Semua Bab My Wife, My Best Buddy, and Their Family: Bab 1 - Bab 10

I stared at the photo on the screen. No faces were visible, only a pair of hands tightly intertwined.The man had long, slender fingers with well-defined knuckles, while the woman's fingers were adorned with delicately manicured nails.But on the inside of the woman's wrist was a faint, thin raised scar, looking like a light-colored centipede lying beneath her skin.Most people probably wouldn't have noticed such a tiny detail, but there was no way I could mistake it.It was the mark left behind from the day I pulled her back from the brink of death.Clara Lowden and I were childhood sweethearts.We were in the same class from elementary school through high school.Back then, she wasn't the sophisticated and capable career woman she had become later.She used to be gloomy, withdrawn, and timid, like someone who had spent years hiding from the world. She always kept her head down, her bangs falling over her eyes, and barely spoke to anyone.The girls in our class excluded her a

My stomach churned. I rushed to the bathroom, clung to the toilet, and started retching violently.Nothing came out except a mouthful of bitter bile.I looked at myself in the mirror—my eyes bloodshot, my face deathly pale—and suddenly felt that the peace and happiness I'd had over the past four years were nothing more than a bubble.It had looked so dazzling and almost too perfect to be real. But now that it had burst, there was nothing left but emptiness.I didn't cry. My anger and shock left no room for tears. I picked up my phone again and opened Gavin's account. I was looking for clues in the photos where no one's face was visible. However, in one photo, a half-open window offered a faint glimpse of the top of a tower outside. It was the Starwave TV Tower, Hilburg's most recognizable landmark.In another photo, the corner of a distinctive chain coffee shop sign could be seen.And another photo captured the lion statues at the entrance of a residential complex.In less tha

The moment Gavin saw me, his expression froze.His eyes widened in shock, his mouth fell open, and every trace of color drained from his face, leaving him terribly pale.His phone slipped from his hand and hit the ground with a loud clatter.Just then, Clara stepped out of the line with two ice creams in hand. "Naomi! Gavin! I got the ice cream!" She called out with a smile, then followed Gavin's frozen stare.When she spotted me just ten feet away, staring at her coldly, her smile died on her lips.Around us, the crowd remained lively, filled with laughter and chatter, while an unbearable silence settled between the three of us.Gavin looked at me as if he couldn't believe his eyes. He instinctively took half a step back and clutched the hem of his shirt.I gave them a polite smile that was almost unsettling in its calmness."Well, what a coincidence," I said flatly."I didn't expect to see you here." My voice was low, but every word carried. "Aren't you going to invite me

Those words struck Clara like a devastating blow.She jerked her head up. Her face turned pale instantly, and her eyes flickered with shock.When Clara was in middle school, her parents went through a messy divorce. She had tried to stop them, only to be beaten black and blue by her father and thrown out of the house.I happened to see her on the street while taking out the trash, so I brought her into my house and settled her in the guest room. She sat there trembling, refusing to say a word.Later that night, when I returned to my room, she suddenly grabbed my arm, looking at me with the same sorrow and desperation in her eyes."Tom, are you going to abandon me, too?"I snapped back to reality when Clara suddenly shoved Gavin away and threw herself at my feet, clutching my legs as her voice broke with tears."No... No, Tom, that's not true! I'm not abandoning you! I've never wanted to leave you! Tom, please don't look at me like that. Please... don't leave me..."She broke do

I pressed charges against Clara for bigamy and fraud.Although the fake marriage certificate allowed her to slip through a legal loophole, she and Gavin had lived as husband and wife for years and even had a child together. There was no denying that she had committed bigamy.On the afternoon the court summons was issued, I received a call from an unknown number. The moment I answered, Clara's panicked cries and Gavin's angry shouting came through the phone."Tom Rieger! Are you happy now? Do you have to push us to the edge?" Gavin roared. "My reputation is ruined! How is my child supposed to hold her head up after this? You're a monster!""I'm a monster?" I said coldly. "Gavin, when you flaunted the life you stole from me online and sent anonymous accusations to my company, did you give a damn about my reputation? Did you even care how much damage you were doing to me?""I'll kill you! I swear I'll kill you!" Gavin exploded.A heavy crash came from the other end of the line, fo