That car had been bought for me by Lennon with the very first money he earned from starting his business, and it had also been his proposal gift to me, so I cherished it dearly.
Yet now, he had allowed another woman to trample on it.
When I returned home, Lennon suddenly stepped out from the entryway, holding a large bouquet of roses in his hands. With a tender smile, he offered them to me and softly said, “Wife, happy wedding anniversary.”
I froze, instinctively taking the vibrant roses. Lennon reached out to embrace me, but I stepped back.
“What’s wrong?” His brows knitted in puzzlement. “Don’t tell me you’ve been so busy with work that you forgot today is our wedding anniversary? Your husband would be jealous.”
Looking at the affectionate man before me, my heart felt as if it were being seized tightly by an invisible hand.
If I hadn’t seen him half an hour ago at the hospital, gently supporting that pregnant woman, I might truly have been fooled by him at this moment.
His performance was flawless, so flawless it turned my stomach with disgust.
After all, who would ever imagine that a man who never failed to surprise me on the tiniest anniversaries would be hiding another woman outside?
“I remember,” I heard my own voice say calmly.
Of course, I remembered. These past days abroad, I had buried myself in endless work, just so I could return early today and give him a surprise.
Yet instead, he dealt me a cruel shock first.
Lennon let out a breath of relief, a faint smile tugging at his lips as he reached for my hand.
“I booked a table at your favorite restaurant for seven o’clock. You still have time to change.”
I stared at him for several seconds, and a bitter laugh rose in my throat, laughing at myself for being so useless.
Even now, some part of me still wanted to give him a chance, as long as he could offer me a proper explanation.
But before I could speak, a phone call cut through the moment.
Lennon pulled out his phone, glanced at it, and his expression shifted in an instant. He pressed the answer button quickly, turned his back to me, and lowered his voice to murmur a few words.
When he hung up, he turned back with an apologetic look.
“Wife, something urgent came up at the company. I have to handle it right away. I’ll make it up to you tonight when I return.”
Without waiting for my response, he grabbed his coat in a hurry and walked out.
I stood still, staring at the roses in my hand.
I hadn’t seen the name on the screen clearly, but I had seen the photo on the caller ID; it was that woman from the hospital.
The door closed softly, yet the sound landed like a heavy hammer against my heart.
This was the second time he had lied to me again, for her.
I placed the roses into a vase and sank onto the sofa, waiting.
The clock hands circled tirelessly, from dusk to late night, and then into dawn.
The phone screen flickered on the coffee table, and Lennon’s voice messages appeared one after another.
“Sorry, wife, I’ll probably have to work late and stay at the company tonight. Don’t wait up.”
“I’ll order some food for you, make sure you eat and rest early.”
But beneath his gentle tone, another woman’s voice whispered faintly in the background.
“Was that Kathryn Gallagher?”
So she already knew about me.
When dawn arrived, I rose and dumped the roses from the vase into the bin.
I should have realized sooner that once dirtied, a thing could never be made pure again.
With a hollow heart, I packed Lennon’s suitcase, shoving his clothes in carelessly.
The sudden ring of the doorbell startled me.
I opened the door and stood stunned.
My mother-in-law, Klarisse Morrison, was supporting a young, pregnant woman, the same woman I had seen in the hospital.
Were they finally going to bare it all before me?
Klarisse frowned, her gaze sharp as she swept over me. “Why are you just standing there? Won’t you let us in?”
“Day after day, you can’t do anything right. I don’t even know what use it was marrying you. You can’t lay eggs, you can’t even cook.”
I quietly stepped aside to let them in. Klarisse immediately guided the woman to the sofa and even tucked a cushion behind her back with care.
“Oh, this is my cousin’s daughter, Tiffany Swanson. She came to the city to rest during her pregnancy. She doesn’t have a place to stay for now, so she’ll be living here with you.”
