On the third day of my business trip, I opened the smart pet feeder app to check if Colbie was eating well.
As soon as the camera connected, a soft, sweet voice came through the speaker. “Oh dear, your dad is so careless. He didn’t even notice you ran out of food. Did my baby starve? Mommy’s heart aches so much.”
On the screen, a young girl was holding Colbie in her arms, rubbing her face gently against him.
The cat, usually so wary, didn’t scratch at all. Instead, his eyes narrowed in pure contentment.
A chill ran down my scalp. I quickly tapped the intercom, my voice shaking. “Who are you? Why are you in my house?”
The girl froze. Her back stiffened, panic flashed in her eyes, and then, just like that, the screen went black.
I immediately called my husband and asked what was going on.
He answered casually, as if nothing was wrong. “Oh, you mean Desiree Acosta? She’s a new intern at the company. She helped me grab an urgent file from home. Probably saw Colbie was cute and played with him a bit.”
He gave a light laugh. “She’s just a kid, at company dinners she even orders from the kids’ menu. She talks without thinking, very childish.”
I didn’t argue. Instead, I picked up my phone and called my lawyer best friend without hesitation.
“Vincent Davidson is cheating. Help me draft a divorce agreement!”
——
On the other end, Leighton Bentley almost choked.
“Just because that girl held your cat, you’re sure Vincent is cheating and wants a divorce? Girl, that’s way too rash, don’t you think?”
I took a steady breath and said, “You know Colbie’s temperament. With strangers, forget holding, it would scratch them bloody if they even tried to touch him. That girl was hugging him, kissing him, rubbing him, and Colbie was calm like a stuffed toy in her arms. There’s no way she could be that close on her first visit. Vincent is lying.”
Leighton went silent for a moment, then cursed furiously.
“That bastard Vincent! A man who married into your family dares to cheat? He must be sick of living! Jasmine, don’t worry. I’ll make sure this scumbag leaves with nothing, not even his underwear!”
After hanging up, I forced myself to calm down. From the smart feeder’s saved footage, I took a screenshot of the girl’s face.
Then I rescheduled my flight and flew back overnight.
As soon as I landed, I drove straight to the company.
My eyes scanned the desks, but that familiar face was nowhere in sight. Could Vincent have hidden her so quickly?
In the restroom, just as I slipped into a stall, I overheard two girls chatting outside.
“Desiree, you’re so lucky! You found such a rich, doting boyfriend!”
“Tickets for Taylor’s concert are impossible to get, but he actually got you seats in the inner section. I’m so jealous!”
Another girl, her voice sweet and proud, replied, “Oh, it’s nothing. He insisted on taking me, said youth shouldn’t leave regrets…”
I froze. That voice was the same one I had heard through the pet feeder.
Through the crack in the door, I glimpsed Desiree standing at the sink, touching up her makeup in the mirror.
Suddenly, I remembered that a month ago, I had playfully told Vincent I wanted to see Taylor’s concert, asking him to get tickets.
At the time, he had frowned impatiently.
“Jasmine, aren’t you too old for that? Still chasing idols like a kid?”
“Besides, Taylor’s tickets are impossible to get. Why waste the effort?”
So it wasn’t that the tickets were hard to get. He had given the tickets and himself to someone else.
A cold laugh escaped me as I pushed the door open. Both girls froze.
The other girl stammered, “President Higgins,” before slipping away awkwardly.
Desiree tried to leave, too, but I stopped her with a sharp word. “Desiree, right? Yesterday afternoon… did you go to my house?”
