After my wife had a miscarriage, I was concerned about her health, so I decided to pause our intimate life. One day, I happened to stumble upon her private messages with a male student. The boy, in a playful yet slightly complaining tone, said: “You can’t even spend the Valentine’s Festival with me. I’m so sad.” “Will you be with him tonight?” Her response was, “No, you know I don’t want to treat it as just a baby-making task.” “I bought you a tie. Wear it for me tomorrow.” 1 That mismatched tie is around my neck right now. I thought it was a romantic surprise from Eloise for the Valentine’s Festival. So when she was in the shower, I secretly put it on. It turns out the problem wasn’t the size; she simply got the delivery address wrong. Following the hint from the message, I clicked on that boy’s social media profile. In the latest video, the boy was at the beach, holding hands with the person behind the camera, his face beaming with a bright smile. I immediately recognized that familiar hand—it was Eloise’s left hand. Long slender fingers, with the faint outline of a wedding ring on the ring finger. I unconsciously tightened my grip on the ring on my own hand. With a slight swipe of my fingertip, the screen scrolled. The boy had also shared a photo showing a shoe cabinet. The caption read: “My wife isn’t great at picking shoes, just buys blindly. #helplessLOL” I opened Eloise’s Amazon account. In her recent purchase history, there were many expensive clothes and accessories like watches, belts, and shoes. Upon checking each item, all the delivery addresses were to a dormitory at a university downtown, addressed to Jasper. I returned to the chat interface, turned on the screen recording, and started recording their chat history. Their conversations weren’t extensive, mostly her asking him out or him asking when Eloise could come to see him. In between, there were some explicit flirtations. I sent the recorded video to myself, then deleted the chat history. Next, I went to the gallery, deleted the video, and cleared it from the trash. All actions were completed smoothly. The moment the bathroom doorknob turned gently, I quietly put the phone back in its place. 2 Eloise came out, her hair hanging wet and slightly curly, drying it as she walked. Droplets of water slid down her hair, brushing past her delicate chin. She noticed that I was still wearing the tie I hadn’t had a chance to take off. For a moment, she seemed a bit surprised. “Do you like it?” she asked. “The size is a bit off. I’ve already washed it, so it can’t be returned, right?” “Return it? I bought it especially for you.” I didn’t expose her obvious lie. Eloise came closer, gently placing her hand on her abdomen. “Thinking about Buddy again?” she said. Buddy was the nickname we gave to the child we lost before birth. “Don’t be sad, we’ll have more children.” She comforted me gently. “But it’s been a year since we…” “Asher, I want that too, but considering my health… let’s wait a bit longer, okay?” I knew she wasn’t really willing. A woman’s body doesn’t lie. “My mom messaged me today, asking why you’re not pregnant yet, suggesting we see a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner.” I rested my head on her shoulder, “Why don’t we try tonight?” Eloise’s body suddenly stiffened. “Asher, we could consider IVF, you know. I’ve looked into it. It maximizes embryonic health and lets us choose the timing, number, even gender.” Although I expected her refusal, a chill still swept through me. To avoid intimacy with me, she’d rather opt for IVF. “Alright, let’s see how it goes,” I said calmly. “Eloise, I’m hungry. Could you get me something to eat downstairs?” After she left, I went to the underground parking on level -2 and secretly placed a voice recorder in her car. 3 Eloise held my hand as she fell asleep. I turned over, quietly slipping my hand out of her grasp without waking her. I didn’t know how much time had passed when her phone rang loudly in the darkness. She hesitated for just half a second before cutting the call. “Asher…” I closed my eyes, not responding. She gently nudged me and whispered, “There’s an urgent matter at work, I need to handle it. If all goes well, I’ll be back by morning.” I groggily hummed in response, “Be careful on the road.” She kissed me briefly, dressed up, and left the bedroom. Not long after, I heard the front door close. I casually put on some clothes and went downstairs to hail a cab. The driver asked, “Where to?” “Columbia University, south campus dorm entrance.” That was the delivery address I found on Eloise’s shopping app. In the car, I opened TikTok and searched for a username: 203 degrees. That boy liked sharing his daily life—shopping, traveling, dining, gaming. He posted several updates almost daily. I clicked on a video he posted of a game ending screen. Seeing his game ID “Predator,” I suddenly remembered when Eloise and I played games together, this “Predator” was on our team. He played a healer role, but looking at the stats, I hadn’t received a single heal, not even a splash. I was puzzled and typed in the chat box: Why didn’t you heal me? After about a minute, he replied: Sorry, I just bought this account, not very skilled yet. I asked Eloise about it, and she said he was just a newbie, not good at playing, and suggested not playing with him again. Turns out, I was just a passerby in their game. 4 The driver floored the gas pedal, and the car sped forward. By the time I arrived, Eloise’s car hadn’t shown up yet. The sky was overcast with thick clouds, and the thunder rumbled a few times. Then, raindrops the size of soybeans started pouring down. I quickly took shelter in a 24-hour self-service bank on the street. My phone beeped, the screen lit up—it was a call from Eloise. “Asher, you awake?” her voice came through. I replied, “How did you guess?” “I knew the thunder would wake you up,” Eloise said gently. “Before leaving, I checked the weather and unplugged all the appliances except the fridge. Don’t worry, just sleep.” When I was a kid, our house caught fire during a thunderstorm. Since then, thunder and lightning at night always made me anxious. Whenever this kind of weather hit, Eloise would find a way to stay with me. Once, she even left halfway through a social event just to come home to me. I pondered if I was overthinking it, maybe she really was handling work issues. But just then, a familiar SUV with its hazard lights on slowly came into view. In the rain, a figure dashed out from the school gate. The wind lightly tousled his hair. The boy ran to Eloise’s car, paused by the passenger window but didn’t open it. Instead, he circled to the back and got into the rear seat. Soon after, Eloise also emerged, opened the rear door, and bent into the car. Rain kept pattering down as I silently watched the dark vehicle. For quite a while, Eloise’s car slowly drove off. And that boy stayed inside, never coming out again. 5 Eloise stepped into the house at dawn. She held a bouquet of bright red roses and a seafood porridge from Joe’s Seafood. “This is a belated Valentine’s gift.” I looked at her and joked, “Did you stay up all night?” “There was too much work, couldn’t finish, no time to sleep.” She pinched her brows, seemingly trying to relieve the tension there. “I need to pack and catch a high-speed train. Drink the porridge and rest; your dark circles are almost touching the ground.” With that, she called a car and left in a hurry. I went downstairs to retrieve the voice recorder I had placed there and tossed the bouquet into the trash can. Just then, the cleaning lady picked the flowers out of the trash and called out behind me, “Oh dear, such beautiful flowers, why throw them away?” I turned back, smiled at her, and softly said, “Yeah, I don’t want them.” 6 Back home, I pressed play on the voice recorder. Eloise picked up the phone and called the boy. “Wait for me at the school gate later.” “Oh my! Is it okay now?” She had the speakerphone on, and I could clearly hear the boy’s excited voice. Eloise chuckled softly, “Don’t rush, it’ll be a little while before I get there.” “Weren’t we not supposed to meet today? Why the sudden change?” “It’s the Valentine’s Festival, after all. I couldn’t bear the thought of you spending it alone.” The boy was so happy he almost jumped, “Drive safely!” “Okay. It’s about to rain, remember to bring an umbrella.” Soon, I heard the sound of rain tapping on the car window. “Wait for me at the school gate later, okay?” “Oops! Is it okay like this?” She turned on the speakerphone, and I could hear the boy’s excited shout clearly. Eloise chuckled softly, “Don’t rush, it’ll take a little while to get there.” “Didn’t we agree not to meet today? Why are you suddenly coming over?” “Today is the traditional festival, and I couldn’t bear the thought of you spending it alone.” The boy was so happy he could hardly contain himself. “Then drive safely!” “Okay. It’s about to rain, remember to bring an umbrella.” Soon after, there was a knock on the car window. “Come in from the back,” Eloise instructed. The boy climbed into the car. “Alright, I guess I’m still not qualified to sit in the front seat,” he said, sounding a bit dejected. Eloise explained, “Asher has a friend at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Better safe than sorry.” “Tsk.” “Jasper.” Eloise said his name slowly, with a hint of coldness. “I was wrong… I shouldn’t have been so petty. Punish me however you like.” His voice was full of grievance. “Then take it off now.” Eloise said leisurely. “Uh, wh-what?” Jasper seemed completely caught off guard. “Hmm? Didn’t you say I could punish you?” … In the heat of the moment, Jasper asked, “Do you love me?” “If I didn’t love you, why would I come out looking for you?” “I love you too, so much.” I sat in the living room, listening to this recording over and over. The voice recorder’s battery had long since died, but I kept pressing the play button mechanically. Click, click, click… until night fell and it gradually got dark. 7 Eloise texted me, asking why I wasn’t home. I didn’t reply. Soon, her call came through. “Asher, why didn’t you reply to my message?” “Didn’t notice my phone.” She sensed something was off in my tone and said with concern, “Let’s have dinner at that grill house on Main Street tonight.” I’ve always wanted to try that place but never found the time. “Don’t let it get to you, you have me. Let’s focus on living well.” Those words sounded so familiar. During our toughest times, she comforted me that way too. I didn’t respond to her, and tears quietly fell. “Fool, are you crying? I’ll book you a ticket right now, come home soon.” “Okay.” 8 As soon as I walked out of the station, I spotted Eloise in the crowd. She occasionally looked up towards the exit. “Asher!” She gently took my hand as soon as she saw me. I looked down at her, and the attachment in her eyes didn’t seem fake. At that moment, a thought flashed in my mind: maybe I could pretend nothing happened. We’ve been through storms together, and our emotional bond is deep. If she doesn’t want to be close to me, I could try IVF and have a cute little baby. Walking towards the grill house, Eloise took a call. I noticed her expression changed, so I asked what happened. She hesitated for a moment. “The company has something urgent… but I promised to have Japanese food with you, so I told them I wouldn’t go.” I unconsciously clenched my fingers in my palm. “It’s okay, work is important. My stomach hasn’t been feeling well these days anyway, we can go next time.” “But…” “No buts, just drop me off at that square ahead, I’ll wander around.” “Alright, then go ahead and shop, buy whatever you like, I’ll pay for it.” “Okay.” I got off at the corner, watching Eloise’s car drive away. I knew today was Jasper’s birthday. They mentioned it during their chat. Eloise said she’d go home for the festival and couldn’t be with him, planning to make it up on his birthday. About an hour later, Eloise texted me. “Arrived at the company, starting to get busy.” I thought for a long time before replying, “Don’t work too hard.” At night, I opened Jasper’s social page. He updated his status. In the photo, he closed his eyes, hands clasped, making a wish in front of a cake. Eloise’s reflection appeared in the glass behind him. There was also a photo from a romantic hotel. The lighting was dim, and the round bed was covered with petals. The location showed it was a romantic hotel in downtown. I went home to retrieve the marriage certificate, then took a cab to that hotel. Standing downstairs, I took out my phone and dialed 91
“Is this the police station? I’d like to report, my wife Eloise is having an affair.” 9 Accompanied by the officer, the staff knocked on the door of room 30 Eloise opened the door. She wore a bathrobe loosely tied around her waist. “You…” She was stunned seeing us at the door.
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