On our tenth wedding anniversary, I made a special trip to the salon to have my hair done.

While settling the bill, I noticed an extra charge on my account. It was a coloring and perm package.

Judging by the price, it was a package meant for waist-length hair. Mine had been cropped short for seven or eight years.

I called my husband, Jason Moore.

"Have you used my salon membership card recently?"

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line before he laughed lightly, "Oh, I lent it to Quincy a few days ago."

Quincy Hahn was his business partner, a fine arts student with long hair. She treasured her natural curls more than anything. She would never be willing to dye or perm it.

More importantly, her elder sister was a major shareholder of this salon. Why would she ever need to use my card?

I said nothing more and ended the call.

Then, I headed straight to a location displayed on my phone.

In the cafe, a long-haired lady was nestled in Jason's arms. Her freshly permed curls were soft and bouncy, framing her blushed face with certain demureness.

Jason had always complained that my short hair made me look rough and manly. I lacked gentleness and charm.

It seemed this long-haired lady suited his tastes perfectly.

As the lady went to the restroom, I followed along.

I went over to the sink next to her, washing my hands. I could still smell the perm chemical wafting from her head.

It was her.

Our eyes met through the mirror. I could see the fluster in her eyes, and she subconsciously washed her hands more quickly.

Just when she was about to leave, I called out after her and asked with a smile, "Do you work here in the cafe?"

She stiffened and clenched her fists subconsciously, before replying in a slightly trembling voice, "Yes. I work here part-time after classes."

I secretly sneered. A mere question had made her so nervous. I wonder who gave her the courage to be someone's secret lover.

I swept a glance at her hair and asked distractedly, "Don't be nervous. I just find your hair pretty. You must've just gotten it done, right? Care to recommend the place?"

Her face paled even more. She lowered her head and muttered, "My boyfriend likes the way I look with curls, so he brought me there. I didn't really pay attention to the shop name."

She paused for a while before looking at my hair. "Your hair's short. Perming it like mine won't suit you. It'll make you seem older."

Perfect.

Playing the victim while still finding time to insult me, subtly advertising her youth and beauty along the way. She could not resist provoking me even at that moment.

It was too bad that it had no effect on me.

I reached out and touched a curl resting on her shoulder.

"How long have you been growing your hair out?"

She was so frightened that she stumbled backward.

"About three years or so."

My heart stung a little when I heard the answer.

Three years ago was a turning point in my career. My self-founded coffee brand had just secured the top regional sales spot. I was constantly travelling back and forth to the production area in South Columbus.

If I was not on a business trip, I was on the way to one.

However, as long as we were in the same city, Jason Moore, my husband, would meticulously arrange dates for us, making me feel touched yet guilty.

I asked him once if he would blame me for putting my career first.

He replied with a smile, "Just go ahead creating history. I have your back."

I knew juggling a career and family was not at all easy. I had always felt guilty about it.

However, at that moment, I finally understood that all the guilt I had was just a joke. He was never sacrificing himself.

I composed myself and massaged my temples, trying to hide the emotions in my eyes.

I accidentally noticed the necklace around her neck.

I snickered and said with amazement, "Your necklace is gorgeous. It's one of Ian Christie's works, right? Must be expensive."

The necklace was way too familiar to me. It was a coming-of-age gift from my mother, a masterpiece from the independent jeweller, Ian Christie.

It was also a gift for me when I won the barista championship.

It went missing when we moved, and I was sad about it for a very long time.

Jason consoled me by saying that the necklace no longer suited my style and that I should just let it go.

I was so mad at him for not understanding how important the necklace was to me.

As I thought back about it, it truly was comical. It was just his tactic to steal from me, then pretend to comfort me.

Philippa Sanders subconsciously touched the necklace. Her eyes looked shifty and her lips quivered, yet she could not find a single word.

Just at that moment, someone called her name.

Relieved that rescue came just in time, she muttered a goodbye and quickly left.

Seeing her fleeing the scene in a panic, I smirked. I distractedly dried my hands before I left the restroom.

Then, I called my brother, Daniel Kidman.

Daniel was the head of the Eternal Group, who was also an important business partner of Jason's.

I calmly said, "Daniel, please call off your business with Jason. I'm about to get a divorce. Yes, that's right. He has a secret lover. A college student."

…

The legal department at the Eternal Group worked quickly. That night, I received a hard disk.

I connected it to my computer and saw the truth that Jason had been hiding from me.

Every single one of them.

On the tenth of October of the previous year, I was in Malersha on a business trip. We had agreed to check out the night lights at the Twin Towers.

Jason stood me up as I stood under the Twin Towers, waiting for him. I ended up having a high fever for the three days.

It turned out that he had accompanied Philippa to a luxury brand's limited-edition 'Lover's Workshop'.

On the fourth of November, one of the branches of my cafe caught on fire. I was slightly injured, but I still ended up with a miscarriage.

I sobbed my tears out in the hospital. I called Jason multiple times, but no one picked up.

It turned out that he was with Philippa at a beauty spa.

On the sixth of November after the miscarriage, I was recovering at home, all depressed. He gave me a vinyl collector's edition of The Lovers. He said that he had asked a favor from his friend and had taken a long time to find it.

We had a candlelight dinner, dining to the song 'As Seasons Go'.

Only at that moment did I find out that the vinyl was just a lucky draw prize that he and Philippa won from some event.

The date that he seemed to have prepared meticulously, from the playlist to the menu, was just a replica of the date he had with her the previous day.

The next day, he left on the excuse of a business trip, when in fact he took Philippa to a cruise party.

In the photos of the party, everyone was happy. Most of them were our mutual friends. Some of them were even on our main table at our wedding.

There they were, having fun with Jason and his lover. What good friends they were.

I went through the hard disk as my heart sank lower and lower.

Just when I was about to switch off the computer, a medical test report came into view.

I suddenly stopped breathing as a chill ran down my neck. With trembling fingers, I clicked the file open.

It was a medical report on a certain brand of birth control pills, yet the photo of the bottle was of the vitamin bottles that I had been faithfully taking every day.

At the bottom of the report, there was a cautionary warning clearly stated.

[This medication has a significant effect on early pregnancy. Use may result in spontaneous miscarriage.]

Continue scrolling down was a screenshot of Philippa's social media post.

She was showing off the same bottle of pills. She wrote a caption to go with it.

[My husband said that he only wants a baby with me.]

Someone in the comments teased her.

[Planning for a baby already?]

She replied with a blushing emoticon.

My ears buzzed. It turned out that my miscarriage was no accident.

Jason had replaced my vitamins with the drug with the excuse of conditioning my body.

To top it off, the reason I had not been able to conceive afterward was not, as the doctors claimed, because my body needed time to recover.

It was because the medication was never meant to be taken for more than three months.

How was that any different from poisoning?

Tears fell as I chuckled. All the details that I had deliberately brushed aside came flooding back to me once more.

The occasional foreign smell of perfume on him. The late-night whispered phone calls from the balcony.

The glass of water he so eagerly handed to me the night before my miscarriage…

I was an idiot. I was so drained that hatred felt pointless.

I wiped away my tears hard.

I was not going to let those scumbags get away with it.

Just as my thoughts spiraled, an unfamiliar number rang.

I took a deep breath before answering the call.

"Who's speaking?"

A mocking lady's voice came through. My sworn rival, Yvonne Shonda.

"Well, look at that. You're still alive! I thought you were dead. Jason Moore was so eagerly introducing his replacement wife."

Being frenemies for so many years, I knew she would just call to mock me.

I ignored her mockings and asked, "What did you see?"

She snickered. "Looks like you aren't that stupid after all. There's an industry networking event over here. Your husband’s been going around introducing his new fiancee to everyone."

She added, "I just sent you the address."

I looked at the address. It was an hour's car ride from where I was. How dare they be so brazen, so close to where I was?

I sneered. Fiancee?

The gall he had. How could his legal wife miss out on such a lively event?

…

I headed straight to the address. I had just gotten into the car when I received Jason's message.

[Honey, aren't you home? I happened to check the pet cam in the living room to check on the cats, and I didn't see you around.]

He had been awfully concerned about me recently, worried about my health and mental situation. It turned out that it was only because he was worried I might spoil his fun.

I snickered and replied with a photo.

[Ida's here. We're having a coffee downstairs.]

In less than a second, Jason sent a reply.

[You should probably stick to fruit juices. Doctor's orders.]

He attached a photo of himself at work. What a great actor, sticking to his act to a tee.

All those years, he always informed me where he was, and I never once suspected him.

Yvonne's hotel had great security. With that high level of a networking event, the security system had to be flawless.

Through the very clear security footage, I saw Jason wading through the crowds with Philippa by his side.

He held his hand around her waist as they went around, raising glasses to the other guests.

Philippa was wearing a champagne-colored long gown. I was familiar with the gown.

Jason showed me a photo of it last month and said, "This gown would suit you a lot."

However, it ended up on another woman.

They were talking to a few important guests. I recognized one of them. Albert Chandler, an investor whom Jason and I worked with before.

Philippa nodded and smiled gently. Jason was beaming at her, his eyes filled with nothing but adoration.

They clearly looked like the happy couple to be wedded.

At that moment, Philiippa touched her abdomen and said something to Jason. He immediately bent down to have a listen. Then, he chuckled happily.

He swept her hair behind her ears, looking at her with so much affection. Everyone around them chuckled and raised their glasses in congratulations.

Albert patted Jason on the shoulder, looking overjoyed.

Looking at the scene, I suddenly remembered my family doctor telling me a month ago, "Don't worry, you'll have a child eventually."

At that time, Jason held my hand and gently consoled me.

"Don't worry. We have a lifetime together."

However, there he was, about to have a child, but the mother was not me.

In the live security footage, the crowd gathered in the middle of the venue. The host officially started the event and Jason was invited on stage to share his opinion.

Afterward, he invited Philippa on stage. He spoke with great affection on how they met. He described how Philippa was always by his side during all the late nights and how she silently supported him when he was stressed out on projects.

"She's my little ray of sunshine, always giving me energy."

The crowd erupted into applause, praising their beautiful love story, yet they seemed to have forgotten that Jason was a married man.

How comical.

Sitting in the security control room listening to his speech, even I was almost moved.