On the third day of my business trip, I checked the smart pet feeder’s backend, wanting to see if Midas, my cat, was eating well. The camera connected, and a syrupy sweet voice immediately drifted out. “Oh, your daddy is so careless. He didn’t even notice you ran out of food. My poor baby must be starving, aren’t you? Mommy’s heart is breaking.” On screen, a young woman was holding my cat, nuzzling him affectionately. Midas, who was usually skittish around strangers, didn’t scratch her. He was actually purring and kneading in her arms, eyes blissfully half-closed. My blood ran cold. I immediately clicked on the remote intercom. “Who are you? What are you doing in my house?” The woman’s back stiffened. She scrambled to her feet, and then the screen went black. I immediately called Lucas, asking him what the hell was going on. He, however, just brushed it off casually. “Oh, Chloe? She’s a new intern at my company. She just helped me pick up an urgent document from home. She probably saw Midas and thought he was cute, so she played with him a bit.” “She’s still a kid, honestly. The type who orders from the kids’ menu at company dinners. She doesn’t think before she speaks, super naive.” I didn’t press further. Instead, I immediately called Brooke Miller, my best friend who’s a lawyer. “Lucas is cheating on me. I need you to draw up divorce papers, now!” *** Brooke almost choked on the other end of the line. “Just because that girl held your cat, you’re convinced Lucas is cheating and you want a divorce?” “Girl, that’s a bit dramatic, isn’t it?” I took a deep breath and explained to her, “You know Midas’s personality. A stranger can’t even touch him, let alone hold him, without getting scratched to ribbons.” “That girl was holding him, kissing him, rubbing him, and Midas was docile as a fake cat in her arms. This is not the familiarity level you get from a first-time visitor. Lucas is lying!” Brooke was silent for a moment, then she exploded in rage. “Lucas Thorne, that ungrateful bastard! A kept man, and he dares to mess around? He’s got a death wish!” “Aria, don’t worry. I guarantee I’ll make sure that dirtbag leaves with absolutely nothing—not even the shirt on his back!” I hung up, forcing myself to calm down. From the stored footage in the smart feeder’s backend, I took a screenshot of the girl’s face. Then I immediately changed my flight, flying back home that very night. As soon as I landed, I drove straight to the company. My gaze swept across the workstations, but I didn’t see that familiar face. Had Lucas hidden her that quickly? I went to the restroom. As I walked into a stall, I heard two girls talking outside. “Chloe, you’re so lucky! You found such a rich and loving boyfriend!” “Tickets to that big pop star concert were so hard to get, and he managed to get us front-row seats! I’m so jealous!” The other girl, Chloe, her voice sweet and barely concealing her pride, replied, “Oh, it’s nothing, really. He insisted on taking me, saying we shouldn’t have any regrets in our youth…” I froze. Wasn’t that the voice I heard from the feeder’s backend? Through the crack in the door, Chloe Davis was at the sink, touching up her makeup. I suddenly remembered. A month ago, I had told Lucas I wanted to see that pop star concert, playfully begging him to find a way to get tickets. Back then, he’d frowned, looking annoyed. “Aria, how old are you? Still chasing pop stars like a teenager?” “Besides, those tickets are impossible to get. Why bother?” It wasn’t that they were impossible to get. It was that the tickets, and the person, had been given to someone else. I scoffed, pushing the door open and walking out. The two girls clearly jumped in surprise. The other girl awkwardly mumbled, “Ms. Hayes,” and quickly scurried away. Chloe tried to leave too, but I called out, stopping her. “Chloe Davis, right? Were you at my house yesterday afternoon?” Chloe’s eyes darted around. “Mr. Thorne forgot some urgent documents, he asked me to pick them up…” I raised an eyebrow, cutting her off coldly. “Midas is quite shy with strangers. He gets stressed if anyone he doesn’t know touches him. How did you manage to get him to let you hold him?” Chloe’s face went pale. She stammered, “Maybe… maybe it’s because I usually feed stray cats, so I carry their scent, and animals just tend to like me…” I chuckled. “So much so that on your very first visit to my house, you introduced yourself as his mom? And called Lucas his dad?” “Then who am I? The maid?” Chloe instantly panicked. “Ms. Hayes, you’ve misunderstood! I just said it playfully. I often call myself ‘mommy’ when I feed stray cats.” “I really didn’t mean anything else. Please, don’t misunderstand…” Tears welled up in her eyes, she was so frantic. If I hadn’t checked her social media posts before coming to the office, I almost would have believed her. On her private Ins account, I saw Lucas was having a ridiculously expensive candlelit dinner with her on *our* wedding anniversary, which he had missed. I saw a photo of their fingers intertwined on a hotel bed, mocking me: “My big boy is so obedient; one call and he came running. The old hag is stuck home alone!” That hand in the photo, I’d seen it for five years. I couldn’t possibly mistake it. The thought of me going to the hospital repeatedly for fertility treatments because of Lucas’s low sperm count, enduring all that agony, while he was fooling around with his mistress, made me sick to my stomach. With that in mind, I didn’t watch Chloe’s performance anymore. I turned and walked away. Just as I reached the company entrance, I ran straight into Lucas, who was rushing back. Seeing me, a flicker of undetectable panic crossed his face. “Honey, why are you back so early? You didn’t even tell me, I would’ve picked you up from the airport!” Looking at the fine beads of sweat on his forehead, I sneered inwardly. He’s rushing back so fast because Chloe must have tipped him off, right? I glanced at him, my voice flat. “What, you’re not happy I’m back early?” “Or could it be you’ve hidden a little lover at the company, and you’re afraid I’ll find out?” Lucas froze for a second, then forced a laugh, reaching out to put his arm around me. “What nonsense are you talking about? I’m just surprised, that’s all. I didn’t expect you back so suddenly. Come on, let’s go home. Your husband will cook you something delicious!” I subtly sidestepped his hand, feigning a casual tone. “Oh, right, that concert the other day sounded quite exciting.” Lucas’s face changed. He quickly denied it, agitated. “Concert? What concert? I’ve been working overtime every night until midnight. How would I have time for a concert?” “Did you see someone? You must have mistaken them!” I smirked internally. I hadn’t even mentioned he went with anyone, yet he’d already betrayed himself. Seeing me just watching him, silent, Lucas grew a little flustered. He quickly changed the subject, his voice deliberately fawning. “Honey, you’re just working too hard. You’re starting to imagine things.” “You’re a goddess to me. No other woman can even compare to a single strand of your hair.” “If you really want to see that pop star concert, I’ll find a scalper right away. Even if it costs ten times the price, I’ll get you front-row tickets! We can have a romantic night, how about it?” In the past, I would have been thrilled to hear him say that. But now, I just felt disgusted, wishing I could divorce him immediately and cut all ties. However, I knew that tearing him down now would be too easy for that scummy pair. I needed to wait. Wait for an opportunity to utterly destroy their reputations. Thinking this, I suppressed the disgust churning within me and forced a strained smile. “Maybe I really did see wrong. It’s fine, I’m okay now. You can go back to work.” Lucas carefully observed my expression, convinced I had been appeased. He finally let out a sigh of relief and turned back into the company. As his back disappeared, the smile on my face instantly froze. That night, Lucas, predictably, worked overtime again. I opened Chloe Davis’s private Ins account and saw her new post. “Some old women just have no self-awareness, desperately throwing themselves at my boyfriend. It’s hilarious. Good thing my boyfriend only has eyes for me.” “To prove his loyalty, he just had to get me a limited edition luxury yacht as a Valentine’s Day gift! Everyone come party, witness the yacht’s maiden voyage~” The post was accompanied by a heavily filtered photo of her holding a huge bouquet of red roses, standing in front of a white yacht. Seeing that yacht, I absolutely exploded. This was a six-year wedding anniversary gift my dad gave to Lucas and me. Worth millions, the customization alone took a whole year. I hadn’t even dared to take it out on the water myself, always meticulously maintaining it, docked at a private marina. Lucas, that freeloading husband, actually took *my* property to butter up his mistress?
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