Chapter 1

My heart lurched, hammering against my ribs.

Matthew Channing and I had used those two parking spots for years, and nothing like this had ever happened before. But after a moment, I let out a small laugh and shook it off.

The internet crowd was probably too deep into their drama binges. Everything had to be some big scandal with them.

Matthew and I had weathered storms together for years. I knew him better than anyone. When I called him just now, nothing seemed off at all. He sounded exactly the same as always.

We met in college and had been married for six years. When I couldn't bear to leave my parents and move to another city, he didn't think twice. He packed up his whole family and moved to mine, starting over from scratch.

Two years ago, when I fell seriously ill, he quit his newly promoted director position on the spot just so he could take care of me full-time. After I rose to the management level at my family's company, I worked late constantly, but no matter how tired he was, he always stayed up waiting for me.

Over the past two years, he had even given up the career in the professional field he'd spent years building and transferred to my department to share my workload.

How could a man like that ever betray me? What would strangers on the internet know?

Just as I was thinking this, someone knocked on the car window.

Matthew stood there with a jacket draped over his shoulders, looking sheepish. "Have you been waiting long?"

I teased him. "That parking job of yours was pretty awful."

He grimaced. "I ate something bad. My stomach wouldn't cooperate."

He turned, clutching his stomach, and went to move his car. Watching him scramble like that, whatever sliver of doubt I felt melted instantly into sympathy. While he was busy moving the car, I posted an update in the comment section of the video.

"Thanks for the concern, everyone. It's just a false alarm. My husband wasn't feeling well and parked in a rush."

Matthew and I went upstairs together. I dropped my suitcase by the door and headed straight for the bathroom.

The moment I picked up the shampoo bottle, I could tell it was lighter. The little bit that was left before my business trip was completely gone.

I called out without thinking. "Matthew, did you use my shampoo?"

He came jogging out of the kitchen with a scallion in hand. "Yeah, I just wanted to try it out. Is it empty? I can run out and grab some right now."

I was about to tell him not to bother when something in the corner of the bathroom caught my eye. Two long strands of hair were tangled around the drain filter, jet-black and glossy.

Before I left for my trip, the housekeeper had cleaned the drain. There hadn't been a single strand of hair left behind.

I forced my voice to stay calm. "Don't worry about it. I'll just shower first."

I shut the door and immediately grabbed my phone, messaging the property manager to request for the parking garage surveillance footage. When the video came through, my hands were shaking so badly I could barely tap it open.

On screen, that familiar silver SUV rolled in slowly. Matthew got out, looked around in both directions, and adjusted the angle a few times. There wasn't an inch of extra space on either side of the two spots. Then he walked away.

But just as he reached the edge of the camera frame, the shadow of a second person flickered past alongside him. I stared at the screen, my eyes practically burning. He had used the parking spots as cover and knew exactly how to avoid the cameras.

This was the man who uprooted his entire life for me? The one who waited up for me every single night?

Before I left on this trip, I was still discussing making him a shareholder in the company.