Marked By My Ex-Husband's Rival

ARIA POV  I should have turned away the moment I saw them. But I couldn’t. My body refused to move, my mind unable to process what was unfolding in front of me. The man I called my husband, the one who had sworn to love me, was tangled in the sheets with another woman—his bare skin pressed against hers, his hands gripping her waist the way they used to hold me. The scent of them—of betrayal, of something sickeningly intimate—choked the air, making it hard to breathe. Caleb knew I was there. I saw the flicker of recognition in his eyes when he glanced up, but he didn’t stop. He didn’t push her away, didn’t even have the decency to look guilty. Instead, he exhaled slowly, almost as if my presence was an inconvenience. “Close the door, Aria,” he said, his voice calm. Unbothered. A part of me still hoped—hoped he would snap out of whatever madness this was, that he would at least try to explain. But when I didn’t move, when I just stood there frozen, his irritation grew. With an impatient sigh, he got up, not even bothering to cover himself. Each step he took toward me felt like a nail being driven into my heart. And then, without hesitation, he grabbed the door—our door—my door—and slammed it in my face. The loud bang echoed through the hallway, rattling through my bones. I stood there, unmoving. Staring at the closed door, the reality of what had just happened settling into my chest like a crushing weight. Caleb had chosen. And it wasn’t me. I didn’t remember sitting down. One moment, I was standing in front of that door, staring at the wood as if I could burn a hole through it. The next, I was here—on the couch, unmoving, my hands ice-cold in my lap. The fruits I had bought on the way home sat on the table beside me, untouched. The plastic bag crinkled slightly as I shifted, bringing me back to reality. More than an hour had passed. Had I been sitting here all this time? Was I hallucinating? Was there something wrong with my eyes? Maybe I had imagined it. Maybe I had walked into the wrong room. Maybe— The door creaked open. My head jerked up just in time to see Caleb stepping out, his arm lazily draped around Selene—the so-called ‘lost child’ of our pack. The elders had found her a few days ago, a miracle return of someone taken at birth. She was beautiful, delicate yet fierce, the kind of woman who commanded attention without trying. And Caleb was looking at her like she was his entire world. I sat there, frozen, as he walked her to the door, his grip on her hand firm. “Go home safely,” he murmured, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear before watching her disappear into the night. Then, as if nothing had happened, he turned back and walked toward me. He poured himself a glass of warm water, taking a slow sip before sinking into the couch across from me. His posture was casual. Too casual. As if he hadn’t just ripped my heart out with his bare hands. I swallowed hard, forcing my voice to work. “Caleb…” My words came out weak, almost breaking. “What is happening?” He let out a breath, setting the glass down on the table between us. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this for a long time.” A cold dread crept up my spine. “Talk about what?” His eyes met mine, unreadable. “Leaving you.” The air in my lungs turned to stone. I forced myself to speak, my voice barely above a whisper. “Is this… is this because of her?” My hands clenched into fists, my nails digging into my palms. “Are you leaving me for Selene?” His gaze didn’t waver. There was no hesitation, no guilt. Just cold, brutal honesty. “I’m bored of you, Aria.” The words sliced through me like a blade. “I don’t feel anything for you anymore,” he continued, his voice disturbingly calm. “Whatever I had for you is gone. Drained out. You don’t excite me. You don’t make me feel anything.” He leaned back, his lips curling in something almost like disgust. “Honestly? I feel sick of you.” Tears welled up in my eyes, blurring the man sitting before me. But I didn’t sob, didn’t wail—I just let them fall, silent streaks of pain sliding down my cheeks. I didn’t bother wiping them away. “Is it really that easy for you?” My voice trembled, but I forced myself to speak. “To throw away everything we’ve built since childhood? The years we spent together, the promises we made, the love we shared—do they mean nothing to you now?” Caleb exhaled, shaking his head like he was tired of the conversation already. “You’re being dramatic, Aria.” I flinched at his tone. “You act like I’m the only one who’s changed,” he continued, leaning back against the couch. “But we both know that’s not true. We were kids when we made those promises. Do you really think love stays the same forever?” His gaze hardened. “People grow, they change. And I’ve changed, Aria. What I want has changed.” I wanted to argue. Wanted to scream that I hadn’t changed—that I was still the same girl who had loved him with everything she had. But deep down, I knew the truth. It wasn’t that he had changed. It was that he had stopped choosing me. He ran a hand through his hair, sighing. “Look, I didn’t want it to be like this. But dragging this on won’t do either of us any good.” My nails dug into my palms. “And Selene?” I forced the name out, my chest aching. “Was she part of this change? Did she make you realize you were ‘bored’ of me?” A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. A smirk. “She made me realize what I’ve been missing.” His words shattered whatever was left of my heart. I stared at him, at the man I had loved for so long, and for the first time, I saw him clearly—not as my husband, not as the boy who once held my hand under the stars, but as a stranger. A man who claims by his acttions that he had never truly been mine to begin with. And that realization hurt more than anything.