Chapter 3

Stella's best guy friend was Brandon. He worked at a big, stable company and had a beautiful fiancée.

They had known each other for years, long before I ever came into the picture.

Stella knew about Brandon's fiancée, but Brandon's fiancée had no idea Stella existed.

According to Brandon, he wanted his and Stella's friendship to be a secret, exclusive to just the two of them.

Stella was thrilled about this. Someone willing to share a secret with her meant she was important to them.

When I first learned about Stella's best guy friend, I subtly expressed my discomfort. But that made the usually gentle Stella explode.

She accused me of insulting her "pure" friendship with Brandon and emphasized that Brandon didn't like women.

I retorted, "If he doesn't like women, why does he have a fiancée?" Stella claimed he was forced into it by his family, that he had no choice. She insisted that was why she understood how much pain he was in, that she was the only one in the world who could truly understand him, and without her, Brandon might not survive.

I felt bad for Brandon's fiancée, but seeing that Stella genuinely seemed to consider Brandon just a friend, I temporarily held back.

However, after I found out about the best guy friend, Stella stopped being discreet. She started FaceTiming Brandon in front of me, chatting on the phone for hours, telling him about her day, and even texting him "goodnight" while lying next to me.

They were as close as a couple, and I felt like the outsider.

Still, to maintain the happiness of our little family, I endured it all.

But Stella began to escalate.

She started going shopping and to the movies with Brandon, leaving me out. Her excuse was that she needed to "bond" with her best friend, and I wouldn't fit in.

She started rushing to Brandon's house to take care of him when he caught a cold, while completely ignoring me, even after I'd worked all day, my back aching, and nearly fainted from low blood sugar.

She started accompanying Brandon to bars and clubs, claiming she just "liked the atmosphere."

It wasn't until I saw pictures on her phone of her and Brandon posing face-to-face that I finally reached my breaking point and exploded.

I confronted Stella: "Why are you so close to a man who isn't me? Why is it that every time you come back from a business trip, you don't call me first to say you're safe, but Brandon? Why, every time something fun happens, do you not share it with me first, but instead grab your phone and smile like an idiot while texting Brandon? Why, every time you're sad or upset, do you not come to me first, but Brandon for comfort? Do you even consider me your husband?!"

Stella just stared at me coldly and said, "Because you don't understand me."

Her answer crushed me.

If she said she was hungry, I'd drive thirty miles to get her favorite spicy ramen. If she said she was tired, I'd massage her back and shoulders until two or three in the morning. If she said she was feeling stressed, I'd cancel all my engagements, get in the car, and drive her all the way to a cozy cabin getaway in the mountains.

But she said I didn't understand her.

Everything I did couldn't compare to a simple word of concern from her best guy friend.

I told Stella how I felt and begged her, for the sake of our happiness, to keep her distance from her best guy friend, or at least not let him affect our relationship.

But my humble plea was met only with her cold reply: "If that's how you want to think, there's nothing I can do."

It was because of Brandon's presence that our once happy life became a chaotic mess, and my hopes for the future vanished without a trace.

It was in this situation that Stella told me Brandon invited her to an overnight party. I refused her and told her if she dared to go, we would divorce. That's what finally stopped her.

However, I never imagined that this incident would eventually lead to my family's ruin and my tragic end.

Reborn, I finally understood how foolish I had been.

From the very beginning, I shouldn't have had any expectations for Stella.

She didn't deserve the happiness I offered.