It was one of the coldest days I had ever felt, not because it was raining or because my hormones as a nine-month pregnant woman were kicking in, but because of what I had discovered after receiving another notification of my husband's bank transaction.

Within our seven years of marriage, he had been sending money ranging from $50,000 to a million every month for the past two years to a nameless bank account, which I didn't even know was possible. However, with my husband's connections as a Mafia boss, it wasn't surprising that he could do something like this to protect himself and his assets.

I didn't want to make such a big deal about it since he spends money on his so-called businesses all the time, but today, I suddenly had the urge to find out who the money goes to or what it was for. Call it a woman's instinct, but I suddenly felt that something wasn't adding up.

His actions, his constant absence, and his way of dealing with his finances lately had me thinking twice. He'd usually tell me everything he did, no matter how bad it was, but this was different. It seemed that he deliberately hid this from me. Leaving me no choice, I called the bank to find out.

"I'm sorry, did you say Hailey Smith?" I asked the bank manager, wondering if I heard him right because I only knew one Hailey Smith.

"Yes, Mrs. Moretti," he confirmed.

"Hailey as in the model Hailey Smith?" I followed up, unable to comprehend the thought of him sending money to this particular girl.

"Uh, it seems like it, Mrs. Moretti," he answered. "The account holder's job information says model."

Hanging up, I immediately went online to search for Hailey's pages. I didn't know much about her, except that she became a fast-rising supermodel a few years back, so I couldn't understand what the connection was. I doubt it if this was a business venture, because what would a Mafia boss be doing with a model and her agency?

When I finally opened her personal social media account, my heart broke into a million pieces, which, I reckon, could never be whole again. I felt like a ton of bricks fell on my chest, and I found it hard to breathe. The things I found had me reeling.

Picture after picture of Kade and Hailey flashed before my eyes. It didn't matter that Kade's face was always hidden or a little blurred in those photos because, as his wife, I knew him well—the shape of his face and body, every mole he had, the clothes he wore, the color of his hair, and that onyx ring around his left middle finger because I was the one who gave him that ring on one of our anniversaries.

A normal wife would've stopped after seeing a few intimate moments of her husband with another woman, but I couldn't take my eyes off my phone, even though everything I was seeing made my heart ache more. One photo showed Kade facing the sunset as Hailey hugged him from behind. The other was Hailey leaning on Kade's shoulders as he looked out the window of his private jet. The last was them kissing from afar on a secluded island. All of which were dated recently.

Eventually, my knees gave way, causing me to fall and collapse on the floor. I couldn’t believe it; Kade, the only man I had ever loved, was having an affair with a twenty-five-year-old girl. My Mafia husband was capable of doing unimaginable things, but I had never thought that he could do this to me. I thought he loved and respected me enough not to break my heart this way, but I guess I was wrong.

With that realization, I allowed myself to cry. I cried for my naivety because I never doubted the kind of person he was, despite the kind of life he led. I cried because I did everything for him and forgave his shortcomings throughout the years, and this was what I got. I cried because I loved him so much, but most of all, I cried for our unborn child.

"How could your father do this to us?" I sobbed. "What was I supposed to do now?"

Deciding to keep finding out about Kade's affair, I angrily wiped my tears and kept going. I knew I shouldn't be doing this because it was bad for the baby. I was aware that stress could lead to pregnancy complications, especially since I was due to give birth soon, but as if Hailey's life was a highly valued drug, I couldn't resist getting to know her; she became my addiction.

I wanted to know everything, no matter how much it was killing me, so I kept checking, scrolling, and zooming non-stop. My heart kept sinking the more I checked the dates of her posts with my husband, but one particular photo stood out the most.

It highlighted her slender hand being held upright, sporting a massive 14k yellow gold jade cabochon & diamond ring, and in the background, you could see two blurry figures standing on a balcony near the Eiffel Tower, sharing a passionate kiss.

"Ah, Paris, you are indeed the city of love. My heart and day are full. Thank you for the precious gift, mon amour," the caption read.

New tears started pouring out of my eyes as I checked the date. It was the same day we lost our first child. The same day I woke up bleeding and in pain, all alone. At that time, Kade was out of the country supposedly taking care of business. The hospital and I kept calling him, but no one could reach him because the calls automatically went to his voicemail.

I worried about him at that time because I thought that something bad had happened to him, but now I finally understood what the reason was. Though it was true that he traveled to France, he lied about the reason.

He was only in Paris to celebrate Hailey's birthday. He chose her over me, who was fighting hard not to lose our first child, and in the end, no matter how hard I prayed and begged, I still lost the battle.

When he finally went home and learned about my miscarriage, he said nothing, but his disappointment in me was evident because of that; I never got over our loss. It became my biggest regret, and I kept blaming myself even after I got pregnant again.

I screamed at the top of my lungs, wanting to hurl things, especially at them. I wanted to hurt them the way I was hurting now, but what could I do at this point except to keep stalking the other woman? Besides, I had no means of going after them now.

A moment later, I gasped when I realized that I unknowingly reacted to her last photo. Since I wasn't a big fan of social media, I panicked because I didn't know how to undo what I did. To my surprise, I received a notification from Hailey, requesting for us to be connected. Gathering courage, I accepted the request and waited.

Not long after, she sent me a message. There was no formal greeting, no acknowledgment; she simply sent more pictures of them, but these were far different from the ones I had been viewing. These pictures were more intimate, more sensual, and taken during their secret rendezvous.

Since I couldn't take the disrespect and deception coming from them, I angrily typed my response.

"Do you know who I am?" I watched as the dots on the screen danced for a while.

"Of course. How could anyone not recognize who the great Ava Moretti is?"

Infuriated by her arrogance and mockery, I asked how long she had been seeing my husband.

“Does it matter?” she answered, followed by a winking icon.

"Oh, it does. It really does," I shot back.

Instead of answering, she sent videos of Kade worshiping her, telling her how beautiful she was and that he loved her so much. Words he once said to me. What made it worse was that he looked like he was in love. He was giving her "the look." The kind of look he once had for me. The kind of look that said that he was willing to jump in front of a bullet for you.

My hand clenched around my phone, feeling the urge to throw it out the window. And as I was about to do just that, Hailey sent one last photo; an ultrasound—one that looked exactly like mine in my early months of pregnancy. Cold sweat started breaking out all over my body as I read her words over and over.

"Guess what? Kade and I are also having a baby!"

Nothing could describe how I was feeling. I felt numb, but at the same time, in so much pain that I couldn’t will myself to move or to do anything. All I could do was weep to my heart’s content on the floor for hours, unable to pick myself up as I allowed myself to have an emotional breakdown.

It didn't make sense that Kade could do such a thing because it was innate for him to carry the following traits: cutthroat, calculating, fiercely loyal, and holding to a deeply ingrained moral code that may not translate for others.

We never had huge arguments; I always kept up with his pace and made sure that I didn't embarrass him in any way. In short, I played the role of a perfect wife; the kind he wanted and needed. So where did things go wrong?

When I had no more tears left to cry, I started contemplating about the future. I began wondering about how things would turn out if Kade was no longer part of my life. Questions such as whether I’d be able to live without him or not kept running through my head until my mind completely went blank.

I stayed in the same position even as my surroundings got very dark. I didn’t want to move or eat, even though I was hungry. The only time I finally moved was when Kade arrived. I squinted at the sudden brightness when he opened all the damn lights. I slowly sat up and watched him put his stuff down.

When he noticed I was there, he raised a brow in question before looking around to see if anything else was amiss. When his eyes landed back on me, he noticed that I wasn’t my usual self, so he cautiously walked toward me as if he were approaching a wild animal. He then crouched down and held my face between his hands.

Unconsciously, I recoiled, but not because I was afraid of him or believed he would harm me. The sensation of repulsion when our skin touched made me pull back and then I felt the strong urge to throw up. I used to love his touch; I even craved it, but I despise it now.

“What's wrong? What happened?” Kade asked, his voice seemingly laced with worry, and I shook my head in response.

“Something's bothering you. I know it. Tell me why you’ve been crying, Ava,” he coaxed.

I looked deep into his eyes wanting to read his thoughts, that perhaps all the things I learned about him were just made-up stories to break our precious marriage. However, the look in his eyes seemed different. Gone was the warmth and compassion they had for me.

I understood now that I had to lie even though I wanted to confront Kade about his affair. I figured I wasn’t ready to fight him on this yet, so I pretended that I knew nothing about Hailey.

“This is nothing, Kade. I just can’t believe that we’re about to meet our baby. I’m just excited, overwhelmed, and emotional. That’s all,” I answered, smiling to hide my inner feelings.

“Oh, honey. Everything’s going to be fine. Now, why don’t we go to bed?” He asked as he stood, stretching his hands out to help me up.

Instead of taking his outstretched hands, I asked where he had been the entire day. He let the question hang for a second before asking where I thought he was. When I answered with a shrug, Kade suddenly got defensive, telling me that he had been working. He even asked if I had forgotten who he was and what his role was to many people before angrily walking out.

As my hands trembled, I unlocked the screen on my phone, and there I found new photos of them on full display. They had spent the entire day together once more and capped the night by having a romantic dinner at one of the expensive restaurants we owned—the one he named after me.