“Yes. You’re right,” I said in a neutral voice.

Unfortunately for Claudia, she was not going to get that chance.

Once Claudia got the response she wanted, she opened up her whole heart to me and started bragging. “Also, he showed me a photo of his wife before. She has a long scar on her stomach. It’s so ugly. He told me that he feels so sick that he wants to puke whenever he sees that scar on his wife’s stomach.”

Then, Claudia suddenly asked, “What on earth is on that woman’s mind, Miss Clark? Her stomach is so ugly, and she’s still clinging to my boyfriend. Is it because she lacks love?” She laughed, unable to help herself.

I laughed too, though my gaze was as cold as ice. “His wife probably couldn’t guess that he thought her stomach was ugly.”

Claudia raised an eyebrow and said firmly, “No way! Matthew is disgusted with her. Unless she’s an idiot, there’s no way she can’t tell. You have no idea, but he’s really passionate when he holds me. He tells me it’s because he has no interest in that ugly old hag at home, and he’s frustrated. If it were you, wouldn’t you find it strange if your husband didn’t sleep with you for three years?”

“I would, yes,” I answered frankly, but my gaze was numb as I stared at the wedding ring that I had been wearing for four years.

Matthew and I came from families of different social classes, but we had been together for eight years, from high school to marriage. Whenever I got sick, he would be anxious and run out of the school dorms to get medicine for me. Whenever I got sad, he would run a few blocks away to buy the candy I loved to make me laugh.

When I was pregnant up to the moment I gave birth, he never skipped a prenatal checkup with me.

Whenever he got home, he would first give my daughter and me a hug and say that we were the people he loved the most.

When we did not become physically intimate over the past two years, he only said, “Tina, you suffered greatly when you gave birth. I don’t want you to go through that again.”

I thought that it was normal for marriages to turn platonic as time passed. I never expected to learn that Matthew was not touching me because he was not interested in physical intimacy anymore, but rather because he was having his fill with another woman.

A chill crawled down my spine, and I asked my final question. “What are his demands for divorce? Does he just want his wife to ask for a divorce?”

Claudia shook her head. “Of course not. You can’t let the wife know that my boyfriend cheated on her either. You don’t know this, but my boyfriend married into her family. He worked hard to build his own business, though. Life has been really difficult for him. If his wife learns that he cheated on her, she won’t let him leave.”

I clenched my fingers but said nothing.

Worried, Claudia reminded me to not let myself learn that my own husband had cheated on me with the very woman sitting in front of me. “I know that you’re the best breakup specialist in Oceanville. I’ll leave my boyfriend’s divorce in your hands.”

“Leave it to me,” I promised with a smile.

Once she was gone, I immediately called my childhood friend.

“Send me your best private investigator and lawyer. I want to know everything that Matthew has done over the past three years. Also, tell my father that Matthew has cheated on me. Have him rescind all the investments over the past years. Since he said that he became successful through his own efforts, I want to see what he has left after we take away all the help we gave him.”

My childhood friend was incredibly efficient. As expected of my best business partner.

In just half a day, he tossed a 128 GB pen drive on my desk.

“Take a look. It’s all in there.”

I inserted the pen drive and opened the folder. The first video seemed to have been taken in some high-end restaurant. Matthew was dressed in a black suit and looked all prim and proper as he gave Claudia a huge bunch of Neptune roses.

Three months ago, on my birthday, Matthew had told me that he had to work overtime and only gave me a cheap, locally grown rose bought from a roadside stall for five dollars.

The second video was from the security camera of a shopping mall.

Matthew was holding Claudia’s waist as they went on a spree in luxury stores. Bags of ready-to-wear clothes, accessories, and jewelry piled up around Claudia’s feet, and they acted so sweetly with each other that it made me sick.

When they paid, the plushie keychain the shopping assistant gave them as a gift became the birthday gift Matthew gave our daughter.

With a stony expression, I clicked off the video and opened a document. It showed Matthew’s bank transaction records over the past three years. He had sent large sums of money frequently to a few accounts, and the total made my heart go numb.

All the money ended in a personal account ending with 7761.

Who was the owner? Claudia, of course.

This whole time, he had been quietly transferring money to Claudia in the name of paying her for her services. Did he really think I would not notice him using such cheap tricks? The disappointment in my heart bordered on spilling out when I opened another document.

It was the chat log between Claudia and my daughter’s kindergarten teacher. In the screenshot, Claudia kept asking about Dulcie—my daughter—in the name of being Dulcie’s mother. She asked about whether Dulcie was eating and sleeping properly. She had even made an appointment to attend the next parent-teacher meeting with Matthew as Dulcie’s parents.

I clenched my mouse tightly, not because I was sad, but because nothing could have prepared me for the audacity of Matthew bringing his affair partner to Dulcie.

When Dulcie was born, he had repeatedly gotten up at night to feed her milk and coax her to sleep. He had even promised me that no matter what, she would be our beloved daughter. I still felt some kind of relief when Claudia said that she wanted custody rights over Dulcie. It meant that, at least, Matthew still cared about Dulcie and would not hurt her even if we got divorced.

Still, this had torn a large hole in my chest, and it was filling my heart with cold chills. I almost took out my phone to warn him to stay away from Dulcie, but I received a message from Claudia before I could do it. She had sent a selfie over for me as a reference.

[Ms. Clark, please take a look and see whether my clothes are alright. My boyfriend is bringing his daughter and me to meet his parents, and I’m really nervous.]

At the same time, Matthew sent me a message.

[Honey, my parents miss Dulcie. I’m going to bring her to have dinner with my parents tonight. You’re busy, so I bought you a movie ticket. Watch a movie tonight to relax.]

He then showed me a photo of Dulcie coming out of the kindergarten.

When I saw Dulcie’s naive smile, I laughed.

The movie was nowhere near as interesting as the family dinner.

Since they were going to meet my in-laws, as Matthew’s wife, I needed to see whether Claudia was a good fit. After hanging up, I immediately drove to my in-laws’ place. On the way back, I kept receiving messages from Matthew.

[Have you reached the movie theater? I think there’s an event at the shopping mall where the movie theater is today. Did you see it?]

He was testing me.

But I did not panic. I searched for the shopping mall and sent him a screenshot.

[I saw it. It’s pretty lively.]

I was just humoring him, and Matthew relaxed.

[Alright, honey. Have fun. I love you.]

It was his usual sweet nothings, but I found it disgusting and put my phone away. I did not reply to him anymore.

Once I got out of the car, I put on a cap and mask before approaching my in-laws’ place. The family dinner had not started yet, but Matthew’s family and friends had all arrived. His mother was smiling as she busied herself with socializing. She was so attentive and considerate. Truly, she was a flawlessly good mother-in-law. It reminded me of the time before I married Matthew. She had been like that too.

I was born frail, so she visited farms in the countryside to get chickens to make soup for me every day. Since I could not stand the cold, she knitted scarves and made slippers for me. She treated me like her own daughter. She even remembered the fact that my father had a weak stomach, so she had someone buy herbs from the countryside, made herbal soup, and sent it to my family.

Even my father, a seasoned veteran of the business world, had said, “The Grants are good, honest folk. I’ll feel at ease if you marry Matthew.”

However, when my mother-in-law saw Matthew walk in with a beaming Claudia, she was the first to run over to receive them.

“You must be Claudia. You’re so pretty. I’m sure you’re a good girl. Matthew, you have to treat her right. Don’t mistreat her.”

My usually stern father-in-law set down his newspaper and patted Matthew’s shoulder with a pleased look on his face.

“You have good taste. It’s clear that she’s very fertile. We do need a woman who can give birth to a son in the family.”

It was at this moment that I understood. They hated me for having given birth to a daughter. They wanted someone to pass down the family name.

Meanwhile, Claudia seemed really proud of herself. In a seemingly unintended fashion, she jutted out her belly and said delicately, “Don’t worry. Matthew has brought me to the hospital to check. I’m perfectly fine and can definitely give birth to a son.”

“That’s great!”

My in-laws smiled and wanted to give Claudia gifts. They also forgot about Dulcie, since she was apparently an eyesore.

Matthew’s other relatives surrounded them and kept praising them.

Amid the ruckus, I could hear one of Matthew’s uncles clapping his hands. He was the one who had borrowed more than two million dollars from us. He said, “You’re amazing, Matthew! This is what a man of the Grants should be like!”

One of Matthew’s aunts clapped while wiping her tears away. I had used my connections to send her daughter to study abroad.

“This is great! I like Claudia, you know! She seems down-to-earth.”

There was also Matthew’s cousin, Nick. He had multiple failed businesses, and I was the one who had to keep using my family’s resources to help him secure connections. He was so excited that he stood up and toasted Matthew.

“Matthew, Claudia, I hope you two are happy forever and have children soon.”

I had helped all of them before. They had benefitted from me and owed me, but at this very moment, no one remembered that I existed. None of them mentioned my name.

Piper, Matthew’s aunt, wiped away her tears and grabbed Dulcie before pushing her in front of Claudia. She said, “Stop daydreaming. Call her ‘Mommy’!”

“That’s right.” Olivia, Matthew’s mother, finally remembered Dulcie and tried to shove Dulcie into Claudia’s arms. “Dulcie, call Claudia your mother.”

Dulcie stared at Matthew’s family in panic and shook her head rapidly. “I don’t want to. She’s not my mother. My mother is Tina Clark. Grandma, I want my real mother. Can’t you ask Mommy to pick me up?”

She had naively thought that Olivia would help her if she asked. But Olivia’s face turned cold as she pinched Dulcie’s ear instead.

“What on earth are you saying? Claudia is your mother! Say it!”

Patrick, Matthew’s father, glared at Dulcie in disgust and did not bother hiding his displeasure.

“Look at your daughter, Matthew. She has no manners at all!”

Claudia bit down on her lip and collapsed into Matthew’s arms, as if she could not stand straight. She looked at him, hurt.

“Matthew, does Dulcie not like me?”

His heart ached for her, and Matthew hugged her and comforted her. “No. She’s still young and immature. Once we get married, you can make her do whatever you ask. I won’t interfere.”

When I saw this, I opened the door, unable to stop myself anymore.

As I watched their expressions drop, I put on a fake smile. “Isn’t this a family dinner? Why didn’t you ask me to join when I’m Matthew’s wife?”