Chapter 2

I stumbled into the storage room, digging through dusty boxes until I finally found the spy cam.

As I was about to install it on Mylo's bookshelf, I suddenly froze.

There were old tape marks already there.

Those were from three years ago, left by me.

My fingers and lips were numb.

Three years went by, and my condition never really improved...

It’s not like I was "sick" like this from the very beginning.

Three years ago, Mylo had just become head of the department and brought in a new assistant.

I didn't think much of it until their company had a team-building event, and a buddy from Mylo's office, Luke, sent me a photo.

It was a candid shot of Mylo flipping skewers on the grill, while a woman with a low ponytail gently wiping sweat from his forehead with a tissue.

Their interaction looked a bit too intimate.

[Alora, do you know this new assistant?]

I zoomed in on the photo and got a good look at her face.

It was Tiffany McClure, Mylo's college girlfriend.

When we started dating, he never tried to hide his past. He was upfront about having only one ex-girlfriend.

Honestly, I didn't really mind at the time.

When Mylo got home that night, I showed him the photo.

He didn't try to hide anything. He said he'd run into Tiffany, who was working as a hotel waitress and seemed to be having a tough time. His department happened to need an assistant, so he gave her the job.

"I wasn't careful about boundaries with the sweat thing. I'm sorry."

He was so sincere that he brought Tiffany over the next day so she could apologize to me in person.

I let it go.

But deep down, it still felt like a thorn in my heart.

It wasn't until I found a pair of black stockings wedged in the gap of Mylo's passenger seat that the thorn finally pierced me.

"On the day of the bid, Tiffany's stockings ripped. It looked bad for the company, so I bought her a new pair and had her change right there in the car."

He looked totally unfazed, patiently explaining everything to me.

He said that the finance director, Landyn Durham, was also in the car with him at the time, and after changing it, she casually stuffed the old one into the gap between the seats and forgot to throw it away.

Landyn really testified and specially sent a voice message.

But I still couldn't believe it. I needed to get rid of that nagging doubt in my heart.

I caused a scene at the office, barged right into his office, and there was Tiffany, pouring him a glass of water.

I snatched the glass and splashed it in her face, pointing right at her and calling her a slut.

Tiffany didn't fight back. She just cried.

Everyone at the company was watching me.

For the first time, Mylo blew up at me.

He slammed down all the schedules and bid sign-in sheets right in front of me.

"All the evidence is right here. What more do you want from me?"

But none of it got through to me.

From that day on, I made him check in about everything.

I had to know every detail. What time he left, when he got to work, who he had lunch with, what meetings he had in the afternoon.

If he didn't answer my call for over an hour, I'd freak out and call him a dozen times in a row.

I set up cameras at home, even hid one in the study.

I had to keep an eye on him every single minute he was home.

People around him felt bad for him.

"Mylo really has it rough."

"Tiffany just got dragged into this mess for nothing."

"Does Alora... have a mental problem?"

I knew exactly what they were saying.

But I just couldn't help myself.

Until that day, when I made him fire Tiffany with his own hands.

He'd always kept his cool, but this time he slammed his glass down and yelled something at me. I honestly can't even remember what it was.

All I remember was stumbling backward, tripping over the coffee table, and crashing to the floor.

Blood just started pouring out...

It wasn't until I was in the hospital that I found out I'd been pregnant, three months along.

The baby was gone.

But I felt strangely calm like a fever that had finally broken.

The doctor said it was probably the pregnancy hormones making my emotions swing wildly, and three months in was the most unstable time.

Mylo knelt at my bedside, crying in front of me for the first time, holding my hand tight and refusing to let go.

"Alora, I give up. It's all my fault. I can't let you get hurt again."

Tiffany was fired.

Mylo promised we'd never have trust issues again.

But I was left with nothing but mixed feelings inside.

Was I really just overreacting the whole time?

I couldn't let it go, but I didn't have the guts to fight it, either.

Mylo didn't cheat on me, shouldn't that be a good thing?

I spent an entire year on meds and therapy, just trying to feel normal again.

Everyone kept comforting me, saying every couple went through this phase, and things would be fine once it passed.

But three years later, I was squatting in the study, staring blankly at that hidden camera.

The green light was on, and it could be started at any time.

But all of a sudden, I couldn't breathe.

This was how it all began three years ago.

And now, here I was, back at the same crossroads.

Was just that milky scent on a tie really enough to drive me crazy again?