Chapter 3

Crystal climbed into the passenger seat and turned to look at Shawn.

From this angle, she could see his determined profile and vaguely sense his anger.

Crystal frowned unhappily. Was it necessary to make such a big fuss?

Shawn Holt, I didn't think you were so narrow-minded. I misjudged you!

Neither of them spoke along the way. The atmosphere in the car was very tense. Ten minutes later, they stopped in Royal River Residences' underground car park.

"Let's go."

Shawn said coldly and headed for the elevator first.

Their home was on the 10th floor. The building had two units per floor, covering nearly 400 square meters.

Verifying his fingerprint, he opened the door and walked in. By this time, Crystal was fuming.

She felt that she was already being very considerate to Shawn's feelings. She was just having dinner with a friend, but her husband had rushed over, acted unreasonably and even hit her friend. After that, she had even left her injured friend behind to follow her husband home.

Thinking of this, Crystal walked into the house with a frown, ready to speak, but when Shawn turned on the lights, she saw the dining table and was immediately stunned.

Roses, wine, candles!

It's... a candlelight dinner?

What's the occasion?

Crystal then realized with a start that it was their wedding anniversary!

A sense of guilt washed over her. She took a deep breath and smiled sweetly, "Honey, I'm sorry. I didn't realize..."

She was ready to apologize.

After all, she was in the wrong because she went out for dinner with another man on such an important day.

But before she could finish, Shawn interrupted her. "Enough, those words are meaningless now."

Looking at his beautiful wife, Shawn recalled the scene at the hotel entrance. Anger bubbled up within him.

He sat down heavily on the couch.

Staring intently at Crystal, he demanded, "Tell me everything. When did it start? How far has it gone?"

Crystal frowned. "What do you mean? I don't understand."

Shawn scoffed.

"Your affair!"

Crystal's eyes widened in shock. She exploded with indignation, "Nonsense! What do you take me for? I merely had dinner with him. I won't stand for this kind of accusation! Apologize to me right now or it's over between us!"

"Just dinner?"

"Of course! You've gone too far! You must apologize to me, then apologize to him! You kicked him, so he's not gonna forgive you so easily!"

"You want me to apologize to your lover?"

Shawn felt so exasperated that he laughed. He pointed at Crystal and shot back, "There's no way I can do that. I'm not as shameless as you!"

"Aaah!"

Crystal was going crazy. Her husband seemed to have turned into a different person. His usual gentleness and calmness were gone, replaced by unyielding coldness and spite.

Without thinking, she exclaimed, "He's just a business partner, a friend at best. You're the one who has a dirty mind! Shawn Holt, you're being completely unreasonable! I'm telling you, we're done! You… You've gone too far!"

"Oh, really?"

Despite her anger, Shawn remained indifferent and had no intention of coaxing her. Instead, he gave her a cold glare, took out his phone, and sent her a photo.

Gritting her teeth, Crystal pulled out her phone. When she saw the photo, she was taken aback. Her hands started shaking, and the phone slipped from her grasp.

"This is what you call a business partner? A friend?" Shawn asked mockingly.

Crystal's face turned pale, and her lips moved, "It's not… not what you think…"

Seeing her at a loss for words, Shawn was filled with anger. He questioned her through gritted teeth, "It's not? Then explain to me what kind of wife would lie to her husband, link arms with another man, and go on a dinner date? Before this, I trusted you unconditionally. I love reading, you love making money, so I made sure you had no worries at home. I provide a warm home for you to come back to no matter how tired you are! But that doesn't mean I'm a pushover! This is betrayal, you're humiliating me! And you actually want me to apologize to him? I regret merely kicking him, I wish I had killed him!"

Crystal had never seen Shawn this furious before. Trembling, she quickly explained, "Don't jump to conclusions. I haven't betrayed you, and I'll never. The guy is Frank Truman, the son of Golden Construction's owner. I'm just discussing a business opportunity with him! Frank is starting his own company. With the backing of Golden Construction, his company will definitely make money. I want to invest in his project, so when he invited me to dinner today, I couldn't say no! Don't overthink it…"

She spoke quickly, her face anxious. That photo had completely broken her composure.

Rather than feeling relieved after hearing his wife's explanation, Shawn merely scoffed. "So he's a rich nepo baby? Well, what are you waiting for? Run off with him already. You two can be together forever!"

"Are you insane?" Shawn's sarcastic remarks angered Crystal. She raised her voice, "Why are you pushing your wife into another man's arms? If I wanted a rich man, I wouldn't have married you in the first place. You're being paranoid. Like I said, I've never cheated on you!"

Shawn was utterly disappointed in his wife. It sounded to him like she was just making excuses. No married woman would casually hold another man's hand. It was an intimate gesture reserved for couples. He sighed, rose, and walked towards the door, calmly stating, "Forget it. I have nothing else to say. Let's get a divorce."

Shawn could not tolerate any infidelity. He had an obsession with faithfulness. If his wife couldn't alleviate his concerns, then they couldn't be together anymore.

"What did you say? You want a divorce over something so trivial?" Crystal was taken aback. She never thought she would hear the word "divorce" come out of Shawn's mouth. She had always thought that, even if a divorce was necessary, she would be the one to bring it up.

Shawn didn't reply. He shot her a cold glance and continued towards the door. "I won't be back tonight. Tomorrow at 9 AM, we'll go to the state court and get the paperwork done."

Crystal panicked. She had a feeling that if she let Shawn leave now, their marriage would be over. From then on, she would live alone, devoid of warmth or comfort, returning home to nothing but a cold bed...

A sharp pain shot through her heart, and she instinctively shivered. She grabbed Shawn's arm and declared, "You're not going anywhere!"

Shawn looked down at her and frowned. He coldly commanded, "Let go."

Crystal stubbornly met his gaze. "No, this is your home. You can't leave."

"You can't stop me."

Shawn was determined to leave, so he shook her off, hard. He was strong, but Crystal clung to him with both hands so tightly that her knuckles turned white, so Shawn couldn't break free.

Frustrated, Shawn turned around and swung his other hand.

Slap!

Both of them froze. A red mark quickly appeared on Crystal's fair cheek. A second later, Shawn took a deep breath and said solemnly, "Don't get in my way."

With that, he turned and pulled open the door.

"Shawn! Stop right there! I'm telling you, if you walk out that door, you'll definitely regret it. You want to know the truth, right? I'll tell you everything!"

Shawn turned back, staring at Crystal.

That slap had calmed Crystal down. She knew she had no choice but to tell him the truth.