Wife Rejected for Mistress

The grandfather clock in the hallway chimed midnight as I paced the corridor outside Ridge's study. Something felt wrong. Ridge had been acting strangely all evening, claiming he needed to work late again. I'd brought him tea twice already, and both times he'd barely acknowledged me, his eyes darting nervously to his phone whenever it buzzed.

I hesitated outside the heavy oak door, my hand hovering over the doorknob. Perhaps I should leave him alone. After all, he'd made it clear countless times that my presence was an inconvenience rather than a comfort.

But something drove me forward tonight—an intuition I couldn't shake.

I pressed my ear against the door, hearing nothing but silence at first. Then came a soft laugh—Amira's laugh—followed by the gentle rustle of fabric.

"I thought Diana would never leave," Amira whispered, her voice carrying through the crack under the door.

"She never suspects anything," Ridge replied, his tone softer than I'd heard him speak to me in years. "She's too busy trying to please me to notice what's happening right in front of her."

My heart hammered against my ribs as I pushed the door open just enough to see inside. The sight before me froze my blood.

Ridge stood with his arms wrapped around Amira, her body pressed against his. His lips brushed her forehead tenderly—a gesture he'd never once offered me in our ten years together.

"Diana means nothing to you, she never has," Amira murmured, her fingers tracing patterns on his chest.

"You know you're the only woman I've ever truly loved," Ridge responded, his voice thick with emotion.

I stumbled backward, my hand flying to my mouth to stifle a gasp. The world tilted beneath my feet as ten years of devotion crumbled into dust.

* * *

Morning light streamed through the breakfast room windows, casting long shadows across the polished table where Ridge sat reading the newspaper. I entered silently, my eyes burning from a sleepless night spent replaying what I'd witnessed.

"I saw you," I said quietly, my voice steadier than I expected. "With Amira. Last night."

Ridge's eyes flicked up from his paper, cold and unreadable. "What exactly do you think you saw, Diana?"

"I saw you embracing her in your study. I heard what you said."

He folded his newspaper deliberately, setting it aside with practiced calm. "You're imagining things again. Amira stopped by to discuss some family business, and I was comforting her about a personal matter."

Before I could respond, the door swung open and Amira glided in, her eyes red-rimmed and glistening with tears that looked remarkably fresh.

"Ridge," she whimpered, "I don't know what to do. Diana's accusing us of—" She broke off with a delicate sob.

I stared at her performance with growing horror. "Stop lying! I know what I saw!"

Grandfather Gardner appeared in the doorway, his weathered face creased with concern as he took in the scene before him.

"What's going on here?" he demanded, his gaze moving from my trembling form to Ridge's impassive face.

"Diana seems to be having one of her paranoid episodes again," Ridge said dismissively. "Accusing Amira and me of improper conduct."

Amira leaned into Ridge's shoulder, her tears soaking his shirt in a perfect display of distress.

"I'm just concerned about our family's reputation," I insisted, looking to Grandfather Gardner for support.

He studied me for a long moment, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Perhaps we should all take a moment to calm down," he suggested, though something in his expression told me he wasn't entirely convinced by Ridge's explanation.

* * *

Later that afternoon, I found myself in Ridge's private study again, this time with purpose. If there was truth to be found, it would be here among his personal papers.

I rifled through drawers and folders until I found what I was looking for—our marriage certificate, framed and tucked away in a bottom drawer.

My hands shook as I examined it closely. Something about the official seal looked... off. The paper quality seemed wrong for a legal document.

I was still staring at it when Ridge's shadow fell across the desk.

"What are you doing?" he asked, his voice dangerously quiet.

"This isn't real," I whispered, holding up the certificate. "Our marriage... it's a lie."

Ridge's face transformed, any pretense of civility vanishing as he snatched the document from my hands.

"Who told you?" he demanded.

"No one had to tell me. I can see it for myself now."

He studied me for a long moment, then shrugged with cruel indifference. "Fine. Yes, it's fake. Grandfather forced me into this arrangement after you saved my life. He thought it would help your recovery from the mudslide incident."

"And Amira?"

A slow smile spread across his face. "She's always been the one I truly wanted. The one who saved me that day, not you."

The room spun around me as the full weight of his words sank in. Ten years of my life—nothing but an elaborate deception.