She replied almost immediately.
A: Believe it or not. I don't care either way. You must be another pathetic wife, right? Serves you right. Any woman who can't keep her man is useless.
I didn't reply again.
After putting down my phone, I sent Ethan a message.
Nina: Are you still at work?
His reply came quickly.
Ethan: Yes. What's up, honey?
I didn't answer. Instead, I called a cab to his office.
I couldn't let a few unverified comments make me doubt the relationship we had built over the years.
I had to see for myself and find out whether it was true.
When I arrived outside his office building, I happened to run into one of his coworkers.
The man looked at me in surprise.
"Nina, what are you doing here? Didn't Ethan take the day off?"
I stopped in my tracks.
"He said there was an urgent matter and that he had to come back to work overtime."
"Overtime?" His coworker scratched his head. "There hasn't been much going on lately. Ethan left this afternoon. He said he was going home to be with you..."
I smiled but said nothing more. I walked past him and entered the elevator.
As the elevator rose, my unease grew stronger.
When I reached Ethan's office, I took a deep breath and pushed the door open.
The office wasn't empty.
Ethan sat behind his large desk, his expression gentle.
At the sound of the door, he looked up. His eyebrows rose in surprise, and there was a teasing note in his voice.
"Honey? What is it? You didn't trust me, so you came to check whether I was really working?"
Looking at his familiar face, I felt the tension I had carried all the way finally eased.
A wave of grievance and lingering fear rushed over me. My eyes burned, and I almost threw myself into his arms on instinct.
"Don't come over!"
Ethan suddenly barked in a low voice, stopping me in my tracks.
I froze. He was pressing his fingers to his temple, his face dark.
"Be good. I think I might be coming down with something. You just had dialysis, and your immune system is weak. Don't get too close. I don't want to infect you."
He did look unwell. Cold sweat kept trickling down from his temples, his breathing was rapid, and an unnatural flush colored his face.
Every so often, a muffled gasp escaped his throat.
I immediately grew worried.
"Ethan, are you okay? Maybe we should—"
But then something caught the corner of my eye, and my entire body went rigid.
In the reflective glass of the filing cabinet beside him, I saw the outline of a woman hiding beneath his desk.
She was kneeling between his legs, one hand touching his groin.
An icy chill shot up my spine and spread to the top of my head.
I fought with everything I had to not burst into tears.
"Forget it. My chest suddenly feels tight, and I'm having trouble breathing. I'm going home first."
Without waiting for Ethan's response, I practically fled the building.
At some point, it had begun to rain outside.
My foot slipped, and I fell hard into a puddle. Then I broke down and sobbed.
The cold and pain in my body were nothing compared with the pain in my heart.
My phone buzzed. It was her.
The anonymous account had posted another update: My man is clever. He knew his wife would come, so he had a coworker downstairs warn him in advance. But I'm not scared. I had s*x with him right in front of his wife. It was thrilling.
I opened the post and heard the woman's coquettish voice.
"Was it exciting, having your wife right there just now?"
"What the hell are you doing?" the man scolded hoarsely. "We almost got caught."
But when I listened more closely, I could hear the affection he couldn't hide in his voice.
I bit down hard on my lip until the taste of blood filled my mouth.
Soaked to the bone, I returned home and called the hospital.
"Hello. I'd like to ask about the matching results from three months ago. What exactly happened?"
Aksara