I stared at it for a long moment, then slowly slid my own ring off and tucked it into the drawer of the nightstand.
The next morning, Colette sent me the completed divorce agreement. At the same time, a reminder about amusement park tickets popped up on my phone.
Last week was my birthday, but Gideon had skipped it to work late. So, he bought those tickets to make it up to me.
Usually, after a night of heavy drinking, he slept until noon. But today, he was up early, freshly showered, dressed in the new clothes I’d just bought him.
Watching him stand in front of the mirror, carefully shaving, I felt a tangle of emotions.
“Gideon, I have something to do today. About the amusement park—”
Unexpectedly, he cut me off without even looking up. “I can’t go today. I’ve got a client meeting. I’ll just cancel it and take you next week instead.”
As he said that, he scrolled casually through his phone, not noticing my face go pale.
And at that very moment, two notifications popped up on my screen.
[Your amusement park reservation has been canceled.]
[Payment confirmed! Two adult tickets for Mr. Ward at the amusement park.]
After that, he finally looked at me, and only then did he notice my silence. He cupped my face with one hand, then kissed me lightly as though that was enough.
“Don’t pout. You never used to be like this.”
Then, without even trying to coax me, he slipped on his shoes and headed for the door.
My throat tightened as I asked, “This ‘client,’ is she more important than me?”
His expression shifted, and then he gave me a dismissive smile. “Don’t talk nonsense. Everything I do is for you and for our future child.”
But after saying that, he walked out directly.
However, his backup phone lay forgotten on the sofa, the screen flashing with notifications. Most of the messages on that device were synced with his main phone.
Upon picking it up, I discovered that, apart from me, there were also two group chats pinned on his messaging app.
But after checking those, beads of sweat formed on my palm.
In one, it includes him, his friends, and me.
But in the other, everything was the same, except the woman’s name wasn’t mine.
It was Arabella.
Marianne's POV
The latest messages stopped last night.
[I swear, Arabella. You could’ve at least warned us you were coming. Didn’t you know Marianne would be here?]
[Exactly. Don’t let her find out you and Gideon are getting close!]