting some action! ;)" Ava stared at the message, a fresh wave of humiliation washing over her. She couldn' t even bring herself to reply.

Later, unable to sleep, Ava wandered downstairs for a glass of water. She heard Mark' s low voice coming from the back patio and paused, her heart clenching. Maybe he felt bad. Maybe he was coming to find her, to apologize. She moved closer to the sliding glass door, which was open just a crack, and the words she heard shattered her world into a million pieces.

"I know, I know. I got out of there as fast as I could," Mark was saying, his voice laced with an intimacy he never used with her. "She had the whole place set up, candles, a big dinner. It was so suffocating." A pause. "Of course, I miss you. I was thinking about you all day. Being with you is the only thing that feels real."

Then, she heard another voice, a voice she knew as well as her own, coming from Mark' s phone. It was Chloe. "Poor baby," Chloe cooed, her voice dripping with fake sympathy that was sharp with malice. "Having to deal with my desperate best friend. It must be so hard for you. Does she have any idea how pathetic she looks, trying so hard for something she' ll never get from you?"

The air left Ava' s lungs. Her blood ran cold, and a roaring sound filled her ears. It couldn' t be. Not Chloe. Not her sister in all but blood. The two people she loved and trusted most in the world. She pushed the door open, her body moving on pure, unthinking instinct. Mark spun around, his eyes wide with panic as he saw her, the phone still pressed to his ear. Chloe' s triumphant laughter was still audible before he frantically ended the call.

Ava' s gaze was locked on his face, her mind struggling to process the depth of the betrayal. "What... what was that?" she whispered, her voice barely a sound.

Mark' s panic quickly morphed into defensive anger. He took a step toward her, his face hardening. "You were eavesdropping? What is wrong with you, Ava? You' re so paranoid, so needy."

"Needy?" The word was a slap. The pain was so sharp, so sudden, it felt physical. "You' ve been sleeping with my best friend. You' ve been lying to me for... for how long?"

"This is exactly why I can' t stand being around you anymore!" he shouted, his voice rising, pointing a finger at her. "You' re irrational! You' re hysterical! You' re imagining things!" He was turning it all on her, painting her as the crazy one, the one at fault. The gaslighting was so blatant, so cruel, that it took her breath away.

He grabbed his keys from the counter. "I' m not staying here to be interrogated. I' m going out." He stormed past her, shoving her aside not with force, but with a cold indifference that was somehow worse. He wrenched the front door open and slammed it shut behind him, leaving Ava to collapse onto the cold kitchen floor, the beautiful, uneaten anniversary dinner mocking her from the table. The weight of the betrayal was a physical thing, crushing her, leaving her broken in the ruins of her life.