### Chapter 2

The moment we got home, Dick went straight to the kitchen to make me a soup for my stomach.

Even the housekeeper teased him：“A man as good as Mr. Simmons is hard to find.”

“He treats you this well before the wedding. Once you're married with children, he'd probably pluck the stars right out of the sky for you.”

Dick came out carrying the soup, caught the tail end of that, and smiled with what looked like pure adoration.

“Why wait for the wedding? If Emily wants a star, I'll buy her one right now.”

He set the soup down and made a phone call.

A few minutes later, he sat down and pulled me into his arms：“Tomorrow night, I'm taking my baby to see the star that's all yours.”

Then he sent the housekeeper off to bed, blew on the soup to cool it, and lifted the spoon to my lips himself.

That was when his phone chimed.

Dick frowned, set the bowl down with visible irritation：“Who's bothering me this late when I'm with you? Let me see who needs a lesson.”

He picked up the phone. Two seconds later, I clearly saw the flicker of lust surface in his eyes.

Sure enough, he snapped the phone shut, guilt already arranged across his face.

“Baby, you're not feeling well tonight, and I should be here with you, but something urgent came up at the office……”

I didn't want to hear another lie. I cut him off.

“Go. Work is important.”

Dick exhaled with relief. He dropped a perfunctory kiss on my forehead, went to the bedroom, threw on a shirt so fast he didn't even notice the buttons were misaligned, and was out the door.

The front door clicked shut, and the living room sank into a silence like death. I stared at the soup on the table, already cold. Then I reached over and swept it into the trash, bowl and all.

I opened the refrigerator and took out a birthday cake.

I lit the candles and, just before midnight struck, made my wish.

“Happy birthday, Emily. May every day after you leave Dick Simmons be a happy one.”

Seven years together, and this was the first time he'd forgotten my birthday.

I blew out the candles. In the darkness, my phone screen flickered to life.

An unknown number. Several photos.

A young woman in a bunny outfit that covered almost nothing, posing in ways that were bold beyond imagination.

The message underneath was pure provocation.

“Tell me, after seeing these, do you think he'd rather spend a wild night with me, or go home to a stiff, boring old woman like you?”

I didn't reply. I saved every photo.

Dick didn't come back until the following afternoon.

The moment he walked into the living room, he saw me sorting through things.

He froze, eyes moving to the mountain of cardboard boxes：“Emily, what are you doing?”

I didn't look up：“Getting rid of things I don't need.”

I'd been up all night, scrolling through Tania's social media.

Starting from last year, every single thing he'd bought me, he'd bought one for her too.

Some of them were things she'd mentioned wanting. Things she liked.

Dick had spared no effort spoiling her, keeping her at the very tip of his heart. What I got was just the “while I'm at it” extra.

And I'd been the fool who treated his carelessness like treasure.

Now the trash was going where it belonged.

Dick, still lost in whatever haze his night had left him in, didn't notice what I was throwing away. He just chuckled as he wandered past：“Wow, we really did accumulate a lot of junk.”

He kept walking until he spotted the cake on the table, more than half of it still untouched.

He scooped a bit of frosting onto his finger and dabbed it on my nose. When I went still, he raised an eyebrow, grinning：“I thought you didn't like sweets. What made you buy such a big cake?”

Dick had the kind of eyes that were impossibly deep and full of feeling.

The first time I saw him, standing in my family's garden, those eyes had stolen something from me on the spot.

For seven years they'd smiled at me countless times. But now, no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find a trace of sincerity left in them.

I was quiet for a few seconds before I spoke, my voice low.

“Yesterday was my birthday.”

The smile froze on his face.

Then he pulled me into his arms, his expression full of remorse.

“Damn it—I'm sorry, baby. I actually forgot your birthday. Tonight I'll make it up to you, I swear.”

### Chapter 3

I didn't say no. I'd let him have this one—a last goodbye.

By evening we were at the planetarium. Dick had booked the entire place.

He pointed to the star named after me, grinning like a boy：“Emily, the day this star was discovered was the exact day we met. My love for you is just like it. Until the end of time.”

I used to believe our love would bear fruit too. But seven years in, it burned out like a meteor streaking across the sky.

He was eighteen when he showed up, bloody from a fight, scrambling over our garden wall. Ethan thought he was some thug and beat him senseless.

He stayed a whole week, milking his injuries.

I was picking flowers in the garden when he drifted over, staring at me：“Emily, you're so pretty. Go out with me.”

I thought he was joking, so I said yes. When his wounds healed and a convoy of cars pulled up to collect him, I finally learned he was the Simmons heir.

Seven years, gone in a blink.

Fireworks erupted outside the planetarium, flooding the sky.

“Happy birthday, babe.”

Dick leaned down to kiss me. His phone rang.

One glance at the screen, and he killed it instantly.

“Useless bastards, screwing things up again!”

“Sorry, babe. I need to run back to the office. Two hours, I promise.”

He moved to kiss my forehead.

I pushed him away：“It's fine. I can look around on my own.”

After he left, I wandered with no direction. Without meaning to, I drifted into a hidden room. Inside was a single display case, lavishly lit.

Beneath the star model sat a high-definition photograph: a man's hand and a woman's, fingers tightly laced.

I'd know that hand anywhere—every knuckle, every ridge. I could pick it out of ashes.

Pain tore through me so fast my vision went black.

“For Tania alone. Forever and always”.

The inscription underneath cut even deeper.

I stumbled out, half-blind, then stopped dead.

On the open-air observation deck not far away, Dick and Tania were tangled together on a couch.

“I told you, tonight's about making up Emily's birthday. I'm supposed to be with her right now.”

Tania hung from his neck, pouting.

“You're so sweet to her, buying her a star and setting off fireworks. Can't a girl get a little jealous?”

Dick pinched her chin, all helpless indulgence.

“Come on, I already gave you the better one—your own star. What are you jealous about?”

Tania let out a soft hum, her fingers slipping slyly under his shirt.

“I don't care. Would you rather stay up there watching stars with her, or try out a new position with me under them?”

“You little minx……Make it quick. Don't let Emily get suspicious.”

Dick's voice went hoarse. The next second, he tore her clothes off.

The fireworks in the sky burned out.

I was shaking so hard I could barely stand.

I'd already seen them together on that dashcam footage. But watching it happen right in front of me—it still gutted me.

I gripped my phone and recorded everything, tears dropping one by one onto the screen.

This observation deck was something Dick had donated in my name. He'd personally designed every detail.

The day it was unveiled, he'd knelt on one knee：“With the stars as my witness, I will love Emily for the rest of my life.”

I'd asked him, half-joking: what if you betray me?

“Then let me lose you forever. That would be worse than death.”

Now the stars had witnessed his betrayal.

And everything would be exactly as he wished.

I turned back toward the exhibition hall. A new message from Tania was already waiting.

“You saw all of that, right? He said doing it here is extra thrilling. Like doing it right in front of you.”

I wanted to block her, but my hands were shaking too badly to hit the right spot on the screen.

I slid down the wall and sat crumpled at its base, crying until I couldn't feel anything anymore.

Dick finally came back.

My swollen, red-rimmed eyes startled him.

“What happened? Who made my Emily cry? I'll deal with them!”

He pulled me in tight, arms wrapped around me the way they always used to be.

Back then, when a bunch of punks cornered me, he'd thrown himself in bare-fisted—outnumbered ten to one and still wouldn't give an inch.

Broke his hand and still grinned at me through the pain：“Hey. I'm right here.”

The boy who would have died to protect me was now the one twisting the knife in my chest.

I choked on the words for a long time before I managed to speak.

“It's nothing. I just really, really love the gift you gave me.”

“And in return……I've prepared a surprise for you too. You'll have it in five days.”

### Chapter 4

Only then did Dick let out a breath, pulling me tighter against him, as if the moment he let go I'd vanish.

“Anything you give me, I'll love it.” His voice was low, coaxing, tender. “Don't cry, baby. When you cry, it kills me.”

I closed my eyes in his arms and said nothing.

In a few days, you can go to hell.

The next morning, guilt must have been eating at him, because a brand-new limited-edition Chanel jewelry set arrived at the door.

“I cleared my whole schedule today. Staying home with you.”

He'd barely finished speaking when his phone rang.

Dick's face went cold as he answered, his tone vicious：“I said no one disturbs me while I'm with Emily. Pack your shit and get out!”

He hung up, caught me staring, and instantly softened. A smile, a light tap on the tip of my nose：“Baby, you're not doubting me, are you?”

He held his phone out to me, the picture of openness. Go ahead, check.

Once, I probably would have thought he was giving me the greatest sense of security in the world.

Too bad. I sighed to myself and handed the phone back.

When my expression didn't change, Dick relaxed and pulled me into his arms：“That's my good girl. You never check my phone.”

He thought I was that stupid.

After he fell asleep last night, I'd gone through every record on it.

The evidence of his cheating glared up at me, impossible to look away from：

My birthday, our anniversary. One wheedling text from Tania, and he'd drop me to go see her.

Hotels, the office, the back seat of his car. Traces of them everywhere.

His purchase history full of lingerie, toys, expensive gifts……

But the thing that froze me to the bone was the message he'd sent Tania.

“I hate condoms, but I don't want Emily going through pregnancy. If you get pregnant, I'll find a way to make her claim the baby as hers.”

“As long as you don't make a scene in front of Emily, I can give you everything.”

Something in my chest shattered under the moonlight. I bit down on my lip until blood filled my mouth, swallowing the scream before it could escape.

The doorbell rang.

The housekeeper opened it, and there stood Tania, tears streaming prettily down her face.

Dick's expression flickered with panic. He was on his feet in a second：“Tania's having some trouble with her coursework. I'll step out and talk to her—won't disturb you washing up.”

He was already pulling Tania toward the garden before he finished.

I followed, quiet as a shadow, and watched Tania throw herself into his arms, sobbing.

Dick shoved her away, his face dark with fury.

“Are you out of your fucking mind? I warned you never to come to the house. If Emily gets suspicious, you're done!”

Tania flinched, but cried harder, holding out a pregnancy test between sobs.

“B-but I'm pregnant. I don't know what to do……”

Every nerve in my body went numb. Even the pain disappeared.

She was really pregnant.

We'd talked about children seriously once. Dick said he couldn't bear the thought of me suffering through pregnancy. If we wanted kids after the wedding, we could adopt.

I'd believed he meant it.

Now I understood. He couldn't stand to see me suffer, but he had no problem letting another woman carry his child.

“If you don't want it, I'll do as you say. I'll get rid of it.” Tania's eyes shimmered with tears. “But it's our flesh and blood. I can't bear to lose it”

Dick froze. He stared at the two red lines, checked them again, and the corner of his mouth slowly curved.

“This is my first child. It has to be born. I'm taking you to the hospital right now for a full checkup.”

I stood rooted to the spot, nails dug so deep into my palms I couldn't feel the pain.

Dick went upstairs to change.

I took out my phone and dialed a number I'd thought I would never use：

“The evidence of Simmons Corp smuggling arms. It's yours.”

Tania glanced back, spotted me under the tree, and a smug little smile spread across her face. She cradled her belly and walked over.

“Dick told me himself—I'm carrying his only heir. How's that shriveled little belly of yours going to compete with me?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Dick rushing back. I uncurled my fists and let a cold smile settle across my face.

“Then let's see how far he'll go for you.”

Before the words had left my mouth, I slapped her so hard my palm burned.

Tania screamed, too stunned to react.

Dick came running. He saw the bright red handprint blooming on Tania's cheek and barely managed to hide the ache in his eyes.

“Mr. Simmons, she, she hit me!”

Tania tried to throw herself into his arms to plead her case.

But when his gaze met the ice in mine, Dick shoved her away：“I told you not to disturb Emily. Get out!”