Chapter 1

While I was giving my wife a bath after we got intimate, I accidentally touched her new tattoo.

My wife, who was always so sweet-natured, absolutely exploded at me.

"What are you doing, touching there? What if you scratch off my tattoo? Are you just taking out your frustrations on my tattoo because *you* can't perform? A good tattoo costs thousands, you know! My money doesn't just magically appear!"

She absolutely *despised* anyone with tattoos, and now she'd spent thousands on one herself.

My wife, something was definitely wrong with her.

After sex, as I was giving Chloe a bath, I accidentally brushed against her new tattoo.

My usually sweet-natured wife, who rarely raised her voice, suddenly unleashed a torrent of anger at me.

"What are you blindly touching? What if you scratch off my tattoo? I just got it done, it cost thousands!"

"If you ruin it, I swear I'll never forgive you!"

She lowered her head, carefully, almost reverently, tracing the tattoo on her shoulder.

Only after confirming it was perfectly fine did she finally let out a long, shaky breath.

She glared daggers at me. "Good thing it's fine," I heard her hiss, "otherwise, you'd be in for it, big time!"

Just moments ago, when I carried her into the bathroom, she was so sleepy she could barely keep her eyes open.

But the second I accidentally touched the tattoo on her arm, she was like a startled cat, all claws out.

And wasn't she the one who *hated* tattoos more than anyone?

When I was younger, I thought tattoos were cool too. I even got one behind my parents' backs.

But later, when Chloe and I started dating, she accidentally discovered it.

I can still vividly recall the look of disgust on her face. She frowned, her voice dripping with disdain.

"What *is* that hideous thing you've got tattooed? It's so gross! I absolutely *loathe* tattoos. If you want a future with me, you'll get it removed, like, yesterday! Otherwise, I'll just be disgusted every time I look at you."

I was absolutely ecstatic when she said that. It meant she was serious about us, about a future together.

So, just because she disliked it, I endured the pain and had every tattoo on my body removed.

But now, *she* had gone and gotten a tattoo herself.

The sheer hypocrisy!

Her unusually protective attitude towards this tattoo kept screaming one message at me.

My wife, something was definitely wrong with her.

I tried to lean closer, to get a better look, but she immediately clutched her arm defensively, demanding, "What are you staring at, Liam? I knew you'd find a way to make it an issue."

I froze. We'd been married for three years! And now she was telling me I had "bad intentions"?

That was just… insane. Totally out of line.

I pulled on my clothes, my voice laced with annoyance. "Chloe, what the hell is that supposed to mean? We've been married for years! What on earth haven't I seen of you?"

"It's just a tattoo. Why are you acting so weird about it?"

Then, something clicked. My voice changed, a cold edge creeping in. "Or are you hiding something from me?"

I scoffed. "I knew it. Why else would you suddenly decide to get a tattoo, out of the blue? So *this* is what you've been up to."

A faint flicker of panic crossed her face, vanishing so fast I almost convinced myself I'd imagined it.

She snapped at me, then shoved her arm in front of my face. "There! I showed you! Now what? Did you figure something out?"

"Always being so nosy. I just didn't want to show it to you because it was expensive, so I kept it hidden, alright?"

"You're so annoying. All you ever do is suspect everyone and everything. Don't you have anything better to do?"

She shoved me away and wrapped in her robe, yanked open the bathroom door.

Her strength wasn't considerable, but for a split second, I was completely disoriented. I stumbled back, my lower back hitting the sink with a painful thud that made me wince and grit my teeth.

By the time I recovered and walked out of the bathroom, Chloe was already lying on the other side of the bed.

The faint glow from her phone screen lit up her face, a face beaming with a smile. And for some reason, it just felt… jarring. Almost blinding.

It had been a long time since she'd smiled like that in front of me.

When she saw me, she quickly turned off her phone and burrowed deep under the covers.

She was angry again.

I still couldn't understand why she was so angry. I'd just accidentally touched her tattoo.

And what were those bizarre things she had tattooed anyway? What kind of sane person gets such a hideous, tacky thing tattooed on their arm?!