Chapter 2

My words hung in the air, and a long silence fell over the living room.

Leo's face darkened, irritation etched across his features.

That same irritation, I’d seen it countless times over the past five years.

When I’d painstakingly prepared a candlelit dinner, only for him to suddenly say he had to work late.

When I’d waited for him, brimming with excitement, on my birthday, only for him to forget the time playing basketball with his friends.

When I’d cautiously asked him when we could travel like other couples.

He always looked at me with that expression, as if I were a spoiled child making unreasonable demands.

"Skye, what exactly do you want?"

He tugged at his tie, his brows deeply furrowed. "If you think I haven't been spending enough time with you lately, I can make time. If you feel like you don't have enough money, my extra card is with you. You haven't forgotten the password, have you?"

He reduced everything to material needs and companionship, deliberately avoiding any mention of feelings.

Perhaps, in his heart, I, his wife, was only worthy of these things.

I suppressed the ache in my chest and looked into his eyes. "I don't want anything, Leo. I just want a divorce."

His patience finally ran out.

"Is this really necessary? All this drama over some stupid thing from five years ago!"

"I forgot to throw those tickets away; it was my oversight, and I apologize! But you can't use that to threaten me into a divorce!"

He spoke with self-righteous indignation, tearing off his tie and tossing his jacket onto the couch, his face a mask of cold indifference.

I met his gaze defiantly, refusing to back down, still insisting on the divorce.

The atmosphere grew heavy.

Just then, Leo's phone rang.

The screen lit up, and the caller ID "Luna" stabbed me like a knife.

Leo's expression softened. He instinctively glanced at me, then picked up his phone, his movements subtly guarded.

His voice melted.

"...Not asleep yet? Another nightmare?"

"Shhh, don't be scared, don't be scared. I'll be right over. You just wait for me in bed, okay?"

My heart ached with a dull throb.

So, Leo wasn't naturally cold. All his tenderness and patience were reserved for someone else.

He hung up the phone, glared at me, grabbed his jacket, and headed for the door.

"Something came up at the office, Skye. I don't want to have a pointless argument with you about this. If you keep stirring up trouble like this, there's nothing I can do. Five years of marriage, and you still act like a naive girl, so childishly paranoid. It's truly disappointing."

*I'm* stirring up trouble?

I felt utterly powerless. Leo always blamed me during arguments.

And most of all, he’d tell me that as husband and wife, we shouldn't nitpick or keep score.

"Leo..."

A lump formed in my throat. I was about to call out to him when my peripheral vision caught a white piece of paper fluttering from his jacket pocket.

It was a delivery slip.

Driven by an impulse I couldn't explain, I bent down and picked it up.

**[Item: Condoms x 2 boxes, Recipient: Ms. Xu]**

The date was last Saturday, and the delivery location was a hotel.

The words caught in my throat, unable to be spoken or swallowed, and my heart sank.

I remembered Leo saying he was on a business trip last week.

He hadn't come home all weekend, and when I'd called, his attitude had been impatient.

I laughed, but tears welled up, stinging the corners of my eyes crimson.

My hand clenched tight, and almost instinctively, I followed him out.

But what I saw next, I never could have imagined.

Leo left our house, turned right, and stopped at the house NEXT DOOR!