He Said Cheating Was a habit, Fine I Swapped Grooms Chapter 01
Sophomore year, I caught Lilith Bass, the campus beauty,Â
kissing my boyfriend in the grove.Â
She smiled at me as I stood there trembling. “Why don’t weÂ
swap? You take Thomas, and I’ll take your boyfriend. I’mÂ
physically drawn to your boyfriend. Thomas does absolutely nothing for me.”Â
It’s perfect, really. You’re just as rigid and old–fashioned asÂ
Thomas. The two of you might as well end up together.”Â
I glanced over at Thomas Spencer, who had just arrived withÂ
a heavy, grim expression. “Lilith, they’re people, notÂ
possessions. My boyfriend’s tainted now, so I don’t want himÂ
anymore. If you respected your boyfriend, you’d owe him an apology.”Â
After that day, Thomas pursued me for three years.Â
I assumed he was only doing it to get back at Lilith. But heÂ
told me this instead: “I’ve genuinely fallen for you. I admireÂ
your values. I’m emotionally drawn to you.”Â
Then, three years into our marriage, I walked in on him in a hotel bed with Lilith.Â
He lit a cigarette, his voice flat and detached. “It’s not that IÂ
don’t love you. I just can’t shake this physical pull toward her, can’t change it.”Â
All the fight drained right out of me. “Thomas is tainted too. IÂ
want a divorce. You can have him.”Â
Panic flickered across Thomas’s eyes, yet his tone hardened.Â
“Amy, don’t say reckless things. We are not getting divorced.”Â
He reached out to touch my hand, only for the bath towelÂ
wrapped around his waist to slip off. He scrambled awkwardly to grab it.Â
My chest hurt so much I went numb. I didn’t even have theÂ
strength to yell at him.Â
I simply asked him, “That ten–day business trip in February,Â
the site inspection out of town in March, the week–long clientÂ
trip to Silasport that lasted a whole week in April… EveryÂ
single time you said you were traveling those three months,Â
were you with her?”Â
He dropped his gaze and fell silent. That silence hurt farÂ
worse than any confession.Â
Lilith lit a cigarette, completely unruffled. “Amelia, you stillÂ
take everything far too seriously.”Â
Thomas and I are nothing more than bed partners. He sleepsÂ
with me, and I get money and connections in return. Don’tÂ
worry. I’m not trying to steal him from you. I never wantedÂ
him in the first place.”Â
She gave Thomas’s hip a casual, taunting pat. Ignoring hisÂ
livid scowl, she turned and left.Â
I turned to leave too.Â
Thomas suddenly grabbed my wrist and pulled me tightÂ
against his chest, his voice rough and hoarse. “Stop this. IÂ
honestly can’t control myself. These past three years, we’veÂ
never clicked physically. Every minute has been pure agony.”Â
So you cheated on me?” My voice shook. “Who was it thatÂ
swore nothing would ever happen between you and Lilith?”Â
He paused for a moment. “Amy, people change. The truth is,Â
we’re incompatible in bed. If you hadn’t found out, weÂ
could’ve gone on living a good life.”Â
My heart went ice–cold.Â
I still remembered that day Lilith suggested swappingÂ
boyfriends. The normally reserved young man had flushedÂ
bright red with humiliation.Â
Once we started dating, I asked if he still had feelings for Lilith.Â
Right in front of me, he burned every love letter he’d writtenÂ
her and every gift she’d given him. “Amy, I fell for someone like you–someone respectful and faithful. The second LilithÂ
made that disgusting proposal, I knew I would never love her again.”Â
That was why I stood by him after we married. When heÂ
launched his company, I sold off my patents to fund his startup.Â
When rivals came after him, he shielded me and spent threeÂ
long months recovering in the hospital.Â
When I went into labor with our first child, I hemorrhagedÂ
badly. He begged them over and over to save me first.Â
Plenty of women tried to seduce him after that. But beforeÂ
they could get close, he would flash his wedding band andÂ
show them our wedding photo, permanently set as his phone wallpaper.Â
All that affection had once been real.Â
I truly believed our values aligned, that we were completelyÂ
honest with each other. Even though our sex life lackedÂ
passion, I never minded much.Â
I’d tried everything I could to please him, yet he alwaysÂ
seemed distant and rushed.Â
Amy, I think I might just have a naturally low libido. I’m sorry.”Â
Earlier this year, he buried himself in work and moved into the spare bedroom.Â
He kept saying, “Amy, once I close this big deal, I’ll buy you aÂ
new car. Just bear with me a little longer.”Â
It was only that day, when I saw the dark bruises scatteredÂ
across Lilith’s skin, that the truth hit me.Â
He didn’t have a low libido at all. He just never desired me.Â
I bent down to pack my suitcase. My hand brushed againstÂ
the wool sweater I’d knitted for him.Â
How ridiculous it all seemed now. Every time he left for a trip,Â
I’d tuck little heart–shaped notes into his luggage, remindingÂ
him to stay warm and not to push himself too hard.Â
I could almost picture Lilith sneering at those silly littleÂ
notes while tearing his clothes off.Â
I pulled my hand away. “Thomas, if you’d just been honestÂ
and admitted you still had feelings for Lilith, I might’ve atÂ
least respected you.”Â
His fingers stiffened.Â
He didn’t try to hold me back again. He only said, “I will make this right somehow.”Â
