The moment she saw the name on her phone screen, Annette’s face froze.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught it. Kevin.
She gave a small cough, subtly angling the phone away as her fingers tapped a quick reply. In her eyes, a spark of desire flashed unmistakably.
Sure enough, the very next moment she turned back to me with a look of feigned guilt.
“Darling, I’m so sorry. Today is our anniversary, I know I should spend the whole day with you. But the company—”
“Work is important. I understand,” I cut her off before she could spin another lie.
Relief softened her shoulders. On any other day she would never leave without kissing me goodbye, but tonight she merely gave me a perfunctory hug before turning to leave.
I stood there for a moment, then quietly told my assistant to handle the banquet guests before I slipped away, following in Annette’s direction.
It wasn’t until the underground parking lot that she finally stopped.
Kevin was already waiting. The moment she opened the car door, his cold expression melted away. He pulled her into his arms.
“I have to say, the firework show made me jealous,” his voice tinged with a childish grievance.
Annette sighed, brushing a kiss across his cheek.
“I set fireworks off for your birthday just a few days ago. What’s there to be jealous about?” With a tender gaze, she added, “I promised you—as long as you behave and never expose our relationship to my husband, whatever he has, you’ll have too.”
At those words, realization struck me like a blade. Five nights ago, there had been a thirty-minute firework display lighting up the south side of the city. That same night, Annette had told me she was working late at the office. To cheer her up, I’d snapped a photo of the fireworks and sent it to her, joking that some hopeless romantic must be pulling out all the stops to win the heart of his beloved.
Now I understood. That hopeless romantic hadn’t been some stranger—it had been Annette herself and that made me feel like the biggest fool in the world.
Kevin gave a small laugh, his hands slid lower, tracing her waist possessively.
“Am I not allowed to be jealous?” Annette caught his wandering hand, her voice softening, laced with coyness.
“Didn’t you say you had something you wanted to show me?”
“Why don’t you open it and see for yourself?”
Kevin chuckled, wrapping his arms tightly around her and pulling her into his chest. “I’m sure you’ll want it so bad you can’t even refuse.”
With that, he scooped her up effortlessly, carrying her into the car. Annette let out a startled cry, but the rest of her voice was smothered beneath his kiss. As the windows rolled up, the car began to rock in a steady rhythm.
Hidden in the shadows of a concrete pillar, my fists clenched so tightly the veins bulged across my hands.
I had already caught them once yesterday—yet seeing it again, my chest still ached with a crushing, uncontrollable pain.
On the day we were married, Annette swore she would spend every single anniversary entirely with me. But one message from Kevin was enough for her to throw that promise away. Did she really crave him that much?
I shut my eyes, forcing down the storm inside me. Three more days. Just three more days, and this will all be over. I didn’t return to the banquet hall. Instead, I went straight home.
That night, I was half-asleep when a loud bang jolted me awake.
Annette stood in the doorway, her face tense. The moment she saw me, she exhaled in relief.
“Honey, why didn’t you tell me you went home? I was searching the entire banquet hall for you. Do you know how frantic I was?”
I glanced at my phone. The clock read 3:00 a.m. I had been home since nine.
