The Cheater's Last Breath

Coles body convulsed. Violently.

A piece of rusted steel rebar had punched through his shoulder. Hot, sticky blood ran down his arm, soaking my nightgown.

The ceiling groaned above us. Ready to collapse again. In this life-or-death moment, with aftershocks looming, my husband was using his own body to shield me. Arching over me. Carving out a tiny, fragile pocket of safety.

"Paige... don't be scared..." His voice was a jagged whisper. Gasping for air.

The irony. It burned.

If not for that text message, I would be moved to tears right now. One second before the ground shook, his screen lit up. A notification from the girl he kept in that luxury apartment. Raelynn.

"Seeing your wife with that wedding ring makes me want to puke. When are you finally divorcing her?"

Right now. He is bleeding to save me. But my brain? It is stuck on a loop. Replaying his voice from last night. Cooing at her.

"Be a good girl. Just wait a little longer. Ill make it clear to that old hag."

Chapter 1

I uncovered Coles secret on our fifth anniversary.

I was returning from a business trip when my bus crashed. Miraculously, I had listened to Cole. I buckled up. Escaped with just a deep cut on my calf.

ER bay.

A young girl in the next bed was sobbing into her phone. Whining to her boyfriend. "It hurts... it hurts so bad. When can you come get me?"

"Okay. Ill be a good girl and wait."

She hung up. Eyes crinkling into a smile. Clearly, the guy on the other end had sweet-talked her. Her gaze slid to me. Feigning innocence. "Hey. Youre hurt too. Why didnt you call your man to pick you up?"

I stiffened. "My husbands swamped with work. No time."

She tilted her head. A smirk playing on her lips. Trying to hide it. Failing. "Thats pathetic. Poor you."

She was young. The urge to flex was childish. Blatant.

I chuckled. Didnt take the bait. "True. Young love. You guys cant stand to be apart for a second."

Cole and I were exactly like that. At eighteen.

Our high school grad party. He got wasted. Gripped my hand. Declared it to the room. Proud. "As soon as we graduate, Im marrying Paige. Nothing will ever tear us apart."

Wounds dressed. I limped out of the ER. Lost in memories. My calf throbbed. Slowing me down.

Hailed a cab at the entrance. Slid into the backseat.

Twenty feet away.

A black Bentley screeched to a halt. Familiar. Too familiar.

The door flew open. Cole stepped out. A look of anxious concern on his face.

I froze.

How did he know I was hurt?

I reached for the window button. To call out his name.

Next second.

That girl from the ER jogged over. Slammed right into his chest.

Cole stumbled back. Careful. So careful to avoid her bandaged arm. Then he pulled her into a tight embrace. Through the glass, their voices drifted in. Muffled.

"Youre hurt. Stop being so reckless."

She looked up, gazing at him with puppy eyes. "But I haven't seen you in days. I need a hug. Even if I'm hurt."

Coles voice. Filled with helplessness. And indulgence. "I really cant let you out of my sight. Not even for a second."

Chapter 2

He had said those exact words to me.

Eight years ago. We were twenty. Brenda had locked me out after a screaming match. I was wandering the streets. Aimless. Shivering in the midnight air.

Then, a voice. I thought I was hallucinating.

"Paige."

I looked up. Cole was standing there, bathed in moonlight. He looked wrecked. Eyes rimmed red. Covered in travel dust. His gaze latched onto the angry red handprint on my cheek. Brenda's parting gift.

He didn't say a word. Just pulled me in.

"From now on, when we're home... I won't let you out of my sight. Not for a single second."

Chapter 3

Rain hammered against the glass.

When Cole walked in, I was curled into a tight ball on the sofa. Hugging my knees. Hiding in the dark.

"Paige? You're home. Why are you sitting in the dark?"

Click.

The living room flooded with artificial light. It stung my eyes. I stared at him.

My eyes traced every inch of his face. Searching. Scanning for a smudge of lipstick. A stray hair. A glint of guilt. Anything that made him look different from the man I loved.

Nothing. He looked exactly the same.

Then his eyes dropped. He saw the blood oozing from the bandage on my calf. His pupils constricted. Pinpricks of black.

"How did you get hurt?"

The panic in his voice. The way his brows knitted together. It looked so real. It didn't feel like a performance.

My lips parted. A sob clawed its way up my throat. "...It hurts. It hurts so much."

I wasn't talking about the leg.

The sting of the wound was sharp, yes. But my chest? It felt like I was drowning. Suffocating in a rising tide of confusion and agony.

Cole sprinted for the first aid kit. He knelt before me. His warm hand gripped my ankle, stabilizing it. "Paige, tell me. How did this happen?"

My voice was barely a whisper. "Car accident. On the way back."

"Why didn't you c"

He choked on the word. He froze. Mid-sentence.

The silence stretched. Heavy. Suffocating.

He realized it. If I had called him... where would he have been? Who was he holding while I was bleeding? His gaze snapped down. Focusing intensely on my wound. Refusing to meet my eyes.

I dug my fingernails into my palms. Hard. Until the skin broke. Using the sharp pain to ground myself. To stop the scream building in my lungs. I forced my voice to stay flat. Casual.

"Yesterday on FaceTime, you said you had that huge contract negotiation today. I didn't want to disturb you. So? How did it go? Smoothly?"

Coles eyelashes were long. Thick. As he looked down, they cast shadows that completely hid his eyes. Hid the truth.

He picked up the tweezers. Dipped a cotton ball in iodine. He dabbed at the cut for a long time before he finally answered. "Yeah. It went well."

Chapter 4

Cole went to shower.

I fished his phone out of his jacket pocket. Unlocked. Easily. My fingerprint had been registered years ago. I never used it. Why would I? Ten years together. I trusted him. Completely. Blindly.

Just like I thought he trusted me.

That was why he didn't even bother to hide it. The chat history was right there. Glaring. A digital paper trail of his betrayal with that girl.

Raelynn.

A college junior. Seven years younger than us. He called her Rae.

She complained about "toxic roommates," so Cole played the white knight. Leased her a luxury apartment off-campus. Bought her a car to match.

Raelynn was obsessed with Disney plushies. When he went to Florida for business, he shipped back two massive boxes. She sent a photo. Dozens of stuffed animals crowding her couch.

"You only bought these for me, right? Your wife didn't get any?"

Coles reply: "No. She's not like you. She doesn't like this stuff."

"Are you calling me childish?"

"I'm calling you adorable."

My finger trembled against the screen. I scrolled down. Slowly. My strength leached out of my fingertips. Turning my arms to lead.

That "business trip" before the holidays? He had flown to a remote shrine in the mountains. Climbed a thousand stone steps. Just to get a blessed medallion because Raelynn had a fever.

The alumni mixer in June? When he suddenly "had an emergency" and left early? Raelynn was drunk. Sobbing in an Uber. Demanding he come save her.

She had been there for a long time. Festering in every crack of my life.

I bit my lip until I tasted iron. Forcing myself to keep scrolling. To the bottom.

Today. After my crash.

"I stole your wedding ring. Threw it in the trash." Raelynns text dripped with entitlement. "Looking at it made me sick. It felt like that woman was waving it in my face."

"She's nothing special. She just met you first. When are you finally going to divorce her?"

And just now. Seconds before he walked through the door to bandage my leg. Cole had sent one last reply.

"Just wait. I'll make it clear to her soon."

Chapter 5

By the time Cole stepped out of the bathroom, steaming and towel-drying his hair, his phone was exactly where he left it. He didn't notice a thing.

"You should get some sleep, babe."

I didn't answer. My gaze was fixed on his left hand. On the pale band of skin where gold used to sit. "You haven't been wearing your ring."

A muscle in his jaw jumped. He glanced down, feigning surprise. "Must have left it in the locker room after golf. I'll have Scott track it down tomorrow."

He turned away, dodging the subject. "You're hurt. Go to sleep, Paige."

A thick fog rose in my chest. Dark. Heavy. Suffocating. It clogged my throat. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't scream. I waited until the pressure was bearable, then forced a rasping sound past my lips.

"Okay."

2 AM.

The mattress shifted.

"Paige?" A whisper in the dark. "Are you asleep?"

He waited. Watching the rise and fall of my chest. Once he was sure I was out cold, he slipped out of the covers. The balcony door slid open. Then shut.

I opened my eyes. Through the sheer curtains, I watched his silhouette.

"Did you see my wife today?"

"Raelynn, listen to me. Divorce isn't just signing a paper. It's complicated."

"You're usually so sweet. Don't start acting crazy on me now. Please."

Five feet away. Separated by a single pane of glass. My husband. Cooing at his mistress.

"Of course I love you. You know you're the only one."

His voice dripped with honey. The same tone he used to use on me. Smoke curled from his fingers, mingling with the rain. I didn't blink. I just lay there, letting the betrayal carve me hollow.

Then, he sensed it. The weight of my gaze.

He spun around. His eyes locked with mine through the glass. The color drained from his face. He froze. The cigarette burned down to his knuckles.

"...Paige."

I squeezed my eyes shut. Blocking out the sight of him. "Cole. Who is on the phone?"

Chapter 6

"Nobody."

He cut the call. Pocketed the phone. "Just a hiccup with the new proposal. Scott needed my sign-off."

He slid the door open. Walked toward me. His voice was smooth. Practiced. A lie he had polished to perfection over a thousand nights.

The scent of stale tobacco and rain hit me. Nauseating. I coughed. A reflex.

Cole was on me instantly. Hand on my forehead. Feigning concern. "Are you running a fever?"

His brow furrowed. "It's freezing out there. I'll grab the heavy duvet."

While he fussed over me, his eyes darted over my face. Scanning. Analyzing. Desperate to know how much I had heard.

I pulled my robe tighter. Creating a barrier. "Okay."

My voice was steady. Soft. The perfect, oblivious wife. I saw the tension leave his shoulders. He exhaled. Safe. Or so he thought.

"Let's get you back to bed."

Chapter 7

Cole was asleep in seconds. Tucked me in. Kissed my forehead. Then passed out cold.

The silence in the room was deafening.

I lay there. Trapped under the heavy duvet. Staring into the black void of the ceiling. Every time I closed my eyes, the past clawed its way out.

Twelve years old.

That was the year Cole and his mom moved to our small town. The year he found me. I was always hungry back then. A gnawing, hollow ache in my stomach that never went away.

Every time Brenda and Randy had a blowout, I was the punching bag. "Get out!" Brenda would scream. "Stand on the back porch until you freeze!"

Id stand there. Shivering. Watching through the screen door.

Dustin, my golden-child brother, would be sitting at the kitchen table. Smug. Grease shining on his chin as he tore into a fried chicken drumstick. Hed spot me and grin. Waving the bone. "Hey, Waste-of-Space! Mom says you only get to eat what I spit out."

Then Cole would show up.

He wouldnt say a word. Hed just march onto the porch, grab my freezing hand, and drag me away. Right in front of them.

Brenda, still fuming from the fight with my dad, would storm to the door. Screaming at our retreating backs. "You like her so much? Take her! Raise her as your little wifey for all I care!"

Cole stopped. Turned around. His jaw set. "Fine by me. Better than watching her starve to death in this hellhole."

High school graduation changed everything. The toxic glue holding my parents together finally dissolved. Randy packed a bag and vanished. No note. No goodbye.

Brenda turned on me. Cold. Clinical. "Youre eighteen, Paige. An adult. I have no legal obligation to you anymore. Don't expect a single penny."

I survived on student loans, scholarships, and instant noodles. Scraped my way through four years of college. Cole worked himself into the ground. Three jobs. Sleepless nights. Eventually, he pooled enough cash to co-found the startup.

Senior year. My birthday. He missed the party. Stuck at some mandatory networking mixer. But at 2 AM, he was there.

Standing outside my dorm. Swaying slightly. Holding a crushed bouquet of roses. He shoved the flowers into my arms and crushed me against his chest. Buried his face in my neck.

"Paige... I'm going to give you the best life. I swear."

Chapter 8

And he did. Our life skyrocketed. Penthouse views. Designer clothes.

I remembered our wedding day. The way his hands shook when he held mine at the altar.

"Everything changes," he had vowed, his voice cracking with emotion. "But my love for Paige is the one constant. Eternal. Unwavering."

I believed him. God, I believed him. I thought I was the only one. Until I found Raelynn.

I woke up to a mocking blue sky.

The storm had passed. The sun was blasting through the curtains, cheerful and bright. For a split second, my brain reset. I thought yesterday was just a nightmare.

Then I moved my leg. A sharp, hot spike of pain shot up from my calf. Reality crashed back in. Heavy. Suffocating.

Raelynn.

The name alone felt like a physical blow to the chest. The hostility in the ER. The smirk. The "poor you." It all made sense now.

I grabbed my phone. A text from Cole sat on the lock screen.

Cole: "Babe, since you're hurt, take the day off. I already called your office. I've got a crisis at work, so I'll be late tonight. Don't wait up for dinner."

The perfect husband act. I didn't reply.

I threw on a coat, limped downstairs, and hailed a cab. "Where to?"

"The University."

Classes were just letting out. Students flooded the gates. And there she was. Raelynn. Strutting out like she owned the pavement. Chin up. Glowing.

She spotted the black Bentley idling at the curb. Her face lit up. She didn't walkshe sprinted.

"Cole!"

She launched herself into his arms. Cole caught her. Effortlessly. He chuckled, looking down at her with a softness that made my stomach turn. He tapped her nose. "Are you still mad at me?"

"Mmm, maybe," she teased, looking up at him through her lashes. "Depends on how hard you spoil me today."

"Done. Whatever you want."

He leaned down. They kissed. Not a peck. A deep, hungry, lingering kiss. Right there in broad daylight.

I sat in the back of the cab. Watching. My heart didn't break. It shattered. Ground into dust.

The Bentley pulled away, merging into traffic. Disappearing down the avenue. The cabbie glanced at me in the rearview mirror. He saw the tears. He knew the look. "You want me to follow them, miss?"

I closed my eyes. Leaning my head against the cold glass. "No. Just take me back."

Chapter 9

It didn't take a detective.

I had Raelynn's number from Cole's phone. I punched it into the search bar on Instagram. There she was. She hadn't even tried to hide it. No private account. No burner profile.

It was a public shrine. Hundreds of posts. A curated, high-definition timeline of her life with my husband.

I clicked on a photo from three months ago. A view from a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the city skyline. The caption read:

"Roommates are actual psychos. Total bitches. Cried to my mom and she told me to 'fix my attitude.' So Cole moved me into this penthouse immediately. Being loved this loud feels so good."

The memory hit me like a physical blow.

College. Junior year. My roommates had locked me out of the dormnaked, wrapped only in a towelbecause I refused to let them cheat off my finals. I sat in the hallway for hours, shivering against the cold linoleum.

Cole had been furious. He wanted to rent an off-campus apartment for me. He wanted to get me out. But he was broke. We both were. Even a basement studio was impossible money for us back then.

I said no. We fought about it.

"If they lock me out, I'll just call the RA," I had argued, trying to be practical. Trying to save him the burden. "We don't need to waste money we don't have."

Cole had pressed his lips together, his eyes swimming with frustration. "I just want you to have a better life, Paige."

I had sighed, resting my forehead against his chest. "Cole, I know how hard you work. I just want to make it easier for you."

He didn't say anything else that night. He just held me. His eyes red.

I kept scrolling.

My thumb hovered over a carousel of photos posted last month. Raelynn wearing Minnie Mouse ears. Raelynn holding a massive churro. Raelynn posing in front of the Cinderella Castle with a VIP tour guide in a plaid vest behind her.

"Mentioned I wanted to go to Disney, and Cole booked the tickets instantly. VIP tour, skipping every line. Thinking about my mom and her little brat sweating in the three-hour queue makes this even sweeter. #VIP #Blessed"

I gripped the phone. A sharp, cramping pain twisted in my stomach. I doubled over, pressing my forehead against my knees. Gasping for air.

Fifteen years old.

The summer Brenda and Randy actually stopped screaming at each other for a week. They planned a family trip to Disney World. They took Dustin. They locked me in the house.

Cole found out. He came over with a ladder and a plan. He couldn't afford Disney. So he took me to the county fair two towns over. The roller coaster cost five bucks a ride. The paint was peeling. The carousel creaked.

But I was happy. I was so happy I thought I would burst. It was the first time anyone had chosen me.

I remembered standing by the Ferris wheel, licking sticky cotton candy sugar off my fingers. Cole was watching me. His eyes were glossy. On the walk home, under the moonlight, he squeezed my hand.

"Paige. One day, I'm taking you to the real Disney. We'll stay as long as you want. We'll do everything."

Years passed. We graduated. We got married. We finally planned that trip last year.

Then, the day before we were supposed to fly out, Cole canceled. "Emergency merger," he said. "Crisis at the firm." He looked devastated.

So I played the role of the perfect, understanding wife. "It's okay, Cole. Go to work. I'm not a kid anymore. I won't cry over a theme park. Don't worry about it."

He had stared at me for a long time. Silence stretching between us. Then he just nodded.

He never brought up Disney again.

Now I knew why. There was no merger. There was no crisis. He was with Raelynn. Watching the fireworks over the castle. Fulfilling the promise he made to me. With her.

Chapter 10

I scrolled. And scrolled.

Raelynns feed was a bottomless pit of my husband. The pain was no longer a sharp stab. It was a thousand needles. Piercing my heart. Suffocating me. I couldn't breathe.

I wiped a tear from my jaw. My thumb hovered over the 'Back' button. I needed to escape.

Refresh.

A new post loaded. Posted 3 minutes ago.

A mirror selfie. She was wearing sheer black lace. Nothing left to the imagination. A man's hand was clamped possessively around her waist. A watch I bought him for Christmas glinted on the wrist.

And there, blooming like a violent bruise on her collarbone, was a fresh, dark hickey.

The caption: "Someone has a very unique way of apologizing. My lower back is wrecked. My throat is raw. And he's acting like nothing happened. ??"

One comment. From an account with a matching cartoon avatar. Cole.

"Call me 'Old Man' one more time and see what happens."

Raelynns reply: "I'm sorry, Daddy. ??"

Bile surged into my throat. Acidic. Hot. I scrambled off the couch. Stumbled into the bathroom. I gripped the porcelain bowl and heaved.

Nothing came out. I hadn't eaten in twenty-four hours. My stomach convulsed, wringing itself out like a wet rag. Dry heaves. Again. And again.

Black spots danced in my vision. I collapsed onto the cold tile floor. Clutching my stomach.

Cole didn't come home until the next evening.

He walked in. Fresh suit. Perfect hair. He pulled a black velvet box from his pocket and slid it across the coffee table. His face was a mask of feigned guilt.

"Paige, I had Scott tear the locker room apart. We couldn't find the ring. I'm so sorry."

He opened the box. "That old band was cheap anyway. We were broke back then. So... I upgraded."

I looked down. Two massive platinum bands sat on the velvet. The diamonds were huge. Flawless. Cold. They must have cost a fortune.

He looked at me. His eyes were warm. Sincere. Like he loved me. Like he hadn't spent the last night breaking another woman's back in a hotel room.

I stared at the diamonds until they blurred. I looked up. "You didn't come home last night. Where were you?"

He didn't flinch. "The dinner ran late. Everyone was drinking. I didn't want to risk driving, so I just crashed at the hotel near the"

He stopped. The lie died in his throat. He saw my face. He saw the tears streaming down my cheeks. Silent. Unstoppable.

I tried to smile. It felt like my face was cracking.

Divorce.

The word had been screaming in my head since the moment I saw her name. But I couldn't say it. Twelve years old to twenty-eight. Cole wasn't just my husband. He was my skeleton. My history. My survival.

We had grown together like two trees with fused roots. Cutting him out wasn't a breakup. It was an amputation. Without anesthesia.

I had replayed the past a million times in the last twenty-four hours. What did I do wrong? Was I too boring? Too old? Did I not love him enough?

"Paige... you..." Panic flashed in his eyes. Real panic. He reached for me. His hand trembling. "Baby, what's wrong?"

His fingertips brushed my knuckles.

Then the world tilted.

A low rumble. Deep in the earth. Like a beast waking up.

Thenviolent shaking. The floor pitched sideways.

"Earthquake!"

I barely registered the thought. Above us, the massive crystal chandelier groaned. The chain snapped.

Cole didn't think. He didn't hesitate. He lunged.

He tackled me to the ground, arching his body over mine. Creating a human shield.

CRASH.

Crystal and metal exploded around us. Dust billowed. He pressed my face into his chest. His scent filled my nose. Cedar. Rain. And the faint, sickly-sweet perfume of another woman.

Through the haze of drywall dust, I saw the black velvet box tumble away. The two shiny diamond rings rolled across the floor. Glittering for a second. Then vanishing under the rubble.

Drip.

Something warm and wet landed on my cheek.

Drip.

Drip.

The metallic tang of blood filled the air.

Chapter 11