As the new menswear brand progressed, Celeste worked overtime more frequently and sometimes didn't come home until 1:00 am or 2:00 am.

She said the new collection had hit a bottleneck.

I told her not to overwork herself, but she'd just smile and say she was fine.

Then, another detail raised my guard.

When Celeste came home, her body wash seemed different. We'd always used the cedar-scented body wash at home, but for days, she carried this sugary floral scent.

When I asked, she brushed it off by saying, "The pantry at the office stocked new toiletries. If I stay late, I would just shower there since I don't want to come home and wake you."

It was a perfect excuse, but the unease in my mind sprouted like mad.

On another late night, she texted to tell me that she might pull an all-nighter and told me to go to sleep first.

I tossed and turned in bed before finding myself checking the security camera footage again.

The office lights were on, but Celeste's seat was empty.

Frowning, I scrolled back a few minutes in the footage and noticed that just minutes earlier, a figure had flashed past the camera and quickly moved into a blind spot inside the office.

Though it was just a glimpse, I was sure it wasn't Celeste!

I jumped out of bed and threw on my clothes in the shortest time possible. After packing the simmered chicken soup into an insulated thermal flask, I rushed out of the house with it.

15 minutes later, I was downstairs at her company. Only her office was lit throughout the entire floor.

My heart pounded as I walked to her office door and noticed it was unlocked. When I pushed it open, it was empty.

How could it be? I saw a man go in!

I checked the design department, the pantry, storage room, and every possible hiding spot. However, there was no one around.

Breathing heavily, I returned to Celeste's office and heard the rustle of fabric, mixed with a woman's suppressed panting. It seemed to come from near the corner of the room.

I moved quietly toward the sound.

Up close, I noticed a narrow gap between a panel and the wall with light seeping through.

Without a second thought, I yanked the panel open and shouted, "Celeste! What are you doing?"

Behind the panel was a small space, almost like a mini fitting room. Celeste stood inside, staring at me in shock while holding the arm of a mannequin.

There wasn't a living person in the space other than her.

Looking at my twisted expression, she seemed utterly confused. "Babe? What are you doing here?"

The heat of the moment had completely taken over and stripped away my rationality.

I frantically searched every corner of the cramped space when Celeste finally snapped and shouted at me, "What the hell is wrong with you, Edgar?"

Still finding no one, I yanked out my phone from my pocket, tapped on the security feed, and shoved it in her face for questioning. "Where is this man? Where are you hiding him?"

When Celeste's eyes fell on the screen, her expression twisted with fury. "Were you spying on me?"

Completely blinded by the human figure I'd seen, I ignored her reaction. "I'm asking you where this man is!"

"Man?"

Celeste let out a sharp, mocking laugh and pointed at the mannequin. "That's the man you're talking about."

After walking over, she adjusted the mannequin's pose until it matched the angle in the video. "I was just adjusting the shape of the mannequin, and to find the right angle, I'd shifted it."

I was completely stunned. The mannequin's shape and build seemed to match what I'd seen in the footage, so could it be that I'd really wronged her?

As my reason crept back in, my hands and feet started going cold. I'd not just doubted Celeste, but I'd also spied on her and questioned her like a lunatic.

"I-I'm sorry…" I murmured in a dry voice, helplessly holding my forehead.

Celeste stood with her back to me, her shoulders slightly shaking as if she was crying. It took a long time before she turned around with red-rimmed eyes and softly muttered, "It's fine. I know I've been working overtime lately and neglected you, so it makes sense you'd feel insecure."

She leaned her head against my chest with her fingers tracing slow circles on my back. "We haven't really been intimate in a while, so go home, shower, and wait for me. I'll clean up and be right back, alright?"

Her softness and understanding only deepened the guilt within my chest. There was nothing I could say, so I nodded and headed home.

However, sitting in the living room, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was still off. Not only was the thorn of suspicion in my chest not pulled out, but it'd also dug deeper.

I took out my phone and repeatedly replayed the footage once, twice, ten, and even 20 times…

Finally, I slowed the video to half-speed and stared at the screen unblinkingly.

In one split second, it finally struck me what was off.

Sure enough, Celeste had been lying to me all along!