My Husband's Rival Wants Me

Shadow watching.

I slipped back into the penthouse just before dawn, the city still wrapped in dark below the windows. My body still hummed from Nikolas. His hands on my hips, his mouth on my neck, the way he’d held me like I was the only thing that mattered. The faint marks on my collarbone throbbed under my shirt. I’d have to hide them.

The bedroom door was cracked. Adrian hadn’t stirred. He lay on his side, arm slung over the pillow I usually used, breathing even and deep. He hadn’t noticed I was gone. Relief washed over me, followed by a wave of shame that made my stomach twist. I peeled off my clothes in the bathroom, showered hot enough to sting, scrubbed until my skin felt raw. When I looked in the mirror, my lips were still swollen, my eyes too bright. I looked like someone who’d been touched until she forgot everything else.

I crawled into bed on the far edge, back to him, and stared at the wall until the sky turned gray. Sleep never came.

His alarm went off at six-thirty and he rolled over, stretched, and glanced at me like I was part of the furniture.

“You’re up early,” he said, voice rough with sleep.

“Couldn’t sleep.” My throat felt tight.

He shrugged. “Coffee’s on. I’ve got an early call.” He didn’t ask why I looked like I hadn’t slept. Didn’t notice the faint red mark peeking above my collar. Just got up, showered, dressed, and left without even saying goodbye.

The door clicked shut.

I sat on the edge of the bed for a long time, staring at the empty space where he’d been. Then I opened my phone.

The anonymous photo from the bar was still there. Me and Nikolas, mouths locked, hands tangled. Someone had watched us that night. Someone had followed me home.

I deleted it, then undeleted it, then stared at it until my eyes burned.

My phone buzzed. Noah.

*Coffee? I have more on the hospital thing.*

I met him at the same quiet Midtown café, tucked in the corner booth where no one would overhear. He looked tired, dark circles under his eyes, but his hands were steady as he slid a folder across the table.

“Birth certificate is definitely fake,” he said. “The hospital name doesn’t exist. But I cross-checked Mom’s medical records from the time. She was admitted to a different facility, one that closed down years ago. The dates match, but the paperwork was swapped.”

I flipped through the pages. Grainy copies of old forms. Mom’s name. Two birth entries. One redacted.

My stomach dropped. “Why would anyone do that?”

Noah leaned closer. “I don’t know. But Edward signed off on everything. And there’s a trust document buried in the family lawyer’s old files. Something about ‘heirs’ and a fortune from Mom’s first husband. It’s sealed. I’m trying to get a copy.”

I pressed my palms to the table. “Aurora knew.”

He nodded. “She had to. She was sixteen when Mom died. She would’ve overheard things.”

Noah reached across and squeezed my hand. “We’ll figure it out. But Aria…” He lowered his voice. “Be careful. Whoever sent that photo—they’re close.”

I looked out the window. A black SUV idled across the street. Tinted windows. Engine running. My pulse spiked.

“I think they’re following me,” I whispered.

Noah followed my gaze.

I left the café first. Head down. Heart pounding.

The SUV pulled away when I stepped onto the sidewalk.

Back at the penthouse, I locked every door. Then I sat on the couch, knees to chest, staring at the wall.

That night Adrian came home late. Again. He smelled like whiskey and Olivia’s perfume. He didn’t even look at me as he dropped his keys on the counter.

“Meeting ran long,” he said.

I stood in the doorway of the living room. “You said that yesterday.”

He sighed. “Work doesn’t stop, Aria.”

I didn’t respond. Just turned and went to the bedroom.

He didn’t follow.

I locked the door. Sat on the floor and cried until my throat hurt.

The rain started outside and I listened to it beat against the windows until I fell asleep on the floor.

The next morning, I woke stiff and sore.

Adrian was gone.

I made coffee and sat at the island, staring at the empty chair across from me.

My phone buzzed with a text from Noah.

*Got the trust copy. Meet me?*

I went.

At the café, the same one he always invited me to, he slid the papers across.

“Mom’s first marriage,” he said. “It was very short. It ended with his death, but he left in his will, a trust for her ‘legitimate heir’, not heirs, Aria.”

I stared at the page that held my name, not Aurora or us both. Just me, and my hands shook.

“This changes everything,” I whispered.

Noah nodded. “And Edward buried it.”

I looked out the window.

The black SUV was back.

Parked across the street.

My phone buzzed. Another photo from an anonymous account.

This one from the gala hallway of me and Nikolas in a heated kiss.

Caption: *He pays the price next.*

I dropped the phone.

Noah grabbed it and saw the photo.

“s**t,” he whispered. “Aria, who’s he?”

My breath hitched, but before I could say anything, a tall man in all black stepped out of the SUV with his eyes on the café.

I didn’t wait. I grabbed Noah’s arms.

“We have to go.”

We left through the back and ran two blocks.

The SUV didn’t follow, but somewhere deep down, I knew they weren’t done.

The shadows were closing in, and I was running out of places to hide.