Chapter 2

The beer bottle shattered on Carla's back, sending shards of glass flying everywhere. Even in that critical moment, she didn't hesitate to step in front of Alex.

My eyes grew slightly red, but she didn't seem to notice. Instead, she glared at me.

"Hubert Hewitt, I've put up with your behavior for too long, haven't I? I was nice enough to introduce you to all my best friends, and you can't even take a joke?

"You had to ruin everything! If we weren't married, I would've called the cops on you. You deserve to be locked up for a few days so you can think about what you've done."

Alex wore a triumphant look and chuckled. "Carla, I told you from the start that your husband was no good. You should've taken my advice. Now you're learning the hard way.

"Come on. Let's go have some fun. We'll leave Hubert here to think about what he's done."

Carla gave me a warning look before walking away with Alex, reassuring him as they went.

The sea breeze was a little chilly, but it did nothing to extinguish the anger burning inside me.

Carla's friends exchanged glances but said nothing. One by one, they found excuses to slip away.

I was left sitting alone on the beach, staring out at the shoreline in a daze.

For the past four years, I had always believed Carla was the perfect wife. She remembered every special occasion and would always make my gifts by hand.

She gave me my first bouquet of flowers, saying that even a man deserved to have pretty flowers. I would casually mention wanting to try a restaurant, and she would drive me there the next day.

Both our parents had already met and approved of our relationship. Carla and I had even gotten legally married earlier, with our wedding ceremony set for next month.

However, whenever Alex was involved, none of that seemed to matter. When he came back from abroad, she secretly drove out in the middle of the night to pick him up from the airport.

Every day, Carla would pack lunch for me and do the same for him too. Thinking back, his lunch was always better than mine.

She had never missed a single one of our weekly candlelight dinners, yet one call from Alex was all it took for her to drop me without a second thought.

Whenever I got upset, she would say, "Alex's my best friend. I've always thought of him as a woman.

"How could I ever get with him? Stop assuming something's going on between us."

Since Carla and Alex were best friends, I figured their bond would only grow stronger once he became a woman.

I let out a chuckle when someone suddenly held out a roll of gauze. "You hurt your hand. Let me patch you up."

It was only then that I realized my right hand was covered in cuts from the shattered beer bottle. The wounds were still bleeding.

Seeing that I hadn't moved, Stephanie simply reached for my hand, lowered her gaze, and carefully bandaged my wound.

I thanked her for helping me. To my surprise, she didn't leave. She casually picked up a beer bottle and took a swig.

We sat on the beach together all night until the most beautiful sunrise I had ever seen spread across the horizon.

I took a photo and posted it on Instagram. "To a new beginning."

Stephanie and I took a taxi back to the hotel. The moment I went upstairs, I happened to run into Carla walking out of Alex's room. Her clothes were disheveled.

Her expression shifted when she saw me. Just as she was about to explain herself, Alex popped out from behind her.

It was already morning. Just as the system had promised, Alex was starting to develop several feminine features. His Adam's apple had shrunk a lot, and his features had taken on a certain softness.

Alex seemed oblivious to these changes. He casually wrapped an arm around Carla's waist. "Hubert, you're a lucky man, aren't you? Carla has the best figure I've ever seen."

"Stop talking nonsense!" Carla immediately shoved his hand away and quickly walked over to me.

"Hubert, don't get it wrong. We were just gossiping all night."

I lowered my gaze and caught her absently fidgeting with her pants. It was one of her tells. That meant she was clearly lying.