Chapter 3
The night kept getting darker, shadows swallowing up the city.
City lights washed the sky in a hazy yellow glow.
I sat in my car, eyes locked on the entrance to Westview Residences, afraid I'd miss even the slightest movement.
Time dragged on, every second stretching into an eternity.
Every single second felt like pure torture.
At eight o'clock, Emily texted me.
[Honey, I just got off work and I'm heading home. Did you get there yet?]
I replied, [Yeah, I just finished dinner. Don't work too hard, get some rest.]
She sent back a heart emoji and a "Love you!" sticker.
Seeing that heart pop up on my screen made my stomach churn.
She was lying again.
She said she'd just gotten off work.
But since this afternoon, her car hasn't moved from the office parking lot, the app showed it sitting there the whole time.
She wasn't at the office at all.
So where was she?
Was she in the building right across from me?
At 9:30, a taxi pulled up to the gate.
The taxi stopped at the entrance to the complex.
A man got out.
He was tall, wearing a black trench coat and a baseball cap pulled low, his face hidden in the shadows.
He swiped his keycard with practiced ease and walked right in.
He was heading straight for Building 2.
My heart jumped into my throat.
Was it him?
Ten minutes later.
A window on the 17th floor of Building 2 flickered to life.
The light came on.
To me, that little patch of warm orange light was like hellfire, burning straight into my eyes.
I was almost sure.
That guy had just walked into 1701.
And my delivery was still sitting right outside the door.
What was he going to do with it?
Would he just toss it, or bring it inside?
Or maybe he'd call Emily?
I gripped my phone, waiting for something to happen.
But nothing came.
My phone was dead silent.
Not a single thing happened.
After the guy went in, that window didn't show any more signs of life.
I sat there in the dark, staring at that glowing window like a total fool.
My mind kept spinning, picturing everything that might be happening inside.
Anger, jealousy, humiliation, all those emotions were churning inside me, threatening to tear me apart.
I even had this wild urge to just barge in and see for myself.
I wanted to charge up and kick that door open.
I wanted to catch those shameless lovers red-handed.
But I held back.
I couldn't.
If I rushed in now, all I'd get was a moment of rage, nothing more.
I had no proof.
I couldn't even prove that the person in that room had anything to do with Emily.
I had to wait.
I had to wait for Emily to show up.
I wanted her to walk right into the trap I'd set for her.
Eleven o'clock.
A red Mini Cooper slowly rolled into view.
I knew that car all too well.
It was Emily's car.
She was back.
No, she wasn't coming home.
She was coming here.
The car pulled over to the curb, and Emily got out.
She didn't go in right away. Instead, she stood by the car and made a call.
Instinctively, I glanced at my phone.
The screen was dark.
She wasn't calling me.
Who was she calling?
Could it be that man upstairs?
A few minutes later, she hung up, her face lit up with a relaxed, flirtatious smile I'd never seen before.
She walked into Westview Residences, and soon vanished from my sight.
My hands were clenched so tightly around the steering wheel that my knuckles turned white.
Fine.
Just great.
All those late nights at work, all those business trips, all that trust between us.
It turned out that it was all bullshit.
I stared at the entrance to Building 2 at Westview Residences, waiting.
The elevator display would light up, stopping at the 17th floor.
Then she'd spot the takeout I'd left at the door.
What would she do?
I kept my eyes glued to my phone, barely daring to blink.
If Emily called me, demanding to know why I ordered takeout here, it'd mean she was nervous, guilty, but maybe things weren't totally ruined yet.
If she just grabbed the takeout and walked right in like nothing happened
That'd mean she didn't care at all, not even bothering to cover it up anymore.
Or maybe there was a third possibility.
My phone suddenly buzzed.
It wasn't a call.
It was a bank notification.
[Bank alert: Your card ending in xxxx was used at Home Mart for $12.3 at 11:15 PM.]
I froze.
That card was our family's backup debit card, usually kept in the drawer by the front door.
We mainly used it for groceries or buying everyday items.
Only Emily and I knew the PIN.
I hadn't taken the card with me when I left.
So the only person who could've used it was Emily.
But wasn't she at Westview Residences?
Home Mart was the convenience store right downstairs from our place.
How could she possibly have gone from the west side to the east side in a flash just to use that card?
My mind was spinning.
One crazy, but only possible explanation popped into my head.
I immediately opened the car app to check the location.
Sure enough, the dot for Emily's red Mini Cooper wasn't at Westview Residences.
It was parked just one block away from our place.
And I'd seen her get out of that car and walk into Westview Residences with my own eyes.
She'd parked the car somewhere else and then walked over.
She was hiding.
She was making it look like she'd come home.
She was using a bank transaction to cover her tracks, pretending she wasn't even there.
She knew I'd see that transaction.
She knew I'd think she was already home.
Man, she was really cunning.
Her plan was airtight.
David was right.
She really had more tricks up her sleeve than anyone else.
A cold shiver ran down my spine.
After five years sleeping next to her, how many masks was she still hiding?
Ding.
My phone buzzed again.
This time, it was a message from Emily on WhatsApp.
Emily: [Honey, I'm home. I'm so tired. I'm gonna take a shower and crash.
[Make sure you get some sleep too. Don't stay up too late.
[Goodnight.]
I looked at her [Goodnight] and just laughed.
I laughed silently, like I'd lost my mind.
But the tears wouldn't stop, no matter what I did.
Liar.
She was a liar through and through.
I didn't reply.
I wiped away my tears, my eyes turning cold again.
Time to end this game.
No.
Time for me to set the rules now.
I pulled out my phone and dialed a number.
It was a number I'd saved for a long time, but I'd always hoped I'd never have to call.
The call connected almost instantly.
"Hello? James?"
It was David.
He sounded exhausted.
"It's me," I said, my voice unusually calm. "Where are you?"
"At home. Where else would I be?" He let out a bitter laugh.
"I want to see you," I said.
"Right now?" David asked.
"Right now," I replied.
He was silent for a few seconds.
"Send me the address," he said.
I ended the call and texted him the café's location.
Then I looked up, giving one final glance at that window glowing with light.
I pulled out my phone and snapped a picture of that window.
In the photo, the orange light glared out from the darkness, almost painfully bright.
Just like my mood right now.
Emily, you never saw this coming, did you?
That alibi you spent so much time setting up? It was the final straw that broke our marriage.
And you never saw this coming.
The last person you ever wanted to see, right now, he was already on his way here.