I never imagined that one day I would become a suspicious “wife” catching wind of every little thing. If I had stuck to my original plan of staying single, I wouldn’t be tasting the bitterness of betrayal now. On my birthday, my husband and I went out for Japanese cuisine. He posted a lovey-dovey picture on Instagram with the caption: “Birthday dinner with the missus. Do not disturb.” This strange term of endearment piqued my curiosity. I’m not usually domineering, and he never calls me “missus.” There’s no need for him to portray himself as henpecked in front of family and friends. Unless… he subconsciously wanted someone specific to see it. Half an hour earlier, while tidying up our room, I found a brand new box of strawberry-flavored condoms. When we first started dating, I liked strawberry flavor. But now, after three years of marriage, I’ve long since outgrown such frivolous things. I frowned and went to confront Luke, “Honey, why did you buy these?” He was doing pull-ups on the balcony at the time. He turned his head, looking slightly surprised, but calmly said: “Oh, your birthday is coming up in a few days. I wanted to give you a surprise, you know, reminisce about our younger dating days. Didn’t expect you to find them so soon.” I was taken aback by his smooth-talking skills. Geez, how many years has it been since he last said something so cheesy? Luke and I were middle school classmates who reconnected at a reunion and started dating. We had a shotgun wedding when I got pregnant. I quickly returned to work after giving birth, and our relationship gradually became more like respectful relatives than passionate lovers. He’s a fitness trainer, and due to his hormones, he has particularly strong needs in that department. That night, after Luke turned off the lights, he reached for me as usual, his teeth gently grazing my shoulder strap as he whispered mischievously: “Why don’t we give Max a little brother?” However, I was already exhausted from a long day at work and wasn’t in the mood to indulge his playfulness. But he seemed to have learned some new tricks from somewhere, catching me off guard and making me gasp. “Where did you learn all this?” I asked, my back slightly damp with sweat as I melted into his embrace, allowing him to kiss me. “From educational materials, of course. I’ve done a lot of research to better serve you,” Luke teased, placing my hand on his six-pack abs and slowly guiding it lower. I still half-heartedly gave in and fell back onto the bed. But he didn’t succeed that night. In the end, he had to give up, lying next to me covered in sweat and cursing under his breath. My mood instantly sank. Because he hadn’t turned off the bedside lamp this time, I could see the stretch marks on my stomach. He sat on the edge of the bed smoking a cigarette, sighing quietly. “Chloe, don’t you know that if a woman doesn’t take care of herself after marriage, her husband can easily lose interest?” My heart grew even colder. Passion… if you’re only pursuing passion for a lifetime, what’s the point of marriage? Before meeting him, I had already decided to stay single. It was only after his persistent pursuit when we reconnected that I chose to enter into marriage and even have a child for him. Now he’s disgusted by the marks left on my body from bearing his child. I retorted, “What, are you going to cheat on me or something?” He rolled his eyes and said even if he wanted to, no one would be interested in him. True enough. Despite all the stories of affairs floating around online, in reality, no one would get involved with a married man who can’t even pay off his mortgage. Even being a mistress has professional standards; only rich men are worthy of having affairs. That night, neither of us could sleep, so we lay back to back on the bed, scrolling through our phones. When Luke came across a news article about “Man scammed after believing high-paying sperm donation ad,” he immediately forwarded it to me. I couldn’t be bothered to open it, just another trashy social news story, and continued reading my novel silently. My husband kept complaining, “She’s super pretty, gets paid for free sex, how can there be such a good deal in this world? So many men lining up to be studs, who else would they scam if not them?” I ignored him. As I reached over to turn off the bedside lamp, I caught sight of that box of strawberry-flavored condoms again and suddenly had a realization. He hadn’t used them just now, and even talked about having a second child with me. So who were these condoms bought for? 2 Once the seed of doubt is planted, it inevitably takes root and grows. On the surface, I remained calm, but I began to carefully observe his behavior. A few days later, on my 30th birthday, because I like wagyu beef, my husband suggested taking me to that newly opened Japanese restaurant on the busy street. He had specifically booked a private room, which was pre-decorated with roses and candles, with a cake already set on the table. “Happy birthday, Chloe! Thirty is just the beginning. You’ll continue to thrive in both family and career. You’ll always be the strong woman in my heart.” My birthday is also our wedding anniversary. In previous years, he almost always needed me to remind him, and he had never said such grandiose words. Since when did he become so good at sweet-talking women? After the Japanese meal, he presented me with a birthday surprise – a Cartier ladies’ watch worth over $4,000. It was rare to see him willing to spend money; in the past, he would even flinch at me buying a trench coat. I asked, “Where did you get the money for this?” Luke grinned and said, “I secretly saved up some pocket money. Oh, and I also paid Max’s tuition for the private preschool. I kept the remaining $300 for myself to spend, okay?” That day he also took a photo with me and posted a lovey-dovey message on Instagram: “Birthday dinner with the missus today (rose)(rose) Do not disturb (grinning face).” When I saw this Instagram post that night after returning home, suspicion arose in my mind. How many years had it been since he last called me by an affectionate nickname? He always just called me by my name. Even after I gave birth to our child, he couldn’t be bothered to call me “honey” or “babe.” Why suddenly use the strange term “missus”? I’m not usually domineering; we always make decisions together. There’s no need for him to portray himself as henpecked in front of family and friends. Unless he deliberately posted it for someone else to see. I vented all the recent oddities to my best friend, asking, “Am I being too paranoid?” My best friend, who studied psychology, immediately reminded me: “Have you seen spy movies? How do they cleverly convey messages, making two types of people hear different meanings…” I suddenly realized that if he had a woman on the side, this kind of Instagram post might be intentional, conveying a message to the other person: — I’m having dinner out with my wife, don’t call or text me, my wife is watching. With this thought in mind, I was distracted all day at work, even making a mistake on a report and getting scolded by my boss. In reality, I was secretly checking my phone, searching for methods on “how to catch a cheating husband.” I never thought there would come a day when I’d become such a suspicious “wife” catching wind of every little thing. But this is all my own doing. If I had stuck to my original plan of staying single, I wouldn’t be tasting the bitterness of betrayal now. I saw that many wealthy wives online hire private investigators to look into their husbands. I don’t have that kind of money to spare, so I can only rely on myself. That evening when I got home from work, I took advantage of Luke being in the shower to secretly search through his phone. After we got married, he always had my fingerprint registered on his phone. I had never checked it before. Luke is a legitimate fitness trainer, and because he’s married, he avoids suspicion by only dealing with men at the gym. He hasn’t added any female clients as contacts. Following the methods mentioned online, I investigated his bank statements and found that he indeed had no records of hotel stays or gift purchases. His chat history was also squeaky clean. Could it be that I’m overthinking things? Is it really possible that in reality, there would be a mistress who doesn’t want money, doesn’t seek status, and is only willing to be my husband’s secret lover? 3 However, this search wasn’t entirely fruitless. I discovered that his recent bonuses had increased, but he didn’t tell me about it. He kept it as his personal stash, which he used to buy me the watch and pay for our son’s preschool tuition. When Luke came out of the shower, I had already backed up his WeChat contact list and was just lying in bed, silently staring at my own phone. As his heavy breathing approached, I turned off my screen, which became a black mirror, and said to him: “I have a female friend whose husband cheated on her, but the other woman insists that she only values the man himself and doesn’t want to destroy his family. But do you think there are really women who don’t want money or status and are willingly to be someone’s mistress?” Luke was visibly startled but quickly regained his composure and shook his head. “I think women are very practical creatures. This kind of situation simply doesn’t exist. Relationships are always a give-and-take transaction. If it really happens, it might just be to deceive young girls who have just entered society.” That night he was full of vigor, having taken some supplements to boost his kidneys, and said he wanted to make up for last time’s shortcoming. I stared at him coldly the whole time, staring until he felt uneasy and still ended up panting in defeat. A man’s body is his most honest expression. A man whose heart has strayed will only be enthusiastic for the woman who can bring him fresh excitement. “Chloe, are you just going to lie there like a dead fish and stare at me? Don’t you have tonsils and vocal cords?” he said angrily. “I’m tired. Maybe another day,” I said. Seeing me turn away coldly to sleep, he got angry too. Luke started giving me the cold shoulder, not coming home for several days, often sleeping at the company. This played right into my hands, making it convenient for me to conduct my investigation. Since that Instagram post was a key clue, I decided to start by looking into each suspicious female in his WeChat contacts one by one. Recently, a new female student joined his gym, saved in his contacts as “Qin Qin.” She practices pole dancing and plans to apply for a job as a pole dance instructor. So she’s training under my husband first to build up strength and work on her physique. When I staked out the gym company building and spotted her, Melody was crouching outside the lobby with red-rimmed eyes, blowing her nose. I pretended to be bringing lunch for my husband and happened to run into her. “Are you Coach Luke’s new student? Why are you crying out here?” Melody wasn’t shy with strangers. After hearing that I was Luke’s wife, she threw herself into my arms and sobbed. “Mrs. Chen, I just broke up with my boyfriend. I thought I had gotten over it after two months, but he suddenly messaged me at dawn asking if I ‘still love him.’ He said he couldn’t eat or sleep for these two months and asked if I would be willing to get back together with him.” I gently asked, “So what was the reason for your breakup in the first place? Has it been resolved now?” Melody looked up with eyes as red as a rabbit’s and said it was because of domestic violence. Turns out she’s just a love-blind fool digging for wild vegetables. I silently lowered my eyes. This kind of love-blind girl often needs a man to rely on and solve her problems when she’s at her most vulnerable. And only love-blind fools would ignore status, wealth, and moral constraints to love a man so recklessly. I was surprised by this sudden thought. Could my husband’s affair partner really be Melody? But she still seems so heartbroken over her ex-boyfriend, not at all like someone who could betray him. Unfortunately, only women who have been loved can be so naively trusting. Women who haven’t been loved are all Sherlock Holmes. Last night, I made another unexpected discovery on my husband’s phone. Luke is usually busy with work and often saves movies on his cloud drive to watch during downtime. He’s not very smart and uses the same password for various accounts. I tried it and easily opened the hidden space on his cloud drive. In the hidden space, I found a chaotic video that was obviously secretly recorded. Looking closely, it turned out to be an intimate video of their gym’s female manager and the CEO in the break room. When I accompanied my husband to a company team-building party, I had seen this woman before. Evelyn is his female superior, 40 years old this year. She’s a capable and beautiful woman, always with her nose in the air, dating an executive from a listed company. I never expected she would engage in this kind of quid pro quo behavior to secure her position. Last night, in a moment of urgency, I confronted Luke with this video. He snatched back the phone in embarrassment, still protesting: “Yes, okay, I secretly recorded it. Wasn’t it just to have some leverage over Evelyn? You know I’m already 30, and it’s not easy in this industry. If she ever tries to make trouble for me with the higher-ups, I’ll have something to control her with.” I sneered, “Luke, don’t tell me you’re just keeping it for your own enjoyment?” He quickly retorted, “Haha, men all like young girls. Who would be into older women?” I believe this is the truth. Even I, who just turned 30, am despised by him for the stretch marks on my stomach. From a physiological preference standpoint, he couldn’t possibly like Evelyn. However, I still haven’t ruled out either Melody or Evelyn as suspects. Both women are key suspects, but their motivations puzzle me. Not after money, not after status, not after love… besides these, only passion remains. He’s been more enthusiastic about work lately, making me even more certain that this person must be at his company. At 3 PM, when I followed him to the gym, I saw him helping a woman do backbends, sweating profusely. The woman had a slender figure, her back to the window so I couldn’t see her face clearly. She was panting from bending over. “Your core strength is too weak. You need a good workout,” Luke said with narrowed eyes and a somewhat lewd smile. The woman’s coquettish voice also reached my ears, “Ugh! Be gentler…” My gaze instantly sharpened as I clearly saw my husband’s hand slowly exploring towards the front of the woman’s body.
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