Chapter 3

Aria stammered, unable to speak.

"Tristan, are you looking for Bella?"

"She packed her things... and then left..."

"Right! She said not to tell you, to make you angry!"

A flash of inexplicable loss crossed Tristan's eyes.

He casually tossed the newly bought chestnuts to Aria.

"Since she doesn't want them, the chestnuts are yours."

The next morning when he left, he felt vaguely uneasy.

But he still smiled at our wedding photo on the wall.

"Darling, I'm heading out!"

My soul followed him as he went to the courthouse.

The Tristan in court was completely different from the one at home with me.

He was sharp-tongued with clear logic.

He left the opposing lawyer speechless.

He won a commercial smuggling case worth a billion dollars.

No one would imagine that this righteous attorney was the murderer of his own wife!

After work, a colleague joked:

"Attorney Hall wins the case and won't even celebrate with us?"

"Want to rush home to your wife and kids?"

Tristan laughed softly, his earlobes turning red.

"Not yet! Although I love kids, I respect Bella's wishes."

"After all, having children isn't just my decision. Bella would have to sacrifice more."

I held my breath.

If I hadn't experienced all this firsthand, I might have fallen into the death trap woven from his tenderness and sweetness.

His tenderness was all fake pretense.

A friend's voice carried a trace of doubt.

"It's already ten-thirty. How come I haven't heard your Bella call looking for you?"

I held my breath.

But Tristan just glanced at his phone casually.

"Oh! You mean that!"

Tristan spread his hands, laughing helplessly.

"She must have blocked me again. Looks like I'm sleeping on the couch tonight!"

I did used to block him after arguments.

But I never thought he wouldn't even make a single call to me.

I held back my tears.

So this was what it felt like when love and hate intertwined—pain piercing to the bone.

When he got home, Tristan carefully prepared a candlelit dinner.

He arranged my favorite roses.

This was his unique way of apologizing.

"Bella, come out and eat!"

But he called again and again.

Still no one answered.

I floated beside him, listening to him sigh.

"Bella, if you're angry at me, you can say it directly. There's no need to deliberately eat the chestnuts and take it out on an innocent person."

"If something happens to Aria, neither you nor I can bear that responsibility."

Aria also said with red eyes, adding fuel to the fire:

"Tristan, Bella didn't do it on purpose."

"But I peeled those chestnuts one by one for the mountain god. My nails are all split..."

"Watching her waste them like that, it hurts my heart."

As she spoke, she threw herself into Tristan's arms, squeezing out two tears.

Tristan looked down, his eyes instantly reddening with heartache at her aggrieved appearance.

"Aria, don't cry. She's probably just throwing a tantrum again. Maybe she went to her parents' house."

I trembled with rage.

But I could no longer grab his collar and demand answers.

He clearly said I was his lifelong love.

Why didn't he believe me?

Why did he believe whatever Aria said?

Aria sat across from him, her face full of smugness.

Accompanying him to enjoy this romantic candlelit dinner.

As if Aria were more like his wife, more like the mistress of this house than I was.

And I was just an unwanted outsider.

But late at night at midnight, looking at our wedding photo on the wall, Tristan tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

He finally called my mom.

"Mom, um... did Bella come home?"