Revenge Wears My Ring novel Chapter 1

“Julian, where’s your precious girl tonight?”

The teasing voice of Julian Locke’s friend drifted lazily over the steaming waters of the spa pool.

Gwyneth Fletcher’s lips curved in a subtle smile as she prepared to walk around the artificial rock garden. But before she could take another step, Julian’s voice floated through the mist—low and careless.

“She’s sulking. Decided not to come tonight.”

Gwyneth’s smile froze. Her mind went blank, ringing with confusion.

She wasn’t angry with him.

Were they talking about someone else?

A burst of laughter echoed across the pool.

“Well, can you blame her? She’s been following you around all this time in secret, and now you’re getting engaged to Gwyneth tomorrow. Of course she’s upset.”

Through a gap in the rocks, Gwyneth looked over at her fiancé of five years—Julian.

Shrouded in pale clouds of steam, he lounged at the edge of the pool, a towel slung low around his waist, casual and at ease. There was a faint, almost mocking smile on his lips.

“She’s easier to please than Gwyneth. Just a bit of sweet talk and she’ll come around.”

Gwyneth’s fingers dug into the rough stone, knuckles white where the sharp rock pressed her skin. Her eyelashes trembled uncontrollably.

Julian… was cheating on her?

For five years, they’d worked at the same company, gone home together every evening, lived under the same roof. How had she never noticed anything?

“Talk is cheap,” someone jeered, “You’ve already taken everything from her. Isn’t it time to make her official?”

Julian lifted a hand, plucked a glass of red wine from a floating tray, and swirled it lazily between his fingers. “Once the inheritance from her family goes through, I’ll break up with Gwyneth.”

Gwyneth’s breath caught. She stared at the man she’d loved for five years, unable to believe what she was hearing.

She clapped a hand over her mouth, the taste of blood rising in her throat. Clinging desperately to her last shred of composure, she bowed her head and sent a trembling text:

[Julian, I’ve had too much to drink. I’m heading home.]

She couldn’t listen anymore. Stumbling away on unsteady legs, she fled.

Back at the house they shared—a place she had once filled with warmth and light—Gwyneth now saw only a prison.

Empty. Cold.

The air pressed in on her, suffocating, prickling at her skin.

She curled up beneath the blankets. Though she squeezed her eyes shut, memories flooded in, refusing to let her rest.

When had things started to rot between them? Who was the woman he’d betrayed her for?

She had no idea how long she drifted in and out of numbness before a sudden rush of footsteps echoed down the hallway...