Holiday Dog-Sitting: My Client Is the Other Woman

My golden retriever, Bingo, had gone missing three years ago while on a morning run with Zachary Yandon.

I had been utterly heartbroken at the news. For a long time after that, Zachary, compelled by his guilt, would spend hours handing out flyers with me after work. We even posted missing dog notices online on every social media platform and community group chat.

Despite our efforts, we failed to find Bingo even after several months.

I had never once doubted Zachary's sincerity.

Yet now, I suddenly found Bingo in a client's home, one that looked almost identical to my own home. Besides that, there was that pair of men's shoes by the foyer…

I didn't dare let myself continue down that train of thought. After all, Zachary and I were about to get married in two months.

Nonetheless, Bingo recognized me and wagged his tail madly. Gently biting down on the edge of my pants, he tugged me further inside the house.

I slowly stepped into the house that was almost a clone of my own. Everywhere my eyes landed caused my heart to clench just a little tighter.

On the countertop of the kitchen island were a pair of porcelain coffee mugs—the exact same ones Zachary and I had.

An ash-gray cashmere cardigan was draped over the armrest of the living room couch, and when I got closer, the distinctive scent of Zachary's cologne drifted to my nose.

I was absolutely certain that cardigan was the one I had thought was lost at the dry cleaner's. I had been searching for it for ages.

At the time, Zachary had comforted me, saying that I shouldn't feel guilty and that I could always just buy him a new one.

As it turned out, it had simply been left at someone else's house.

Not only that, but a huge photo hanging smack-dab in the middle of the living room showed Zachary leaning down to passionately kiss another woman.

The most painful thing of all? The watermark in the corner of the photo showed it had been taken on Valentine's Day, supposedly the day Zachary had been busy attending an "academic conference".

Then what about today?

Zachary had left for work early in the morning and told me at noon that he had been sent to another city to assist with a surgery.

Then, in the afternoon, I received a request from this client, who said that her boyfriend had decided to take her to a hot springs resort at the last minute to celebrate Couples' Day.

In other words, Zachary wasn't off in another city to assist with some surgery; he was enjoying the hot springs with the woman in this photo!

Taking out my phone, I called the cardiac surgery ward at Selome Hospital.

"Hello, is Dr. Yandon free for the next two days? I would like to make an appointment for a follow-up."

"Dr. Yandon is away on leave and will only return to work the day after tomorrow."

"Is he really away on leave?"

"I'm sorry, but according to the duty roster, Dr. Yandon is truly away on leave. Would you like to make an appointment with one of the other doctors?"

I stood rooted to the spot as my mind went blank, not even realizing it when the call ended.

Eventually, I was snapped out of my daze by the chime of my phone, indicating that I had a message.

It was from Zachary.

"Honey, I was asked to aid in an emergency surgery at the last moment, so I won't be able to make it back tonight. Happy Couple's Day! Even though you have to spend it alone, remember to be happy, okay? I love you."

The words seemed to stab at my eyes, making them sting.

He was clearly using work as an excuse to spend the occasion with some other woman, yet here he was, still pretending to be loving.

After giving it some thought, I realized that in the past three years since Bingo had gone missing, Zachary had claimed to have last-minute surgeries, academic conferences, or been sent to other cities for assistance countless times.

It was very likely that most of those instances had been a ruse for him to go and cheat on me.

And I had believed him all those times, never once suspecting anything.

At that moment, I suddenly noticed a blinking red light in the corner of the living room—a security camera.

Realization dawned on me.

This wasn't a last-minute request from a client.

This woman had clearly been a mistress for too long and had grown impatient. This was a declaration of war on me so that she could become Zachary's official wife!