Chapter 2

I forced a sweet smile. "For a second, I thought you had another woman out there."

His expression seemed to freeze for a fraction of a second. Before I could look closer, he recovered his gentle smile and lightly tapped my forehead.

"What are you talking about? How could I have another woman? You're the only one for me, Chloe. Forever."

With that, he kissed my forehead repeatedly.

If this were yesterday, I would have believed him without a second thought.

But today, I had heard him trash me with my own ears.

I quietly pushed him away with a playful laugh, just like I usually did. "Go take a shower, you smell like smoke!"

Once he went into the bathroom, I grabbed his phone and opened his Snapchat.

It was my first time checking his phone. It was incredibly clean. There was absolutely nothing.

But it was too clean.

Finally, in his Apple Pay history, I found an unusual recurring transaction.

Every month for the past five years, he had been transferring money to the same account.

Seeing the username, I remembered a profile I had stumbled upon earlier on Instagram.

I clicked on her page and quickly memorized the phone number listed in her bio.

When he came out of the shower, his phone was back in its exact spot on the table.

He glanced at me, a brief flash of panic in his eyes before he smoothed it over. "Did anyone text me, baby?" he asked, casually drying his hair with a towel.

I pretended not to notice. "No."

The next day, I called in sick to work.

After Ethan left for his office, I dialed the number from the Instagram bio. "Hello?"

A rough, deep voice answered. It was a man.

I let out a breath, my racing heart calming down slightly. Thank God, it wasn't a woman.

But his next words plunged me right back into an ice bath.

"Are you calling about the apartment lease?"

I struggled to keep my voice steady. "Yes."

"Oh, you're in luck. One of our tenants is moving out soon. You can come by and take a look."

"Don't worry, our building is super safe. The tenant who’s leaving actually lived here for five years!"

He kept pitching the place, but all I heard was the word five years. Everything suddenly made sense.

Why Ethan always worked late.

Why he always smirked while looking at his phone.

Why it took him over an hour to drive a twenty-minute route last night.

I was the only fool kept in the dark. While he was playing the perfect husband to me, he had another woman on the side.

For five whole years.

I squeezed my eyes shut, holding back the breakdown. "Can I come take a look later today?"

He agreed, and I hung up.

The tears I had been holding back finally spilled over, and I sobbed uncontrollably in the empty living room.

An hour later, I dragged myself together and called my best friend, Harper, to come with me to the address.

Harper saw how wrecked I was and asked what happened.

I told her everything about Ethan. She was furious. "So what are you going to do now?"

I let out a bitter laugh. "I need proof."

When we arrived at the building, the landlord led us up to the apartment that was about to be listed.

Standing at the door, watching the landlord reach out to knock, I felt like time had stopped.

I squeezed Harper's hand, my palm slick with sweat.

Deep down, I was still desperately hoping that this woman didn't exist.

The door swung open, and I stared blankly at the person who answered.

It was a guy.

"Are you here to view the place?" he asked.

I frowned and looked at Harper. She looked just as confused.

Had I really misunderstood Ethan?

After touring the apartment, I pretended to be unsatisfied. Harper caught my drift and asked the landlord, "Do you have any other units available?"

The landlord looked hesitant. "Well, there is one. But the tenant is out this morning. Let me call her and see if she minds if I show you the place."

We nodded and said we could wait. He stepped aside to make the call.

"Harper, what if I really accused him of something he didn't do? How am I going to face him?" I whispered, clutching her arm, my heart in my throat.

She squeezed my hand. "Just relax. If it's a misunderstanding, that's a good thing."

The tenant gave permission, and the landlord unlocked the door to the other apartment. We walked in, looking around casually.

I was already thinking that once this was over, I would go home and cook Ethan a nice dinner. He had cooked for me for years; I could count on one hand the number of times I had cooked for him.

The landlord was babbling about the layout and natural light. To convince us, he added, "A young girl lives here. She's been here for five years, never missed a payment."

Five years.

The number triggered me instantly. The easy atmosphere between Harper and me vanished, replaced by heavy silence.

Harper casually asked, "She sounds nice. Does she have a boyfriend?"

The landlord chuckled. "Oh, yeah. Her boyfriend actually pays the rent. I still have his contact info on my phone."

He pulled out his phone and showed us his WhatsApp chat with the tenant's boyfriend. The screen was filled with monthly rent transfers from Ethan.

I froze, my mind going completely blank.

Harper reacted first. "Are you sure that's her boyfriend?"

The landlord scoffed. "Of course! He always comes by during the day, rarely stays the night."

He lowered his voice. "Honestly, she's probably his side chick. What real boyfriend only shows up during the day, right?"

My eyes burned. I felt like a walking corpse, relying entirely on Harper to keep me upright.

I looked down, silently wiping away a tear before forcing another smile. "Can we take some pictures? We need to think about it."

"Sure, go ahead," the landlord said easily.

Harper looked at me with deep worry. I squeezed her arm and whispered, "The evidence is right here, isn't it?"

At least now I knew the truth.

I took photos of the apartment layout, and secretly snapped a photo of the girl's portrait on the nightstand.