Reborn: Revenge On My Wife & Her Fake Confidant Chapter 01

Reborn: Revenge On My Wife & Her Fake Confidant Chapter 01 The Anniversary Reversal
In my first life, a man my wife called her “best friend” destroyed our marriage.
At our anniversary dinner, he leaned across the table and taunted me in front of everyone.
“Adrian, you really married well. Last night I finally found out exactly how big Vanessa’s breasts are…”
Vanessa Shaw did not care how humiliating that was for me. She only laughed and said Mason was her best friend, the kind of friend she could even shower with.
I punched him.
The next day, I put divorce papers in front of her.
Instead of admitting anything was wrong, Vanessa accused me of overreacting and tried to force me to apologize to him.
I left in a fury.
Then the bridge project my company had been building suddenly collapsed, killing and injuring a huge number of people.
I was convicted and sentenced to ten years in prison.
On visiting day, Mason came with Vanessa.
He grinned at me through the glass.
“Thanks, Adrian. Your signature was on the project, so naturally you’re the one who gets to do the time.”
I stared at him with bloodshot eyes.
He moved closer to the phone, lowering his voice until it was almost a snake’s hiss.
“Don’t rush. I’ve already paid the right people inside. You’ve got plenty of time to suffer.”
Three months later, the inmate who ran the block beat me to death on the freezing concrete floor.
Then I opened my eyes.
I was back on the day of our anniversary.
This time, I had brought a female best friend of my own.
Riley Bennett kicked the private-room door open, strode in, and dropped directly onto my lap.
“Vanessa, don’t mind me. Adrian and I practically grew up running around naked together.”
She gave my wife an innocent smile.
“I know his… size from every stage of his life.”
Her bright, laughing voice cut straight through the noise of the room.
“Adrian, I’m not late, am I?”
I looked up, smiled, and went to meet her, slipping an arm around her waist.
“Not at all. Your timing’s perfect.”
For one beat, the room seemed to stop breathing.
The smile vanished from Vanessa’s face.
Her voice hardened.
“Aren’t you going to introduce her?”
The corner of my mouth lifted.
I turned to the others.
“Riley Bennett. My best buddy.”
Riley stretched one leg out and settled herself right at the top of my thigh.
Then she blinked sweetly at Vanessa.
“Don’t get jealous, Vanessa. Adrian and I have known each other since we were kids running around naked.”
She paused deliberately, her smile deepening.
“As I said, I know his… measurements from every stage.”
Then she added, “I checked again last week. Not one bit different from college.”
The grin on Mason Blake’s face locked in place.
Vanessa’s fork slipped from her hand and hit the floor.
I raised an eyebrow and joined in.
“Shut up. Your technique is nowhere near as good as my wife’s.”
“Adrian Cole!”
Vanessa slammed her wineglass onto the table. Red wine splashed across the cloth.
She pointed at Riley, her fingertip shaking.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
The entire private room went silent.
Riley acted as if she had not noticed the murderous look Vanessa was giving her. She calmly finished touching up her lipstick, then looked Vanessa straight in the eye.
I shrugged and gave my wife an innocent look.
“What? Honey, why are you this angry on our anniversary?”
Vanessa’s face was rigid with rage. Darkness gathered in her eyes, and a vein pulsed at her temple.
Her grip on the wineglass tightened until her knuckles turned white.
“What exactly have you done with her? And you have the nerve to ask me that?”
“Oh.”
I let the word out softly, as if I had only just understood.
“You’re jealous? We’re friends. We mess around. It was a joke, so don’t take it seriously.”
I smiled.
“What Riley and I have is exactly what you and Mason have.”
Vanessa’s chest rose and fell sharply. Shock and disbelief twisted together on her face.
“What kind of ‘friends’ act like that? She’s a woman!”
She practically shouted the words through clenched teeth, her voice bouncing off the walls.
I looked at the face I had loved for seven years and almost laughed at myself.
So the rules only applied when I was the one being hurt.
Mason’s smug, entertained expression stiffened.
He reached over and gently patted Vanessa’s heaving chest.
“Calm down. Haven’t I told you before? A guy as good as Adrian is someone you need to hold on to.”
He glanced at Riley.
“He and Ms. Bennett grew up together. Of course they’re closer than ordinary friends. I’m sure they wouldn’t actually cheat… right?”
Vanessa’s face darkened at once.
When she spoke again, her voice was ice-cold.
“Come home with me. Do that, and I’ll let this go.”
“No.”
I laughed, but there was no emotion in my eyes.
“If my friendship with Riley bothers you that much, I’ll leave instead.”
I turned, caught Riley’s hand, and started for the door.
“Adrian Cole!”
Vanessa finally snapped.
She rushed around the table and slapped me across the face.
“I’m telling you one last time. Come home with me!”
Before I could move, Riley threw the champagne in her glass straight into Vanessa’s face.
“Adrian said he doesn’t want to go with you. Which part of that was hard to understand?”
Vanessa wiped the champagne from her face and looked at me with open disappointment.
“Are you finished yet? Why do you have to turn every little thing into some huge drama?”
My gaze moved past her.
Mason lounged behind her with one leg crossed over the other, satisfaction written all over his face.
I stopped smiling.
“Vanessa Shaw, I want a divorce.”
I said it calmly.
The room froze again.
Vanessa gave a contemptuous laugh, as though I had just told the funniest joke imaginable.
“Divorce? You’re threatening me with that again?”
Her expression sharpened.
“Adrian, don’t push your luck. Fine. Divorce me if you want. But don’t expect me to pay another cent toward your father’s hospital bills.”
I looked at her mocking face and gave a cold half-smile.
Six months earlier, my father had been paralyzed in a car accident. His treatment costs were enormous.
Vanessa controlled every dollar in our household.
Even my entire salary went into accounts she managed.
In my last life, I had been thrown into prison without warning and died there before I could even see my father one last time.
I would not let that tragedy happen twice.
I raised my eyes and looked at Vanessa seriously.
“Fine.”
She froze.
The mockery on her face disappeared.
“My lawyer will contact you about the divorce.”
Then I took Riley’s hand and walked away.
Vanessa’s stare burned into my back so fiercely it felt as if it could bore two holes right into my back.