Chapter 2 Travel

The following morning, after Shane left for work, I didn't get up right away. Or perhaps I didn't have enough courage to do so. Though I wanted to search for more clues, it frightened me to know what sort of devastating stuff I might find.

Due to struggling mentally, I didn't get up until it was well past ten in the morning. I hardly slept a wink last night, so I was a little drowsy at the moment.

Little by little, I approached the study, recalling every bit of painful thing I heard last night. I could feel my nerves tensing up, and my heart was beating faster by the second.

What fresh hell was waiting for me at the other side of that door?

Upon opening the door, I saw a simple looking room. It was surprisingly tidy.

There was a trash can beside the bed. In it were used tissues that smelled like semen.

When my eyes inadvertently looked at his pillow, I caught sight of something.

There were two long curly strands of red hair, resting on the pillow.

My hair was brown. There was no way these belonged to me.

I walked out of the study, as if all life had escaped me, and closed the door shut.

I didn't have the strength to walk on. I leaned against the wall, trying to recall every unusual behavior Shane was exhibiting these past days.

Suddenly, I heard a noise coming from the door. Shane had come home.

I hurriedly stood up, pretending to walk past the study before going to the living room and taking a seat on the sofa. It was then that I feigned composure by picking up the remote control from the coffee table and tried to turn on the TV. I was so nervous that I pressed several buttons by mistake before I successfully turned the TV on.

Soon, Shane approached me, staring at my face. I was afraid that he might notice that something was off about me. After all, I cried for the entire night.

"Pack up some clothes. We're going to travel," he said.

"Travel? But… aren't you busy?"

Shane was a workaholic. We didn't even go on a honeymoon after we got married, so asking for leave just to travel was uncharacteristic of him.

"I've been too focused on my job, so I haven't spent that much time accompanying you. Now that you're pregnant, I figured it would be great to take you out more often, and it will ultimately be better for our baby's growth."

Perhaps due to what I found out last night, he sounded so hypocritical to me. Thus, I looked straight into his eyes, searching for an answer.

But he was surprisingly calm. He didn't look like he had cheated on me. On the contrary, I was the one who looked suspicious.

"Shane, about last night… You see…"

I wanted to question him about the identity of the woman he fucked in his study last night. But seeing him stare daggers at me made me clam up.

"What about last night?" asked Shane.

"It's nothing. I just heard someone talking last night."

His face changed at once.

"Oh, right. There was a critically ill pregnant woman who went to the hospital for treatment. I had to answer several phone calls while I was in the study. Did I disturb you?"

They were moaning so loudly while having sex, just for me to hear. Was he really worried about disturbing me?

I shook my head in response, packed up some clothes, and went downstairs with him, pretending like nothing had happened.

I was already twenty-six years old now; no longer the impulsive girl I used to be. For the time being, I needed to ascertain the truth before letting him know that I already knew about his betrayal.

I thought that it would be best to have the upper hand that I knew his secret, and decided to wait and see how things would turn out. But that was my biggest mistake.

Though I might have matured at my age, I still wasn't adept at anticipating outcomes.

In the end, I fell into his trap and allowed him to push me to the depths of hell.