Chapter 1

Ten years together. To everyone who knew us, we were the model couple.

For me, Stewart Gilbert turned down an offer from a listed company back home.

Housing in the big city was expensive, so we could only live in the talent-program apartment I'd applied for.

But he always said home was wherever I was. He handled all three meals a day, and even washed my underthings by hand.

More than once I told him that meeting him was the greatest blessing of my life.

Later, I got pregnant. My parents sold their home to help me put together the down payment.

The night before the move, Stewart asked me to reply to a message for him.

My finger slipped, and I tapped into a group chat I'd never seen before.

His parents were in it. So was the childhood sweetheart he'd sworn he hadn't spoken to in years.

The messages stopped at something he'd sent half an hour earlier.

【Not signing the marriage license is the only way to shake her off cleanly later. Don't worry, I checked in secret. The baby in her belly is definitely a boy.】

【Once the house transfer goes through, I'll bring Shelby over. I already changed the door code. It's the date of my first time with Shelby.】

A leering emoji followed right behind it. Just looking at it turned my stomach.

Ten years of devotion, nothing but a play he'd carefully rehearsed.

Suddenly I wanted to know how he'd keep the show running once he lost his leading lady.

This play, I wasn't performing in it anymore.

1

I'd barely set the phone down when Stewart's voice came from the bathroom.

"Still not done replying?" His tone was perfectly calm, as if it never crossed his mind I might see that group.

"Just finished. When did you change the code? Lucky I registered my fingerprint." I steered around it, wanting to see how he'd react.

A moment ago I'd found Shelby Prescott's icon in the group and opened their chat.

The conversation had only been hidden, not deleted. The records were all still there.

An hour earlier, Shelby had still been wheedling at him: : 【I've put up with being wronged for so long, and you don't even think to make it up to me.】

【How about you change the code to the date of our first time?】

Stewart had agreed without hesitation. Just like he'd said in the group, it wasn't only the phone. Even the new home my parents had bought now used that sickening number.

When he heard me ask about the code, he clearly paused for a few seconds.

The running water cut off fast, and he came hurrying out with just a towel wrapped around him.

"So you found out?"

I thought he was about to come clean. Something in me softened a little, and I waited for the rest.

"Well? Do you remember what today is?" The confession I'd braced for never came. The sudden question left me blank for a few seconds.

Seeing me freeze, he looked a bit put out.

"You don't even remember the day we first knew we had feelings for each other? What do you fill your head with all day?"

"Never mind. Your most important job right now is to protect the baby. Bringing him safely into the world matters more than anything."

With that, not even waiting for a reply, he ducked back into the bathroom.

The hair dryer roared in the room, and yet in that moment I couldn't hear a thing.

It was as though the blood had been drained from my limbs all at once. I couldn't believe it. What I'd waited for turned out to be an even uglier lie.

There hadn't been a trace of guilt in his eyes when he spoke just now. If anything, he'd looked halfway sincere.

I laughed bitterly to myself. All these years, how many lies had I recorded as proof of his love?

I couldn't stomach turning on him right this second.

Ten years of scenes kept rising in my mind, and every tender record was now evidence that mocked me.

The bitterness in my heart spread through my whole body. In that moment, all I wanted was for him to taste my pain too.