When I Stopped Fighting For My Husband Novel by Cole Ashbourne _ Novel





When I Stopped Fighting For My Husband Chapter 01

When Adrian stayed out all night with Sienna Carter again, I didn't even react.
He got back around lunchtime with take-out pastries. He saw me and, for once, started explaining before I asked, "You know, we hadn't hung out for a long time. We drank too much and booked a gaming hotel. I slept on the floor this time—not the same bed."
He stressed the "floor" part.
After all, we'd fought about this before.
Sienna was the girl they grew up with in the same compound.
More than once, I had seen her lounging on their laps, laughing, teasing them, even sharing drinks from the same glass without blinking.
At first, Adrian patiently explained everything.
Later, he grew tired of it and threw it out, "If anything were going to happen, it would've been long before you married me," then slammed the door behind him.
And ironically, his friends came to comfort me. "Come on, we all grew up together. That's just how Sienna is. Adrian sees her as a kid."
It grossed me out, so I laid it out: if he couldn't act like a married man, then we might as well divorce.
After that, Adrian did keep his distance from Sienna for a while. But the result was that Sienna began making pointed remarks whenever I was present. "See, Avery? I'm not sitting next to Adrian."
"Adrian, skip the after-party with us, or Avery is gonna flip."
"Adrian isn't the guy he used to be. A married man with a leash around his neck—I'd better stay away."
Gradually, I gained a reputation for being petty, jealous, and unreasonable. That was when Adrian and I started drifting apart.
I snapped back to now.
I stared at the take-out box he was carrying. I used to love those pastries—now they taste like nothing.
He noticed my indifference. He set the box down, walked over, and wrapped his arms around me, speaking with practiced gentleness. "Babe, didn't you say you wanted to see that movie? I'm not going to the office today. Let's go watch it together. I heard it's really good."
I had been looking forward to that movie. The day it premiered, I asked him to go with me. He told me he was busy.
A couple of days later, however, I saw Sienna showing off two movie tickets on her Instagram. No faces showed, but the hand holding them had Adrian's wedding band on its ring finger.
I caught the faint pear scent on him and slipped out of his reach with a blank face. "No need." Then I went back to stuffing my suitcase.
"Avery!" His tone sharpened.
Seeing what I was doing, he grabbed my wrist. "Are you doing this running-away thing again? I already told you—there's nothing between Sienna and me."
"I know."
I slid my hand out, calm as ever. "You're just buddies."
The words seemed to choke him.
Color drained from his face. He dropped his arm and frowned. "Then why are you still mad?"
"Work trip," I said.
Seeing I wasn't mad, Adrian fumed even harder. He decided I was throwing a tantrum, so he pulled out his phone to book us movie tickets like that would fix everything.
I watched him scroll frantically. Finally, I couldn't stand it.
Softly, I said, "That movie is already off the screens."
His finger stopped dead.

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