Page 1 of The Anniversary Betrayal
Prologue
Ashley once believed in forever. She believed in vows spoken under soft light, in promises that would weather storms, in love that was strong enough to survive temptation. For years, she built her life around that belief, her home, her family, her very identity but forever has a way of shattering.
The truth came quietly, like a crack forming in glass. First small, almost invisible, and then, with one devastating blow, everything splintered. Infidelity wasn’t just betrayal. It was a mirror, forcing Ashley to confront who she was, what she had lost, and what she was willing to reclaim.
This is not a story of easy forgiveness. It is not the tale of a marriage mended with neat stitches. This is the story of a woman who chose honesty over pretense, peace over performance, and strength over silence. A woman who faced the ruins of her marriage and, in the process, found herself again.
And while love may have slipped through her fingers, something else remained. Her courage, her children, and the quiet possibility of healing.
Chapter One
If someone had told Ashley Kennedy ten years ago that her life would look like this with two beautiful kids, a marriage with the kind of man every mother wanted her daughter to marry, and a career she loved, she might have believed them. Not because she was arrogant, but because she and Kingston had worked damn hard for it. They had built this life brick by brick, often running on caffeine, patience, and blind faith. Tonight was supposed to be the celebration of all of it.
The rooftop restaurant in the city center glowed like something out of a magazine spread. Strings of fairy lights hung above the tables, weaving in and out of potted olive trees. The city skyline stretched in the background, skyscrapers glittering under a velvet night sky. The scent of rosemary, wine, and grilled lamb floated on the late-summer breeze. Ashley had chosen this place carefully as it had just the right mix of elegance and warmth. She wanted the night to feel likethem.
Kingston stood at her side, one hand resting lightly on her back as guests milled around them. He was still the man who made women turn their heads when he walked into a room. Tall, broad-shouldered, with that quiet confidence doctors seemed to carry like a second skin. His salt-and-pepper hair,barely there in his mid-thirties, only made him look more distinguished.
Ashley caught herself smiling.Ten years. We made it.
“Ashley, this is perfect,” her best friend Leah whispered, sliding up beside her with a champagne flute in hand. “I mean, look at this place. You really outdid yourself. Ten years, huh? How’s it feel?”
Ashley laughed, brushing a strand of hair back from her face. “Like I blinked and somehow aged a decade.” She glanced at her husband, who was speaking to his parents near the buffet table. “But I wouldn’t trade it.”
Leah tilted her head, studying her. “You’re glowing. It’s annoying, really. The rest of us can’t even keep a houseplant alive, and here you are with two kids, a career, and a marriage that actually works.”
Ashley rolled her eyes. “Trust me, it doesn’t always work.We argue about bills, who’s doing school drop-offs, and who gets the last cup of coffee like everyone else but yeah… it’s worth it.”
The truth was, Ashley was proud. Proud of the home they had built, the way they juggled call shifts and pediatric appointments, the late nights when one of them came home exhausted and the other just picked up the slack without complaint. They weren’t perfect, but who was?
She caught Kingston’s eye across the room. For a moment, something tender passed between them, the kind of wordless acknowledgment only couples who’d weathered years together could share. He lifted his glass in a small toast toward her, his lips quirking into a smile. Ashley’s heart warmed but then just as quickly he glanced down athis phone. His brows furrowed as his thumb moved quickly across the screen, typing a reply. The moment evaporated.
Ashley’s stomach tightened, though she told herself not to overthink it. He was a doctor. He worked in cardiology, which meant he never truly clocked out. Emergencies happened. Patients needed updates. Nurses called with questions. It wasn’t unusual. Still, something about the way he turned slightly, angling the phone away from the crowd, made her frown.
Leah followed her gaze. “Work?”
“Probably,” Ashley said lightly, forcing her lips into a smile.
But Kingston didn’t just check his phone once. Throughout dinner, while Ashley laughed with friends and thanked guests for coming, she noticed him doing it again and again. Not constantly, but enough for it to stand out. Enough for her to feel like she was competing with a screen on their anniversary night.
At one point, she leaned over, her hand brushing his arm. “Everything okay?” she whispered.
He slipped the phone back into his jacket pocket with practiced ease. “Yeah, all good. Just hospital stuff.”
“On a Friday night?”
He gave her that smile, the one that usually disarmed her, the one that said trust me.“Cardiology doesn’t care what day it is, Ash.”
She wanted to believe him. She did believe him, mostly but something in her gut tugged. Something in the way his eyes had flicked away too quickly.
Before she could press further, a voice interrupted.
“Kingston! Ashley!”
Ashley turned, her smile automatically stretching as colleagues from her own hospital approached. She greeted them warmly, slipping into hostess mode. For the next several minutes, she was caught up in conversation, answering questions about the kids, laughing at stories about night shifts gone wrong. When she finally glanced back at Kingston, her breath caught.
Rebecca Jane stood at his side. Ashley had seen her before, briefly, at a medical conference and once at a fundraiser. She was a doctor too—Emergency Medicine, if Ashley remembered right. Stunning in a quiet, understated way, with chestnut hair that fell in soft waves and eyes the color of strong coffee. Rebecca carried herself with that cool, unbothered confidence some women just had.
Ashley had never had a reason to think much of her. She was simply one of Kingston’s colleagues at a different hospital but tonight, something about the way Rebecca leaned in to say something to Kingston and the way Kingston laughed, quick and low, the way his hand brushed his glass nervously when he noticed Ashley looking. It made Ashley’s skin prickle.
