Chapter 1

On Christmas Eve, heavily pregnant, I stood in the kitchen washing a mountain of dishes in freezing cold water.

Suddenly, my husband Ethan's phone lit up on the dining table where he had left it.

I tapped the screen.

It was a delivery notification:

"Your state-of-the-art smart dishwasher has been successfully delivered to Maple Court Apartments, Tower A, Unit 205."

But our apartment was Unit 204.

I tried to convince myself that Ethan was just trying to surprise me and got the unit number wrong.

He had always been careless like that.

He had even forgotten that today was the anniversary of his older brother's death.

The very next second, a text notification popped up from an unsaved number:

[Ethan, you're just like you've always been—you can't bear to see me suffer. The dishwasher arrived, and I felt your love along with it.]

Ignoring the dull ache in my belly, I grabbed the phone and rushed across the hall.

When Ethan answered the door bare-chested, the blood rushed straight to my head.

The moment Ethan saw me, the smile vanished from his face.

"What are you..."

Before he could finish, a face all too familiar to me peeked out from behind him.

Chloe.

Ethan's late brother's widow.

And the woman he had loved and yearned for his entire youth, yet never could have.

It felt as if sharp blades were driving into the soles of my feet, paralyzing me with pain.

Hickies ran across Ethan's skin, trailing from his neck all the way down to his chest.

Every single mark was like a brand searing into my heart.

And Chloe.

She was wearing the exact same silk nightgown as the one I had on.

It was the birthday gift Ethan had brought back for me from a business trip last year.

I never knew.

Turns out, he bought two.

And his love had been split into two as well.

Chloe's voice was sickeningly sweet, her eyes flashing with triumphant provocation.

"Oh my, Susan, why are you running around with that big belly? You need to be careful, or you'll trigger early labor."

Her fingertips trailed lightly across the edge of the towel wrapped around Ethan's waist.

My chest tightened as if crushed by a boulder.

I couldn't breathe.

I knew that gesture far too well.

That was Ethan's most sensitive spot.

Every time after taking a shower, I used to wrap my arms around him from behind just like that.

Back then, he would kiss me passionately.

He called me his little temptress.

He swore he would love me for the rest of his life.

Yet I couldn't remember when it started—Ethan had simply stopped responding to my touch.

I bit my lip so hard a bead of blood welled up.

"Explain this. Why are you here? And why is she living right across from us?"

Not long ago, the building manager clearly told me that a family of four had moved in across the hall.

Before Ethan could speak, Chloe broke down in tears, crying like a fragile victim.

"Susan, don't blame Ethan. I was the one who insisted on buying this place."

"His brother passed away so early, and I just wanted to be closer to you guys so family could look out for one another."

"Please don't misunderstand anything. Tonight, the two kids missed their dad and threw a tantrum. Ethan only came over to keep his niece and nephew company."

I cut straight through her lies.

"Using the kids as an excuse just to cover up your affair, aren't you?"

I knew Ethan used to have feelings for Chloe.

But he had sworn to me that the past was dead and buried.

He promised that his present and future belonged solely to me, Susan.

I believed him.

And I was utterly, completely wrong.

Ethan's face turned colder than the snow outside.

"That's enough, Susan. That is vile. She is my brother's widow. We are completely innocent, and I won't let anyone drag her through the mud."

Chloe practically collapsed into Ethan's arms, sobbing hysterically.

"I'm just a widow, why do I have to be wronged like this? Ethan, if it weren't for the two kids, I wouldn't even want to go on living."

Ethan pulled her tightly into his embrace, his eyes brimming with heartache.

"Don't worry. I'm here. No one will ever bully you under my watch."

His cold, blade-sharp glare cut through me, stripping away every ounce of my dignity.

I couldn't believe it.

This was the man I had stood by through thick and thin for seven years.

My heart shattered completely at that moment.

I looked at him and asked calmly, "Did the dishwasher arrive?"