Chapter 1
I was a relationship vlogger who built a following of over a million followers by documenting the sweet and romantic moments I shared every day with my "perfect husband," Mark Evans.
Right before the long holiday, I went live and told everyone that Mark and I were gearing up for a road trip—all the way back to my parents' home, a thousand miles away.
But on the night before our trip, I realized all the gifts I'd packed in the trunk had vanished without a trace.
When I checked the dashcam footage, I caught Mark quietly loading the gifts into his so-called friend's car, softly telling her, "You really care about family. You always put my mom before anyone else."
I kept it to myself. The next day, I started up my holiday special stream—Homecoming Surprise Live—and spent the whole trip having lively interactions with my followers.
Just like we planned, Mark ditched me at a highway rest stop, claiming he had some urgent work emergency before speeding off. Flashing a smile at the camera, I said, "Alright, guys, now's when the real surprise kicks off."
*****
"Hey, everyone, our Homecoming Surprise Live is kicking off," I said.
I was holding a selfie stick. On camera, Mark and I were rocking matching couple hoodies, both of us grinning from ear to ear.
Mark gently buckled my seatbelt for me, and then waved at the camera, playing the part of the perfect husband with a million followers like he was born for it.
"Honey, you must be exhausted after driving for over ten hours. Why don't you get some sleep? I'll wake you up when we hit the rest area," Mark suggested.
The chat was blowing up with envy.
[Susan and Mark are just too sweet.]
[It's another day of crying over their god-tier romance.]
[Like, seriously, where do you even find a husband like Mark?]
I flashed a smile at Mark sitting next to me, but not even a ripple in my heart.
His oh-so-gentle face from the dashcam last night was still burned into my mind.
I watched him take the fancy coffee I'd picked out for my dad and the cashmere shawl meant for my mom, moving each one carefully from our car, and then putting them all into the trunk of a pink Mini Cooper.
The woman behind the wheel of the pink Mini was Megan Riley, Mark's friend.
Mark said, "You really care about family. You always put my mom before anyone else."
Megan giggled sweetly, "Of course. Your mom's basically my second mom. Not like some people who only ever worry about their own family."
I laughed, but it didn't touch my eyes.
All those gifts I'd so carefully prepared had just become props for their little show with Mark's mom, Claire Evans.
I made it look casual as I brought up, "Oh, by the way, honey, did you put all the gifts I bought for my parents in the trunk? There's a lot in there—don't let anything get crushed."
Mark's hands tightened on the steering wheel.
His smile didn't even falter, but his eyes flickered for a split second.
"Don't worry, I packed everything up in boxes and made sure they were on top," he replied smoothly.
Watching him lie so smoothly made me feel ironic.
Just then, a user named Megan Sweettooth sent an expensive gift and commented, [Susan, you really put your heart into this. Your parents are definitely going to love your surprise.]
It was Megan.
I turned to the camera, my smile growing even sweeter.
"Since Megan said so, honey, why don't we pull over right now and show everyone what I got for my parents? Maybe everyone in chat can help me judge if my parents will be surprised to see their gifts," I said.
I practically bit down on the word "surprise."
A crack finally showed in Mark's calm expression.
He forced out a couple of awkward laughs. "Babe, we're on the freeway, and we can't just stop whenever. Plus, everything's packed and put deep inside.
"Digging them out right now would be a huge pain, you know? We can just do unboxing for everyone once we get there, right?" he said, trying to sound casual.
He kept sneaking glances at me, clearly worried I'd push the issue.
Of course, I didn't push it.
No way I was going to rush this—gotta make sure the drama built nice and slow.
I nodded, playing the understanding wife. "That's right. I totally forgot we were on the highway. My husband is just too thoughtful, always worried I'll get tired. Everyone, we'll save the big unboxing for when we get to my parents' place."
I smoothly steered the conversation away, keeping up my sweet wife routine while shaping Mark's perfect husband image so that he would be ruined when the truth was exposed.
When we finally arrived at my parents' place, let's see how he'd magically produce those gifts.
The chat was back to gushing about how sweet we were.
Mark visibly relaxed, even reaching over to give my cheek a doting pinch.
"That's why I love you, you're always so thoughtful," he said with affection.
I caught a glimpse of his smoldering gaze and nearly gagged right then and there.
The car cruised along, and in the livestream, viewers were all hyped, swapping travel plans for the long holiday.
Mark and I just made small talk, keeping up the picture-perfect, sweet-couple act.
Suddenly, Mark's dashboard lit up with an incoming call.
The screen flashed "Mom."
Mark glanced at the screen, clearly itching to hang up, but the call jumped through before he could even reach for the button.
Claire's sharp voice exploded through the speakers, broadcasting straight into the car—and right into the ears of everyone tuning into the livestream.
"Mark, did you pick Megan up yet? I'm so worried about her driving all that way by herself," she exclaimed.
Mark's face went ghostly pale.
The livestream chat just stalled out for a moment.
Then the chat blew up with question marks.
[Megan? Is that the same Megan Sweettooth who sent the gift just now?]
[Wait, why is she with Mark's mom?]
[Sounds like Mark's mom is super fond of her.]
Claire had no idea her call was live. She just kept ranting.
"Mark, I just don't get it. Why on earth would you choose that barren hen over a girl as amazing as Megan? I mean, look at everything Megan brought me this time—two whole boxes of gifts.
"She's a hundred times better than your wife, who does nothing but drag things back for her own family. Just dump her already and come spend time with Megan. I don't care what you say. At least during this long holiday, my daughter-in-law is Megan."