After Ariel left, I placed the Patek Philippe inside my collector's box.

Each collector's box could hold 20 watches, and this was the fifth box that I was now using up.

Three years ago, a scandal broke out in Ariel's company, citing rumors that she was seeing male escorts on the side.

Ariel had set aside all of her work for the day and immediately came home to explain things to me. She said that she had only gone along with the male escorts because of certain business requirements of some sort, and that I was the only person she would ever love for the rest of her life.

And to show how sorry she was about the whole fiasco, she even bought me my first watch to cheer me up.

That watch had cost her 20 thousand dollars.

I had still been happy to receive the watch back then. I thought that the watch represented her attitude—that she was serious about this, and also that she paid attention to me and knew exactly what I liked.

Eventually, she gave me more and more watches over the years, and the price of each watch only kept increasing.

Soon, I couldn't even fathom a smile after receiving her watch gifts anymore.

About half a year ago, on my birthday, I received my 80th watch. Dejected, I had then promised myself that I would bring up divorce if she ever gave me the 100th watch.

Half an hour later, a deep, magnetic male voice sounded from my phone.

"Oh, you're here, Ari! I missed you so much!"

This was from the eavesdropping app I'd installed on Ariel's phone just now. It would eavesdrop on her conversations and send the recordings to my phone in real-time.

So, Ariel had really gone to see Claude after all.

"Weren't you the one who asked me to come over? So, how much did you have to drink?"

Claude just huffed and complained. "I lied. I never drank a drop. I just didn't want you to spend the night with your old man."

There were a few seconds of silence after that. Then, Ariel's voice sounded again, this time a whole lot colder than before.

"Claude, you're not allowed to speak about him like that."

Claude just scoffed again in disdain and said begrudgingly, "Fine, I get it. I can't refer to him as an old man, not even if he's not around.

"Say, do you think he'd be so happy and jump over the moon if he learned how much you defend him on the daily?"

There was a hint of sarcasm and frustration in Claude's voice.

Ariel just sighed loudly and tugged him into her arms. "Alright, don't get all worked up now. Come here and give me a kiss. Did you want some tonight?"

Then, the couple's disgusting lovey-dovey sounds pierced my eardrums.

A door closed shut with a click. Suddenly, the app stopped transmitting their conversation and went silent.

They'd both probably made their way into the bedroom by now.

Another half an hour later, I heard the couple softly talking to each other.

"Ari, have you settled the thing you promised me last time? Scooby's already been gone for three whole days…"

Claude's deep voice was laced with anticipation.

"Yeah."

Ariel sounded a little hesitant, but she still spoke to him in a doting manner. "I'll accompany you there tomorrow. Remember to keep a low profile. Don't let Dustin find out."

I frowned deeply.

Scooby was Claude's pet dog.

Had it died?

And what exactly did Ariel promise him that I was not supposed to know?

Before I could make heads or tails of the information, Ariel retrieved her phone and went back into the bedroom.

They then made love a total of three times for the entire night.

I stared up at the ceiling the whole night until the skies turned bright again.

I had heard of Claude's name a long time ago. He was Ariel's junior in high school, and they were each other's first loves.

Their relationship had been quite lovey-dovey back then, but when they officially announced their relationship, Ariel's family was the first to object.

I heard that Ariel's mother, Fiona Johnson, hired a private investigator to look into Claude's background. I didn't know what they found out about him, but whatever it was, it was enough for both Fiona and her husband, Nathan Sweeney, to stop them from seeing each other, by hook or by crook.

Ariel fought them for nearly half a year. However, in the end, Claude was the first one to fold and broke things off. Fiona then had Claude sent abroad for his studies.

Ariel had then lost all motivation in life after that, and she remained depressed for a few years. It wasn't until she met me that she finally let go of Claude and the past.

At first, I thought that she had already completely let go of her relationship with Claude after she married me. Yet, obviously, I had simply overestimated myself.

Once again, I tapped into the photo of the title deed that Claude had sent to me.

Ariel had bought him plenty of gifts over the past three years. However, these gifts had stopped at just cologne, sneakers, and clothing items.

This was the first time ever that she'd bought property, too.

The next morning, Ariel finally came home.

She looked at my bloodshot eyes and sat down on the bed next to me, looking at me pitifully.

"Didn't you sleep well last night, honey?"

"No," I said, rubbing my eyes, a little aversive to her touch. "Can you make some breakfast for me? I'm really hungry."

"Of course. You're my husband, after all."

Ariel then gently kissed me on the cheek, as if last night hadn't happened at all, and then turned to head out into the kitchen.

I quickly took her phone and pulled up her WhatsApp conversation with Claude.

The chat window indicated that the last time they'd chatted was just ten minutes ago.

"Are you coming to bring me to his mom's grave after you're done pacifying him?"

"Yes. Keep it a secret. Don't tell anybody about this."

"Don't worry, Ari. My lips are sealed. I love you!"

For some reason, their conversation sent a deep shiver down my spine, raising goosebumps all over my body.

Why were they planning to go to my mom's grave?

After I was done with breakfast, Ariel told me that she was going back to the office.

I got worried and went to a printing shop to make copies of the documents on the information Fiona had dug up about Claude's past when she ran the background check on him. Then, I took the car and drove to the graveyard.

Two hours later, I'd just stepped into the graveyard when I immediately caught sight of the two of them in the far yonder, standing in front of my mother's tombstone.

Claude was dressed in black. He held a box of ashes in his hands and had a sad look on his face.

Ariel stood next to him, instructing two of her bodyguards to dig up the empty plot on the left of my mother's grave.

Both of their backs were facing me, so nobody saw me entering quietly from the back.

Soon, a large, deep hole appeared in the ground.

Claude then bent down and put the box of ashes into the hole. He sniffed quietly as he said, "My dear Scooby, I'm finally laying you to rest."

Scooby?

A box of ashes?

Laying it to rest?

My brain nearly exploded at the moment. I rushed up to Claude in a few strides and punched him on the cheek.

"Claude Henner! Who gave you permission to dig up this empty grave?"

"I…"

Claude spat out a mouthful of blood and looked at me, both in shock and dissatisfaction. It was as if he'd never expected me to turn up.

I gritted my teeth and yelled, "Take that box of ashes out of there at once! Now! Do it!"

I rarely ever lost my temper outside of my home.

After burying Mom years ago, I had spent a fortune buying up the two empty plots next to her grave, planning to use it for my dad and myself after we'd both passed. After all, Mom's dying wish was that the three of us be buried side by side after we were gone.

I never thought that Claude would use it to bury his dog instead!

Claude's face swelled into the size of a baseball. He went over to Ariel and stuck close to her like glue. Then, he wailed and said, "Ari, look! That old man… He hit me!"

Ariel looked shocked to see me here. She never expected me to show up either. She took a few steps away from Claude, putting some distance between him and herself.

"Honey, calm down. I can explain."

She then reached out, wanting to hug me, but Claude immediately stepped between us.

Ariel's face darkened at once.

Claude then lifted his face, showing her his swollen cheek after getting hit by me. Her eyes immediately softened as she decided not to yell at him.

"Honey, you have to listen to me. I can explain."

I glared at Ariel coldly. I felt as though she were a stranger to me now.

"I don't want to listen to you. Tell him to remove his dog's ashes now!"

Ariel sighed and said, "He didn't purposely want to bury his dog next to your mom. He just sought out a fortune teller who told him that this was the best place for him to bury his dog so that it would have a better afterlife.

"Claude is a kind person. He just wants his dog to ascend into the happy hunting grounds as quickly as possible. He also promised that he wouldn't put any markers on the dog's grave.

"In fact, the fortune teller mentioned that the dog's ashes wouldn't affect the human ashes that got buried in the same spot afterward anyway. Don't you think that's acceptable?"

I was so mad that I was shaking.

"No fucking way! The box of ashes must be taken out now!

"Ariel Sweeney, you know very well that my mom had always been afraid of dogs when she was alive! If you insist on leaving his dog's ashes in the ground, then you and I are through! I swear I'm going to divorce you if you do that!

"My mom would never accept a daughter-in-law like you! Don't forget that she used to treat you very kindly when she was still around!"

This was the first time I'd ever brought up the subject of divorce. Ariel's face turned grim at that.

"Honey…"

Suddenly, Claude's eyes turned red as he began sobbing loudly like an abandoned little puppy.

"Dustin, Ari used to talk about you, but I never thought that someone as old as you would still be so petty over such a small issue! I know that you're not in a good mood today, but this is just a small matter!

"All you had to do was just compromise, but you had to go and make such a huge deal out of this. If you'd just wanted to yell at someone, then you could have just taken it all out on me. I feel sorry for Ari…"

I glared at him icily and said, "Oh, you wanted me to take it out on you? Sure. I'll fulfill your wish right now."

I then grabbed him by the collar and dragged him over to the hole that the bodyguards had just dug up. Then, I kicked him hard in the guts.

Claude was forced to his knees in a humiliating manner. He gritted his teeth and glared at me like he wanted to kill me.

I didn't even bat an eye. "Grab your fucking box of ashes and get on your knees to apologize to my mom right now! Otherwise, I'm going to beat you up so badly you won't even be able to talk!"

Claude took the box from the hole and then cast Ariel a beseeching look.

Ariel's face darkened again.

"That's enough. He didn't end up burying his dog after all, so making him apologize to your mom on his knees is just preposterous."

I felt my heart boiling with rage as it thrashed angrily in my chest.

"Me? Preposterous? Who was the one who forced me into doing this? There are plenty of other burial plots in the area, so why did he have to pretend to consult a hocus-pocus hillbilly actor saying that this was the best burial place for his dog and disturb my mom's peace? Can't you see his motive?"

Claude just sighed and pretended to compromise.

"Don't yell at Ari anymore, Dustin. I'll kneel."

Ariel moved to stop him. She then helped him with the box of ashes.

"No need to kneel. I'll bring you elsewhere to bury Scooby instead."

They then left together, shoulder-to-shoulder, leaving me behind.

It suddenly felt as though I was the one at fault from the beginning to the end.

I laughed self-deprecatingly and turned around to instruct the bodyguards to fill up the hole.

Suddenly, I caught sight of the burial plot on the right side of Mom's grave.

The supposedly empty burial plot I'd spent a fortune on now had a brand-new tombstone on it.