Chapter 1

Three years married, and my career-driven wife had one gift she reserved just for me.

Every holiday, she sent me the gas bill, the property management receipt, the paid-in-full water and electric statement.

Even on our anniversary she sent a payment screenshot, note attached: Electric bill paid. Anniversary gift.

I sighed and posted the picture online without thinking.

【My wife's too practical. What do I do?】

It didn't take long before a comment landed under it.

"Bro, I need advice. My wife's too much of a romantic and it's giving me a headache. What do I do?"

A little envious, I clicked into his page.

A pink diamond ring, fresh roses swapped out every three days, Disney plushies piled all over the living room...

I swiped through them one by one, thinking, so women like that really do exist.

Until the last photo.

On a beach, rose petals laid out in the shape of a heart, a woman standing in the center holding a bouquet, and across from her a man down on one knee, sliding a ring onto her finger.

She was looking up at him, her eyes full of love.

So in this world, there really were people who got loved like that.

Too bad the man wasn't me.

And the woman was my wife.

1.

The comment section was full of people calling him a show-off, a humblebrag.

Soon the poster, a guy named Ivor Gilbert, replied and dropped a video as proof.

"I really wasn't showing off. Look, she said our anniversary needed to feel special, insisted on booking this whole fireworks show for me."

In the video, one blue firework after another burst open, spelling out Ivor Gilbert's initials.

Below the frame, Susannah Fox threw herself into his arms and held on tight.

The sound of the fireworks was still echoing in my ears, but my vision kept blurring.

I thought back to last New Year's, when I'd tugged at her, asking her to buy me a single sparkler.

Her face had gone dark in an instant.

"Five dollars for a sparkler that burns for a few seconds, and you want to waste money like that?"

I'd thought she was just being careful with the household.

But the one who booked an entire fireworks show for someone else was also her.

More and more comments rolled in. "So jealous I'm numb, I'm full on couple goals."

Right after, he posted another photo.

"On my birthday, she insisted on taking me to Disney, and went and bought every single plushie on her own."

"I just want to ask, is there any hope for her?"

I wiped the tears hitting the screen and finally saw the Disney plushies filling it.

In the corner was a plushie keychain with a "free gift" tag still on it, and it was one I knew all too well.

Last month she'd used a very important project as her excuse to go away on a business trip.

That keychain was the one decent gift she brought back for me.

I'd thought she was finally coming around. I'd even hung it on my phone and carried it everywhere.

Fighting to keep my emotions down, I asked underneath.

"You two are so happy. How long have you been together?"

The reply came fast. "We've been together two years now."

"And she's already proposed to me, haha."

I thought I'd braced myself enough, but seeing this still hurt so much I couldn't breathe.

So in the three years Susannah Fox and I had been married, for two of them she'd been carrying someone else in her heart.

I stared at that last line, my eyes stinging.

She'd already promised him a future. And me...

My phone buzzed. Ivor Gilbert had sent me a private message.

"Bro, happy anniversary."

"Also wanted to ask your advice. How do I get my wife to be a little more devoted to home too?"

Something dropped hard inside me. So it was true, the ones who are loved really do feel invincible.

I tugged the corner of my mouth and opened the message box.

"If you want to know, come find me at Sycamore Court."