Chapter 2
She never let me near her phone. Every night, she'd be glued to it, chatting away. When I asked who she was talking to, she'd say it was just a coworker.
When I pressed for details, she'd shrug and say I wouldn't know them anyway. If I tried to sneak a look, she'd get pissed and accuse me of not trusting her.
One night, I woke up, and she wasn't in bed. I searched the apartment and found her hiding out in the bathroom, whispering into her phone.
I couldn't make out a word. When I knocked and asked, she just said her stomach hurt, and she was using the toilet.
I didn't think much of it back then. But now, I'm pretty sure she was calling her old flame.
As I walked into the apartment complex, I spotted a food delivery guy leaving the building. That jogged my memory. Daisy had texted me around noon, saying she wanted crawfish for dinner and asked me to grab some on my way home.
I never replied.
As the elevator climbed, my phone buzzed. It was her.
"Hey, babe, are you off work yet? Did you get the crawfish?" Her voice was still just as sweet, still so pleasant to hear.
"Yeah, I got it," I said. "I'm on my way."
"Love you! Muah!"
After hanging up, I stared at my reflection in the elevator doors. Just a run-of-the-mill guy, nothing special about my face, my clothes, or my paycheck. So ordinary that even when my girlfriend cheated, she figured I'd never catch on.
The elevator doors slid open, and I took a deep breath before stepping out.
When I opened the door, Daisy was lounging on the couch with a face mask on. She looked up, saw I was empty-handed, and looked a little surprised. "Where's the crawfish?"
"Oh, they were sold out downstairs, so I ordered from another place. It'll be here soon," I said.
She just said "oh" and barely glanced at me before going right back to her phone, scrolling through that guy's TikTok page.
I kicked off my shoes, grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen, and sat down next to her.
"What did you do today?" I asked.
"Just worked, what else?" she replied.
"And after work?"
"Came straight home. I'm wiped out." As she talked, she rested her head on my shoulder, still swiping away on her phone.
I looked down at her. The shampoo she used was the one I picked out for her, the pajamas she wore were from me, and the necklace around her neck was my Valentine's gift from last year.
Right now, she was leaning on my shoulder, watching that other guy's videos, smiling to herself.
Three years. I'd been supporting her for three years.
"Oh, by the way." She suddenly looked up. "Do you have any plans for the weekend?"
Weekend? I'd planned to take her to the beach, book a romantic dinner, and propose with that ring.
"What's up?" I asked.
"My bestie asked me to go shopping this weekend. We haven't hung out in forever, so I thought I'd go," she said.
Her so-called bestie. I just smiled. "Sure, go ahead."
She gave me a quick kiss. "You're the best, babe."
Before bed, she went to take her usual shower. I lay there, listening to the water running in the bathroom, and reached for her phone.
I knew the password; it was my birthday. She never cared if I saw her enter it, but she'd never let me have her phone to myself.
Once I unlocked it, I opened up WhatsApp right away.
The top chat was with someone named "G." His profile pic was a side profile, taken at the gym.
The chat history was endless, so I started scrolling down from the beginning.
The latest messages:
[Honey, I really missed you today.] Sent yesterday afternoon.
G replied: [Baby, I missed you too. Can't wait to see you this weekend.]
Daisy: [Yeah, I can't wait either.]
G replied: [By the way, everything's cool with him, right?]
Daisy: [Yeah, he's so dumb, he doesn't have a clue.]
G replied: [That's good. Sorry, you have to go through all this, baby.]
Daisy: [I don't mind at all, as long as I can be with you.]
I stared at the screen, my fingers going cold, but my heart felt even colder.
Scrolling further up, I found a whole log of their dates, where they went, what they ate, and what they did. The details were so thorough that it made me sick to my stomach.
And there was another thing: every single time they met up, it was while I was at work. Daisy would call in sick, take a personal day, say she had family stuff, or claim her bestie was getting married... all sorts of excuses, so she could sneak off to see her old flame.
In four months, they'd met at least twenty times.
The most ridiculous part? Her birthday was last month. I took the day off, took her to Disneyland, bought her a cake, gave her a designer bag, and even booked a fancy revolving restaurant for dinner.
She posted on her feed: [With the one I love most, feeling so blessed.]
The photo was one I took, fireworks bursting in the background.
That night, she messaged G: [Had to hang out with him all day. I'll see you tomorrow.]
G replied: [Good girl, I miss you.]
Daisy: [I miss you too. Goodnight, mua.]