I was doing laundry for my girlfriend when I noticed a small hole in her panties. It was a burn mark from a cigarette. But I had quit smoking over a year ago. There was a tiny hole on the lace trim of the panties, barely noticeable unless you looked closely. With my five years of smoking experience, I immediately recognized the yellowish circular burn mark that only a cigarette could make. My heart sank. I had quit smoking long ago, and my girlfriend never smoked. Who could explain this situation to me? I stood in the bathroom, holding the panties, unable to stop my mind from racing. The more I thought about it, the more unsettling it became. The more I thought, the more my face turned green with jealousy. Just then, my girlfriend sent me a message on SnapChat. “Babe, I have to work overtime again tonight. Don’t wait up for me~”
I had helped Chloe get a job through my connections at a private company as an HR assistant, hoping it would be an easy position for her. But lately, she had been working overtime frequently, coming home close to 10 PM every night. I hadn’t thought much of it before, assuming she was genuinely busy, but now… Something was definitely wrong. Absolutely fucking wrong. Suppressing my anger, I replied: “What time will you be done? I’ll come pick you up.” “Oh, don’t bother, honey. You know how it is, it’s the end of the year and we’re super busy. I’m not sure when I’ll finish here.” I immediately got dressed and drove to Chloe’s company. The lights were on in her office, and I could faintly hear people talking inside. Was she really working overtime? I didn’t rush in. Instead, I took out my phone and called Chloe. “I’m worried about you coming home alone. I’ll wait for you downstairs at your office.” “Didn’t I tell you not to come?” “It’s no trouble, baby. I’m already here at your office building.” Chloe’s voice on the other end clearly changed, becoming more flustered: “What? You really came? Why did you come here?” Why did I come? Of course, I came to see what you’re up to. I didn’t say much more to her and hung up the phone, then hid in the stairwell. A few minutes later, Chloe came out, followed by a man in a business suit. The two of them embraced as soon as they reached the elevator!
They kissed goodbye, reluctant to part. The man kept groping Chloe’s body while kissing her. It’s one thing to suspect, but it’s another to witness it with your own eyes. Rage consumed me, blood rushing to my head. I wanted to rush out and strangle these two cheaters right then and there. At that moment, I heard the man laughing: “Your boyfriend really cares about you, huh?” “Don’t mention him. He’s like a clingy leech, such a mood killer!” Chloe’s words were like a bucket of cold water poured over my head, temporarily suppressing my urge to confront them immediately. The man continued with his sleazy talk. “Why don’t you let him wait downstairs while we continue?” “What are you thinking? He could come up at any moment.” “We’ve done it before when he called you, remember? What are you afraid of?” “Oh, you’re so bad! I hate you~” Fuck, so I’ve been part of their little game all along? The desire to kill them grew even stronger… At that moment, I saw the man’s face clearly. It was him!
Chloe had posted photos of a company team-building event on her social media before, so I recognized him. This man was the company’s vice president, Greg Phillips. He looked decent enough, but knowing that his subordinate had a boyfriend and still doing such a shameless thing, he was nothing but a scumbag. Moreover, from the way he talked, he clearly enjoyed the thrill of fooling me, treating me like an idiot. Suddenly, I didn’t want to confront them face to face anymore. If I exposed everything now, we’d just have a big fight or maybe even a physical altercation, then Chloe and I would break up. That would be letting them off too easy. Before Chloe entered the elevator, I secretly took a photo of the two of them holding hands. I took the stairs down. Chloe was already waiting by the car. Pretending I knew nothing, I said: “I thought you’d be much longer, so I went to use the restroom on the first floor.” Maybe because I had ruined her plans, Chloe subtly rolled her eyes and said in an annoyed tone: “We finished early! Hurry up and open the door, I’m freezing!” On the way home, she pretended to be exhausted and closed her eyes to rest. That was fine by me. I didn’t want to talk to her either, afraid that if I opened my mouth, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from asking her why she would do this to me. That night, while she was sleeping, I checked her phone. The more I saw, the angrier I became. Chloe had been fooling around with Greg Phillips for months. She joined the company in June, and by August, she was already flirting with Greg. Recently, they had finally taken the last step, using overtime as an excuse to openly have an affair in the office. While these two cheaters were having their fun, I was at home like an idiot, cooking and doing laundry for Chloe, worrying that she was working too hard, fearing for her safety on her way home, and dreaming about our future marriage. This is what she said about me to Greg in their messages: “I’m pretty, so of course he worships me. Isn’t that how it should be?” “He’s so easy to manipulate. He never suspects me and is always willing to spend money on me.” “Marriage? That’s not certain yet. Besides, my parents always want me to find someone richer.” She also said: “What’s so great about your boring wife? She’s old and dull.” “Why don’t you divorce her? If you divorce, I’ll break up with Lucas.”
I couldn’t believe these words came from the person sleeping next to me. But the thousands of chat messages, each like a whip lashing at me, were undeniable evidence. Chloe was right. Before today, I never doubted her, never questioned her schedule, never looked at her phone. That’s probably why she felt safe enough not to delete their chat history. Looking at the person sleeping beside me, I suddenly felt she was so dirty, disgustingly so. The next morning, while Chloe was doing her makeup, her phone rang. She answered naturally, speaking in a formal tone: “Hello, Mr. Phillips. What can I do for you?” “Yes, I understand. I’ll try to arrive early today to review that with you.” I asked her: “Something up at work?” “Yeah, the boss is urging me to get in early. Can’t be helped, it’s year-end and there’s so much to do. I’ll probably have to work overtime again today.” Looking at her brightly painted lips and tight-fitting skirt, I pretended to care and said: “Why don’t I help you find another job? I can’t bear to see you so exhausted.” “No!” Chloe exclaimed loudly. Then, realizing her reaction was a bit excessive, she laughed awkwardly and said: “I mean, I don’t think it’s necessary. I’m still young, it’s good to work hard. Besides, you already used your connections to get me this job, I have to consider your feelings too, right?” As she was leaving, she tried to kiss me. Just thinking about how she had been passionately kissing that scumbag last night with those same lips made my stomach churn. I quickly pretended to look for something to avoid her. Chloe and Greg had an agreement. When calling in my presence, she would address him as “Mr. Phillips.” When I wasn’t around, she’d call him darling, baby, hubby, and all sorts of pet names. Chloe even called him “daddy” in their messages. You can imagine how wild they must be in private. Greg was clearly deliberately calling in the morning when I was around. Maybe they got a thrill out of flirting behind my back. Damn it, if they love to play games so much, I’ll play along to the bitter end.
I investigated Greg’s background. It turned out this bastard not only had a wife but also two kids. His wife had quit her job after having children to focus on being a full-time mom and homemaker. His parents, both retired university professors, lived in the same community to help take care of the grandchildren. I paid someone to follow Greg for a while and discovered another of his secrets. This scumbag was still secretly involved with his married ex-girlfriend! Every time they met, they went straight to a hotel. Well, well, well. I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony. Keeping his family intact while fooling around outside, huh? To outsiders, Greg might seem like a life winner with a perfect family and successful career. But in reality? He was nothing but a shiny turd, a real piece of work. However, the more dirt Greg had on him, the better it was for me. I gathered all sorts of evidence and, with some effort, managed to get the contact information for him, his family members, his ex-girlfriend, and her husband. In this age of big data, no one truly has privacy. That day, Chloe lied to me again about working overtime. I coldly replied: “Alright, don’t forget to eat. I’d be heartbroken if you starved yourself.” “Mm-hmm, you too, babe. Be good and eat your dinner, okay?” In the evening, I drove to her company and used a new phone number I had prepared to send a text to Greg’s wife. “Does your husband always say he’s working overtime? You’d better be careful, don’t be fooled. Some people are all too happy to eat their own vomit.” She called back almost immediately. I didn’t answer. She had to resort to texting: “Who are you? What do you mean?” “He has an ex-girlfriend he dated for a long time, doesn’t he?” I said no more, ignoring all her subsequent messages. For a woman who has devoted all her energy to her family, planting even a small seed of doubt about her husband would be enough. I waited patiently in my car, and sure enough, Greg came rushing out of the building shortly after. He looked nervous, running towards the parking lot while frantically trying to explain something on the phone.
I laughed. The sight of this bastard fleeing in panic was truly amusing. Chloe followed behind with a constipated expression. When I saw her come out, I stepped on the gas and left. Although Greg’s wife was just a housewife, she was no pushover. Her parents owned a local business, and she had two older brothers. She had been pampered since childhood and was known for her fiery temper. Given that Greg was already in a murky situation with his ex-girlfriend, my anonymous tip-off would make it difficult for him if his wife decided to investigate. As a result, this scumbag had become notably more low-key recently. Not only did he return home on time every day after work, but he also stopped flirting with Chloe over SnapChat late at night. This infuriated Chloe. Like all mistresses aiming to replace the wife, Chloe looked down on Greg’s spouse. She sent Greg a message: “What’s so great about being controlled by that old tiger? She’s old and fierce. Am I not better than her?” Ha, how naive. For married men like Greg, especially those who are doing well in life, what they want is a stable family with a wife and kids at home, while having fun fooling around outside. Home is home, play is play, and they keep the two very separate. However, I needed to give Chloe a little push, or how else would the game continue? To provoke Chloe, I also did a complete 180 in my attitude towards her during this time. When we argued or had conflicts, I no longer gave in. I often made her so angry that her face turned red and her neck swelled. “Lucas, you’re yelling at me? You dare to yell at me?!” Yelling is the least of what I should do. Normally, I should slap you. “Was all your kindness in the past fake? Men are indeed bastards, once they get what they want, they stop cherishing it!” Me, not cherishing you? When you insult me, don’t you think about whether you deserve to be cherished? I let her rant, not even bothering to comfort her. I shrugged: “Think whatever you want.” Provoked by my attitude, Chloe’s desire for revenge grew stronger. She frantically messaged Greg late at night while I was asleep. She even threatened him, saying that if he dared to ignore her again, she would go directly to his wife. This scared Greg. Moreover, after being under his wife’s strict supervision for a while, Greg was indeed feeling frustrated. So the two of them came up with a plan: a business trip.
As soon as Chloe entered the door, she rushed straight to the bedroom to pack her clothes, unable to hide her excitement. “Honey, our company has arranged a sudden HR training. I have to go on a business trip tomorrow!” “Oh? For how many days?” “Just two days.” I pretended to ask her: “Baby, did you forget? Tomorrow is Saturday, and we had planned to have dinner with your parents.” Chloe was busy selecting clothes from a pile and didn’t even look up. “We can have dinner anytime, but I can’t miss this training opportunity!” I smirked inwardly, thinking this was the perfect chance I’d been waiting for. She and that adulterer were quite cunning, going to great lengths for their secret rendezvous. The adulterer, fearing his wife might inquire at the company, had actually arranged a real business trip for himself. But he would leave on Friday and return on Saturday. As for Chloe, she lied to me about a business trip, but actually planned to spend the entire weekend fooling around with her lover in a hotel. I found the hotel booking information in her phone’s text messages. With Greg’s every move now under his wife’s scrutiny, even booking a hotel room had to be done by Chloe herself. She had bought an extremely sexy lingerie set at some point and secretly stuffed it into her suitcase. She had never even worn this lingerie for me. The next day, Chloe refused to let me drive her to the train station, and I didn’t insist. While her words expressed reluctance to leave me, her heart had already run off, eager to meet her lover as soon as possible. After she left, I didn’t sit idle. I bought a few gifts and first went to visit Chloe’s parents.
Their home was less than a two hours’ drive from the city. Neither of her parents had proper jobs, and they had a son, Chloe’s brother, who was unemployed and spent all day playing video games. “Uncle, Auntie, Chloe doesn’t know I’m here today. Actually… I’m planning to propose to her.” Her mom and dad exchanged a glance, their smiles not particularly warm: “Lucas, you and Chloe have been dating for over a year, and it is indeed time to talk about marriage. But marriage is no small matter.” I quickly said: “I understand. Marriage needs to be discussed properly between both families. Don’t worry, Chloe is a wonderful girl, and my family will definitely show enough sincerity in marrying her.” Her father’s eyes scanned the gifts I had brought: “As parents, we don’t ask for much. We just hope our daughter can find an understanding family who values her and treats her well.” That sounds nice, but what do they mean by “understanding” and “valuing”? Isn’t it just about how much bride price the groom’s family can offer? Chloe’s parents had asked her more than once how much bride price my family could offer for the wedding. I had already inquired about this. In Chloe’s area, the usual bride price ranged from 66,000 to 88,000 yuan, which wasn’t considered excessive. But if it were just this amount, her parents wouldn’t be beating around the bush with me now. I smiled: “Uncle, you’re absolutely right. Please rest assured, the bride price from my family will definitely be more than others. I guarantee Chloe won’t lose out compared to anyone else.” Hearing my ambiguous response, her father cleared his throat. Her mother took the cue: “Lucas, my daughter has a bachelor’s degree and is beautiful. You probably don’t know, but even though I’ve told people Chloe has a boyfriend, matchmakers keep coming to our house one after another to introduce potential partners for her. Last month, our neighbor’s daughter got married, and her conditions were far inferior to Chloe’s, yet the groom’s family still gave a bride price of 200,000 yuan!” I slowly said: “Auntie, my family will offer a bride price of 500,000 yuan.” “H-how much?” “500,000 yuan.” “500,000 yuan!” Her mother was so shocked she almost jumped up. Her father, who was in the middle of drinking water, choked and started coughing repeatedly.
“Lucas, are you serious? Is this what your parents think too?” I suppressed the mockery in my eyes: “Yes, I’ve discussed it with my parents, and they agree.” I showed the elderly couple a fake chat log I had prepared. Her mother’s face instantly lit up with joy: “Oh my, look at me! Lucas has been here for so long, and I forgot to pour him some tea!” I stopped her. “Auntie, I’m not finished yet. The apartment I’m living in now was bought outright by my parents. I’ll add Chloe’s name to it later. Once Chloe marries me, I want to give her complete security.” Upon hearing this, both of them were so happy they didn’t know what to say. “What are you standing there for? Go get some fruit for Lucas!” I could hear the sound of video games coming from the bedroom, which I knew was Chloe’s good-for-nothing brother, Ryan. “Uncle, Auntie, I was thinking it’s not good for Ryan to stay at home all the time.” Her father shook his head: “This useless boy, he turns down every job we find for him. He says the easy ones don’t pay enough, and the well-paying ones are too tiring. He just stays at home all day, making us angry!” “A friend of mine has started a company and needs a driver. It’s just driving clients around, with a monthly salary of nearly 10,000 yuan. Should I ask about it for Ryan? The job is easy, pays well, and offers flexible hours. What do you think?” Hearing this, her parents excitedly gripped my hands and wouldn’t let go. “Really, Lucas? If you can make this happen, you’ll be solving a big problem for our family!” Her mother was even more excited, raising her voice by several octaves: “I’ve always told his father that Lucas wouldn’t let us down! Entrusting Chloe to him is absolutely the right choice! What a reliable, good boy!” Heh, that’s not what you said when you called Chloe to come back for arranged dates, is it? It doesn’t matter. Life is a stage, and it’s all about acting skills. Then Chloe’s parents strongly insisted that I stay for dinner, but I politely declined. Today’s schedule was very tight, and I still had important business to attend to.
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