My Husband Cheated With My Best Friend, So I Came Back for Revenge

"Move it!" the man snapped, shoving the girl behind him with pure contempt. She staggered backward, lost her footing, and went splashing straight into the pond.

"Help! Someone's in the water!" People nearby converged in an instant.

Aleena Cook thrashed in the murky depths, flailing until a blinding white light pierced her vision. She blinked—white ceiling above. Blurry figures hovered around her. For a moment, she couldn't tell where she was.

Anger and despair still fogged her brain as she frowned, trying to shake off the ache weighing down her body. "Didn't I... already die?" She remembered it with brutal clarity: throwing all her weight into that wall, then collapsing into her own spreading pool of blood.

"If you're awake, stop faking it!" A sharp voice cut through her thoughts. Aleena zeroed in on the impatient man standing over her—Julian Mason. He was stunning in a way that stung. Sharp features, a brooding, dark aura—the kind of handsome that left you breathless without him even trying.

Julian. A face she knew far too well. The husband she'd given five years of her life to—the one who'd driven her straight to the edge of despair.

It all started in college. She caught one glimpse of him on campus, and that was it. She was done for. She handed him her whole heart, no questions asked. Julian, with all his beauty and his cold, aloof air, drew attention from everyone but rarely let anyone in. At first, he wasn't interested. But Aleena kept pushing, always chasing, always desperate for a crumb of his notice.

Then came Aya Morales. Sweet, outgoing, quick to listen—Aya became her closest friend in no time. What Aleena never suspected: her so-called best friend had her eyes on Aleena's man, methodically plotting to drag her down.

Aleena still remembered the day Julian out of nowhere said he was interested. He started pursuing her, and she was over the moon. She told herself that as long as he was hers, everything would fall into place. They clawed their way through life side by side—graduation, managing his business, all of it. When he dropped to one knee in that elaborate, over-the-top proposal, she cried with happiness. But marriage didn't bring the fairy tale she'd dreamed of. It slid her straight into an endless pit of darkness and torment.

After the wedding, Julian barely came home. His entire world revolved around Aya. On the rare nights he did show up, he'd throw accusations instead of greetings, blaming Aleena for stealing his true love's place. He went on and on about Aya's kindness—how she'd sacrificed her own joy so her friend could keep a sham marriage intact. That's all their marriage was: a title in name only. A scam. A cruel joke.

Aleena would slave over a beautiful dinner, and Julian would spend the whole night out with Aya. If she called him when she was sick and begged him to come home, he'd snap at her to see a doctor. She once planned an elaborate surprise birthday party for him—and instead of gratitude, she got suspicion and an interrogation. In his eyes, she was the scheming manipulator. Aya was the innocent, wounded sweetheart.

Something yanked Aleena back to the present: a girl squeezing her way between her and Julian. "Aleena! Are you okay?"

Aleena stared, certain she had to be dreaming. Judith Stone. Her best friend—the one who'd always been straight with her.

What was Judith doing here? Aleena remembered Judith trying to warn her about Aya, back in the old life. But she hadn't listened. She'd chosen Aya, and it had ripped their friendship apart. Then came Judith's car accident—the one that left her unable to walk. And then the tragic end. Gone.

"Judith?" Aleena sat up so fast Judith flinched. "Oh my God, you're awake! You took a little dip in the pond, so they brought you to the hospital."

Hospital? Pond? Aleena grabbed Judith's hand, panic raw in her voice. "Judith, what year is it?"

Judith's face scrunched in confusion. "Did the fall knock a few screws loose? You went to the park with Aya, and next thing I hear, you're in the water. What happened?"

Aleena's eyes went wide. Then it all came rushing back: those college days. Aya coaching her on how to win Julian's heart. Julian volunteering at the park with his classmates, getting annoyed because she kept trailing behind him, and finally shoving her into the pond.

She was... back? Back in her university days? Shock flipped into something electric. Excitement. A second chance. And this time, she wouldn't make the same mistakes.

Julian's bored voice sliced through her thoughts. "Well, she's not dead. I'm out."

"What? You're leaving?" Judith's voice spiked with anger. "She ended up in the hospital! The least you could do is explain yourself!"

"Nothing to explain. Stop bugging me—it's irritating," Julian shot back dismissively.

"You—" Judith was practically fuming.

"Julian," Aleena cut in, quiet but firm. "You owe me an apology."

"Why should I?"

"Because you pushed me into that water."

"You brought it on yourself."

At that moment, Aya hurried in from outside, all sugary concern. "Come on, Aleena, Julian didn't mean it." Her eyes met Aleena's with a look loaded with meaning.

The old Aleena would have smiled, dropped her head, and let it slide—would have twisted herself into knots just to keep the peace, no matter how cruel he'd been. Looking back, she saw how pathetic that was. Did endless sacrifice ever earn anyone real love? No.

So instead, Aleena turned to Judith, her voice steady as steel. "In that case, let's call the cops. We'll handle this officially and see what happens when someone shoves a girl into a pond."

Julian froze. His expression darkened. Never in a million years had he expected timid, spineless Aleena to talk back like that.

The room went cold, silence pressing in from all sides. After a long, tense beat, Julian finally caved. "...Fine. My bad. Are you happy now?"

Aleena just stared at him, icy. She could feel the hollow emptiness of that apology. She said nothing, only held his gaze.

"Is that it?" Julian snapped, irritation dripping from every syllable. "I'm leaving."

"Hang on," Aleena said.

"Now what?"

"Just so you know: stay away from me from this point on. I don't feel safe with you anywhere near me."

The room was stunned to silence. Was this really Aleena talking to Julian? The Aleena who used to let him walk all over her?