Chapter 1 Catching the Cheater Red-Handed

Thalia Marquette watched as her husband Alden Crestfall cheated on her on their third wedding anniversary. Two naked bodies were passionately entwined before the floor-to-ceiling windows in Alden's office. "Alden… mm… go slower, it hurts…" The woman whimpered, biting on her lip. Alden drove into her from behind, grunting with each rough thrust. "You're so tight around me, Kiki… You feel so good. God, I could die buried inside you like this…" The woman's breasts jiggled with each thrust. Alden reached around to grab one of them before squeezing it tightly. The soft sensation made his hips hammer harder into her. Only the sounds of flesh hitting flesh and the lovers' wanton moans filled the quiet space. Thalia stood frozen outside the door, having nearly passed out after happening upon the two. Half an hour ago, Alden had called Thalia to tell her that he wouldn't make it back home in time to celebrate their anniversary. He claimed he needed to work overtime to finish some things. When Thalia heard what sounded like another woman's voice faintly echoing in the background of the call, she felt that something wasn't right and hurried over to the office right away. Thalia didn't expect to stumble upon such a scene. As for the woman writhing beneath Alden? She was none other than Kiera Hollindale, widow of Alden's late elder brother. Alden still had to address Kiera as his elder sister-in-law, too. What was more absurd was that Kiera was currently six months pregnant! As Thalia looked through the gap in the door, she saw that Alden and Kiera had switched to different positions. Alden lay on the floor while Kiera straddled him. She eagerly took his hard manhood in hand and guided it into her own wet heat. Kiera then began riding Alden while moaning in pleasure. Thalia couldn't stop the nausea churning in her stomach the moment she witnessed this. She pressed a hand to her chest and retched. Ever since Alden's elder brother, Aaron Crestfall, died half a year ago, Alden had been especially doting on Kiera and tended to her every need. Alden would hurry over to Kiera's side if she called him in the middle of the night, and he even accompanied her to each and every ultrasound scan. Meanwhile, Alden only ever treated Thalia, his lawfully married wife, with polite formality. Even their sexual activities were limited to once per month. Thalia used to think that the reason Alden cared for Kiera so much was out of pity, given that Kiera had lost her husband at such a young age. Thalia thought that Alden was just naturally cold and distant, never really interested in sex or the like. But that didn't seem like the case anymore! When did these two start fooling around? The sounds of Alden's rough grunts and Kiera's soft moans pulled Thalia back to the present. Kiera's delicate and seductive voice rang out from the office suddenly. "Why did you keep the selfie we took together when we were in school?" From this angle, Thalia could clearly see Kiera beaming happily while holding up a picture frame. Meanwhile, Alden was kneeling on the floor with his face buried between Kiera's thighs. "If I hadn't been so hotheaded back then, we wouldn't have gotten into a fight and broken up. You wouldn't have married my brother to try and get back at me, either, causing us to miss out on so much time together. But I'm not going to let go of you now, no matter what," Alden murmured. Selfie? Break-up? Thalia's face turned bone white as she suddenly recalled something. She frantically turned and left, not having the patience to continue watching the lovebirds fool around. By the time Thalia returned to the Crestfall residence, everyone had gone to sleep. Even the staff had retired to their rooms. Thalia marched upstairs and went straight to Alden's study. She then went over to a locked safe in the corner. Thalia had seen Alden take out a photo album from the safe and browse through it countless times over the years. She used to think it was some kind of family photo album, so she never thought much about it. But Alden and Kiera's conversation from earlier made Thalia realize that things weren't that simple. Thalia typed in all the passcodes she could think of, but all of them failed. She then tried using Kiera's birthdate. With a click, the safe was unlocked. A bitter smile appeared on Thalia's lips. The safe was filled with Kiera's photos, just as Thalia had expected. Thalia thought about all her years of marriage with Alden, finding it to be nothing but an absurd joke. Simon Marquette, Thalia's grandfather, used to be comrades-in-arms with Alden's grandfather, Ignatius Crestfall. They were very good friends, and consequently, their families had deep ties with one another. The Marquette family business, Marquette Group, became hugely successful years back. They had branches throughout the entire country. Meanwhile, Crestfall Group had just started out and was facing immense hardships in the field. It was Marquette Group that offered the latter a helping hand, lending the Crestfall Group 100 million dollars in order to help them get back on track. The Crestfall family then offered the Marquette family an alliance marriage in thanks. But no one expected the two families' status to take on a 180-degree shift in a mere few years. Crestfall Group became more and more successful, while Marquette Group slowly declined due to some issues that occurred. Thalia still remembered how cold and distant Alden was to her at the start. If Henrietta Blackwell, Alden's grandmother, hadn't pressured him to marry Thalia, he never would've done so. Even so, this didn't stop Marquette Group from going bankrupt. When Thalia's father, Stanford Marquette, refused to give up and tried to revive the company, he was met with countless financial setbacks. It was Henrietta who pressured Alden to lend them a helping hand, too. In truth, Thalia had always known that the reason Alden treated her so coldly was that he didn't love her. Thalia just never expected Kiera—Thalia's elder sister-in-law for the past three years—to be the woman Alden actually loved. This was simply absurd! Alden came back home at 11:00 pm that night. Thalia had just finished her shower and hadn't gone to bed yet when Alden entered their bedroom. As if he were completing a task on some checklist, Alden quietly pulled Thalia into his arms and kissed her. Before tonight, Thalia would've been overjoyed by his taking initiative. But after what happened earlier tonight, Thalia just felt absolutely disgusted by Alden's gestures. She pressed a hand against his chest, shoving him away. "No…" Before Thalia could finish speaking, Alden wrapped an arm around her waist and silenced her with his lips. He then led her to their bed. "It's the 15th today. Are you sure you don't want this?" Alden asked as he gently pushed Thalia down into the bed. His voice was especially magnetic tonight. Thalia gripped the bed sheets tightly and turned away to avoid his kisses. "I'm sure. I feel a little unwell tonight, so let's just forget about it." Alden assumed Thalia was just upset because he hadn't come home in time to celebrate their wedding anniversary together. So, he didn't take her words to heart and pinned her hands to her sides instead. "What are you acting so chaste for? Weren't you the one who whined to Henrietta about me not having sex with you?" Alden said. Alden had refused to consummate his marriage with Thalia after they married. He'd even left her alone in their bedroom on their wedding night while he went God-knows-where for the entire night. Henrietta had then persistently urged Thalia to give her a great-grandchild. Unable to bear the pressure, Thalia had no choice but to come clean. When Henrietta heard about what was going on, she threw a fit. She then called Alden over and used his successor rights as leverage against him. This was how Alden and Thalia ended up agreeing to have sex once a month. In the beginning, Alden would penetrate Thalia right away. But when Alden got into the mood later on, he added some foreplay before they got to business. Thalia had been overjoyed then and thought he'd finally started warming up to her. But who knew Thalia had just been deluding herself all this time? In the blink of an eye, Alden had torn Thalia's clothes off and pushed her legs apart with his knees. He then prepared to push himself into her.