Chapter 5

Andrew's face turned completely livid as he screamed, "Emily, stop spouting this absolute nonsense."

"Am I spouting nonsense?" I said and pulled out my phone to show the message he had sent earlier. "You claimed you were out of town entertaining clients. Yet here you are in our bridal home."

Andrew stared at the screen, his Adam's apple bobbing hard. "I came back early because I wanted to give you a surprise."

I laughed. "A surprise? A surprise hiding inside a freezer?"

Lily lunged forward, yelling, "Emily, you need evidence before making such accusations. Andrew came back to prepare a holiday gift for you. How can you slander him in front of all our relatives?"

I turned sideways and pointed at the appliance, demanding, "Then let us open the freezer. We can see exactly what is inside once we open it."

Andrew blocked my path, claiming, "There is nothing in there."

"If there is nothing in there, what are you afraid of?" I shot back.

"The freezer's broken," he argued.

"Then we should get it fixed," I replied.

Andrew's voice finally dropped into a dark register. "Emily, are you intentionally looking for a fight today?"

I stared at the man who had promised to spend his entire life with me, asking, "Am I looking for a fight? You brought another woman into my new home and hid her in my freezer. Now, you accuse me of looking for a fight?"

Andrew's pupils contracted violently.

Aden looked stunned, blurting out, "What woman?"

Olivia's face turned completely pale with panic as she argued, "Emily, you must be misunderstanding things. My brother would never do something like that."

"Is that so?" I said, offering a slow nod. "Then open the door."

Andrew refused to move.

David's face hardened.

"Andrew, open it," he demanded.

Andrew glanced at Lily, whose lips trembled, and she suddenly burst into tears.

"Emily, did Andrew do something wrong? Tell us, and we will make him change. But you cannot destroy his reputation with a scandal like this," she said.

She wept, a picture of absolute sincerity.

Several of the Grant relatives immediately began to mediate.

"Emily, try to talk things out calmly."

"Young couples should not escalate every little argument."

"Andrew always seemed like an honest guy. He does not look like the type to do something like that."

The comments rolled past again.

[Here we go again. The exact same old script.]

[His mother is the best at turning on the tears. She was the one who introduced Summer to Andrew in the first place.]

[Andrew claimed Summer was merely a distant relative.]

[Does Emily actually have any solid proof?]

My eyes locked onto that second-to-last line of text.

Lily introduced Summer to Andrew?

That explained everything.

Six months ago, Andrew suddenly brought up a specific name, Summer Taylor.

He claimed she was a distant cousin of his mother who had relocated from another city and could not find a job, asking him to look out for her for a few days.

Summer eventually secured a position at his company.

Soon after, Andrew began working frequent overtime.

Whenever I asked, he claimed mentoring a new hire was incredibly difficult.

Turns out, he was not mentoring a new hire.

He was dragging his mistress straight into his bed.

"Of course I have proof," I said, opening my phone's photo gallery.

Andrew's expression shifted slightly.

But before I could even tap on a picture, a heavy thud echoed from the freezer. This time, it was far louder than before. It sounded as though something had collapsed.

Immediately after, Summer's uncontrollable sobbing pierced the silence. "Andrew, I am bleeding."

Every drop of color vanished from Andrew's face.

Lily let out a piercing scream. "Summer."

The moment Lily shrieked the name "Summer," her mask was entirely gone.

The living room plunged into a deathly silence.

I slowly turned my gaze toward the freezer.

Andrew rushed forward, but the moment his hand brushed the handle, he froze in place as if recalling a crucial detail.

Summer's voice grew increasingly weak. "My stomach hurts so much."

Lily pounded on Andrew's back frantically, screaming, "Open the door. Now. What are you waiting for?"

Yet, Andrew turned to look at me instead, demanding, "Emily, give me the key."

I arched an eyebrow, asking, "Did you not say there was no one inside?"