Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When Chase returned to our penthouse, I was curled up on the sofa, burning with a fever.

He flipped on the lights. "Why are you sitting in the dark..."

Seeing my flushed face, he gasped in shock and quickly set down the takeout bag.

Inside was warm cinnamon apple cobbler, my favorite comfort food.

He boiled some water.

He handed me fever medication and water. "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have stayed out drinking with the guys."

"Rest up. I'm going to take a quick shower so the smell of alcohol doesn't bother you."

Worry was written all over his face.

If I hadn't caught the faint scent of Mia's signature rose perfume lingering on his collar, I might have truly believed this man loved me.

The sound of running water started in the bathroom.

Chase had left his phone on the coffee table.

The screen lit up with a text notification from Mia.

I glanced cautiously toward the bathroom, then finally gave in and picked up the phone.

It was a single number: '1'.

I knew they had a daily streak to keep their chat score alive.

Over three thousand consecutive days of streaks, with daily messages containing only a single emoji or the number one.

It shouldn't have looked that innocent.

I suddenly remembered walking past an electronics shop earlier that day.

The clerk had been promoting the exact same phone model Chase owned.

Recalling the clerk's demonstration, I unlocked the hidden secondary profile on his device.

A provocative photo of Mia filled the screen.

She was lying across satin sheets in lace lingerie.

【I'm on my safe days today, by the way.】

Explicit.

Blatant.

The image struck me right in the chest without warning.

Scrolling up, I found Chase complaining that I only ever stuck to one vanilla position in bed and had no sense of excitement.

He had written: "She's nowhere near as wild and fun as you."

I had no idea their acting skills were so flawless.

Chase and I had been together for five years.

I had met Mia several times during that period.

Every time she saw me, she would smile brightly and call me "Nina, sweetie."

Yet behind my back, she ridiculed me mercilessly.

"I forbid you from actually falling for her. She's just a country nobody. Marrying you is the biggest lottery ticket she'll ever hit."

And Chase had humored her gently: "Don't worry, my little princess."

"I only touch her during her fertile window."

"Once she gives me a son, I won't ever have to touch her again. I'll save all my energy exclusively for you, okay?"

A wave of nausea washed over me.

Just then, the bathroom water stopped, and I swiftly locked the phone back to normal and placed it down.

Chase stepped out, surrounded by a cloud of steam.

He picked up his phone first, his thumb sliding across the screen before his breath caught and a dark shadow crossed his eyes.

Then he acted as if nothing had happened and looked over at me.

When his hand reached out to check my forehead, I couldn't help but shove him away, leaning over the armrest to dry heave.

Chase's hand froze in midair.

The air in the living room seemed to still, filled only with the sound of my ragged retching.

That was when Mia showed up, her cheerful laughter instantly shattering the silence. "Chase! I'm crashing at your place tonight. Can you take me in?"

The moment Mia walked in, she stole every ounce of Chase's focus.

He frowned at her flimsy camisole top, his voice laced with protective annoyance. "It's freezing outside tonight. Why did you dress so lightly?"

Mia playfully batted her eyelashes at him.

"Chase, let's fly to Iceland to chase the northern lights!"

"I already bought our tickets. We leave tomorrow morning! Let's just head to O'Hare tonight so we don't have to wake up early."

Without a second thought, Chase agreed on the spot.

Only after saying yes did he finally look down at me, still burning with a fever on the sofa.