Now, he had reappeared. By my wife’s side. At a hotel entrance.
After the last photo, the detective sent one final message. [They stayed for five hours. When she came out, she had changed clothes.]
I didn’t reply.
I sat alone on the sofa, swallowed by darkness. The lights were off, and my phone screen had long gone black.
Silence filled the room.
From the kitchen, the fridge ticked steadily. Upstairs, someone dragged a chair across the floor. Outside, rain tapped lightly against the windows.
I sat there like a hollowed-out shell, empty and unmoving.
She had lied to me.
Not for a day. Not for a month. But for years.
I replayed the look in her eyes every time she left the house, the softness in her voice over the phone, and the faint scent on her clothes when she returned.
She had hidden everything so well.
I once thought I had married someone clean. Someone I could share my life with.
But now, I wasn’t even sure who she was anymore.
I lowered my head and buried my face in my hands. My breathing turned ragged.
It felt like something had been ripped from my chest, leaving only a hollow void. Too numb to ache, too shattered to cry.
I had made up my mind to confront her.
But my thoughts were tangled, emotions boiling over, and I was right at the edge of collapse.
My lips parted to speak, but before I could, my phone lit up.
It was a message from “Wealthy Cyrus,” that same filth was from the benefits group.
I stared at the screen, my throat tightening.
[That top-tier married woman’s really something. Last time, I kissed her and hugged her, but it still wasn’t enough!]
“What…” I muttered, my voice caught halfway.
Then another photo arrived.
The necklace.
That same silver glint hit my eyes like a knife, so painfully familiar it made my stomach turn.
I had once fastened that necklace around Averie’s neck with my own hands.
And now it was in another man’s possession.
My eyes locked onto the group chat, hands trembling uncontrollably.
Their conversation continued, each line slicing through my chest like a knife.
[Can we go deeper next time?]
[She’s a bit wary, hard to deal with.]
[Drug her. Once she’s out, anything goes.]
[Fine, but it'll cost more.]
My entire body froze. At that moment, I could hear nothing but the pounding of my own heart. Each beat slammed against my eardrums like war drums.
They were planning to drug her.
Pricing her and arranging “services” like she was livestock.