In our 7th year of building the company from the ground up, Ethan Caldwell finally acknowledged our marriage in public. The camera flashes had barely died down when, without warning, he admitted he'd been cheating on me.   "You can keep the title of Mrs. Caldwell, or take 500 million dollars and divorce me. Your choice."   He idly nudged the wedding band on my ring finger with his fingertips.   "Katherine, you're more like a business partner who's been in the trenches with me than a wife. Every once in a while, it's refreshing to have a sweet little innocent look up to me for a change."

My CEO husband, Adrian Cole, hated people cutting in line more than anything. To him, everything had to be first come, first served. Even the way he budgeted and spent money had to follow that order. Unfortunately, I was the kind of person who always followed the rules.   He had already promised Vanessa Lane a diamond necklace worth over a million dollars. Because my request came later, I had to borrow 200 dollars from a friend to see a doctor despite running a 104°F fever.   He had already made plans to travel to Skeldon Island with Vanessa. Because I came later, I sat outside the clerk's office all day, but he never showed.   Then my mother was hospitalized and urgently needed surgery. On the phone, Adrian said casually, "Vanessa asked me for money 3 minutes before you did. Your mom comes after her. You care more about the rules than anyone. Don't break them over a little money."   I stared at the 26 calls on my screen from the past 30 minutes and finally understood. His first come, first served rule had never once put me first.   Still, I followed the rules. So when my childhood sweetheart approached with a stack of hospital payment receipts, I got to my feet and went over to him. "Adrian, you were right. The person who comes first really is more important than the one who comes later."   So this time, if I was going to follow the rules, I should choose the man who had arrived first and paid the hospital bill for me, not the one who still hadn't shown up.