Chapter 2

I smiled sweetly, "I thought you had another woman outside."

His expression seemed to freeze for a moment, but before I could be sure, he returned to his gentle self, lightly tapping my head.

"What are you thinking? How could I have another woman? You're enough for me in this lifetime, Emma Lu."

With that, he kissed my forehead again and again.

In the past, I would have believed him without a doubt.

But today, I had heard him disparage me with my own ears.

I remained calm, acting as usual, giggling as I pushed him away, "Go wash up, you stink!"

After he left, I picked up his phone and opened the messaging app.

This was the first time I had ever checked his phone. It was clean, nothing suspicious.

But it was too clean.

Finally, in his payment records, I found an unusual expenditure.

Every month, he would transfer money to this account, for five years.

Seeing the name on the account, I remembered a person I had seen earlier.

Opening her profile, I quietly noted down the phone number displayed.

By the time he came out, the phone was back in its original position on the table.

He glanced at me, his expression inexplicably flustered, but quickly returned to normal, "Baby, did anyone message me?"

He was wiping his hair, pretending to ask casually.

I feigned ignorance, got up and looked at his phone, "No."

The next day, on what should have been a workday, I took a day off.

After Lucas left for work, I dialed the number I had noted down last night, "Hello?"

The other end responded, the voice gruff, a man.

I suppressed my pounding heart and exhaled, thinking, thankfully it's not her.

But the next moment, his question plunged me into an icy abyss.

"Are you here to rent an apartment?"

I couldn't control my trembling voice, and just managed an "Mm."

"You're in luck, a tenant is just moving out. You can come take a look."

"Don't worry, our security is very good. This tenant who's moving out has lived here for five years!"

He was enthusiastically promoting the place, and when I heard "five years," everything seemed to fall into place.

Why Lucas often worked overtime.

Why he always smiled stupidly while looking at his phone.

Why it took him an hour to get home yesterday when the restaurant was so close.

It turned out that while I was being kept in the dark, while he was being good to me, he had another woman.

And they had been in contact for five years.

I took a deep breath, suppressing the emotions about to burst forth, "Can I come take a look later?"

After he agreed, I hung up the phone.

The tears that had been welling up in my eyes broke free, and I could no longer control myself from crying out loud.

After a long while, I composed myself and called my best friend Sophie to go with me to the address the man had sent.

Seeing my distress, Sophie asked what had happened.

I told her everything about Lucas, and she angrily asked, "So what are you going to do?"

I laughed lightly, "Everything needs evidence."

We arrived at the address the man had given and followed him to the apartment that was about to be rented out.

Standing at the door, watching the man's back as he knocked, I suddenly felt as if time had frozen.

I gripped Sophie's hand tightly, but still couldn't help sweating.

I still hoped, deep down, that this person didn't exist.

The moment the door opened, my eyes stared blankly at the person who opened it.

"Here to see the apartment?" he asked proactively.

I frowned and looked at Sophie, who also looked confused at me.

Was this whole thing really just me misunderstanding Lucas?

After viewing the entire apartment, I pretended to be dissatisfied and walked out. Sophie exchanged a glance with me, "Landlord, do you have any other apartments?"

The landlord hesitated, "There is one, but the tenant went out this morning. I'd have to ask if they're willing to let us in to view it first."

We nodded, saying we could wait, and he went to call the tenant.

"Sophie, I think I really misunderstood him. How am I going to explain to him?"

I nervously held her arm, my face full of worry.

She told me to relax, that everything would turn out fine.

The tenant agreed to let us view the apartment, and we casually looked around.

Thinking that after this viewing, I would go home and make a loving dinner for him.

All these years, he had always been the one cooking for me. The times I cooked for him could be counted on one hand.

The landlord was introducing the layout and lighting to us. Finally, afraid we wouldn't rent, he told us, "A young woman lives here. All in all, she's been living here for five years."

Five years?

This number made me extremely sensitive. Our previously jovial expressions now turned solemn.

Sophie casually asked, "She looks quite pretty. She must have a boyfriend, right?"

The landlord chuckled, "Of course! It's always her boyfriend who pays the rent. I even have his WeChat in my phone."

He took out his phone and showed us the chat history with Lucas, full of money transfers.

I froze in place, my mind in chaos.

Sophie was the first to react, "Are you sure this is her boyfriend?"

The landlord looked disdainful, "Of course! He always comes during the day, rarely seen at night!"

His voice suddenly lowered, "This girl is probably a mistress! What couple has a boyfriend who's never there at night, right?"

My eyes were already red. I felt like a walking corpse as Sophie supported me.

I lowered my head, silently wiping away tears, then forced a smile, "Can we take some photos? We'll discuss it when we get back."

The landlord happily agreed.

Sophie looked at me worriedly. I squeezed her arm and said softly, "Now we have solid evidence, don't we?"

It's not all bad.

I took photos of the room's layout, and secretly took a photo of the girl's picture.