Chapter 2
The first day had ended.
I saved the screen recording.
I washed my face and grabbed a glass of water.
Sitting back down, I kept watching.
The next day, Clifford took that woman to the beach.
That was when I realized he really had gone to Altaren.
But it wasn't for work.
It was a vacation with her.
They walked along the beach.
They were holding hands, barefoot, their feet sinking into the warm sand.
The woman wore a flowy floral dress, her hair dancing in the breeze.
She was gorgeous.
Clifford snapped pictures of her.
"Come on, give me a smile," Clifford coaxed.
"Stop it, I don't even have makeup on," she pouted.
"You're beautiful even without it," he said softly.
He kept snapping away, taking picture after picture of her.
After all these years with Clifford, I could count the number of photos he'd ever taken of me on one hand.
Whenever I asked him to take a picture, he'd shrug and say, "What's the point? It's not like you're going to post it on social media anyway."
But now, he was taking pictures of someone else.
He was taking a ton of them.
He was really focused.
At lunchtime, they went out for seafood.
The table was piled high with crab, shrimp, scallops, and oysters.
She looked so happy as she ate.
Clifford peeled shrimp for her.
He peeled them one by one and dropped them into her bowl.
"Have some more," Clifford urged.
"You should eat, too," she said.
"Honestly, I feel full watching you eat," Clifford replied.
I stared at the screen.
He was peeling shrimp for her.
We'd been married for five years, and he never peeled shrimp for me once.
Once, I joked, "Hey, can you peel a shrimp for me?"
He replied, "Can't you peel it yourself? It's not like you don't have hands."
After that, I never brought it up again.
So he actually could peel shrimp after all.
He just didn't want to do it for me.
That afternoon, they went to a spa together.
They had a couple's spa together.
The two of them lay side by side, getting massages from the staff, looking like the perfect pair.
She had her eyes closed, totally lost in the moment, enjoying every second.
"Does it feel good?" Clifford asked.
"Yeah, it's really nice," she replied.
"I'll bring you here every month," Clifford promised.
"Really?" she asked.
"Really," he said.
I did the math.
A couple's spa session would cost at least 300 dollars.
He was promising to take her every single month.
He only gave me one thousand dollars a month for living expenses.
One spa trip with her would cost me half a month's living expenses.
I couldn't even afford to buy a face mask for myself.
That night, they went back to the hotel.
Clifford had a bottle of red wine delivered to their room.
The two of them sat out on the balcony, sipping wine and gazing out at the ocean.
"Clifford," she murmured.
"Yeah?" he replied.
"Does your wife really not know?" she asked.
My heart skipped a beat.
On the screen, Clifford smiled.
"She has no clue," he said.
"She never checks your phone?" she asked.
"Nope. She's way too naive for that," Clifford replied.
She laughed. "Guess you're pretty lucky then."
Clifford said, taking a sip of wine, "Yeah. All she ever does is pinch pennies and worry about saving money. Being with her is so dull."
"So why are you still with her?" she asked.
"What else can I do? Divorce is such a pain. I'm still paying off the house, and she hasn't done anything wrong. I don't really have a reason to leave," Clifford replied.
"So... what about us?" she asked.
Clifford slipped his arm around her shoulders.
"We'll keep things like this. I have you here, and sI have her at home. Everyone minds their own business," he said.
She stayed quiet.
Clifford pressed a gentle kiss to her hair.
"Don't worry. You're the one I truly love. She's someone I get by with," he said softly.
I stared at the screen.
It turned out that I was just someone he got by with.
Five years of marriage. I pinched pennies, did the laundry, cooked every meal, looked after his folks, and tried to save whatever I could.
I thought we were in this together, through thick and thin.
But to him, I was his unpaid maid.
That night, I couldn't sleep again.
I slumped on the couch, staring at the ceiling.
My mind was a total blank.
My phone screen was still on. The video chat was still on.
They turned off the lights and went to sleep.
I could hear them breathing.
It was steady and at ease.
He was sleeping soundly.
He was sleeping soundly right next to her.
He had no idea I was watching.
He had no idea I knew everything.
He thought I was too naive for that.
He thought I'd never catch on.