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.

Six hours. She had spent six whole hours with Kevin—kissing him, or doing God knows what—before finally remembering to look for me. That’s the most ridiculous excuse I’ve I ever heard.  

“I wasn’t feeling well, so I went home. Forgot to tell you,” I said offhandedly. Maybe all this time living with her—and her endless lies—had rubbed off on me. I could now toss out excuses without blinking.

Still, the unease on her face didn’t fade. Annette climbed into bed and snuggled against me, clutching my arm as if afraid I might vanish.

“Next time, don’t forget to tell me, okay?” she whispered. “You always have to let me know where you are or I’ll worry and if you ever disappear, I’ll turn over every single stone in the city until I find you.”

I closed my eyes, offering no reply. In three days, she would never find me again.

The next morning, perhaps out of guilt, Annette had a Patek Philippe delivered to the house.

“I’m sorry about last night. Please don’t be angry, okay?” she said softly, holding out the watch box like a peace offering.

I opened it briefly, then set it aside. “I’m not angry,” I told her, retrieving another box I had already prepared. “This is the gift I got for our anniversary. But you can’t open it until two days from now.”

Originally, I had planned on giving her a necklace—custom-made by an international jewelry designer. But the day I caught her cheating, I threw it away. Instead, I slipped off the wedding ring I had never once removed from my finger and placed it inside.

That would be the only thing I left her.

Annette accepted the box, curiosity flickering in her eyes.

“But Honey, our anniversary was yesterday. Why make me wait two more days?”

I gave her a faint smile. “Because it’s very special. It’ll surprise you even more if you open it then.”

Her eyes sparkled with anticipation.

“Alright then,” she said eagerly. “I’ll do exactly as you say.”

The words had barely left her lips when the doorbell rang. She went to open it—only to find Kevin standing there, his face glowing with barely contained joy.

For a heartbeat, she froze. Then quickly, she grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the garden.

“Honey, Kevin’s here to discuss an important report about the company. I’ll take him to the garden so we can discuss about it and you can enjoy you breakfast without interruptions.”

From the upstairs window, I watched Kevin pull Annette into his arms.

But Annette shoved him away furiously, her face clouded with rage.

“Have you lost your mind?” she hissed. “Didn’t I tell you not to come to my house? If Easton suspects anything between us, I won’t let you off!” 

Kevin’s eyes reddened as he pulled a folded document from his bag and thrust it into her “I know I shouldn’t have come, but… I got your medical report. It says you’re pregnant.” He paused. “We did it rough last night, and the doctor said the fetus isn’t stable in the early weeks or their development. I’m scarred, Annette. I don’t want anything to happen to our baby.”

He placed his palm gently on Annette’s lower abdomen. “And it’s going to be our first child.”

The words slammed into me like a fist. My body froze. Annette is pregnant?

When we had first married, she told me she never wanted children—that a baby would steal our attention from each other, dilute the love we shared. She had begged me to keep our marriage pure, undivided, just us and I, blinded by what I thought was her devotion, agreed.

Now I understood.

She never wanted my child. But she had no problem letting another man put his child inside her.

Annette’s eyes widened in shock when she first glanced at the paper. Then, slowly, her brows relaxed, and a tender smile spread across her face as her hand drifted protectively to her stomach.

“Nine weeks? I really need to start taking better care of myself,” she murmured lovingly.

Then she turned to him with gentle determination.

“Go wait for me in the car. I want you to take me to the prenatal checkup. Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to this baby.”

Kevin finally broke into a grin, leaning in to kiss her. Annette’s eyes darkened, and she pulled him closer by the back of his head, taking control of the kiss.

They tangled for a long moment before she finally pushed him away, her voice dripping with mock coyness.

“Even while I’m pregnant, you can’t keep your hands off me? There’s a baby in here now. Go wait in the car.”

She turned, straightening her clothes, and headed back toward the house. I hurried downstairs and slipped into my seat at the dining table, as though I had never left.

Strangely, relief washed over me. Thank God there were no children between us. That meant I could walk away from all this without leaving any blood ties behind.

The moment Annette opened the door, her familiar apologetic smile appeared.

“Darling, there’s an urgent issue with the company. I have to head out of town on short notice, and it might take a few days to sort out. You don’t mind being alone for a while, do you? I’ll bring you back a little something.”

I nodded silently.

Seeing no sign of suspicion in my expression, she relaxed, kissed me on the cheek, and left.

I watched her departing figure, then glanced at the calendar on the wall. Two more days, I thought. Two more days and I’d be gone. Perhaps this had been our last moment together.

That afternoon, a message arrived on my phone.

An ultrasound image.

[Annette is carrying my child. Our first child. You useless old man, do her a favor and divorce her already. Make room for me.]

The number was unfamiliar, but I knew instantly it was Kevin.

Now that Annette was pregnant, he clearly felt bold enough to stake his claim.

But I had already decided to leave. My heart toward Annette was already ashes. Staring at that scan stirred not the faintest ripple inside me. 

As she had said, Annette didn't come home for the next two days.

I used that time to quietly erase myself from the house. Every trace of me. What could be donated, I donated; what could be burned, I burned. Only the barest essentials were packed neatly for my new life in the lab.

On the morning of my departure, I rose early, zipped my suitcase, and waited for the lab’s car to arrive.

Just as I reached for my phone to ask how long they’d be, another message popped up. From Kevin again.

A photo. Annette in a wedding gown, halfway through makeup.

[Annette and I are getting married today. She promised to give me and the baby our rightful place. This wedding is just the beginning.

[No wonder she’s been on the phone in secret these past days—she was planning this surprise for me. She said everything has to be the best, even on such short notice, because she wants me to be the happiest groom and soon-to-be father in the world.]

[Don’t be surprised if she comes home with divorce papers in her hand. If you want to hold on to any shred of dignity, you’d better leave that mansion now. Because from this day on, I—the true man of the house—will claim what’s mine.]

This time, I replied.

[Congratulations. You will soon get everything you wished for.]

The car arrived just as I hit send. I picked up my luggage and climbed in.

At a red light, a commotion outside caught my attention.

“Oh my God, who’s getting married?”

“Wow, Look at the cars!”

“What a wedding, so extravagant!” 

The passersby exclaimed.

Instinctively, I turned my head.

There she was. Annette, in her white gown, sitting in the back of a Maybach. Her eyes were full of tenderness as she adjusted Kevin’s tie.

And then—her gaze lifted. Our eyes met through the glass. Hers widened with sheer panic.

The next second, my phone rang.