His Real Anniversary Is With Her

Cecelia's POV

Before bed, Nora Blunt, my boyfriend's childhood friend, said she couldn't find her contact lens case. My boyfriend, Jerome Walsh, immediately took one out of a drawer for her. In our five years together, I never even knew we had one in the house.

I sat alone in our bedroom, lost in my thoughts. Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around my waist, and a sparkling necklace appeared before my eyes.

"Happy fifth anniversary." Jerome gently fastened it around my neck.

I looked in the mirror across from us. The necklace fit me perfectly. Jerome's eyes were fixed on mine.

I froze for a moment.

He'd always been gentle, thoughtful, and attentive—the kind of boyfriend most girls dream of. But he treated another woman the exact same way without a second thought.

I pressed my lips together and gently pushed him away. "Jerome, about our anniversary today…"

Before I could finish, there was a knock at the door.

Nora's voice came through the door. "Jerome, I'm sorry to bother you. But I keep hearing something in the corner of my room, and I'm a little scared. Could you come take a look?"

Jerome immediately withdrew his arms from my waist.

The AC was running full blast, and I suddenly shuddered.

"Let me go check. The guest room's been empty for a while. It's probably just a bug or something." Jerome walked out of the bedroom without looking back.

I heard them talking softly by the door. Their voices gradually faded until I could no longer make out what they were saying.

Just then, my phone buzzed. It was a message from the studio confirming the job offer. "Ms. Sheldon, your flight has already been booked. Please check your departure time."

I opened the app. An electronic ticket appeared on the screen. When I saw that the flight was the next day, I let out a quiet breath.

"Why are you sighing?" Jerome's voice suddenly came from behind me.

Startled, I dropped my phone at his feet. He bent down to pick it up and tried to unlock it.

"Did you change your password?" His brow furrowed.

We had always shared our passwords with each other, so I could check his phone whenever I wanted. That was the sense of security Jerome had always given me.

Back when I was most insecure, I had snuck a look through his phone. But there was nothing suspicious at all.

His chat history with Nora was shockingly sparse, with just a few holiday greetings and the occasional check-in. Yet none of that stopped him from openly celebrating their anniversary on the very day we were supposed to be celebrating ours.

"Why did you change it?" Jerome's question pulled me back to the present.