A few days later, Liana called to say she needed to work late again. I pretended to be concerned over the phone, suggesting that maybe she should quit her job since she didn't need to help with the mortgage anymore.

She replied coyly, "Honey, that's not right. Modern women who don't work are like birds with clipped wings. Don't think you can sweet-talk me into becoming a housewife."

In the past, I would have wholeheartedly agreed with her. After all, we had the same level of education and similar outlooks on life. We both believed that no one should be idle in today's society, and work was essential.

But now, her words grated on my nerves. I couldn't help but laugh bitterly to myself. Tonight, I was determined to find out who the man she was holding hands with was.

I sighed and asked, "Sweetheart, how late will you be working? It's not safe to be out too late. Should I pick you up?"

She quickly responded, "I'm not sure yet. Honey, you can just go to bed first. I'll take a taxi home later."

Knowing she was lying, I didn't press the issue further. I ended the conversation quickly.

Then I opened the location-tracking app on my phone. She probably didn't even know that her phone was still linked to mine. It was a setup I had made while she was asleep.

Her password was ridiculously easy to guess. I had told her numerous times about the dangers of shared passwords, but she always found it too troublesome to change them.

The tracker showed that she wasn't at her office. Instead, she was at a barbecue restaurant around five miles from home.

We used to go there often because Liana loved it so much. Even when I was tired after work, I'd drive her there whenever she wanted.

I was familiar with the road. But tonight, I was gripped by despair while driving.

When I arrived at the restaurant, I parked in a corner by the road. Instead of rushing in, I cracked the window and observed through the big glass windows.

Liana seriously underestimated me. The two of them were sitting by the window, facing each other. Though the glass was clouded with grease and barbecue smoke, I could recognize her instantly. After all, she was someone I had spent five years loving.

The man sitting across from her, though, looked unfamiliar at first. But with a second glance, I thought he seemed vaguely familiar.

The guy looked so happy, while Liana, all smiles, kept grilling meat and serving it to him. She had never been so attentive to me.

Anger coursed through me as I pulled out my phone, zoomed in as much as I could, and took pictures of them.

Then I drove back home and went to sleep.

Until I had concrete evidence, I wasn't going to let my emotions cause me to act impulsively and tip her off.

I hired a private investigator called Stephen Kemp online. With the wave of layoffs, there were plenty of people offering their services to make ends meet.

We didn't need to meet in person. We communicated over a chat app, and I gave him the names, addresses, and the situation.

To my surprise, Stephen replied: [Don't worry, bro. I've got this.]

[What do you mean?] I was curious about it.

[This line of work has been keeping me afloat all year. What do you think?]

He was so confident that he even reassured me, saying, [It's not a big deal. This is life.]

I was speechless. It wasn't like this was anything to be proud of. [Like I said, start by finding out who the guy is, and then track their movements together.]

I racked my brain trying to remember who that guy could be, but I couldn't. So, I sent the photo I had taken to the investigator and let him handle it.

He worked fast. Within two days, he had dug up the man's background.

The man was Patrick Hinton, who used to be a high school classmate of Liana.

Suddenly, I recalled some long-forgotten memories.

No wonder he looked familiar but I couldn't recognize him. I had heard the name Patrick from Liana before. She couldn't keep things to herself and eventually let it slip. Then she'd always add, "That was all in the past. Now I love you."

Back then, I thought she was adorably naive to even tell her current boyfriend something like that. Now, I just thought it was foolish.

Patrick was the most popular man in their class, and she chased him for three months before she finally got him. They were together for three years in high school. In the end, because of their majors, they separated. Patrick stayed in a local medical school while Liana went to a university out of town, where she met me.

I knew why he looked familiar. It was because Liana had shown me their high school graduation photo. It wasn't that I couldn't remember him, it was that he had aged so much that I didn't recognize him.

Due to a job transfer, Patrick had been seconded to a hospital in Washington six months ago, and the two of them rekindled their affair.

Patrick even had a housewife back home, raising two kids. It seemed that a doctor's income was high enough to support three people who didn't work.

I looked at their spending records over the past six months, including their hotel bookings. They usually spent time in cafés, upscale restaurants, and five-star hotels. They even went to seaside hotels in nearby cities.

The pain was like a knife cutting through my heart.

Because all of this was paid for with Liana's card!

I had been bearing the brunt of all the mortgage payments, just so she could have extra money to meet up with her ex.

I felt it so humiliating...