Chapter 2

I used the phone camera to zoom in on the glint on the woman's chest. I stared at it, completely stunned.

It was a four-leaf clover necklace, the same one that Joseph had secretly given to Teddy for his birthday last year.

There was one for him and one for Joseph, but none for me. And when I asked him about my missing necklace, Joseph confidently replied, "This is a father-and-son matching necklace. Of course I can't give one to you."

I had felt a little disappointed at first, but I was also happy that they were getting along very well and had a good relationship with each other. So, I didn't press any further.

Once, I even went out of my way to find it when Teddy lost it. I searched the entire neighborhood for it in the dead of the night with a flashlight, not wanting him to be upset.

But now that I thought back about it, I realized that I'd been too foolish and stupid.

That necklace was obviously a "family necklace" for the three of them.

I found it so stupid that I wanted to laugh, but my lips just wouldn't curl upward no matter what.

Soon, it was 7:30 pm, and the Parent-Teacher Community Night was about to begin. The announcement had said that the event would last for about an hour and end at 8:30 pm later.

Teddy's teacher led the three of them into the school. I then looked away, saved my video recording, and set a timer for an hour. Then, I told the Uber driver, "Turn around and go back to my house."

Ten minutes later, I arrived at the house that Joseph and I shared, and there was also a group of people with me.

Joseph had a habit of locking up all of his private things in his safe. And I had never once cared about it for the past eight years we were married.

Today, I called in a locksmith.

"Please open this safe for me," I said with a polite smile. Then, I looked at my divorce lawyer, Samuel Cochran, whom I had hired for thrice the usual price.

"And you, please make sure to take a proper video recording of the whole incident. I don't want to be sued later. It'll be too much of a hassle."

Everyone nodded and got to work.

Two minutes later, the safe door was opened. I looked inside, and there weren't too many things in there. There was just a diary and a few documents.

I opened the diary and saw that it was filled with Joseph's handwriting.

"August 3rd, 2018. Sunny. Misty and I just got married. She said she wanted to go to Alloland for our honeymoon, and I agreed."

"August 7th, 2018. Sunny. I bought the plane tickets for Misty and me to Alloland, but we didn't manage to get connecting seats. I'm a little upset."

"August 9th, 2018. Rainy. The plane just took off. The air stewardess is really cute, and we exchanged contacts. Misty's already asleep in the row in front of me. I'm glad we didn't end up seated together after all."

"August 13th, 2018. Sunny. We're in Alloland for the third day. Misty talks too much. It's annoying. I wonder what that air stewardess is doing now. I miss her."

"August 14th, 2018. Rainy. We slept together. Misty's in the room right next to ours. It's so exhilarating."

My hand paused right at that moment when I saw the date on the diary entry. I stared at it for a long time, my eyes dark and hollow. August 14th? It had only been ten days since our wedding!

I straightened my back and continued flipping to the next page with much difficulty. The rest of the entries in the diary were quite similar after that, recording all of his affectionate acts with that air stewardess.

"March 11th, 2019. Misty's pregnant. She wanted me to accompany her for her prenatal checkup, and Soph didn't like it. Whatever. Soph's more important anyway. Misty's too easy to lie to."

"June 9th, 2019. Misty's five months pregnant. Her stomach's so disgustingly huge. She's also gotten a lot uglier. Soph's still the best, young and lively."

"August 22nd, 2019. Misty threw up again while eating today. Yuck. But I can't divorce her yet. Her dad promised that I'd get a raise at the end of the year."

"October 1st, 2019. Misty just gave birth. It's a boy. I need to find a way to make sure he doesn't get too attached to her."

I suddenly crashed into the corner of the study desk, and the pain spread from my waist to the rest of my body, but I didn't even seem to feel it. I flipped to the next page at once and continued reading.

For the rest of the next six years, from 2019 to 2025, Joseph's diary recorded every trick he'd used to make me entrust Teddy to him and how he gradually integrated that woman into Teddy's life, finally completely replacing me once Teddy was enrolled into elementary school.

Meanwhile, those documents were records of Joseph's secret transfer of assets and illegal bribery over the years.

I read another line in his diary.

"November 8th, 2025. Teddy finally addressed Soph as 'Mommy.' I just need to persevere for another year until Misty's dad retires. Once he's of no use to me anymore, I'll finally be able to divorce her."