STEP ASIDE EX- HUSBAND: The rise of Liana.

LIANA'S POV

I stayed in the kitchen, surveying the candles I had burned with care, the silverware laid out on the table and the roses, still pungent in their vase.

Today is our anniversary night, it's been three long years. I'd been counting down the minutes, or rather not, but praying under my breath we'd finally make it together tonight. It hadn't been an easy year, but I'd stayed true.

Dominic and I had known each other so many years ago in a world of stolen kisses and whispered promises, and then it had felt like magic. The sort of love you read about in books. And so when my marriage had lost its heat and its passion, I had hoped that perhaps we could turn it around. That this evening could be our new beginning.

I smoothed my dress, a soft slip of satin that I was certain would catch his eye. It was demure, but I had never been the flashy sort, never hungry for attention. He had liked that about me once. He had adored it and sadly, I had assumed that never would change.

Within me, a growing restlessness gnawed at my belly. I glanced at the clock, 7:15 PM. Dominic was supposed to be home by now. A part of me had grown accustomed to his lateness, his apologies. Sometimes work, sometimes an unexpected meeting, sometimes just… nothing. But tonight was different. I wished tonight to be perfect. I wanted him to see me, the woman he once loved, and not the person I had become in his life.

And then the door creaked open.

My heart leaped in my chest, a fleeting burst of pleasure taking over.

Finally, He was home. But no sooner had Dominic entered the room than my insides plummeted.

Dominic was not alone. He had one arm around the woman, a woman who was so stunning that she was almost unbelievable. She was dressed in red, the kind that sets your head aflame and makes you suspicious. She had legs that seemed to stretch on into infinity, lips glossed a deep red to match her dress, and eyes that burned with the certainty of one who had already claimed what was hers. Her loveliness was breathtaking, almost blinding.

I did not know her, but the look in her eyes told it all. She was not a friend. She was not an acquaintance. No, she was something else, something that Dominic had chosen instead of me.

My breath hitched as Dominic's gaze swept over me, unemotional and easy. The coldness I was accustomed to. No remorse. No remorse. He didn't even appear to care about the impact of his actions.

"Liana, this is Bella," he said, his voice too easy for the moment, as if introducing her was as mundane as ordering dinner. "She's been keeping me company for the past few months."

I stayed in the kitchen, gazing at candles I had carefully trimmed, the silverware laid out on the