Chapter 3

Right then, Mia clutched her hand and ran out. Terrence withstood barely ten seconds of it before his expression went grim, and he told me, "There's been an emergency with one of my projects, so I have to go to the company."

His phone hadn't even rang. He didn't even bother to spend a few brain cells on thinking of a plausible excuse.

I walked to the window, and there they were in the yard of the villa next door. Terrence, who just said that he was heading to his company moments ago, was holding Mia in a tight embrace, examining her hand carefully.

As they stood there, the wind carried their conversation to my ears.

Mia's voice came soft and filled with sorrow, as if she was facing a great injustice. "Terrence, I hate sneaking around like this… Everyone thinks that Tanya's your wife, not me…"

Terrence sighed, his voice a low whisper. "Just wait a little longer, Mia. Tanya and I have known each other for nearly thirty years. If we move too fast, she might not be able to handle the shock, and going public would hurt your reputation too."

He paused, then gently cupped Mia's face with one hand, as if he were handling fragile glass. "Remember this, you dummy. We're husband and wife by law, so it's only a matter of time before we can be with each other openly."

They were married, huh?

So it wasn't that Robin didn't assess the situation clearly, but that he assessed it far too well.

At that moment, my phone buzzed in my palm. It was a message from Mia.

Just a video, with no caption attached.

The footage was shaky, but I could immediately tell that it was a video taken in the hotel suite that I stayed in last year, while I was recuperating from my illness overseas.

I was there, laying on the bed, breaths steady and completely unaware.

Then, the camera flipped. There Terrence was, shirtless and grinning like he'd just pulled off a prank. He held a finger to his lips, smiling with mischievous satisfaction.

Then, he waved someone in, and Mia entered the frame completely naked.

Terrence dragged her over to him and pressed her onto the other side of the bed I was lying on, clapping his hand over her mouth so that she wouldn't wake me up.

On the night I thought he had flown across the world, suffering from lovesickness for me…

The night my heart ached for him, for his exhaustion from rushing to my side across oceans…

Such a dirty, lecherous scene was playing in the room that I thought was only meant for us two.

The next moment, a few more messages came through.

"Tanya, he said that he was more excited, doing it while looking at your face…"

"He had lots of fun, you know?"

Suddenly feeling nauseous, I staggered into the bathroom and vomited endlessly into the toilet.

The bitter and sour bile burned my throat, yet I didn't feel any pain.

Thirty years spent with the man I viewed as my childhood sweetheart, and all the pure memories we had were destroyed by him in the dirtiest way possible.

Steadying myself against the cold basin, I looked at the woman reflected in the mirror—eyes reddened, pale and haggard as a ghost.

I tried to force a smile.

When I was faced with pain that was almost enough to destroy me, I couldn't even bring myself to cry. If anything, everything seemed like nothing but a cruel joke.

However, my face was already stiff.

How could he do something like that, then wake up and cook breakfast for me the very next morning like nothing had ever happened? He should receive an Oscar for his performance.

I slowly shuffled back to my room, dragging my feet. Terrence's jacket was still dangling over the sofa, one corner hanging down to the floor.

I bent down to pick it up, intending to hang it properly. It was muscle memory, at this point, a habit etched into my bones.

As my fingers brushed against the pocket, I felt something firm and square. It wasn't the old lighter that I bought him while working part-time, all those years ago.

My chest tightened, and I reached in.

What I pulled out almost made me recoil… It was a marriage certificate.

Flipping it open, I saw a picture of Terrence and Mia leaning against each other, smiling sweetly and brightly.

The date of registration was half a year ago.

That was the day I was diagnosed with major depression, and the day he dropped everything to be with me in my darkest hour… Or so I thought.

Turns out, he wasn't even there for me.

He was there to get married… and to have a honeymoon like no other.