My Husband Gave Our Anniversary Ring to His Mistress First

The candlelight flickered across Xander's face as he reached into his pocket, his practiced smile never wavering. Five years of marriage, and he still performed these moments with the calculated precision of a hedge fund manager closing a deal. The small velvet box appeared between his fingers, and I felt my own smile mirror his—reflexive, perfectly calibrated, utterly convincing.

"Lorelai," he began, his voice carrying that warm timber that had once made my heart race, "five years ago, you became the foundation of everything I've built. This ring is just a small token of my gratitude for your unwavering support."

I extended my left hand across the dining table, watching the candlelight dance across the diamond as he slipped it onto my finger. It caught the light beautifully—a perfect, dazzling deception.

"It's beautiful, Xander. Thank you."

He reached across the table to take my hand, his thumb brushing over the diamond. "You're beautiful. You're everything. I don't know what I did to deserve you."

I squeezed his hand and leaned forward to kiss him, tasting the expensive wine on his lips. The words I spoke were exactly what he wanted to hear, what any husband would want to hear on his fifth anniversary. I had always been good at giving people what they needed to see.

Later, I lay in our bed while Xander slept beside me, his breathing deep and even. The silk sheets felt cool against my skin as I reached for my phone on the nightstand, scrolling through social media out of habit. An algorithm, in its infinite wisdom, pushed a livestream into my feed.

"Hey, babes! Welcome back to my channel! Today we're unboxing some fun new pieces I got from..."

I almost swiped past it—another influencer, another sponsored post—but something in the thumbnail caught my eye. A diamond ring, glinting under studio lights. I tapped the screen.

The woman on the screen—Indie Ramirez, according to the overlay—held up a small ring with a single stone. "This little guy came as a freebie with my gold bar purchase! Isn't it cute? I know it's not real or anything, but it's super adorable as a little accessory piece. Perfect for stacking or just wearing on its own for a cute, everyday look. The company sent it as a promotional..."

My blood turned to ice. The ring in her hand was identical to the one Xander had just placed on my finger. The same cut, the same setting, the same delicate band. A promotional freebie.

But that wasn't what made my chest tighten. It was what appeared in the background as Indie shifted the camera angle, laughing about the gold bars. A man's wrist came into view, and there, glinting on his cuff, were the custom-engraved platinum cufflinks I had designed for Xander on our first anniversary. The same intricate pattern I had spent weeks perfecting, the same engraving that matched the inside of his wedding band.

The timestamp in the corner of the stream read six days