I rubbed my reddened eyes and pretended to be accidentally awakened by her phone, pushing her asleep.

"Lia, your phone is ringing!"

"Lia?"

I casually picked up her phone again, pretending to answer the call for her.

I want to see how Lia would respond!

"Damn, who's calling in the middle of the night, disturbing people!"

I grumbled to vent my dissatisfaction.

"Huh?"

Lia, who was awakened, was a bit impatient, but when she opened her drowsy eyes and saw the string of numbers on the phone screen, she sat up abruptly.

My thumb was about to slide to the answer button...

"Haven't I told you many times already? Don't touch my phone!"

She was very angry, rudely reaching over my chest and snatching the phone away.

As usual, I compromised a bit,

"Why are you always so angry, can't you speak nicely?"

But her face changed suddenly and she grabbed the phone and got out of bed,

"My friend's child is sick, I'll call her back first!"

Which friends called each other "wifey"?

Did your best friend not even save your number?

Did she act like she didn't see the messages before looking at the picture?

Heh!

If the child was sick, what was the use of finding her in the middle of the night? A single woman like her was of no help.

In the blink of an eye, I had already thought of countless possibilities.

Lia answered the phone quietly on the balcony, and in the dim light, I saw her panic as never before.

I leaned against the head of the bed, feeling irritated, and lit a cigarette.

She kept glancing back at me, clutching her nightgown tightly. I could vaguely see her grip was tight, very tight.

Her various abnormalities made my heart sink.

I wished I could rush to the balcony, snatch her phone, and see who that person calling her "wifey" was!

But my rationality told me to endure, to understand the situation first.

In a loose sense, Lia was my first love.

We came to Riverside City this time to buy a house in Lia's hometown.

She said she wanted to be closer to her parents in the future, so I agreed.

My dad passed away when I was young, and my mom lived happily with my sister and her husband.

My mom said, "Luka, if you really step out, treat the girl sincerely, even if she's not up to the mark, I won't mind as long as you're happy!"

"These days, it's rare to find a girl who remains pure until the wedding day, Luka, cherish it!"

The girl my mom mentioned, who remained pure until the wedding day, was Lia.

Although she always said she was too ugly to meet my parents, I secretly showed her photos and various videos to my mom.

At first glance, my mom thought the plain-looking Lia was the ideal daughter-in-law in her mind.

And I always respected Lia's wishes not to overstep her boundaries.

She said, "Luka, I love you. If you love me, save this moment for our wedding day."

So, after nearly a year of dating, traveling with her all over the place, I considered myself not the most charming or humorous, but still a very charming man.

But she never showed any desire in front of me, at most holding hands and giving me a peck on the cheek.

I just thought she, like me, had never been intimate with anyone.

Girls were different from boys after all.

And I endured, especially every time we shared a bed, it was torture, the temptation right there, and I had to sleep alone!

Lia came back after answering the phone, her face pale.

"Is your friend's child seriously ill? Why didn't you go to the hospital in the middle of the night?"

I asked casually.

"You don't understand, she's a single parent, panicked and at a loss when something like this happens, that's why she called me."

Her explanation was flawless.

I raised an eyebrow, took one last drag of my cigarette, and forcefully extinguished it.

She wrinkled her nose at the smell of smoke filling the room, her already furrowed brows raised even higher.

"Why are you smoking again? I can't stand the smell of smoke!"

She changed the subject.

Whenever we were together in the past, I never touched a cigarette.

Under Lia's influence, I hardly ever smoked, except when I was troubled.

The contractor secretly had his secretary put two cartons of pricey cigarettes in my car before leaving the company today.

I was in a hurry to see her, so I didn't deal with it.

I took them since they were given. I just bought a wedding house, and thus I could take them to the town to entertain my parents-in-law.

Who would have thought, I ended up smoking them myself?

My rebelliousness arose, not as gentle with her as usual.

"Woke up by the noise, couldn't sleep, so had a couple of smokes."

She pursed her lips at my words, but began to pack her things.

I didn't understand, what trouble was she going to cause now?

"In the future, don't touch my phone unless it's necessary!"

Sigh!

Before I even asked her who the wild man was and whose baby, she took the initiative to confront me.

It seemed that over the past year, I had spoiled her endlessly.

"Do you have any secrets in your phone that your dear husband can't handle?"

I deliberately emphasized the term 'dear husband,' and sure enough, her expression became even more intense, yet she didn't show a hint of panic.

I couldn't help but wonder if I was overthinking things. Maybe she was really just talking about her close friend?

"Is this what you call respecting me?"

"When have I ever disrespected you?"

"You take my phone and even answer my calls!"

She stared at me intently, as if trying to read something from my face.

I raised the corner of my mouth and chuckled lightly, "Isn't it normal for a husband to answer his wife's phone call?"

However, Lia forcefully threw the clothes she was packing onto the bed, "Shameless, who said you're my husband?"

Doubts filled my mind, and the anger that had just subsided rose again.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't want to argue with you. I'm going back to town first. I can't rest assured leaving my friend alone with her child."

As if realizing something, she slightly restrained her temper, but she didn't stop packing.

"Once I settle things tomorrow, we can go see the wedding house together."

I looked at her icily.

So she even remembered that we had plans to see the wedding house tomorrow!

Was she afraid I'd change my mind, so she softened her attitude a bit?

She unplugged the charger from beside me, and I couldn't help but grab her forcefully, "Are you leaving now?"

It was three in the morning, and she would only arrive back in town from the city in the morning.

Was her friend's child really that important?

In the past, she would have definitely asked me to drive her.

But as I glanced at her phone screen, I saw that a ride-hailing driver had already accepted the order.

If there wasn't anything shady going on, I would have let her use my head as a soccer ball.

I struggled to suppress my anger at being fooled and deceived.

Even if she softened up and asked me to drive her to see her friend, I would believe her.

She forcefully broke free from my grasp, her fair hand turning red, but she acted as if nothing happened, dragging her suitcase and slamming the door as she left.

"Damn it!"

I watched from the balcony as she hurriedly got into the ride-hailing car and left, smoking one cigarette after another.

I don't know what to make of all this.

With my inner Sherlock Holmes awakened, I recalled that long string of phone numbers and registered a Line account with a newly acquired dedicated network phone number.

Following the numbers in my memory, I entered them into the friend search on Line.

A baby's profile picture appeared. It was a boy.

I clicked on the profile picture to enlarge it.

A dizziness washed over me, and a chill ran down my spine.

That boy looked exactly like Lia, as if they were carved from the same mold!

Guessed was one thing, but seen with your own eyes was another.

At a glance, one could tell that the boy and Lia definitely had a blood relationship...

But what did she say?

Her friend's child?

I'd never heard of any child taking after their mom's friend!

Wasn't she insulting my intelligence with that statement?

Unwilling to give up, I once again noticed the blue figure next to the name of this Line account.

So, the owner of this unfamiliar number was a man!

While the Line name was abbreviated, XFBB.

I numbly recalled Lia's Line name, XFMM.

I once asked Lia,

"What does your Line name mean?"

She smiled shyly, blushing, and said,

"Young's little sister!"

I teased her affectionately,

"More like Young's cutie pie!"

It turns out, I was just being presumptuous!

XFBB's posts were filled with daily updates about that boy, without fail:

[Shay turns three today. Dad wishes your health and happiness every day! Hope we can reunite with mom soon!]

[Shay said he missed mom today. I couldn't help but cry!]

[Shay was exceptionally well-behaved during dinner today, watching him reminds me of her!]

...

I couldn't bear to watch anymore.

If being cuckolded was a man's shame, then what about being a male lover mean?