Chapter 4

The heat of the moment had completely taken over and stripped away my rationality.

I frantically searched every corner of the cramped space when Celeste finally snapped and shouted at me, "What the hell is wrong with you, Edgar?"

Still finding no one, I yanked out my phone from my pocket, tapped on the security feed, and shoved it in her face for questioning. "Where is this man? Where are you hiding him?"

When Celeste's eyes fell on the screen, her expression twisted with fury. "Were you spying on me?"

Completely blinded by the human figure I'd seen, I ignored her reaction. "I'm asking you where this man is!"

"Man?"

Celeste let out a sharp, mocking laugh and pointed at the mannequin. "That's the man you're talking about."

After walking over, she adjusted the mannequin's pose until it matched the angle in the video. "I was just adjusting the shape of the mannequin, and to find the right angle, I'd shifted it."

I was completely stunned. The mannequin's shape and build seemed to match what I'd seen in the footage, so could it be that I'd really wronged her?

As my reason crept back in, my hands and feet started going cold. I'd not just doubted Celeste, but I'd also spied on her and questioned her like a lunatic.

"I-I'm sorry…" I murmured in a dry voice, helplessly holding my forehead.

Celeste stood with her back to me, her shoulders slightly shaking as if she was crying. It took a long time before she turned around with red-rimmed eyes and softly muttered, "It's fine. I know I've been working overtime lately and neglected you, so it makes sense you'd feel insecure."

She leaned her head against my chest with her fingers tracing slow circles on my back. "We haven't really been intimate in a while, so go home, shower, and wait for me. I'll clean up and be right back, alright?"

Her softness and understanding only deepened the guilt within my chest. There was nothing I could say, so I nodded and headed home.

However, sitting in the living room, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was still off. Not only was the thorn of suspicion in my chest not pulled out, but it'd also dug deeper.

I took out my phone and repeatedly replayed the footage once, twice, ten, and even 20 times…

Finally, I slowed the video to half-speed and stared at the screen unblinkingly.

In one split second, it finally struck me what was off.

Sure enough, Celeste had been lying to me all along!