When I had finally composed myself, Kaden stormed toward me in a fit of anger.

He questioned angrily, "Ella, what have you been saying to your friends? Why are they so out of line? How can they tag us so thoughtlessly and suggest that we should get married soon?"

I opened my social media and saw that a friend who had just gotten married a couple of days ago had tagged me and Kaden in her post.

She commented, "Looking forward to you two also walking down the aisle soon."

Kaden was furious. "Don't tell me you didn't know about this. If you hadn't mentioned something to her, why would she say that?"

Well, I'd indeed said something to my friend. Everyone kept asking me when Kaden and I would be getting married after ten years of being together.

I thought back to when we first got together. Kaden had held my hand and promised me, "I'll definitely marry you."

But at some point, he would instinctively avoid the topic of marriage whenever I brought it up.

"Ella, isn't what we have now good enough? You already have everything. What else can marriage prove?"

I thought he was simply afraid of marriage and didn't want to push him further.

Kaden continued treating me well, and everyone said he was madly in love with me. When he was on a business trip abroad, he would condense his work schedule and catch a red-eye flight just so that he could get back to see me sooner.

When his parents voiced their disapproval of my becoming his wife, he moved out with me decisively and insisted that no one disturb our life together.

However, I never imagined that he would ultimately choose to marry someone else.

Kaden gave himself an excuse to leave. "Forget it. I'll sleep at the office tonight."

He slammed the door shut and disappeared into the night.

Later that night, I received photos from the private investigator.

In the dim light of a private room, Kaden and Gwendolyn sat together with Kaden's friends surrounding them. They were the same friends who used to call me "Mrs. Zacarias" teasingly. Now, they were chatting and laughing with Gwendolyn just fine.

Gwendolyn held a wine glass to her lips to take a sip. Then, Kaden drank from the same glass by pressing his lips to the same spot she'd drunk from a moment ago. Their gestures radiated intimacy.

I silently gathered evidence of Kaden's infidelity and began packing my bags. After all, there were still six days left until I could finally leave.

…

The next morning, Gwendolyn barged into the villa uninvited. Bright red hickeys adorned her neck.

Upon catching sight of me, she smiled sweetly and said, "Ms. Selkirk, I'm just here to pick up some documents for Kaden. I hope you don't mind."

As she spoke, she nonchalantly took out a pair of slippers for herself.

I froze for a moment.

Back when we installed the shoe cabinet, I'd chosen a design that hid it in the wall so that it wasn't visible at a glance. Hence, no one coming to the house for the first time could possibly know where the shoe cabinet was or where the guest slippers were stored.

It was clear that this wasn't the first time Gwendolyn had come to the villa.

The thought of what might have happened between her and Kaden in this house made me so nauseated that I dry-heaved at the spot.

Gwendolyn let out a mocking laugh. "Ms. Selkirk, you're good at playing the victim. You've been with Kaden for ten years but haven't gotten married to him yet. Why haven't you given up?"

I looked at her coldly and retorted, "What does that have anything to do with you?"

Gwendolyn covered her mouth and laughed. "Of course it has everything to do with me. After all, I'm about to marry him. When the time comes, you must come to our wedding, Ms. Selkirk."

As she passed me, she spoke in a soft voice, "You already know, don't you? Soon, you'll be the mistress. I guess I can just call you a shameless woman."

Enraged by her blatant provocation, I clenched my fists and shoved her hard.

A gleeful laugh escaped her lips before she stumbled backward toward the stairs and tumbled straight down. As she fell, she grabbed onto my dress and pulled me down with her.

I twisted my ankle as I hit the steps painfully.

I was in so much pain that sweat drenched my forehead, but Gwendolyn quickly put up an act.

She cried out pitifully, "Ms. Selkirk, why did you push me? What did I ever do wrong?"

At that moment, Kaden rushed in with a very grim expression.

He didn't even ask any questions and immediately turned on me. "What are you doing, Ella? How could you push her? Don't try to deny it. I saw the whole thing. She's just a secretary from my company. Stop overthinking, will you?"

He came up with an excuse for Gwendolyn effortlessly, completely ignoring the fact that my ankle was already bruised and swollen.

But when he saw the sweat on my forehead and how I was grimacing from the pain, he pretended to berate Gwendolyn for a bit. Although he was seated next to me, his gaze kept drifting toward her.

Gwendolyn cradled her arm and nursed the scratch on it cautiously with an aggrieved expression.

Kaden managed to maintain his act of nonchalance until Gwendolyn let out a soft whimper.

She complained, "It hurts…"

At that, Kaden couldn't hold back any longer. He pulled Gwendolyn into his arms and said to me, "I'll have the security guard take her to the hospital first. Wait for me. I'll be right back."

I closed my eyes with a heavy heart and said nothing.

Kaden seemed surprised by my calmness, but Gwendolyn's sobbing kept him from dwelling on it.

Once they were gone, I turned on the dashcam to view the real-time video it was showing.

The moment Gwendolyn got into the car, she straddled Kaden. "I thought you didn't care about me anymore! Don't forget that we're already engaged. Next week, we'll be getting our marriage certificates."

Her voice was coy and playful as she continued, "She was so mean to me, yet you didn't even defend me."

By then, Kaden saw through her act and realized she'd been pretending to be in pain.

He frowned as he lit a cigarette. "Why did you come here? Didn't I tell you not to disturb her? Have you forgotten our agreement before we got engaged? I said I wouldn't break things off with Ella, and you accepted it. What are you trying to do now?"

Gwendolyn gritted her teeth. But then, she quickly adjusted herself and said pitifully, "Why are you so mean to me, too? I missed you. You kept me up all night, but when I woke up, you were gone."

Kaden muttered a few more words perfunctorily before turning to leave, "That's enough. You should go now. She's still waiting for me."

But then, Gwendolyn suddenly unbuttoned her coat to reveal the sexy lingerie underneath.

She flashed Kaden a seductive look. "Are you really going to leave?"

Right away, I saw the change in Kaden's expression. In the shadows, a discreet smirk formed on his lips. "You really know how to tempt me."

The two of them locked lips.

Meanwhile, I turned off the dashcam footage with an ashen face.

By the time Kaden remembered that I was injured, I had already taken a cab to the hospital. The bruising on my ankle had faded quite a bit.

"I'm so sorry, wifey. I was in an online meeting and got held up for a bit," he explained.

Walking in with a mushroom soup takeout, he looked at my ankle with concern. "Is it any better?"

As he sat down beside me, I noticed a faint red mark on the collar of his shirt.

I couldn't help but wonder if Kaden perhaps had a split personality disorder. How could he go from a tender moment with his lover to coming here and playing the doting husband with me?

So, I brought up Gwendolyn. "Are you very close with her?"

Kaden chuckled. "Are you jealous, my dear? Don't worry. She's just a new employee. Don't you know what kind of person I am? I only scolded you earlier because I was afraid she might accuse you of something. Don't overthink it."

He casually rolled up my pant leg and applied medication to my ankle. After that, he blew on it gently.

This reminded me of when we first got together.

I could still remember the time when he had a huge row with his parents. He ended up living in a cramped and tiny rented apartment with me.

One Christmas, I was dismissed from my job. To cheer me up, he dressed as Santa Claus and dragged me out to hand out candy on the street.

Even his childhood friend had remarked in amazement, "I've never seen Kaden care about someone this much."

Over the past ten years, Kaden had given me everything I could have asked for—everything except marriage.

So, it was hard for me to believe that the man who professed to love me deeply was the very same man who slept with another woman behind my back.

I had never told Kaden about my family or background. He assumed that I was like Cinderella, who yearned to find her prince. However, the prince's true match would always be a princess.

I sat and watched him quietly, but my hand trembled uncontrollably under the blanket.

"You know, I think I've seen Ms. Crawford somewhere before. I think her name came up in the news," I remarked offhandedly.

Kaden stared straight at me and replied, "That's impossible. She's just a junior employee. You must have mistaken her for someone else."

The silence between us grew heavier until I suddenly laughed and said in a lighthearted tone, "You're probably right. I must have been mistaken."

Kaden let out a subtle sigh of relief, but his phone began to light up repeatedly with notifications of incoming messages.

This time, I didn't delay or hold him off from leaving. "Is something going on at the office? Go take care of it. I'll be fine here. So, don't worry about me."

The excuse he had prepared seemed to be caught in his throat. He looked at my curled-up form under the blanket and suddenly hesitated to leave.

Nevertheless, the steady stream of messages on his phone pushed him to make a choice.

He gave me a guilty glance and said, "Once things settle down, we'll go on a vacation to relax."

Kaden left me once again.

Soon, Gwendolyn's social media was updated. She posted a picture of herself lying on the hood of a sports car with a triumphant and smug expression.

"I can make all the tables turn. Why settle for an unremarkable housewife at home when you can have me instead?"

From that day on, Kaden didn't come back. I witnessed all his creative excuses and knew Gwendolyn was desperate to keep him with her.

…

Time flew by quickly. It was the day before Kaden and Gwendolyn would get married.

I packed up all my belongings and threw away anything in the villa that had any connection to me. The villa I had lived in for ten years suddenly felt like a stranger's home.

Kaden called me, saying, "Hey, wifey. I've booked tickets for the day after tomorrow. Let's meet at the airport, okay?"

It was almost impressive that he still remembered his promise to me, given how he and Gwendolyn were probably having the time of their lives these past few days.

Before I could respond, he hung up.

…

Early the next morning, the private investigator sent me one last message. He wrote, "The targets have obtained their marriage certificates."

The photo showed Kaden and Gwendolyn holding their marriage certificates, smiling contentedly at the camera.

At the same time, I boarded a plane that would take me far across the ocean.