Chapter 4

I asked, keeping my voice as deadpan as possible.

"A coworker," he answered quickly.

"She's new. We collaborate a lot on projects."

"Oh."

I nodded, scrolling down until I found my own chat with him.

"Then why did you unpin me?"

He didn't answer right away.

"Having too many pinned chats got annoying," he finally replied, a stiff awkwardness bleeding through his words. "I unpinned a few people. It wasn't about you."

He turned his head to look at me.

"What is up with you today? Are you checking up on me?"

He forced a light chuckle on the words *checking up*, but I heard the sharp bite of irritation underneath.

I didn't press. I just handed the phone back to him.

When his fingers brushed mine, his skin was noticeably cold.

"Let's sleep," he said, turning his back on me.

He was panicking. I knew it.

Every single answer he just gave was pure deflection. Not a word of it was genuine.

After a while, his breathing settled into a steady rhythm again.

I whispered his name. No answer.

Slowly, I sat up, leaning back against the headboard, burying my face in my pulled-up knees.

The tears came rushing back, unstoppable this time.

"Who did you buy those things for last month?"

His back instantly stiffened.

"What things?" He didn't turn around, his voice muffled.

"The jewelry, the designer bags, the high-end department store charges. Last month, you spent almost twelve thousand dollars. Who did you buy all that for?"

Silence stretched out between us.

It lasted so long I thought he would never speak again.

Finally, he rolled over to face me.

"You went through my bank statements?"

"When you asked me for cash, you told me it was for client dinners, a car tune-up, and an emergency loan for a coworker. But every single dime went straight to luxury counters and jewelry stores. Austin, who are you buying gifts for?"

I heard his breathing shift—from slow to shallow, then sinking into a heavy, dark silence.

"Do you think I'm cheating on you?" he asked.

"Are you?"

He didn't answer.

I waited. I waited for him to say no, waited for him to give me any plausible excuse.

Even if the excuse was laughably flimsy, I would have forced myself to believe it.

I had already made up excuses in my head for him—it was a gift for his boss, an appreciation present for a huge client, or something for his mother.

Anything. As long as he gave me a reason, I was ready to buy it.

But he said nothing.

He just lay there in silence, like a cold brick wall erected between us.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" My voice began to shake.

"What do you want me to say?"

"You already dug through my bank statements. You've already made up your mind, haven't you?"

"I haven't made up my mind! I just want you to explain it to me!"

"You're going through my phone in the middle of the night, auditing my statements—isn't this all just because I didn't hand over my paycheck this month?"

His voice suddenly spiked, before he quickly swallowed it down.

"Claire, do you actually think I'm having an affair? Or are you just furious that you don't have my money anymore, and you feel like you're losing control over me?"

My mouth fell open, tears spilling over instantly.

It wasn't just how cruel the words were—it was the horrifying realization that this was genuinely how he saw me.

He thought managing our finances was all about control. He thought eight years of devoted care was nothing more than toxic possessiveness.

"You think this is about money?"

He kept his mouth shut.

"Fine."

I took a ragged breath.

"Then tell me: what did that twelve thousand dollars buy? Where is it? Who did it go to? Answer that, and I won't say another word."

A long, suffocating pause hung in the air.

"It went to someone."

He finally spoke, his voice so quiet it was barely a whisper.

"Who?"

"You know who."

When those three words dropped, the final tether inside my brain snapped cleanly in two.

"Chloe Lin?"

He didn't deny it.

"You bought her jewelry? You bought her designer bags? What right do you have?!"

My voice cracked, rising hysterically as hot tears flooded down my cheeks.

"Who the hell is she to you? What is going on between you two?!"