On our fifth wedding anniversary, my wife’s best friend leaned close and asked her with a laugh in French:
“So, how does your little assistant taste?”
Annette handed me a piece of cantaloupe—my favorite—before answering just as carelessly in the same language, “Young and tender. Remember, you have to keep this company from my husband. Because if he finds out, he'll definitely leave me”
The crowd immediately burst into laughter, each one swearing they’d take the secret to their graves.
I stood there, clutching my glass so hard my knuckles went white.
They had no idea—I understood every word of French.
I had already known my wife was keeping a lover hidden away.
But I hadn’t confronted her with shouting or tears. Instead, I quietly submitted an application to transfer to a sealed-off national research institute.
Three days from now, I will fulfill her words.
——
Out of the corner of my eye, Annette noticed the cantaloupe still untouched on my plate. She looked at me with feigned worry and asked in English, “Darling, what’s wrong?”
The sight of her gaze, so full of affection for me, only felt like mockery.
Just moments earlier she had been gossiping about her lover, and now she could put on a performance as if I were the only man she adored.
“Nothing,” I replied casually. I couldn’t help but wonder—just how far could her lies go?
“What were you all talking about just now?” I asked.
Annette slipped her arms naturally around my waist, smiling sweetly.
“Oh, we were just discussing some business overseas. I know you don’t like to hear about work, so we switched to French.”
Perhaps lost in the haze of her romance, she had forgotten that I once spent time studying abroad in France. The air around me suddenly felt suffocating. I pushed her gently away.
“You carry on. I need some fresh air.”
Without waiting for Annette’s reply, I walked straight out of the banquet hall.
On the way out, I could hear whispers trailing behind me:
“That’s Mrs. Callahan’s husband, isn’t it? He’s truly blessed—not only was their wedding a worldwide sensation, but she also throws a grand celebration every anniversary. What a lucky man.”
“Oh, to have met such a perfect woman.”
…
Once, hearing others envy our love would have filled me with sweetness. But now, I felt nothing.
They had no idea that Annette Callahan—the woman who, on the surface, seemed to love me with her whole life—was cheating on me.
Just yesterday, I’d planned to give her our fifth anniversary gift ahead of time. Wanting to surprise her, I slipped into her office in secret, telling no one. I waited in the storage cabinet until I nearly dozed off. Then, the sound of ragged breaths jolted me awake.
When I opened my eyes, I saw Annette—the very woman who once swore she’d love only me—pressed against the floor-to-ceiling windows by her assistant, Kevin Krueger. Her face was flushed, their bare bodies leaving streaks on the glass as they writhed together.
They tangled in each other for three hours before finally putting their clothes back on and leaving.
Those three hours—I don’t even remember how I endured them. From the crushing despair at the start, to the numbness that swallowed me whole in the end.
By the time I walked out of that company, I knew my marriage with Annette Callahan was over.
A sudden ring from my phone snapped me out of the memory.
“Easton,” came my professor’s voice, “I’ve already reported your name to the research institute. In three days, someone will come pick you up. You might as well use it to say goodbye to your family.”
At the word family, my grip on the phone tightened.
After my parents died in an accident four years ago, Annette had been the only family I had left.
But now that she had betrayed me, she was no longer my family either.
“It won’t be necessary, Professor,” I replied somberly. “Please… just apply to have all my records erased.”
There was silence, followed by a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line.
“What? Why? Once we erase your file, Easton Blackwell ceases to exist. Don’t you have a wife, Annette? What if she can’t find you?”
A bitter smile tugged at my lips.
“She cheated.”
The line went utterly still before a long sigh came through.
“Actually, when you called yesterday, I suspected something had happened between you and Annette. I just didn’t expect it to be…” He didn’t finish his sentence. “Very well. I’ll delete your records. Use these three days to tie up whatever loose ends you have.”
Relief washed over me. Once my records were erased, I wouldn’t even need to waste time going through a divorce with Annette.
“Thank you, Professor.”
Just as the words left my mouth, a familiar voice came from behind me.
“Who cheated?”
I turned, meeting Annette’s slightly anxious gaze. My own expression remained calm as I replied.
“Professor’s other students’ wife.”
She studied my face carefully, searching for any cracks in my composure. Finding none, she finally relaxed and slipped her arms around my waist with a coy smile, “Don’t worry, honey. That could never happen to us.’
I looked straight into her oh-so-sincere eyes and asked, “What if it were?”
Without the slightest hesitation, Annette shook her head.
“Impossible. Because I only love you.”
“But what if.”
She paused, then her hands gently cupped my cheeks as she whispered, “If I ever cheated, then punish me by never letting me find you again.” She let out a soft sigh. “Because you are my life. If you weren’t by my side, I wouldn’t want to go on living.”
I gave her a small smile but said nothing.
Annette, your punishment is coming. In three days, I’ll disappear and you’ll never find me.
She opened her mouth to say more, but a man’s voice cut in.
“Mrs. Callahan, everything is ready.”
Kevin stood in a sleek black suit, his voice clipped and professional—nothing like the domineering man pressed against her at the window yesterday.
Annette’s face returned to an impassive mask. She gave a small nod, then waved him away.
Watching their performance, I felt only cold irony.
Their acting was impeccable, perfectly in sync. If I hadn’t seen them with my own eyes, I might have kept believing their lies forever.
Annette slid her hands over my eyes and whispered in my ear, “Darling, I have a surprise for you.”
“Five, four, three…”
When she finally let go, the night sky erupted with fireworks. Blossoms of red roses bloomed above us, until the sparks formed a giant number: 10, frozen against the darkness.
Annette wrapped her arm around my waist, her tone wistful.
“We’ve been together for ten years. Can you believe it? Time really does fly, huh?”
I stared at the glowing number, momentarily lost.
Yes—ten years. From when I was nineteen until now, twenty-nine. A whole decade had passed, and time had changed so much.
It changed the woman who once loved me so deeply into someone I could barely recognize.
It also changed what used to be a genuine love… into nothing but lies.
Annette turned, her eyes brimming with false tenderness. Her hands slid around my neck as she leaned in for a kiss. Just as I was about to turn away, her phone buzzed with a message notification.
Annoyance flickered across her face.
“I told them no one was to disturb me today. Let’s see who dares defy me.”
The moment she saw the name on her phone screen, Annette’s face froze.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught it. Kevin.
She gave a small cough, subtly angling the phone away as her fingers tapped a quick reply. In her eyes, a spark of desire flashed unmistakably.
Sure enough, the very next moment she turned back to me with a look of feigned guilt.
“Darling, I’m so sorry. Today is our anniversary, I know I should spend the whole day with you. But the company—”
“Work is important. I understand,” I cut her off before she could spin another lie.
Relief softened her shoulders. On any other day she would never leave without kissing me goodbye, but tonight she merely gave me a perfunctory hug before turning to leave.
I stood there for a moment, then quietly told my assistant to handle the banquet guests before I slipped away, following in Annette’s direction.
It wasn’t until the underground parking lot that she finally stopped.
Kevin was already waiting. The moment she opened the car door, his cold expression melted away. He pulled her into his arms.
“I have to say, the firework show made me jealous,” his voice tinged with a childish grievance.
Annette sighed, brushing a kiss across his cheek.
“I set fireworks off for your birthday just a few days ago. What’s there to be jealous about?” With a tender gaze, she added, “I promised you—as long as you behave and never expose our relationship to my husband, whatever he has, you’ll have too.”
At those words, realization struck me like a blade. Five nights ago, there had been a thirty-minute firework display lighting up the south side of the city. That same night, Annette had told me she was working late at the office. To cheer her up, I’d snapped a photo of the fireworks and sent it to her, joking that some hopeless romantic must be pulling out all the stops to win the heart of his beloved.
Now I understood. That hopeless romantic hadn’t been some stranger—it had been Annette herself and that made me feel like the biggest fool in the world.
Kevin gave a small laugh, his hands slid lower, tracing her waist possessively.
“Am I not allowed to be jealous?” Annette caught his wandering hand, her voice softening, laced with coyness.
“Didn’t you say you had something you wanted to show me?”
“Why don’t you open it and see for yourself?”
Kevin chuckled, wrapping his arms tightly around her and pulling her into his chest. “I’m sure you’ll want it so bad you can’t even refuse.”
With that, he scooped her up effortlessly, carrying her into the car. Annette let out a startled cry, but the rest of her voice was smothered beneath his kiss. As the windows rolled up, the car began to rock in a steady rhythm.
Hidden in the shadows of a concrete pillar, my fists clenched so tightly the veins bulged across my hands.
I had already caught them once yesterday—yet seeing it again, my chest still ached with a crushing, uncontrollable pain.
On the day we were married, Annette swore she would spend every single anniversary entirely with me. But one message from Kevin was enough for her to throw that promise away. Did she really crave him that much?
I shut my eyes, forcing down the storm inside me. Three more days. Just three more days, and this will all be over. I didn’t return to the banquet hall. Instead, I went straight home.
That night, I was half-asleep when a loud bang jolted me awake.
Annette stood in the doorway, her face tense. The moment she saw me, she exhaled in relief.
“Honey, why didn’t you tell me you went home? I was searching the entire banquet hall for you. Do you know how frantic I was?”
I glanced at my phone. The clock read 3:00 a.m. I had been home since nine.
