My Fianceé Demanded An Open Marriage To Cheat But Didn't Expect My Revenge

Chloe’s father, Richard, was the only person in her family I actually respected. He was a retired contractor, a man of his word, and he hated liars more than anything.

"What did you send him?" Chloe screamed, lunging for my phone.

I stepped back easily. "Just a few screenshots of your 'research' from your iPad that’s synced to the home cloud. You really should be more careful with your synced devices, Chloe. The messages between you and Marcus started in July. That’s five months ago. Long before you brought up 'open relationships.'"

I left her screaming in the living room and went to my date. It was with Maya again. We didn't go to a bar this time; we went for a long walk. I was honest with her. I told her my engagement was effectively over and I was just navigating the exit. She was incredibly graceful about it. She told me she’d been the 'safety net' before and she’d never let anyone do that to her again.

When I returned home, the atmosphere was thick with tension. Chloe wasn't screaming anymore. She was sitting at the dining table, her father sitting across from her. Richard looked like he had aged ten years.

"Ethan," Richard said, his voice heavy. "Sit down."

"Richard," I nodded, taking a seat.

"I saw the messages," he said, gesturing to a tablet on the table. "The ones where my daughter tells her friends that you’re 'stable but boring' and that Marcus is the 'adventure' she deserves. The ones where she plans to use the 'open relationship' tag to test-drive Marcus while keeping you as a financial backup in case he doesn't want anything serious."

Chloe started to wail. "Dad, he’s a monster! He’s been dating other women right in front of me!"

Richard slammed his hand on the table. "Because you told him to! You gave him an ultimatum, Chloe! You thought you could play him for a fool, and when he didn't play along, you lied to your mother and your sister to turn them against him. I am ashamed of you."

He looked at me. "Ethan, I’m sorry. I taught her better than this."

"I appreciate that, Richard," I said. "But it doesn't change the fact that she’s been living in my house, planning her life with another man, and trying to paint me as the villain to everyone we know."

"I’ll fix it," Chloe sobbed. "I’ll block Marcus. I’ll delete everything. We can just go back to how it was."

"Go back to me being your 'boring' backup plan?" I shook my head. "No. The engagement is over. I want the ring back, Chloe. Now."

"No!" she shrieked. "You gave it to me! It’s mine!"

"That ring belonged to my grandmother," I said, my voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "It’s a family heirloom. It was a promise of a future that you decided to destroy months ago. If you don't put it on this table right now, Richard and I are going to have a very different conversation about the 'missing' jewelry in this house."

Richard glared at his daughter. "Give him the ring, Chloe. Don't make this any worse."

With shaking hands and a face twisted in venom, she ripped the ring off and threw it at me. It bounced off my chest and landed on the floor. I picked it up, wiped it off, and put it in my pocket.

"You have forty-eight hours to get your things out of my house," I said.

"I have nowhere to go!" she cried. "Marcus isn't... he's not ready for me to move in yet!"

"That sounds like a Marcus problem," I said. "Not an Ethan problem."

The next day, the "smear campaign" went into overdrive. Since she couldn't win back her father or me, she went to social media. She posted a long, rambling status about 'emotional abuse,' 'gaslighting,' and how I had 'forced' her into an open relationship only to 'discard' her when she became 'too much' for me.

My phone started blowing up with hate messages from mutual friends. "How could you, Ethan?" "We thought you were a good guy." "You’re a monster for kicking her out."

I sat in my office, watching the notifications pour in. I could feel the cold anger rising, but I didn't lash out. I didn't reply to a single comment. Instead, I opened a folder on my desktop labeled 'Evidence.'

I had more than just the Marcus messages. I had the ring appraisal, the deed to the house, and a recorded conversation from that morning when she tried to blackmail me into letting her stay by threatening to tell my boss I was 'harassing' her.

I was about to hit 'Send' on a post that would end her reputation forever, but then I got a phone call from an unknown number.

"Is this Ethan?" a man’s voice asked. He sounded nervous.

"Speaking. Who is this?"

"My name is Marcus. I think we need to talk. I just found out Chloe is engaged... and I think she’s been lying to both of us."

I leaned back in my chair, a predatory smile forming on my face. "Marcus. I’ve been waiting for your call. Why don't you tell me exactly what she told you..."