Chapter 2

My jaw dropped, and I could feel my blood boiling.

Inside the box were a few things that were totally out of place in our house.

A pink lace nurse costume, flimsy as tissue paper, a fuzzy cat-ear headband, complete with paw gloves and a tail with a bell.

There were also all sorts of weird little toys, scattered around.

An overwhelming sense of absurdity and nausea washed over me.

Alex, the guy I'd been married to for three years, who never kissed me with any real passion; the one who'd frown and say, "Women should be reserved" whenever I tried to spice things up; the man who treated our intimacy like another chore to check off the list.

It turned out that behind all of these, he was getting so freaky.

I always thought he was old-fashioned, boring, and a little cold in bed.

So I kept all my curiosity and desires bottled up, trying my best to be the proper, modest wife he wanted.

But now, it seemed that I was nothing but a huge joke.

He wasn't conservative; he merely kept all that hidden from me.

I gripped that ridiculous rabbit tail, shaking with anger, and tears uncontrollably spilled over.

"Claire, what are you looking for?" Alex's voice suddenly came from behind, making me stunned.

I instantly spun around and hurriedly shoved the box back into the closet, using my body to hide it. "N-nothing. It's getting cold, so I was looking for some warmer pyjamas for you." I stammered, trying to steady myself.

Alex shot me a suspicious look, but let it go.

His face was flushed from the hot shower. As he dried his hair, he walked over to the bed, and casually set his phone down.

Just then, his phone screen lit up with a WhatsApp message.

I glanced at it, and my heart skipped a beat. The message read: [What time to come tomorrow?]

I hadn't had a chance to say anything before Alex noticed me looking at his phone.

He waved his phone like it was nothing. "Well, it's only a coworker. We're meeting a client together tomorrow."

He said it so quickly, which sounded like he had rehearsed many times.

I dropped my eyes, pretending to organize the closet, but inside, I was laughing coldly.

If it was only a coworker asking about visiting a client, they'd probably say, "What time are we leaving tomorrow?" or "What time are we going?"

But the word "come" is too telling. It's like they were talking about coming to somewhere private, somewhere they both know well, like, our home.

I bet what she really meant was, "What time should I come over tomorrow?"

I suppressed my anger, thinking that I was definitely divorcing him, but if I wanted to get more out of this, I needed more evidence.

I turned around, forcing a gentle smile. "Alright, you should get some rest earlier."

He nodded, eyes glued to his phone, typing, and totally letting his guard down.

I went back to the living room and collapsed onto the couch, feeling like all the strength had been sucked out of me.

Just then, my phone buzzed softly.

On the screen, a new friend request popped up. It was someone who had added me through a group chat.

I remembered that was the group chat we made when we all played Cluedo with Alex and his coworkers.

The message read: [Claire, it's Grace. Do you have time to meet up tomorrow? There's something you should know.]

The next morning at nine, I met up with Mia and we walked into the private room at the steakhouse we'd agreed on.