Chapter 2

After Marcus came out, we ate dinner as a family. Later that night, he made an excuse about reviewing some work files and locked himself in the study.

I opened my phone and searched for Amber Sterling along with their company's name. It didn't take long for the algorithm to lead me straight to her TikTok profile.

When I clicked on it, I found hundreds of videos. Almost all of them featured Marcus.

Unintentional glances, feeding each other food.

Marcus was probably still trying to be somewhat cautious. In many of the videos, only the lower half of his face was visible. But anyone who knew him could easily recognize the distinct mole on his chin.

Amber's captions were even more sickening.

"Marcus said he wishes he could go back ten years just so he could be the one driving me to school every day. I'm dead."

"Marcus got me a holiday gift today, and he even bought me all the gifts he missed from previous years!"

"A client was being difficult today, and Marcus totally stood up for me and threw a punch! So hot!"

Seeing this, a memory flashed in my mind. Six months ago, I received a call from the police station late at night, saying Marcus had gotten into a physical altercation.

By the time I rushed over, the situation was resolved, and Marcus was comforting a young girl.

He seemed flustered when he saw me, explaining that some creep was harassing his colleague, so he had to step in.

Amber even thanked me back then, saying how much Marcus had helped her. She even treated us to dinner afterward.

Looking back, it was laughable. It wasn't him being a good citizen; he was just playing the hero to rescue his little damsel in distress!

And I, like an idiot, thought my husband was a man of integrity, even helping them curse out that terrible client.

I scrolled down further and found the video of Amber and Marcus at the theme park. Her caption read: "Halloween preview night! Marcus took me out to play. Since we were short on time, he promised he'd take me again on actual Halloween night!"

I checked the date. A plan quickly formed in my mind.

The next morning, Marcus did something highly unusual. He got up early and made breakfast.

At the table, I casually brought up Halloween. "Let's go to the theme park for Halloween. I saw on Instagram that everyone's going!"

Marcus rejected the idea immediately. "No way. It's going to be packed. What if Lily gets lost in the crowd?"

Lily looked down, her face filled with disappointment.

Marcus patted her head, trying to soothe her.

Seeing her sad face, I pressed on. "But we can just go for a little bit. There are so many fun rides!"

"It'll be a good way to relax. Besides, the next day is Saturday."

Hearing this, Lily looked up. "Yeah! Can we please go, Dad?"

I looked at Marcus. He frowned and sighed. "Fine. If you guys want to go, we'll go."

Lily and I smiled at each other.

I knew exactly what he was planning. He was going to use his old trick again, pretending he forgot because his chat history got deleted.

I didn't say anything else and simply nodded.

When Halloween arrived, I sent Marcus a text right before leaving work, specifically reminding him: Don't delete your messages. We'll meet you at the entrance.

Marcus replied with a simple "Got it" and nothing else. I knew what that meant. He was gearing up to play the "I got too busy and forgot" card again.

Sure enough, when I opened TikTok and searched Amber's account, she had already posted a video of them in his car.

"Marcus is taking me out for Halloween! Tonight belongs to just the two of us."

And the comments section was filled with envious users.

"Oh my god, he's such a green flag!"

"Honestly, your guy Marcus is so handsome and successful. Is he really single?"

"How did you snag such an amazing man?"

Amber replied in the comments: "It's called destiny. Marcus has been focused on his career all these years, which is why he was single. We are the perfect partners."

"Who cares if office romance is against the rules? Marcus is willing to risk it all to be with me!"