Chapter 1

My bestie, Mia, was about to leave, so I opened the drawer by the door to grab her two parking vouchers.

But after rummaging around for a while, my hand only reached one.

Where were the rest of them? My heart skipped a beat.

"What's wrong?" Mia asked.

"There's only one voucher left," I said, shaking my head. "That can't be right. We haven't had any guests over this month. I'm sure there were four when I cleaned up at the beginning of the month."

As I spoke, I called Alex Carter, my husband. "Alex, did we have any guests over this month? I can't find the parking vouchers."

There was a pause on the other end, then his gentle laugh. "Parking vouchers? Well, maybe I forgot to pick them up this month, Claire."

"Alright," I replied.

He added, "By the way, you're still going to your mom's house for the night this Wednesday, right? I'll fill up the tank for you ahead of time."

After hanging up, I turned to Mia and said, "Alex is cheating on me."

Mia looked at me, her eyes full of worry. "Claire, are you sure? What if it's only a misunderstanding?"

"He's lying," I said, shaking my head. "He didn't forget about them but handed out three to someone else."

I could feel disturbing thoughts were crowding into my mind, which was also clear at the same time. I had to find out what happened.

"Mia, don't leave. Come with me to the security room," I said.

When we got to the security room, Mr. Brown was on duty, half-asleep.

I explained that I wanted to check the parking voucher records for my place this month.

"Why bother checking that? Once they're gone, they're gone," he grumbled, sounding impatient.

I pulled out 70 dollars from my wallet and slipped it under his thermos.

His eyes lit up instantly, and his attitude changed completely. "Of course, I'll check it right away! Let me get the records for you."

He flipped open a thick logbook and pointed to a column. "Here you go, Room 601, Building 12. All four vouchers were used this month, on the 7th, the 14th, the 21st, and the last one was today."

The 7th, 14th, and 21st. All of them were Wednesdays. Every single one was the day I always went back to my parents' place.

My hand clenched into a fist without me realizing it.

I asked, "Mr. Brown, is there any way to check which car used them? Are the license plates recorded?"

He shook his head. "Miss, we only collect the vouchers, and we don't care who uses them. With so many cars coming from outside, there's no way to keep track."

That was the end of the trail. But at least I knew that every time I went back to my parents' place, someone was coming over to my house.

After seeing Mia off, I went back to the empty house by myself.

Looking around at the place Alex and I had put together piece by piece, I felt physically sick for the first time.

My family never approved of me marrying Alex. My parents thought he had no ambition and only wanted an easy life.

But I liked him so much, I couldn't help but marry him. So every week, I'd go back to my parents' place for dinner and spend the night there.

We only had one car, and Alex was the one who drove it to work normally. The only day I took it was when I went to see my parents.

At first, I actually felt guilty since my family always looked down upon him, and I had to leave him alone at home.

But I never imagined that the day I was gone would be the opportunity for him to mess around with someone else.

Thinking about it made me rush to the bathroom and throw up by the toilet.

At 9 p.m., the door was unlocked.

Alex came in, looking exhausted, with a beautifully wrapped box in his hand. "Claire, I'm back. I'm tired out."

He handed me the car keys as he changed his shoes. "I filled up the tank for you, and I brought you a gift, a scarf from your favorite brand."

I took the keys and the box, but didn't open it.

Alex launched into a vivid retelling of the three days of wedding festivities, bragging about how he drank for his leader and how lively everything was.

He was animated, gesturing wildly as he spoke, but I only sat there quietly, feeling empty inside.

A terrible thought crept into my mind, but I couldn't bring myself to think deeper about it. I didn't know if he'd really spent those three days as the best man for his boss.

He went to take a shower, taking his phone with him.

These days, he was glued to his phone, never putting it down, not even when he was in the bathroom or taking a shower.

I grabbed the scarf he bought me and headed to the bedroom, planning to stuff it into the closet.

As I reached deep inside, my hand bumped into a box. I took it out and opened it, and what I saw stunned me.