My Marriage Had A Price Tag

Three years after Adrian took Helena Montgomery back, she cheated again — with the same man. When he finds them together at a downtown bistro, he stays eerily calm, straightens her hair and tells her to use protection, refusing to give her the scene she expects. His friend cannot understand why he is not angry, but Adrian has learned Helena's first lesson: look at her life and see nothing at all.

Helena's black SUV waits for him after dinner, Parker Vance already in the passenger seat. Adrian offers motion-sickness patches and invites them both to stay at his place; Helena slams the brakes and throws him out into the rain. Back home she demands he give up the title of husband entirely, and he asks only whether she will keep paying for his mother's medication. He would hand Parker his wedding ring if it meant his mother lived another month.

After that night Helena is suddenly always home, kissing his forehead and bringing flowers, while photographs place her with Parker. Then comes her mother's birthday gala — and the passenger seat is already taken.