I discreetly followed Andrew Holmes as he left the house. Instead of heading to the airport, he drove to a quiet apartment complex in the suburbs. Keeping a safe distance, I trailed behind him as the evening air filled with the sound of crickets chirping. Once he turned his car into a small courtyard, I parked mine at the entrance, careful not to make any noise, and continued to shadow him on foot.

Andrew knocked gently on the door twice. It opened to reveal a girl dressed provocatively as a Playboy bunny. Her beauty seemed almost otherworldly, her fair skin glowing slightly under the dim streetlights. Her eyes sparkled with a hint of irritation, her lips forming a slight pout.

"Finally, you're here, Andrew. I've been waiting forever."

The streetlights cast a dim glow, obscuring her features slightly, but her silhouette was unmistakable. She was the woman from the blurry photos on Andrew's secret Instagram account.

"Are you really that eager?" Andrew teased her with a playful smirk. "Did you bring me out here just to see this outfit?"

The girl clung to his arm, her tone playful: "You did say you liked it when I was daring."

"How do I look? Surely, I'm more stunning than the one you have at home."

Andrew embraced her willingly, his hands exploring her figure: "She's nothing compared to you. How could someone so ordinary ever compete?"

The girl seemed pleased, wrapping her arms around his neck. They kissed passionately at the doorstep, their sounds echoing embarrassingly through the courtyard.

Eventually, she leaned against Andrew's shoulder, breathing softly as he guided her inside and closed the door behind them.

I stood there beneath the building all night. It wasn't until the early hours, when the lights in their room finally went out, that I drove back home.

I hadn’t gotten much sleep these past couple of days, and the cold wind didn’t help. After returning home, I came down with a high fever. I took a couple of pills and curled up in bed, hoping to drift off to sleep. But rest eluded me, as the recent events replayed incessantly in my mind.

Andrew, a decently well-known photographer, was often sought out by countless social media influencers for shoots. Once, in a moment of vulnerability, I asked him, "You meet so many beautiful women every day; won't you eventually find me less appealing?"

Andrew looked into my eyes with endless tenderness and said, "You’re my wife; they’re just my clients. Besides, no matter how attractive they are, there are more impressive men pursuing them. Why would they choose me?"

Love made me believe his words naively, but reality always has its way of unraveling illusions. No man is immune to temptation. Andrew simply wasn’t as desirable back then. Looking back, those promises seem laughably empty.

Everyone around us praised Andrew as the ideal husband—high salary, taking care of everything at home, and most importantly, treating me very well.

How well, you ask? Once, when we were in a long-distance relationship, I had a fever over 104 degrees. Hearing this, Andrew braved a snowstorm and drove five hours across the Alps to reach my city. Seeing him at my door, I thought I couldn’t live without him.

Even when Andrew cheated, I wanted to believe his love for me was genuine. Until I found their WhatsApp chat logs.

"Suddenly felt the urge; girlfriend’s cleaner than finding someone new."

"I coaxed her a bit, and we ended up sleeping together—a feverish body over 104 degrees hits different."

Tears flowed uncontrollably, soaking the pillow beneath me. The pain was unbearable. Just a fever, yet why does my whole body ache like this?

I curled up tightly, trying to ease the suffering, but the pain didn’t subside. I bit my lip, clutching the dinner roll tightly, my fingertips growing pale. Without realizing it, I drifted off to sleep amidst the agony.