His Ruthless Obsession

Friends and Confession

Maya’s already sprawled in our corner booth at Bleu when I walk in. She looks like sin wrapped in silk, red dress painted on, lips so sharp they could probably cut glass. Maya Chen doesn’t do casual. Or quiet.

“Elena f*****g Moretti,” she crows the second she sees me. She jumps up, kisses the air on both sides of my face, then leans back and squints like she’s studying a crime scene. “Oh my God. You actually did it.”

I freeze halfway into the booth. “Did what?” My voice comes out too light, too fake. Everything feels… heightened today. The leather seat, the clink of glasses, the sunlight hitting the table, it’s like someone turned the brightness up on the world.

“Don’t play dumb with me. I’ve known you for ten years. I have never seen you glow like this.” She waves a hand at the server, already ordering mimosas without even looking away from me. “That is the look of a woman who just got her soul rearranged by some very expensive dick.”

“Maya!” My eyes dart around, but the brunch crowd is too wrapped up in their own gossip to notice mine.

She leans in, grinning like a cat with cream. “Oh, what’s this? Using your inside voice? How considerate, considering you just screwed your husband’s biggest rival.”

The server slides our drinks down and I nearly drain half of mine in one swallow, praying the bubbles will kill me or give me the courage to live. “It’s not what you think.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” She tilts her head, her earrings catching the light. “I think you spent the night getting thoroughly wrecked by Damian Blackwood, and judging by the way you keep touching that concealer patch on your neck, I think I’m right.”

My hand shoots up before I can stop it. s**t.

Maya smirks. “Babe, I’m a makeup artist. You can’t hide a hickey from me.” She sits back, triumphant. “Now. Details. Don’t you dare skip the good parts.”

I want to lie. God, I want to lie. Go back to pretending I’m still the perfect wife, still the good girl Adrian married. But looking at Maya’s greedy, excited face, I realize how badly I want to tell someone. To say it out loud so it feels less like a dream.

“It was…” My throat tightens. Words feel too small. “I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Try.”

“Like…” I exhale. “Like I’d been sleepwalking for years and suddenly someone shook me awake. Like I remembered I’m a person, not just Adrian’s… accessory.”

Her smile softens, the playfulness slipping. “Oh, honey. Was it that bad with him?”

“It wasn’t bad. It was nothing.” My laugh is hollow. “Do you know how long it’s been since Adrian looked at me like he actually wanted me?”

“No, but I’m guessing… too long.”

“Eighteen months.” The number tastes sour. “Eighteen months since we had s*x. And when we did? He acted like it was a chore. Like, check, satisfy wife, Tuesday night, done.”

Maya winces. “Jesus, Elena.”

I nod, my chest aching. “I didn’t even realize how numb I’d gotten. Not until last night. Damian…” I swallow, heat flooding my face. “He made me feel beautiful. Not acceptable. Not presentable. Not ‘Adrian’s appropriate wife.’ Just, beautiful. Desired.”

“And now?” she asks, gentle but sharp.

“Now I’m supposed to pretend it never happened. Go back to being Mrs. Moretti. Smile at the galas. Watch Adrian flirt with Sophia Hayes while treating me like furniture.”

Maya’s brows shoot up. “Who the hell is Sophia Hayes?”

“Some twenty-five-year-old investor’s daughter. Blonde. Perfect. She’s been hovering for months, and Adrian lights up around her in a way he hasn’t with me in years.” My voice cracks, surprising me. When did I start caring about Adrian’s attention? Maybe I stopped the second I learned what real attention feels like.

Maya narrows her eyes. “So let me get this straight. You finally had one night with a man who clearly worships you, and your plan is to just crawl back into your coffin with Adrian?”

“What choice do I have? I’m married. I made vows.”

“Vows Adrian’s been breaking for months with his emotional affair with Barbie.” Her tone sharpens. “Elena, when’s the last time you were happy? Really happy?”

The question lands like a slap. My lips part, but no sound comes out. When was the last time I felt joy, not duty? When was the last time I laughed so hard I cried?

“Last night,” I whisper. “For the first time in years, I felt alive last night.”

Maya sighs. “Then why do you look like you’re planning your own funeral?”

Because happiness is dangerous. Because wanting more is dangerous. Because I built a safe life and one night with Damian might burn it all down.

“It’s not real,” I say, voice tight. “He doesn’t want me. Not really. I’m just a game. A way to stick it to Adrian.”

“Did he say that?”

“He didn’t need to.”

She grabs my hand, eyes blazing. “Elena, I saw the way he looked at you. That wasn’t conquest. That was hunger. The kind of hunger that doesn’t fade after one night.”

My phone buzzes. I glance down, and my heart skips like a traitor.

Damian: Have dinner with me tonight.

Maya cranes her neck. “Is that him?”

“I can’t,” I mumble, thumbs trembling.

Elena: I’m married.

The reply is instant.

Damian: To a man who doesn’t deserve you. One dinner. What’s the harm?

Maya reads it and lets out a low whistle. “Oh, girl. He’s good. What’s the harm, he says. The harm is you might never want to go back to cold leftovers and Adrian’s empty bed.”

I press the phone face down on the table like it’s a grenade. “That’s exactly what scares me.”

“Good.” Maya signals for more drinks. “Safe is overrated. Forget dinner with Damian. Come out with us tonight. Rosa’s celebrating her divorce being finalized, and Selene needs to vent about her husband’s new wife. You’re coming.”

“I can’t. Adrian has some investor dinner.”

“Exactly. So you’d just be sitting alone in that mausoleum you call home, eating takeout and watching Netflix like some sad housewife. Or… you could remember you’re still alive.”

I picture the penthouse. The empty silence. The walls lined with Adrian’s achievements, none of them mine. My chest tightens.

“Where?” I ask.

“The new club downtown. Rooftop bar, insane view. Rosa’s on rebound patrol, Selene’s out for blood, it’ll be chaos. You’ll love it.”

“I don’t do chaos.”

“Which is why you need it.” She grins wickedly. “You’ve played it safe your whole life. Where has it gotten you?”

Married to a man who barely sees me. Living in a cage that looks perfect on i********: but feels hollow in real life.

My phone buzzes again.

Damian: I’m not giving up. One dinner. One conversation. What are you afraid of?

Everything. I’m afraid of everything. Afraid of wanting too much. Afraid of realizing my marriage is a lie. Afraid that if I see him again, I won’t want to stop.

“I’ll think about it,” I murmur, but Maya just gives me that look, the one that says she knows me better than I know myself.

Tonight, I’m going to do something reckless. Something messy.

The only question is whether I’ll survive it.

I sit there, listening to Maya plan outfits and cocktails, but all I can feel is my phone burning against my palm. Damian’s words echo over and over: What are you afraid of?

The answer?

That one more night with him will make me realize the truth.

I don’t want to go back.

And maybe… maybe I never should.