Chapter 4 Infidelity

(Sybil’s POV)

They both turned around when they heard the door open. I got a good look at the woman and immediately recognized her. It was none other than Willa Worthington, a famous actress who just happened to be John’s former fiancée. She had been abroad for the past three years, but evidently she had just returned.

I was very well acquainted with her, too. We had known each other our entire lives. We weren’t exactly best friends growing up, far from it. 

My parents had worked as servants for her wealthy parents. I got along well with Mr. and Mrs. Worthington, and they had even offered to pay for my education, something that Willa clearly resented. We ended up going to the same schools, where she and her snooty friends used to torment me, making fun of me because my family was significantly less wealthy than theirs.   

I wasn’t really all that surprised to see how lovey-dovey John and Willa seemed to be with each other, to be honest. After all, our marriage had never meant anything to him, as I was painfully aware. Just because he was married to me now didn’t mean that his love for her had magically disappeared.

“What are you doing out here?” John asked, annoyed to see me.

“I could ask you the same thing,” I replied dryly.

“Sybil, darling, how lovely to see you!” Willa flashed me an insincere smile. She took my hand in both of hers, and I noticed the diamond ring on her left hand. I realized with a start that that was the diamond my friend had told me about.

I should have known that he would never dream of buying me something as grand as that diamond. I was such a fool for thinking otherwise!

I yanked my hand away from Willa and turned my full attention to John. “It’s over between us. I want a divorce,” I hissed.

“What?” He frowned at me. “What’s wrong with you? Can’t you read the room?”

“Perfectly.” I crossed my arms, glaring at him. “I know exactly what’s going on here.”

“Oh, do you?” John sneered at me. “Then enlighten me. What do you think is going on?”

“I think you’re cheating on me with her,” I said, ignoring Willa’s indignant squeak.

John looked straight into my eyes. “I’m not cheating. You and I may be married, but we’re not emotionally attached. If I want to be with Willa, nobody can stop me!” He moved even closer to me. I could feel his breath on my face. “Especially not some idiot who tries to play games with me!”

I rolled my eyes, his words no longer hurting me since I now knew the truth. I was tempted to tell him that his mother was the culprit behind the incident with the condoms, but why bother? He would never believe me over his own mother.

“Mother just called me to tell me that my baby sister is going to the hospital. That’s much more important than whatever stupid ideas are running through your head right now.” He tried to shove past me.

Willa started to follow him, but stopped and put her arm around my shoulders. “He didn’t mean what he said, Sybil. He’s just under a lot of stress right now,” she said, looking at me with obviously fake sympathy, before taking his hand and leading him away from me.

Now I was more determined than ever to leave that jerk. I hailed a taxi to get as far away as possible from him.

Just as I was getting into the taxi, I realized that I had left in such a hurry that I didn’t have any money. The most valuable thing I had on me was a pair of earrings, so I decided to pay the driver with those. John had given them to me on our wedding day, and I had treasured them from that moment on, but now I couldn’t wait to get rid of them.

As the taxi moved away from the house, I noticed that the driver had the radio turned on. When the news came on, he turned up the sound. To my amazement, there was a story announcing John and Willa’s engagement.

The driver spoke up. “Wow, can you believe that? That billionaire guy is finally going to marry that actress. I guess good things do happen to those who wait, am I right?”

I gave him the best smile I could manage, under the circumstances. “I suppose so,” I agreed. 

He moved on to other topics of small talk, for which I was secretly grateful. It was a welcome distraction, and I was able to temporarily ignore everything that had happened in the last few hours, from Amelia’s illness and her mother’s solution for it, to John’s accusations and infidelity. 

I guess it’s true what everyone says, the wife is always the last to know.