It was just past September, yet the heat of late summer still lingered. Despite that, as I sat in the study, my whole body was cold, as if I were trapped inside an ice cellar.

I rushed out the door, lost in a haze.

Somewhere deep down, I still refused to believe Aiden betrayed me.

I told myself that everything I found on his computer was fake. Someone was trying to set him up. They wanted to frame him.

I called his phone, but there was no answer.

He told me earlier that he was at dinner with his department. So I searched for him, restaurant by restaurant.

I stubbornly wanted to confront him in person. I needed answers.

When I finally spotted Aiden in a barbecue shop, the table was filled with laughter and conversation.

He sat at the head of the table, smiling slightly. He was the perfect image of a cultured, confident, and effortlessly charming man.

To his right sat a woman in a white dress, her long hair cascading down her back. Her eyes shone brightly, and her expression was shy. She was a delicate beauty—soft yet alluring.

My steps abruptly came to a halt. I found myself hesitating, unable to move forward.

The voices of the younger employees rang out in playful banter.

"Mr. Spencer, we admire you in every way except for how whipped you are for your wife. That, we just can't relate to!"

"Yeah, Mr. Spencer, you're always so chill and in control. How could you let your wife, an outsider, meddle in how we do things? What happened to 'strict teachers make great students'?"

It took me a while to register their words.

Then, it clicked. I finally understood why they were saying that.

Aiden was never naturally good at managing people. His approach was to do everything himself since explaining things to others felt like a waste of time to him.

As a result, he exhausted himself, shouldering all the burdens alone, which made him the busiest and most overworked person in the department. It was so extreme that he even didn't have time for Chloe.

So, I suggested that he step back into a proper leadership role and review his subordinates' work instead of doing everything himself. Otherwise, his department's performance would always suffer.

I had no idea how Aiden framed it when he explained it to his team, but judging from their words tonight, they clearly blamed it all on me.

But right now, I had no energy to care about that.

My eyes were locked on the long-haired woman.

She sat in the middle of the crowd, smiling faintly, looking poised and warm. Amidst the noisy, bustling restaurant, she carried an air of quiet elegance, as if untouched by the world around her.

Just then, she smiled gently and said in a soft voice, "Alright, alright. Don't bully Mr. Spencer. If you guys ever need extra help, I'll lend a hand."

The young employees burst into laughter. "Man, if only Mr. Spencer's wife was someone like Skyla. Our department would be heaven. Ah, it's too bad!"

My heart sank.

So, it was true. The long-haired woman was Skyla.

They clinked their glasses, raising toasts to her. Skyla's face flushed a rosy pink, her hands shielding the rim of her glass as she laughed.

Suddenly, Aiden stood up. He took the glass from her hand and downed the entire drink in one gulp. "We don't let women drink in our department. Don't mess with her. I'll drink for her!"

Skyla lowered her gaze, smiling shyly as she and Aiden exchanged a look.

The younger employees cheered and refilled his glass. Aiden, full of bravado, downed another shot.

From across the restaurant, I watched him, my entire body trembling violently. Aiden had a weak stomach. Even the slightest irritation would trigger his ulcers.

For years, aside from taking care of Chloe, keeping Aiden healthy was my number one priority. I searched everywhere for remedies, brewed traditional medicine, and made herbal tea. He wasn't allowed to eat anything too hot, too cold, or too spicy.

Even though I loved spicy food, I never used chili when I cooked. When we had watermelon, I even took it out of the fridge in advance so it wouldn't be too cold when he got home.

Alcohol was absolutely off-limits for Aiden.

I went through so much trouble and put in so much effort just to help him heal his stomach. And now, just to make his true love smile, he was downing drink after drink like it was nothing.

I suddenly couldn't hold it in anymore.

So, this was what happened when someone was pushed to the edge of fury. There was no such thing as staying calm, thinking rationally, or weighing the consequences.

My mind roared with anger, and I charged forward.

I snatched the glass from Aiden's hand and smashed it onto the floor.

"You bastard!" I screamed.

Aiden stared at me in shock.

"Ah!" Skyla gasped, startled. She took two steps back, tripped, and fell.

Her hand knocked over a nearby serving cart, sending the steaming hot soup splashing everywhere. Scalding oil splattered across her face and forehead.

She let out a piercing scream.

Aiden jolted and shouted in panic, "Skyla!"

Everyone rushed toward her.

Suddenly, a powerful shove slammed into my shoulder, making me lose my balance. I stumbled backward and crashed onto the floor. My forehead struck the edge of a table.

One of Aiden's young subordinates glared at me viciously. "Where did this madwoman come from? Do you think you can run after hurting someone?"

I clutched my head, feeling a warm liquid trickle down, blurring my vision. Through the blood, I saw Aiden rushing toward me, his face etched with panic.

But I didn't care. I lost it.

I screamed at the top of my lungs, "I saw it! I saw everything in that damn folder! You two are disgusting! It's absolutely revolting!"

…

For the past three months, every time I thought about what happened next, it always felt like a dream.

It was a nightmare—a horrific, twisted nightmare.

The shock, the head injury, the screaming—I must have worked myself up too much because I blacked out.

When I woke up in the hospital, Aiden was sitting next to me. His head was bowed low, and his expression was blank.

Weakly, I opened my mouth. "Get out. I don't want to see you. You make me sick."

Aiden's body stiffened. He raised his unshaven face, his voice hoarse as he said, "Lily, don't get so worked up. It's not what you think."

I reached for the thermos on the table and hurled it at him.

He didn't dodge. It hit his jaw with a dull thud before falling to the floor. Aiden closed his eyes for a moment, then bent down to pick it up and place it back on the table.

With a deep sigh, he said, "You can hit me, curse me, and do whatever you want. At this point, I'm not going to defend myself. I just want to say one thing. Skyla and I never crossed the line."

I stared at him, my teeth clenched so hard my jaw ached. "So what? Am I supposed to applaud you two for your noble morals? Thank you for not going all the way?"

Aiden looked at me, his expression full of sorrow. "Do you have to say it like that?"

Under the blanket, my trembling hand pressed tightly against the mattress. "You think my words are disgusting? Are they as disgusting as what you two did? Just thinking about the things you wrote to each other makes me want to vomit!

"Don't act like a tragic pair of star-crossed lovers! What a load of crap! Your so-called "platonic love" is just cheating in disguise!"

In the past, whenever I watched TV shows or read novels where the female lead caught her husband cheating and flew into a hysterical rage, screaming and crying as if they had completely lost it, I always felt indifferent.

I thought those women were too emotional and undignified.

I used to think, "He's just a man. If he's done you dirty, just ditch him."

But now that I experienced it, I realized there was no controlling it. I was drowning in rage and betrayal. My chest felt like it was going to explode.

I wanted to throw every vile, hateful word I could think of at them.

I wanted nothing more than to destroy him.

I wanted to drag him and that woman to hell with me.

In an instant, I went from being the optimistic, cheerful, and warmhearted Lily to a sharp-tongued, violent lunatic.

Aiden looked at me like I was insane. His expression only fueled my rage.

I grabbed a pillow and hurled it at his face. "Get out!"

Aiden slowly smoothed down his disheveled hair and stood up.

His voice was calmer this time. "You're too upset to have a rational conversation. I'll leave for now. As for Derrick pushing you, he already apologized to me. You can't really blame him. He doesn't know you. You suddenly rushed in and startled Skyla so badly that she got hurt. He was just standing up for her.

"Skyla's forehead was burned, and it left a scar. But she's not planning to hold you responsible, so you don't have to worry. In any case, this whole situation isn't as ugly as you think.

"Just take some time to calm down. If you still can't get past this, then no matter how you choose to punish me, I won't complain."

He bent down, picked up the pillow, placed it back on the bed, and turned to leave the hospital room.

…

I lay in the hospital for three days, my mind clouded in a haze. I drifted in and out of sleep, jolting awake each time.

Every time I opened my eyes, I needed a few seconds to figure out whether I was in a nightmare or reality.

My mom came to visit me. She told me that Aiden called her, explained everything in detail, and asked her to come take care of me.

She stroked my face and sighed. "He sincerely admitted his mistake. He swore that nothing actually happened between him and that woman.

"Lily, remember how you used to be obsessed with celebrities? You wrote whole notebooks full of love letters to them. Just think of it like that."

I shook my head. "It's not the same."

"But getting yourself worked up like this isn't worth it. If you won't think of yourself, at least think of Chloe."

Then, my mother-in-law, Martha Mattison, and sister-in-law, Amelia Spencer, dropped by. They sat on either side of my hospital bed.

Martha smiled and said, "Of course, Aiden was in the wrong for this. But you know, he's always been the type women are drawn to. And now that he's successful, it's only natural that some opportunistic women will target him.

"In a way, it's good that this happened. It gave you a wake-up call before things got out of hand."

Amelia sipped her iced black coffee and said, "Lily, I'm not just saying this to defend my brother, but Aiden is a sentimental person. He's got a solid character.

"Honestly, he might've been set up. Besides, this doesn't even count as cheating. At worst, it's just harmless flirting. No—honestly, it's not even that. He's way too proper to say anything inappropriate!"

Before leaving, Martha gave me a serious look. "Aiden was willing to tell the family about this himself. That means, at his core, he has nothing to hide. I understand if you need to vent about it for a bit, but it's best to let it end here.

"Aiden is about to be nominated for the vice president position at the research institute. If outsiders hear about this conflict between you two, it could damage his reputation."

…

I honestly didn't know what to do.

Should I get a divorce?

This was a decade-long relationship and the home I carefully built over the years. There was also Chloe's upbringing and the perfect family image we had in front of others to consider.

Mom, Martha, and Amelia all came to talk to me, but none of them mentioned divorce. They only told me not to let it affect my health or the family's harmony.

It was as if, in their minds, this wasn't even close to being a reason for divorce.

However, I was filled with this unbearable suffocation.