At my birthday party, we played Truth or Dare, where the loser had to call a friend of the opposite sex and say, "I am pregnant."

Right in front of everyone, Rosy Gibson dialed a contact saved as 'Husband.'

The next second, her childhood sweetheart's phone rang. That man was shocked on the spot. "What kind of joke is this? We always use protection, don't we?"

Hearing that, my wife quickly explained, "Oh my gosh, what nonsense are you talking about? I was just joking. If this were true, my husband would kill me!"

She then hung up and started acting cute with me. "Honey, how could Anthony be even better at joking than I am! You wouldn't buy a meat grinder in the middle of the night just for a silly joke, would you?"

I glance at Anthony, then my icy gaze falls on my wife's belly. "I would."

My gesture made Rosy fall silent for a second. "I was joking with you! Can't you tell?"

After that, I smashed the wine bottle, clenching the shards in my fist with a cold sneer. "But I wasn't joking with you."

——

The sound of the shattering glass made everyone at the table freeze in place.

Rosy didn't seem to have heard my last words, but she instinctively stood up, blocking my cold glare toward Anthony. "Honey, it's your birthday and we finally got everyone together. What's going on?"

"I'm giving you a chance to explain," I offered.

That woman suddenly lost her patience and swept my birthday cake onto the floor. "Explain what? It's just a game. What's there to explain? You insist on making a scene, huh? Does this make you happy?"

Rosy had always managed to stay composed, even in the midst of a crisis. Yet this time, when I was merely testing her, she reacted so erratically.

Wasn't this a typical case of anger and humiliation caused by a guilty conscience?

Although it's almost inevitable for the birthday person to end up with cake smeared on them during the final part of the party, the sticky sensation on the top of my feet at this moment made me feel sick.

Noticing my disheveled state, Anthony couldn't even suppress the smirk at the corner of his mouth.

After cheering loudly, he called everyone over to play with the cake, as if everything that had just happened was really nothing more than a joke.

He was the first to scoop cream from the floor and smear it on my face. "Hans, it's just a nickname. I've been calling Rosy 'Wife' for over a decade. You're not going to get jealous over a nickname, are you?"

Then he provocatively put his arm around Rosy's neck and said intimately, "Wife, say something!"

Rosy only smiled indulgently before dabbing cake on the tip of his nose. "Stop it! I'll change the name right now! You should change it too! Otherwise, my husband will be so jealous!"

Anthony, however, wasn't having it. "Huh? What's there to change? Hans has always been generous, not the petty person you make him out to be!"

"Plus, having 'Wife' as a nickname helps me get rid of so many annoying girls who chase after me. It's super convenient! Hans, you can understand my need to avoid being constantly bothered, right?"

Rosy shot me a glance before answering on his behalf. "Fine, I'll change mine. You can keep yours, you've been calling me that for over a decade anyway."

The two of them tacitly avoided the topic of pregnancy, skillfully linking my bottle-smashing outburst with that contact's nickname.

I couldn't help but laugh.

Jennifer Jackman, who had suggested playing this game, was now somewhat sober. With a blushing face, she tried to coax me. "Hans, I just suggested playing such a mean game because I was drunk. If you're still mad, take it out on me!"

I smiled and shook my head. "Why would I be angry with you?"

Actually, I should thank her for suggesting a game that helped me uncover the unusual connection between Rosy and Anthony.

Seeing I wasn't upset, everyone instantly relaxed. But then, Anthony even began recounting the past with smug satisfaction. "Hans, that nickname is from over ten years ago. Back then, Rosy would constantly make me call her 'Wife.' She even changed the nickname on my contact herself."

The next second, I raised my hand.

"Ah!"

A long gash split open Anthony's arm, sliced by the sharp, broken bottle in my grip.

The sudden turn of events left everyone stunned. Only Rosy, who quickly stopped the bleeding, blew air into him and soothed him.

This wasn't the Rosy I knew, the one who fainted at the sight of blood.

After handling everything, she turned to me with a cold stare. "Hans, you're unbelievable! How can you get so angry over a game that you intentionally hurt someone? What's wrong with you? Apologize to Anthony!"

I shook my head in refusal.

Anthony gasped, tugging at Rosy. "Hey, Rosy, what are you doing? Hans is the birthday boy today. He's just a bit moody and wants to have some fun with me. I'm okay with it. Besides, I'm tough. I'll be fine in a couple of days."

Hearing this, Rosy's gaze toward me grew even colder. "Apologize! Don't make me do it myself!"

My phone suddenly rang. Too lazy to spare her a glance, I answered it directly. "Room 308. Deliver it straight there."

Being ignored completely infuriated Rosy. She grabbed my arm and forcibly dragged me in front of Anthony. She barked, "Apologize and get the hell out of here! Stop acting crazy!"

At that moment came a knock at the door. "Excuse me, Mr. Fletcher, your delivery!"

I wrenched free from Rosy's grip, took the package and handed it to her. "I bought the most expensive ones, ten in total. As long as all ten are negative, we'll let this go."

Rosy instantly realized what I'd purchased, her face boiling with rage. She hurled the entire bag of pregnancy tests at me, screaming, "Hans, are you fucking insane? Or are you deliberately targeting Anthony?"

"Why do you take a game so seriously? Am I really so unworthy of your trust?"

Trust? She and her male friends call each other 'husband' and 'wife,' even letting people call her 'wife' in front of me. What gives her the nerve to demand my trust?

The atmosphere in the room grew tense.

She insisted I apologize to Anthony and I insisted she take the test.

At the same time, Jennifer started to slap herself and begged me, "Hans, this is all my fault for having a big mouth. I'll apologize for you. Please don't make it difficult for Rosy and Anthony, okay?"

Unmoved by that apology, I seized Rosy's arm and dragged her toward the bathroom.

She slapped me in the face in response. "Are you really going to humiliate me like this? Even if I am pregnant, it's your child! What the hell do you want?"

She had been fooling around with Anthony. If she were pregnant, who knew if the baby was even mine?

The more she refused to take the test, the more I was convinced something was going on between her and Anthony.

I grabbed the fruit knife from the table and said calmly, "Fine. If you won't take it, I'll get rid of the baby myself."

Rosy's eyes blazed red, pierced by the icy calm in mine.

In the end, she relented. As we entered the bathroom, she swore to me, her voice trembling on the verge of tears. "Honey, I really am not pregnant! I just randomly picked someone to call and joke around! Does that mean every time I play this game with someone, you have to make such a scene and suspect I'm having an affair with them?"

With so many people present, why did she only label Anthony as 'husband'? Even I, her real husband, was just listed by name!

After I ignored her pleas and promises, she could only turn her sorrowful, pleading gaze toward Anthony.

But under my icy glare, Anthony backed down. "Rosy, if we're innocent, we have nothing to fear! Just listen to Hans and take the test! Once the results are in, we'll decide for you!"

His solemn words, paired with Rosy's eyes brimming with helplessness and disappointment, actually made me look like the one losing my mind.

When the fifth pregnancy test also showed a negative result, I began to doubt myself.

Had I really been wrong all along? Was Rosy not pregnant? Then was Anthony just being a smartass to rub salt in my wounds?

The tenth test result was ready and I was so nervous that I didn't dare to look at it.

"Honey, closing your eyes like that. You're not trying to back out, are you?" Rosy's teasing voice forced me to look at the test. They were all negative.

My mouth twisted bitterly as I stared at my disheveled reflection in the mirror, unsure whether I felt relieved or disappointed.

The results proved everything was a joke and everyone was now staring at me.

Before I could speak, Rosy continued, "Alright, everyone, stop giving my husband that look. He knows he was wrong. I don't need an apology from him. Today's mess is all because of his petty nature, but he needs to apologize to Anthony."

She beckoned a waiter to clean up the mess in the private room, then ordered a case of fine wine for me to finish as compensation for hurting Anthony.

Anthony provoked me; shouldn't he be the one to pay the price? Why was she protecting him again?

I refused by shaking my head, but Rosy already grabbed a bottle and smashed it hard against my arm.

"Fine, don't drink! Drinking would be too easy for you anyway. You'd never learn your lesson! Who knows how you'd doubt me and Anthony next time!"

"Consider this a lesson. If you can't handle the game, go home! Stop embarrassing yourself here!"

I bit my lip hard, watching blood drip from my fingertips as if my heart were bleeding.

It wasn't that I couldn't handle it. I just didn't want to be the fool in love.

Glancing at the wine glass before Anthony, I suddenly understood why the pregnancy test hadn't shown two lines.

If Rosy wanted to play this game, I wouldn't hold back.

I turned and left decisively, heading straight to the hospital.

I needed eight stitches to close the wound, but I didn't flinch once in the process. Compared to this flesh pain, the gash ripped open in my heart sent a chill through my entire body.

After the wound was treated, my phone screen lit up.

There were no missed calls or messages from Rosy. Instead, the group chat with their little circle was lively, buzzing with endless new notifications. All were follow-up photos and videos of Jennifer and the others drinking and partying.

In the pictures, Anthony held up his bandaged arm, beaming with joy, while Rosy smiled as she wiped cream off his cheek. The tenderness in her eyes was unconcealed because I wasn't there.

Meanwhile, the group chat continued to buzz with a 60-second voice message. "Rosy, you always love drinking. Today you didn't touch a drop. Are you really pregnant?"

Rosy quickly denied it. "What nonsense! All the tests came back negative. Pregnant? Like hell!"

The others started to jeer and the atmosphere grew lively. "Oh, come on, your jealous husband isn't here and you're still being so tight-lipped? We all know about you and Anthony … "

"But let's be fair, this whole mess was Jennifer's stupid idea. Thankfully, it was a false alarm. Rosy, the baby in your belly is as resilient as Anthony!"

Anthony scrambled to defend himself. "I swear I didn't touch her! Stop spreading rumors, or her husband will kill me!"

"Like he dares!" Rosy's furious roar reverberated through the phone, making my eardrums ache.

After a moment of silence, someone stepped in to smooth things over. "Rosy, your husband may look fierce, but he's actually a complete fool. How dare he try to outdo you in fierceness! That one punch of yours would probably leave him needing several stitches."

Right after I finished screen-recording the conversation, this voice message, which seemed to have been sent by accident, got recalled.