Betrayed by My Husband, I Left With EverythingChapter 1

My husband had spent ten years restoring art. Then, for the first time, someone asked him to restore a woman's private parts.

He'd laughed out of sheer disbelief and ripped into his assistant for two solid hours.

I assumed it was a prank. Didn't think twice about it.

But a few days later, while helping him organize his files, I found a stack of private photos—the woman's so-called restoration site.

Filthy. Every single one.

My hands wouldn't stop shaking. I rushed downstairs, ready to confront him.

Instead, I overheard him chatting with a friend.

"She said I was too big. Before, when I'd... she kept insisting on getting it restored."

"I said no, but she threatened to go find a male doctor. You know how it is—divorced or not, I'm not letting another man put his hands on her down there."

I forgot how to breathe.

——

Lambert Harding really was that big.

Big enough that I'd had to get surgery just so my body could handle him.

When I found out a male surgeon would be performing it, I wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear.

Lambert hadn't minded at all back then. He'd just pressed his mouth to my ear, smirking, blowing on my skin on purpose. "Be good, Ellie. Once the surgery's done, it won't hurt anymore. I promise you'll love it so much you can't stand it..."

Now, that same fierce possessiveness directed at another woman landed like a slap across my face.

I turned away slowly, as though every drop of strength had been wrung out of me.

The friend's voice carried through the study door.

"Look, don't get pissed at me for saying it ugly, but you've been divorced for years. A girl like Lydia? You couldn't count the guys she's been through on one hand. Who even knows who wore her out—coming to you for 'restoration' is just an excuse to get back in your—"

Lambert's voice dropped low and sharp. "No."

He paused for two seconds before continuing. "She's obsessive about who touches her. Won't let anyone near her except me. So no—there's no one else."

The urgency with which he defended her left his friend speechless.

I tugged at the corner of my mouth in a bitter almost-smile.

So a woman who got her kicks sleeping with male models was supposedly too precious to let anyone else touch her.

That night, when Lambert went to shower, I picked up his phone for the first time.