Chapter 2

I knew where that bracelet went.

A photo of its owner wearing it was sitting quietly in my phone.

The sender had no name, but I knew exactly who she was.

Scarlett, the popular rising star, my husband's on-screen 'ship'.

They'd played a couple in a TV drama that went viral, making them incredibly famous.

Now they were filming a movie together again.

She'd added me on SnapChat a year ago and had been sending me messages ever since.

Showing me just how good my husband was to her.

He'd patiently explain every line to her when she struggled, staying up late to rehearse scenes.

At networking events, he'd always step in, ensuring she was never pressured to drink.

He connected her with acclaimed directors, helping her climb from an unknown indie actress to the trending starlet she is today.

She never missed an opportunity to share every sweet detail between them, sending me everything, no matter how small.

Until yesterday.

Yesterday was my and Liam's tenth wedding anniversary, and also Scarlett's birthday.

Liam didn't come home. He went to celebrate with her.

That night, I received another message from her.

It was a photo.

A bracelet with an antique, distinctive design hung on her slender wrist, unforgettable.

It was the very bracelet Liam had promised to get for me.

[Sister, don't you think this bracelet is beautiful?]

[Liam gave it to me.]

[I just mentioned it casually, and he gave it to me without a second thought.]

[I don't know what to do with him, he's going to spoil me rotten if he keeps spoiling me like this.]

I didn't reply.

I never replied to her messages, but she kept sending them religiously for a year.

Maybe she was certain I'd see them.

And I always did.

I watched my own husband grow closer to another woman, showering her with care and pouring his heart into her.

I used to brush off Scarlett's messages.

Did she know what Liam and I had been through?

We'd been married for ten years, our lives intertwined, shaping each other's existence.

He pulled me out of a bleak childhood, promising to love me forever.

I thought Liam and I would stay strong, no matter what.

After all, in this vast world, we had only each other.

I never imagined that after only ten years, his affections would begin to drift.

He started noticing other paths, other companions.