Chapter 1

On our third wedding anniversary, I saw my wife in a stranger's video.

The clip was only a dozen seconds long.

A man was holding an umbrella, shielding a woman from the driving rain.

Her back was turned to the camera, her face hidden beneath long, dark hair.

Anyone else would have scrolled past without a second thought.

But I recognized the watch on her wrist.

It was the wedding gift I gave her on the day we got married.

She had always treated it like treasure, refusing to wear it.

She said she was terrified of scratching it, terrified of ruining something so precious.

In the comment section, someone asked:

"Did you two just meet?"

My wife's account replied from below:

"Not just met."

"We took a long detour, but we finally found our way back to each other."

At 11:18 PM, a text from her lit up my screen.

"Team-building ran late. Staying at a hotel downtown tonight. Won't be coming home."

I replied: "Okay. Stay safe on the road."

I stared at the screen for a long time.

At midnight, I sent an email to my lawyer.

"I need to prepare for a divorce consultation."

The living room lights were off. Only the cold blue glare of my phone illuminated my face.

I sat on the couch, completely motionless.

Outside, the occasional car passed by, its headlights slicing through the blinds, casting a brief arc across the hardwood floor before vanishing into the dark.

I tapped play on that video once again.

When she lifted her hand, the watch on her wrist was unmistakable.

A black dial with a sleek silver mesh band.

It was the gift I gave Claire on the day we tied the knot.

Back then, she could never bear to put it on.

She always said she was afraid of dinging it, afraid of wasting my hard-earned money and affection.

So that watch had stayed locked in her nightstand drawer, only brought out for the most special occasions.

I gripped my phone tighter, my knuckles turning white.

I had known Claire for too long.

Long enough that I could trace every line of her silhouette with my eyes closed.

I took a deep, steadying breath and dialed her number.

It rang three times before she picked up.

"Hello?"

Claire's voice sounded faintly tired, completely natural.

"Still awake?"

"Just wrapped things up. What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

I paused, keeping my tone intentionally light.

"Is it loud over there?"

"A little. Someone's talking out in the hotel hallway."

The moment the words left her mouth, a man's voice came through the line.

"Open up. Taste this."

The voice sounded dangerously close, like he was murmuring right into her ear.

Claire visibly faltered.

Immediately after, she lowered her voice and hissed something muffled.

The line went silent for several seconds.

When she spoke again, her voice had returned to its usual composure.

"It's nothing. Just hotel staff."

My fingers tightened around the phone.

"Hotel staff?"

"Yeah."

She let out a soft laugh, as if my suspicion was completely absurd.

"Room service just dropped something off. Why, what's up?"

"Nothing."

I lowered my gaze, staring at the man holding the umbrella in the frozen frame of the video.

"Get some rest."

"Okay, you too."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

I hung up.

I went back and refreshed that stranger's profile.

He had already changed his profile picture.

In the new photo, a woman with long hair had her face turned away, but I knew instantly it was Claire.

I tapped the picture to zoom in.

Her wrist was completely bare.

The watch I gave her was gone.

Just hours ago, she had been wearing it while standing beneath another man's umbrella.

And now, she had taken it off with her own hands.