When the Flames Revealed His True Love Wasn’t Me

He kept appearing in my life during my darkest times, leading me to mistakenly believe I held a special place in his heart. But now, it's time to face reality.

"Mom and Dad have invited us for dinner tonight. If you're feeling up to it, we should head out now."

Just as we were about to leave, Riley got a call from Natalia.

"Natalia's really shaken up by today's events and she's too scared to cook. I'm going over to help her make dinner."

After dining with Rosalie and Marcus, I was preparing to head home and rest when Rosalie's expression suddenly turned serious as she looked at her phone.

"Riley's gone to see Natalia again!"

She said this, noticing my lack of reaction, then handed her phone to me.

"Selena, didn’t you say Riley was caught up with something at work and couldn’t come? Did you know he went to see Natalia? You know the kind of influence she has... Ugh, what has she done to him!"

Natalia had posted a photo on Facebook of Riley diligently making dinner for her.

"That woman is married and still behaves this way, constantly clinging to Riley. And he believes her without a second thought."

Indeed, Rosalie and Marcus disapproved of Riley's involvement with Natalia because she was already married, a fact she managed to keep hidden quite well. They found out purely by accident. Her marriage was unhappy, which is why they didn’t want to tell Riley, fearing he might rashly confront her husband.

I learned this from Rosalie and Marcus, and knowing this was why I hadn’t considered divorcing Riley. I thought I was protecting him, but it only led him to resent me for eight years.

This time, I won’t get drawn into their drama. Riley and Natalia need to resolve their issues on their own.

"Selena, I'm sorry you’ve had to go through this," Rosalie sighed. "I hoped that after marrying you, Riley would forget about Natalia. After all, Riley once..."

At her words, I smiled, looking back at her calmly.

"Riley probably helped me out of kindness. I misunderstood his intentions. Forcing us together only makes us both unhappy, so it's better to part ways."

"Part ways?" Rosalie and Marcus looked at me, taken aback.

"Riley and I have signed the divorce papers. I’ll be leaving in a few days. I hope you’ll keep this from him. I don’t want him to regret his choices forever because of these circumstances."

Remembering how Riley looked at me with such cold eyes that evening on Thanksgiving, my heart ached deeply.

Together for over a decade, and it was the first time he felt like a stranger to me.

After explaining everything to Rosalie and Marcus, I returned home alone. Just as I was about to fall asleep, my bedroom door suddenly flew open.

I woke to find myself staring into a pair of furious eyes.

"Selena Jacobs, didn't you promise me you wouldn't go running to my parents? Do you want Natalia to suffer before you're satisfied?"