My expression shifted. I hadn’t expected him to notice so quickly.

So I cut straight to the point: “Yes. You know I like variety. Why have you been sending me lilies for a whole month?”

He slapped his forehead, frustrated. “Damn it, that’s my fault. Wife, the florist I usually order from had shipping problems.

I had to switch to another supplier, and they only specialize in lilies.

It’s my fault, I didn’t explain. I must’ve made you feel awful this month.”

He shoved aside his takeout and started typing furiously. “I’ll call them right now and ask if the shipment’s back!”

Just like countless times before, whenever it came to me, he panicked and rushed to fix it immediately.

I interrupted him. “Don’t. Just eat. Don’t starve yourself.”

Even Sophia, standing beside me, waggled her brows and muttered in English, “See? You wronged your good husband.”

Ethan smiled again. “So you’re not mad anymore, wife? Don’t worry, I already ordered from a new shop today. You’ll love it!”

After the call ended, the doorbell rang. Ding dong.

It was a massive bouquet of pink peonies.

Utterly dreamy.

I smiled as I accepted it—but then I saw the card.

And froze.

To the beautiful Ms. Adams, please don’t be mad.

But my last name was Carter.

The warmth of his video call still lingered in my ears.

Yet the icy words “Ms. Adams” on that card cut through my reason like a knife.

Ethan had never made such a mistake.

Carter and Adams weren’t even remotely similar.

This wasn’t a slip of the pen.

Sophia’s teasing expression vanished. She picked up the card, face grim. “What’s your name saved as in his phone?”

“Baby,” I said hoarsely, my voice like sandpaper. “Or wife.”

Never once—Ms. Adams.

“Let’s go.” Sophia snatched her car keys. “Didn’t he say he had outside work this afternoon? Let’s follow him.”

We waited in the parking lot until three o’clock before Ethan finally drove out.

He was alone—not work-related.

The black Cadillac slid through the bustling city streets and, shockingly, pulled into the entrance of an old, noisy farmer’s market.

The ground was wet, the air pungent with mixed smells.

Ethan, dressed in his sharp suit, looked completely out of place.

“What’s he doing here?” Sophia whispered, parking in the corner.

We followed from a distance through the crowd.

Ethan walked straight to a seafood stall, his steps determined.

The vendor was a woman, wearing a waterproof apron, scraping fish scales.

Her hair was tied up, revealing a delicate neck, her side profile striking even under the harsh lights.

Ethan stopped in front of her, silently staring.

The woman didn’t look up, her hands continuing steadily as if he weren’t there.

The tension was heavy—not like a transaction, more like a standoff.

Suddenly, she slammed the knife down with a loud clang, breaking the silence.

She lifted her head, her honey-toned face etched with defiance and disdain. She muttered something under her breath.

Ethan’s face darkened.

She tore off her apron and darted into a narrow alley behind the stall, like fleeing from a predator.

Ethan immediately chased after her.

“Let’s go!” Sophia grabbed me, and we melted into the crowd, following quietly.

In the dark alley, piled with baskets and trash,

we hid around the corner and saw Ethan slam the woman against the wall, his movements rough.

“Hiding from me? Where do you think you can run?”

The woman struggled with all her strength but couldn’t break free. “Ethan Brooks! Let me go! Haven’t you had enough?”

“Had enough? I should be asking what the hell you want from me!”

Ethan’s arm tightened around her, his body pressing in, his voice harsh. “I send you flowers, you throw them away. I give you money, you reject it. Now you won’t even see me?”

“Why should I want anything from you? What are we, really?” she shot back, her tone biting with sarcasm.

“What are we?” Ethan roared, gripping her chin hard.

His fierce gaze, the same one he’d given me in Hawaii by the pool, overlapped in my mind.

“I’ll tell you what we are.”

He crushed his lips down on hers.

The woman whimpered, pounding against his chest.

I stood frozen, my blood turned to ice, fingers numb.

The sweet whisper—You know I don’t care about anyone else—still echoed in my ears.

But here he was, using that same kiss as punishment on another woman.

Ethan finally released her, his thumb roughly brushing her swollen lips. His voice was hoarse.

“Don’t look at me like that. And stop running.”

He straightened his suit and walked away, as if his loss of control had never happened.

The woman collapsed to the ground, face buried in her knees, shoulders trembling.

Sophia and I slipped quietly out of the alley.

Back in the car, we sat in silence.

Outside, the sun shone brightly over the market—

but it couldn’t reach the ice inside my chest.

Sophia tapped quickly on her phone.

Minutes later, she gasped and shoved the screen toward me—

An old photo, the same woman, dressed in a plain black dress, standing beside a memorial portrait.

Her face was unmistakable.

Sophia’s voice trembled. “I found her. That’s Rachel Adams—Ethan’s widowed sister-in-law.”

Before I could even process the revelation, Ethan left town again on another business trip.

Meanwhile, Sophia texted me: Rachel’s fish stall didn’t open today.

She soon discovered where they had gone—

San Diego Zoo.

The name alone sent a shiver through me.

I’d always loved animals, but my allergies to cats and dogs meant I could never have pets.

I used to cuddle Ethan and say, “I heard the animals at San Diego Zoo are so well cared for. Can we go sometime?”

And though he’d always indulged me, that time he refused:

“You’re too old for that, baby. When we have a child, the three of us can go together.”

When Sophia and I finally arrived at the zoo,

I saw Ethan holding the hand of a little boy—while Rachel Adams walked on the other side.

So this was his “family of three.”

A role I thought was meant for me… had already been given away.

Beside me, Sophia seethed.

“I can’t believe this! What does he even see in her? That she’s older and ‘experienced’? That she already has a kid so he can play dad with no effort?”

“What a shameless woman! If it hadn’t been for you, he’d have been dead years ago!”

But I couldn’t hear a word. My eyes were locked on the three of them.

Ethan and Rachel each held the boy’s hand.

Soon the child ran off to the trampoline play area,

leaving the two of them on a bench together.

Hidden in the crowd, Sophia and I clearly heard their conversation.

Rachel sighed. “Ethan, you don’t need to do this. You have a wife.”

“Daniel is Daniel. You are you.”

Daniel Brooks—Ethan’s closest older brother.

Ethan’s voice was flat. “Daniel’s death was partly my fault. Rachel… this is what I owe you.”

“Admit it—after that night, you haven’t been able to forget me.”

At those words, Rachel Adams’s cheeks flushed red.

Ethan Brooks suddenly leaned closer, his eyes carrying that roguish arrogance.

With me, he had always been tender and gentle.

But this domineering, possessive look—it was just like the summer when I was eighteen and he first awakened my feelings.

A piece of my heart was wrenched out. So this side of him… was never mine alone.

Rachel pressed her hand against his chest, her eyes conflicted. “That night was an accident. If I hadn’t been drugged…”

My mind flashed suddenly—I remembered that Ethan owned a vacant property near the farmer’s market.

I pulled up the surveillance cameras.

The password was my birthday.

Yes, he had set it himself. He once told me, “No need for a complicated password. Remembering your birthday is enough, wife.”

My hands shook uncontrollably until the footage revealed the two of them, locked in a passionate embrace.

My suspicions were confirmed.

I gasped for breath, my eyes burning with tears.

Everything connected: a month ago, Ethan didn’t come home for the first time, saying he had to stay late for a project.

So it was… for a woman who had been drugged.

The first trip to the zoo, the first night away from home—

all along, Ethan had already been breaking his promises for her.

He had even said he wanted to turn that villa into our “second home.”

But now, in that very house meant to carry our vows, he was sleeping with another woman.

I clutched my chest as I heard Rachel continue: “But what about her? What about your wife?”

My heart clenched at Ethan’s silence.

After a pause, I heard him speak clearly, one word at a time:

“I won’t divorce her. But I promise never to have children with her. I’ll treat your son as my own. I’ll make sure he has a place in the Brooks family.”

A laugh burst from me, tangled with tears.

Ethan, you love her so much that you won’t even give me a child.

Rachel’s expression softened, and Ethan pulled her into his arms.

For a moment, I foolishly hoped Rachel might push him away.

But she didn’t. She clenched her fists, and then the last trace of resistance faded from her eyes.

Her arms slipped around Ethan’s neck, and she kissed him back.

Whispering, “Ethan, thank you.”

Sophia Miller shot up to her feet beside me, ready to charge forward.

“Shameless bastards! How dare they—”

I grabbed her arm, tears streaking my face, but my voice was steady.

“Not yet. Wait. I won’t let them go unpunished.”

It wasn’t enough. Nothing was enough.

Slapping Ethan across the face, clawing Rachel’s skin, shouting “They’re having an affair!”—

none of it could repay the agony ripping through me now.

Rachel, a fish vendor raising her child alone—maybe she was pitiful, maybe she had her reasons.

But what about me?

What had I done wrong?

I, Olivia Carter, had given my whole heart for eight years.

All 2,922 days and nights—whose love and time isn’t precious?

I bit down so hard that blood filled my mouth.

Every loving memory had become a blade, cutting through my heart until it bled raw.

The tears on my lips were bitter, unbearably bitter.

Ethan, you deserve hell—only then will it make up for every second of pain I’m living through right now.

That night, I posted an Instagram grid with photos of Sophia and me at the San Diego Zoo.