Chapter 2

"Yulia!"

Kelly slipped her arm from Tristan's and hurried over to me.

Beaming with feigned warmth, she caught my hand. "What a coincidence! Tristan and I had some free time today to visit his mother, and I had no idea you'd be here too."

She looked up at me with wide, innocent eyes, looking entirely harmless. But only I knew

the deep, venomous resentment hidden behind that delicate gaze.

I brushed her hand off my arm without a word, stepping sideways to leave.

Tristan stepped forward, blocking my path entirely.

"Yulia, what are you doing here?"

His questioning tone was cold and sharp. Looking up, I was met with raw suspicion and disgust written plainly across his handsome face. "Did you run here to complain to my mother about Kelly and me again? Or did you predict we were coming and showed up just to cause a scene?"

"Yulia, I've told you before, Kelly and I are just—"

"You flatter yourself,"

I cut him off before he could finish.

Looking into his icy eyes, I felt no pain. Not a single prickle of heartbreak remained. "I'm not that childish,"

I said, my voice completely devoid of emotion.

A flicker of stunned surprise crossed his face. His eyes locked onto mine.

It made sense.

Ever since Kelly came back, our already fragile marriage had gone into a sharp freefall.

We'd fought about her more times than I could count.

But now, I was done playing along.

"I have errands to run. Excuse me."

Without waiting for him to process it, I turned my back on them and walked away.

Not long after I left, my phone buzzed with an incoming text from Kelly.

It was a batch of candid photos of her and Tristan inside the Fu estate.

Along with... a video.

In the clip, Kelly was sitting right next to Tristan on the plush sofa. Mrs. Fu was seated gracefully on one side, with Tristan's younger sister on the other, all of them laughing and chatting in high spirits.

Unlike the disdain she reserved for me, Mrs. Fu wore a radiant, genuine smile.

They looked like a warm, loving family.

Naturally. In the eyes of the Fu family, Kelly was the only daughter-in-law they had ever truly wanted.

In the past, seeing these photos would have made me spiral into frantic, suffocating heartbreak. I would have called Tristan, crying and demanding an explanation.

Now, my heart was a still, frozen lake.

I casually typed out a few words: [You look great together. Congratulations.]

Then, I locked the screen.

I ignored it completely.

That night, as usual, Tristan didn't come home.

Right on schedule, a trending headline popped up on my news feed: [Fu Group CEO Spotted at Family Estate with A-List Star Kelly Zhang: Wedding Bells Soon?]

In the high-definition photo, Kelly held Tristan's arm affectionately.

Tristan was gazing down at her, eyes dripping with adoration.

They looked like the ultimate power couple.

The comment section was buzzing with thousands of replies.

[Omg, she is stunning! And Mr. Fu is ridiculously handsome.]

[They literally belong together!]

[When is he proposing?! I need this wedding of the century right now!!!]

...

I scrolled down to see endless waves of praise and blessings.

I closed the app, having no desire to read more.

Just as I was pulling back the sheets to sleep, my phone screen lit up with an incoming call.

Seeing the caller ID, I paused.

It was one of Tristan's closest fraternity brothers.

Ever since we got married, Tristan had kept me completely hidden from his inner circle, let alone inviting me to their private hangouts.

Why was his friend calling me now?

Lost in thought, my thumb accidentally brushed the screen, answering the line.

"Hey, Yulia. Tristan got completely wasted at the Velvet Lounge downtown. Can you come pick him up?"

"What?"

I froze. If he was drunk, shouldn't Kelly be the one taking care of him?

By all rights, Kelly should be right beside him.

I wanted to ask more, but the line immediately went dead, and calling back went straight to voicemail.

After weighing it over, I got changed and headed out into the night.