Secretly Married for 4 Years, He Regrets to Tears After the Divorce-Chapter 13: An Extramarital Affair, Beyond Dispute
"Catching a cheater," Wren said, her tone breezy, betraying no hysterical rage.
Adrian shot up from his chair, his face livid. He pointed at the door and snarled, "What nonsense are you talking about? Go home, now!"
Wren ignored him, her cold gaze fixed on Maya Marshall’s face.
"Ms. Marshall, in a situation like this, aren’t you going to say something?"
Maya Marshall leaned against the headboard, her expression just as grim. She was so furious she wanted to storm over and rip Wren Sutton’s mouth to shreds.
But she knew that in front of Adrian Lancaster, she couldn’t lay a single finger on Wren Sutton.
"I’ve told you time and again, Adrian and I don’t have that kind of relationship. Why do you always insist on misunderstanding us?"
With that, she began to feign sorrowful sobs, clutching her heart with her left hand, looking for all the world like someone wrongly accused and in unbearable pain.
Adrian hurried forward to comfort her. "Is it your chest? Does your heart hurt? Lie down, quick. Don’t overthink things."
Tears streamed down Maya Marshall’s face as she choked out, "Go make things clear. Don’t let her misunderstand us again."
"Okay, I’ll go talk to her." Adrian soothed Maya Marshall, tucked her in, then turned and walked towards Wren, his expression cold and stern. "This is the Marshall family’s home. Don’t cause a scene. We can talk about this when we get home."
"’Home?’" Wren Sutton asked back with a laugh, though her eyes glistened with unshed tears. "Adrian Lancaster, do you even remember you have a home? I thought you’d already made the Marshall family’s house your home, and Maya Marshall your wife."
Adrian Lancaster’s face tightened as his anger finally erupted. "Maya and I don’t have that kind of relationship. Stop being so paranoid all the time."
Wren pointed at herself. "Am I the one being paranoid, or are you two sneaking around behind my back, having an affair all over the world?"
She bit out the last two words, her voice thick with a hatred that clawed its way out of her throat.
Originally, Wren had wanted to end this awful marriage with dignity. No fights, no scenes. Just a clean break, leaving some semblance of goodwill between them.
But now, the resentment she had suppressed for so long needed an outlet.
"Shut your mouth!" Adrian roared.
But Wren couldn’t stop; she had to get it all out. "You’ve both already done the ugly deed, and you’re afraid of people talking about it? Maya Marshall’s social media is filled with photos and videos of you two being intimate. Do you think I’m blind and can’t see them?
"All these years, you’ve been traveling abroad so frequently. Wasn’t it just under the guise of business trips to see your old flame? A man and a woman, alone, for countless days and nights. You still have the nerve to say you two are innocent?"
Adrian Lancaster: "..."
"Speak up! Why are you so quiet? Too ashamed to say anything, is that it? Well, when you and Maya Marshall were stripping naked and fucking in bed, did you not feel disgusting? Shameless?"
"Wren Sutton!" Adrian bellowed, incandescent with rage. His eyes, sharp as knives and bloodshot with fury, looked like they could tear her limb from limb. "Get the hell out of here, right now. Say one more word, and you’ll pay a heavy price."
Her heart twisting like a knife was in it, Wren looked up, forcing her tears back. She ignored his warning and walked toward the bed.
Adrian grabbed her arm, grinding his teeth. "What do you think you’re doing?"
"Going to have a few words with your old flame."
Adrian’s brows knitted together. "Watch your tone. Provoke me again, and you won’t be able to handle the consequences."
Wren shook off his hand, took a few steps forward, and stopped at the head of the bed, looking down at Maya Marshall.
Maya Marshall disliked being looked down upon. She propped herself up, her eyes filled with disdain, her tone no longer as polite as before. "What else do you want to say? Just say it all at once. Stop popping up every few days to be annoying."
"Giving up the act, Ms. Marshall?" Wren Sutton taunted.
Maya Marshall dodged the question. "I don’t know what you’re talking about."
"Then I’ll say something you can understand."
"My time is precious. You’d better make it quick."
Wren ignored Maya Marshall’s arrogant expression. "Stealing someone else’s husband, you’re quite proud of yourself, aren’t you?"
"Stealing?" Maya Marshall snorted dismissively, her tone contemptuous. "Don’t flatter yourself. When I met Adrian, you were still hiding in some godforsaken corner. We were together from high school through college graduation. What do you have that can compare to me?
"Four years ago, if you hadn’t interfered, we never would have broken up. So, Wren Sutton, you’re the other woman."
Instead of getting angry, Wren laughed. Truly, there’s no defense against someone utterly shameless.
"These days, who doesn’t have a childhood sweetheart? In school, who hasn’t been in a few relationships? But, you need to get this straight: the past is not the present.
"Right now, Adrian Lancaster is my husband, not your high school sweetheart. He belonged to you in the past, but now, he belongs to me."
In the depths of Adrian Lancaster’s dark, bottomless eyes, a faint light suddenly flickered, and his heart skipped a few beats.
Maya Marshall refused to accept it, retorting emotionally, "Adrian Lancaster never belonged to you! He will always belong to me, because he loves me, not you! In a relationship, the one who isn’t loved is the third wheel."
That last "classic" line made Wren feel utterly disgusted. A homewrecker never admits she’s the homewrecker, just like a drunk never admits they’re drunk.
"So what if Adrian Lancaster doesn’t love me? In the end, the one who got the marriage certificate with him is me, not you. Our relationship is protected by law. I can openly live in the Lancaster family villa. And you? You can only lie secretly in a hotel bed, strip naked, and wait for him to occasionally favor you with a visit. In ancient times, I would be the official wife, the mistress of the house, and you would be a lowly creature not even worthy of being a concubine."
"Wren Sutton, that’s enough!"
Adrian Lancaster couldn’t listen anymore. Radiating a savage aura, he grabbed her and started dragging her out, his grip so strong it felt like it would crush her arm.
Behind them came Maya Marshall’s heart-wrenching screams and sobs. It was the first time she had been verbally insulted like this, and she completely broke down.
"Wren Sutton, you’re the lowly one! I’ll kill you!"
...
Adrian Lancaster was livid. He unceremoniously threw Wren Sutton into the car.
Wren Sutton’s waist slammed hard against the seatbelt buckle. A piercing pain shot through her, knocking the tears from her eyes. "Adrian Lancaster, have you lost your mind?!"
"Am I the one who’s lost his mind, or are you?!" Adrian Lancaster’s rage was uncontrollable, his expression so terrifying he looked like he could eat her alive. He squeezed her face hard. "Did you enjoy cursing her out? Huh?!"
Just now, upstairs, he had almost raised his hand to slap her. In the end, he held back. If only for the fact that she’d just had surgery for a ruptured corpus luteum.
"Maya has a weak heart. She can’t handle being provoked. If anything happens to her, I will not let you off."
Wren shot back defiantly, "If her heart is weak, she should see a doctor. Does being a mistress cure heart conditions?"
Adrian tightened his grip, so angry he could grind his teeth to dust. "I’ll say this one last time: Maya Marshall is not a mistress!"
Heartbroken, Wren’s tears began to fall. Even now, he’s still protecting her. "But your infidelity during our marriage is an ironclad fact, beyond dispute."
"Is telling stories considered cheating?"
"Then does sleeping together count?" Wren asked, cutting right to the quick.
Adrian’s face was taut as he flatly denied it. "Never."
Wren laughed through her tears. What a beautiful answer.
"Are you trying to humor me like I’m a three-year-old?"
She’d sooner believe in ghosts than trust a word out of Adrian Lancaster’s mouth. If they never slept together, where did the baby in Maya Marshall’s womb come from?
Of course he wouldn’t admit it. For no other reason than to protect Maya Marshall’s reputation.
"Believe it or not." Adrian Lancaster tossed out the four words and left.
Watching him walk back into the Marshall family’s home, Wren felt like a deflated ball, slumping listlessly against the seat and retracting all her thorns.
A few minutes later, Wren took a deep breath and drove away.
She had originally planned to go to Amberwood Estates, but she was too exhausted, physically spent, and it was far away. On the way, she passed the villa she shared with Adrian Lancaster as their marital home, and ended up going back there instead.
The housekeeper was waiting in the living room. Seeing Wren return, she hurried forward to greet her. "Ma’am, you’re finally back. It’s almost twelve o’clock. Why didn’t Mr. Lancaster come back with you? Didn’t he go to pick you up?"
Wren was listless and had no energy to speak. She just waved her hand and went upstairs.
The housekeeper was perceptive enough not to say any more. Suddenly, she remembered something. "Ma’am, wait. This is a gift from Mr. Lancaster."
She struggled to hold up a large bouquet of roses, picking up a heavy jewelry box with her other hand, and hurried to the bottom of the stairs.
Wren didn’t turn around. The words escaped her lips: "Throw them out."
