Chapter 2

Vanessa's essay was almost painfully intimate.

She wrote about the two years she and Adrian had dated and the six years they had been married. She remembered grocery lists, unpaid bills, a damp basement apartment, and the first winter when they had shared one space heater. She described watching his career grow while strangers called her unstable and accused her of clinging to his fame.

Some of that cruelty had been real.

Whenever Adrian was paired with an actress for publicity, Vanessa had made sure photographers caught her holding her husband's hand. On a couples' show, she had mocked fans who wanted Adrian with one of his costars.

One of those costars had been me.

Back then, she'd looked into the camera and said, "They didn't even get a happy ending on-screen. Why would anyone expect one off-screen?"

Adrian had looked furious. His fans had called her embarrassing.

Now the same audience praised her devotion.

She loved him before he had money.

She gave him eight years.

Any wife would hate seeing her husband linked to other women.

Even I understood why people felt for her. Vanessa had loved him. She had suffered for that love.

Then I reached the final line.

Claire Sutton, you won. Adrian is yours.

My sympathy died on impact.

Within minutes, a tag claiming Vanessa had surrendered Adrian to me began trending. Strangers poured into every account I owned and demanded to know why I'd slept with a married man.

I stared at my phone in disbelief.

I'd been married for eight years. What exactly was I supposed to do with her used-up ex?