Chapter 1

Douglas had just stepped into the bathroom when his iPad lit up on the bedside table. A SnapChat notification popped up.

Aurora: What mushy message did she send you today? Forward it, I’m waiting for a laugh.

I reached out and tapped SnapChat. The pinned chat wasn’t mine, it was Aurora’s.

At the top of the chat window was a screenshot of the message I’d sent Douglas that afternoon.

Me: A kid at the kindergarten told me I have a pretty smile today, and my first thought was to tell you.

Below it was Douglas’s added comment when he forwarded it to Aurora.

Douglas: She’s like this every day, has to report every little mundane thing.

Aurora: Does she have no friends or something?

Douglas: Pretty much. All kindergarten teachers are the same, simple-minded.

I sat on the edge of the bed, my finger sliding further down the screen.

There was a selfie I’d sent Douglas, wearing a pink apron, flour smudged on my face, taken while I was making him a birthday cake.

I had asked him at the time: Douglas, don't I look like the perfect wife?

Douglas had sent the photo to Aurora.

Douglas: It’s an absolute aesthetic disaster.

Aurora: Then how do you manage to kiss her?

Douglas: Doesn't matter, it’s all the same with the lights off.

My fingertips started to tingle.

The sound of water in the bathroom stopped. I immediately turned off the iPad and placed it back on the bedside table.

The door opened, and Douglas came out, drying his hair, a towel wrapped around his waist.

He walked over, hugged me from behind, and rested his chin on my shoulder.

"Alice, is it your ovulation period today?"

His hand wrapped around my waist, wandering, and he kissed my earlobe.

I instinctively recoiled. Douglas paused.

"What's wrong?"

I leaned down to pick up his pajamas from the bed, then walked around him to the dressing table.

"I'm tired, we had an event at the kindergarten today."

Douglas stared at me for two seconds, then didn't ask again.

He went straight to bed, turned off the lamp on his side, and started playing on his phone, his back to me.

I also got into bed and lay on the other side, listening to his breathing gradually deepen.

At 1 AM, I got up.

I gently pulled the iPad from under his pillow, then carefully got out of bed and went to the living room.

I sat on the sofa, opened that chat window, and scrolled from the very beginning.

The timeline started a year and a half ago, when Douglas and I weren't married yet.

He had just switched to his current company, was under a lot of pressure, and worked overtime every day.

I brought him meals daily, waited for him downstairs, and stayed up with him as he worked on projects.

He had screenshotted my message, "Don't work too hard, I made you some soup," and sent it to Aurora.

Douglas: She’s so boring, never says anything else.

Aurora: Still pretty suitable for marriage, at least she’s low-maintenance.

Douglas: Yeah, stable.

So he married me for stability, not love.

I kept scrolling.

The first time I tried on my wedding dress, I asked him if it looked good.

He replied: "Beautiful, Alice, you’re the prettiest." Then he immediately forwarded it to Aurora.

Douglas: The studio's photo editing is brutal.

Aurora: Even with the edits, Alice looks pretty ordinary. How did you settle for her?

Douglas: I was at a low point back then, and she stuck by me. So I just settled.

I stared at the word "settled," my stomach cramping.

I clicked on the photo attachment. Inside were private bedroom photos I’d sent him, not meant for anyone else to see.

I had sent them to Douglas, out of complete trust.

But he forwarded them to Aurora.

Aurora: That's quite a figure, you must be enjoying yourself.

Douglas: Come on, it’s nowhere near yours.

I screenshotted every single chat record, one by one, and sent them to my email.

My hands were shaking, but I didn't stop.

At 4 AM, I returned to the bedroom and put the iPad back in its original place.

Douglas rolled over and mumbled something.

"Alice, why aren't you sleeping yet?"

I didn't answer, just stood by the bed, looking at him coldly.

He didn’t wake up.

I lay back down, my eyes open until morning. The next morning, Douglas sat at the dining table eating breakfast as usual.

I fried eggs and toasted bread.

When I placed the plate in front of him, he looked up at me.

"What's wrong with you today? You seem like you're in a bad mood."