He eagerly opened the gift box, his eyes locked on me, brimming with anticipation.

My emotions surged and when I caught sight of the necklace, it nearly shattered me.

Cooper, which version of you was the real one?

Before we married, countless suitors had come and gone, but with my family's misfortune, I had never believed in love.

Most gave up after a few rejections, but not him. He chased me relentlessly for three years.

To capture my attention, he, who usually loathed noisy crowds, stood before thousands and sang love songs just for me.

His pursuit was intense and unashamed and soon, everyone knew it.

The more I resisted, the more determined he became.

When I was bullied, he was always the first to show up, standing by my side and protecting me.

He fought for me, getting hurt and almost losing his life in the process.

His unguarded love for me, raw and unwavering, left me speechless.

As long as I was there, his gaze never strayed from me.

When he proposed, he built a rose garden just for me, a place meant to hold the most beautiful memories.

Each rose had been carefully planted by his hands.

Roses were beautiful, yes, but they came with thorns.

He tended to them with such care, but in doing so, his hands were cut, bleeding for the love he had for me.

Seeing the uncertainty in my eyes, he offered a smile and said, “As long as you like it, I’d do anything. My wife deserves only the best.”

But the man making these promises was the same one whose heart had already changed.

Noticing my silence, Cooper grew more anxious, his confusion evident. He couldn’t understand what he had done to upset me.

“Wife, don’t you like it? If it’s not to your taste, I’ll buy you another one, I swear,” he said, already pulling out his phone and searching for more expensive gemstones. “How about this one?”

Just then, a message from Kaia popped up on his screen.

“Cooper, I’m feeling unwell. Can you take me to the hospital?”

It flashed briefly before he hurriedly swiped it away, his nervous glance meeting mine.

I kept my expression unchanged, not letting him know I had seen it. He sighed in relief and muttered, “If you don’t like any of these, I’ll have someone send the latest gemstone catalog tomorrow. You can take your time to choose.”

I lowered my gaze, offering a quiet, nonchalant “Hmm.”

Cooper, lost in his thoughts, likely distracted by Kaia’s message, failed to notice the subtle shift in my mood.

After a while, his phone rang. Without glancing at the screen, he quickly rose to his feet and said, “Wife, there’s an issue at the company. I need to take care of it. Don’t wait up for me; just go ahead and sleep.”

Before I could utter a word, he grabbed his coat and rushed out, slamming the door behind him.

I listened to the sound of the engine rumbling outside before slowly dragging my stiff legs toward the window.

Once, every time Cooper left, he couldn’t bear to be away from me. He’d cling to me, reluctant to go, as if his heart was tethered to mine.

But now, it had become a ritual; his departures were swift and without hesitation.

Not long after, another message from Kaia flashed across my phone.

It was a picture of Cooper’s back as he worked in the kitchen, busy and absorbed in what he was doing.

She wrote, “Baby was crying, but the moment Daddy showed up, he quieted right down. Don’t you think that’s what they mean by a bloodline connection?”

I didn’t reply. Kaia didn’t need my responses; she sent message after message, her words dripping with pride and taunting.

As long as Cooper was with her, she would keep sending her little provocations.

I saw everything but said nothing.

What I wanted now wasn’t confrontation; I simply needed to wait for the right moment, to slip away quietly, to disappear somewhere no one could find me.

I couldn’t bring myself to compromise, not like my mother had. I wouldn’t settle for a life of misery, enduring a man who had long since fallen apart.

When Dad was young, he’d often wander, pouring all his tenderness into other women, while coming home to beat and berate both my mother and me.

Everyone told her to leave him, but she would just cry and say, “If I leave him, how will I live? My husband is here; where else can I go?”

Then, my dad died in a car accident after a night of drinking and not long after, my mom remarried.

On the day of her wedding, she told me, “As long as he loves you, everything can be worked through. Life’s short, don’t be too greedy. There’s no cat that doesn’t stray, so don’t hold on too tightly to every little thing.”

Once she remarried, we lost touch. She had her new family and I was left as nothing more than a shadow in the background.

I drifted like a sail caught in the wind, always moving between the shorelines, never quite anchored.

It wasn’t until Cooper pulled me from that drifting life that I began to understand what a home could feel like. What seemed like the perfect place, the perfect life, was given to me.

But when I looked back, I still felt the pull of the open sea, unsure and adrift.

When Cooper wasn’t home, I stumbled upon the love letters he had written to me years ago.

Five hundred and twenty letters, each one a testament to his devotion, with not a single word repeated.

They held all the emotions he’d felt at the time, all the love he had poured into me.

I had treasured them, telling myself that someday, when I was old and gray, I would read them again and relive the memories of our youth.

But now, that time had passed.

I grabbed a fire pit and a lighter, tossing each letter into the flames.

The flames crackled and leaped higher, their warmth soothing the emptiness in my chest and gradually, my heart began to quiet.

When Cooper returned, he caught sight of the scene.

His heart skipped a beat and he rushed over in instinctive concern.

“Wife, what are you burning?”

At the sound of his voice, I rose slowly to my feet, my gaze steady.

“I was just cleaning up and found some things I no longer need. I thought I’d burn them.”

Worried that I might get too close to the fire, he gently pulled me back a step.

“These things can be handled by the servants. Be careful, don’t hurt yourself.”

His focus was entirely on me, so he didn’t notice the letters that hadn’t fully burned in the fire pit.

If he had glanced just a moment longer, he would’ve seen that one of the burnt letters still bore his name.

“Wife, I’ve wrapped up most of the work stuff. I have some free time today and I want to spend it with you. Where would you like to go?”

He smiled softly and pulled me into a warm embrace, his dark eyes sparkling with affection.

No matter where I wanted to go, he would always be by my side.

Just like before, he never hesitated to follow my spontaneous whims.

I paused for a moment, feeling restless in the house.

“Let’s go play baseball. I haven’t played in a while.”

Cooper nodded, quickly finding me some sportswear before leading me to the baseball field.

But, of course, fate had other plans. As soon as we arrived, I found Cooper's friends already there.

Beside him stood Kaia, dressed in sportswear, her presence completely unbothered by my arrival.

She flashed me a bright, knowing smile. “So, this is Miss Sanders. I’ve heard so much about you.”

Cooper’s expression darkened as he glared at her, his voice cold as he corrected her. “This is my wife. You should call her Mrs. Green.”

The smile on Kaia’s face instantly stiffened, her expression turning bitter, but she complied. “Mrs. Green.”

I offered a quiet “Hmm” in response and made my way to the changing room.

When I came out, Cooper was nowhere to be found.

I walked toward the exit, but then I heard faint sounds coming from the bathroom.

Driven by an impulse I couldn’t explain, I found myself walking toward it.

Inside, Cooper stood with a cold, hard expression, his hand gripping Kaia’s chin as he spoke in a low, stern voice. “Behave yourself. If Luna finds out about this, you’ll regret it.”

Kaia’s eyes welled with tears, her sobs barely a whisper in the tense air.

“I didn’t say anything… I just called her ‘madam,’ like you told me to.” She reached up, draping her arms around his neck, pressing a soft kiss to his face. “Please don’t be angry, okay?”

Cooper’s gaze darkened, his hand gripping her head as he deepened the kiss. Even his breath grew heavy, uneven.

I stood there, frozen, as his hand slipped beneath Kaia’s short skirt.

A bitter smile tugged at my lips.

In that moment, the words my mother once whispered to me came rushing back:

There was no cat that did not stray.

And, in that quiet moment, I realized neither did Cooper.

I played baseball for a while, the rhythm of the game distracting me from the growing tension in my chest.

“Sorry, wife, I got an urgent call and had to take it. That’s why I’m late.”

I scanned his collar, noting how it had been carefully adjusted to hide the faint mark of a kiss. Without missing a beat, I said, “It’s fine. I’m tired of playing. You guys go ahead; I’ll wait over there.”

Cooper’s friends were around and as there were four of us, we paired off into two groups.

In a quiet gesture, his friends had paired Kaia with Cooper’s side.

An unsettling thought crossed my mind.

Did his friends know about his affair with Kaia?

That question was answered over dinner.

One of his friends, who couldn’t hold his liquor, got drunk after only a few drinks.

He slurred, “Cooper, you’ve got the life everyone envies. Your wife’s a goddess and this secretary? She’s as sweet as honey…”

Before he could finish, Cooper’s face darkened and he cut him off sharply.

“Shut up and go rest if you’re drunk. Stop talking nonsense.”

His hand then found mine, rubbing it in what was meant to be a comforting gesture.

“Wife, don’t listen to him. He’s just drunk,” he said, his words hollow.

But inside, my heart sank like a stone.

They all knew about Cooper’s affair, everyone but me.

I had been kept in the dark, foolishly blind to the truth.

A wave of humiliation washed over me and I wondered if, behind my back, they mocked my ignorance while smiling to my face.

I couldn’t bring myself to smile.

“It’s fine; I’ll go to the restroom.”

As I turned to walk away, I noticed Kaia trailing behind.

Her eyes were filled with disdain, no longer masking the arrogance she had so clearly embraced.

“You saw the messages I sent you, didn’t you?” she asked, standing tall and proudly revealing her still-flat belly.

“I’m already pregnant with Cooper’s child. Once the baby’s born, he’ll marry me. I suggest you be smart and ask for the divorce soon so you won’t be thrown out unceremoniously in the end.”

“Is that so? Then I’ll congratulate you in advance.”

Her expression faltered, surprise flickering across her face, clearly not expecting my response.

“Luna, what do you mean by that?”

“I’m congratulating you, future Mrs. Green.”

I couldn’t bring myself to waste any more breath on someone so morally bankrupt. Without another word, I turned on my heel to leave.

But before I could make it far, she called after me.

“Of course, you should congratulate me. The baby’s position has been unstable recently and the doctor says I need a quiet place to rest. I think the house you two are living in would be perfect for that. What do you think? Do you think Cooper would agree if I asked to move in there?”

Her words were soaked in provocation, each syllable dripping with malice.

I couldn’t find the words to respond.

The house we shared had been built specifically for us, something Cooper had created with me in mind. Every detail had been carefully designed to suit my taste.

It was supposed to be our sanctuary; the place he had promised would be forever ours.

No matter how much he had fallen for her, there was no way he would allow her into our home.