Chapter 1

The day my wife returned from her business trip, I secretly brought our son to the airport to surprise her.

As she stepped out of the arrival gate, my wife was laughing and chatting with a man.

When it was time to say goodbye, the man suddenly wrapped his arms around her waist.

I expected my wife to be furious, but she didn't even give him a warning look. Instead, she blushed and told him, "You can't do that at the office."

I picked up our son and left the airport without looking back.

My wife came home and found me in the kitchen.

A flicker of guilt crossed her face.

"William, thanks for holding down the fort these past few days. Let's eat."

In six years of marriage, I rarely heard my wife say something like that.

Because she always emphasized that "she" was the hardest working, strongest, and greatest person in the world.

That scene at the airport made me remember calling her the night before. She'd breathlessly told me she was jogging, then quickly hung up.

Looks like she was lying.

My heart felt heavy, like a huge rock was pressing down on it.

"I'm not hungry. You guys eat."

I went back to the room, but soon after, my wife sat down beside me.

She asked, annoyed, "William, we haven't seen each other in a week. Are you really giving me attitude the moment I walk in?"

I smiled and shot back, "Oh, Ms. Mia, you're joking. I'm just a househusband. How dare I give you attitude?"

She caught my sarcasm and explained that her business trip had been too busy, so she hadn't had time to call or video chat.

To cheer me up, she pulled out a T-shirt she'd bought for me, asking me to try it on.

"I snuck in some time to buy matching family outfits for the three of us. You used to get upset when I didn't wear matching couple outfits with you, remember? Are you happy now? Come on, try it on, see if it fits."

I knew she was deliberately bringing that up to dodge the real issue. So I snatched the T-shirt and threw it away. This action made her lose her last shred of patience.

"William, are you really going to keep this up? Is it just because I brought Carter on the trip? He's my junior from college, and he's my employee. He wants to learn from my work experience. He's ambitious. What's wrong with that?"

I retorted, "It's not just work experience your 'junior' wants from you, is it?"

"What do you mean? William, you're just dirty-minded, so you see everyone that way. People really shouldn't be idle for too long!"

"What do you think I'm working my butt off for out there? Isn't it for "our" family? What can you do besides being mindlessly jealous? If you were just a little more capable, would I, a woman, have to be out there in the public eye?"

"Do you know what people are saying about us? They're calling me a sugar mama! Out of sight, out of mind for you, but I've been humiliated because of you!"

For three years, I'd lived under this constant pressure.

Every argument, she'd repeat the same lines: I was useless, a leech, a sugar baby.

Normally, at this point, I would apologize first.

I knew her temper. Since I was with her, I should be more understanding.

But not this time. This wasn't about temper; it was about integrity, about betrayal.