After Exposing My Husband’s "Loving" Facade, I Lost All Restraint Chapter 1

On my wedding day, my enemy Silas Blackwood hung my fiancé Joey’s head from the cathedral spire. As blood dripped down the cross, Silas approached and whispered that a traitor never deserved me.

The guests fled, but I smiled. Three years ago, Joey had sworn to protect me after my family took him in. But last week, I learned he was betraying me with my cousin Maya and leaking company secrets. I’d planned to expose him today—but Silas acted first.

We married right there in the bloodshed. He treated me like a queen, until my birthday, when I found his secret house filled with photos of him and Maya. That night, he asked what I wanted.

I looked straight at him and said, “I want you to kill Maya for me.”

* * *

The moment the words "kill Maya" left my lips, the smile on Silas Blackwood's face froze.

"Seraphina, don't be ridiculous."

He stepped forward to take my hand, but I snatched it away the instant his fingers brushed my wrist.

"Ridiculous?" A bitter smile twisted my lips.

I pulled a stack of printed photographs from my purse and threw them at his feet.

In the pictures, Maya was lounging in his study's leather armchair, wearing his favorite silk nightgown.

"Silas, look closely," I hissed. "Does this look ridiculous to you?"

He bent to pick them up, his movements suddenly hesitant.

"She must have snuck in and taken those when I wasn't home. I only found out today, I swear..."

"Oh?"

I cut him off, unlocking my phone and shoving the screen in his face. It displayed the address of a secluded villa on the outskirts of the city.

"And what about this? The security code is my birthday, yet the walls inside are covered with her pictures. Her clothes are in the closets. Are you going to tell me she picked the lock and moved herself in?"

The color finally drained from his face. He lunged for my phone.

I took a step back, my back hitting the cold wall.

"Silas, you've always been so good at playing the devoted husband, haven't you?"

I opened up the social media app. The top trending topic was already exploding.

#SilasBlackwoodSecretVilla #TheRealMrsBlackwoodMaya, followed by a bright red "VIRAL" tag.

Beneath it was the nine-photo grid I had posted that afternoon. The caption was simple: "Happy birthday to me."

"Look. The whole world knows now. Your perfect, loving husband act? It's shattered. There's not even dust left."

He ripped the phone from my hand, his fingers flying as he dialed his PR team.

His voice was laced with a panic I had never heard before.

"Kill the story! Now! Delete every single photo! If anyone posts it again, I'll make sure they never work in this city again!"

He hung up and turned to me, his eyes a maelstrom of conflict.

"Seraphina, there's nothing between me and Maya. The photos are a misunderstanding, you have to believe me..."

"A misunderstanding?" I laughed, but the sound was choked by a sudden surge of tears.

"Three years ago, when Joey betrayed me, you killed him for me. I thought you were the one person who would never betray me. But you? You played me for a fool! Tell me, Silas, can't you bring yourself to kill her?"

"Is it because she's my cousin? Or is it because... you've fallen in love with her?"

He opened his mouth, but no defense came.

Seeing him stand there, utterly speechless, the last flicker of warmth in my heart went cold.

All these years, everything he had done was a lie.

The devotion, the passion... it was all a performance.