Chapter 2
I sat in silence all night. At dawn, I heard the door.
Nolan was the same as always.
The first thing he did was hug me.
“Why are you up so early?”
“Sorry, I was so busy yesterday that I couldn’t come home.”
“When this project ends, I’ll spend more time with you.”
I felt the warmth from his body and suddenly hugged him tight.
But I smelled another woman’s perfume.
I felt sick.
I leaned over the bed and retched.
His expression changed.
He quickly patted my back.
“Lydia, what’s wrong?”
“Are you feeling unwell? Let me take you to the hospital.”
I shook my head.
“I ate something bad last night.”
I closed my eyes.
My mind was in chaos.
Should I confront him?
Could I let go?
This relationship of nearly ten years.
It’s become part of me.
I suddenly opened my eyes and stared at Nolan.
“Nolan, if you ever get tired of me, please tell me.”
“I’ll let you go.”
“You know, I only hate lies.”
I tried to find any proof on his face.
But Nolan is an excellent actor.
He quickly held my hand, placing it over his heart.
“Lydia, don’t overthink. It’s my fault for being too busy and neglecting you, but my love for you won’t change.”
“Really? Do you still love me?”
He answered without hesitation:
“Of course.”
“Only me?”
He hesitated for just a moment.
But I already knew the answer.
“You probably haven’t eaten. I’ll make you something.”
He smiled and put the breakfast he bought in front of me.
It was still my favorite.
Dumplings from the Westside shop, and my favorite red date soy milk.
It was the affordable breakfast we had when we lived in a small twenty-square-meter rental.
I was dazed.
I began to wonder why a heart could be divided into so many pieces.
Why could Nolan be as gentle and considerate as before, yet give that same gentleness to someone else?
Nolan only relaxed and slept beside me after I finished breakfast.
Soon, his breathing was even and calm.
He was obviously exhausted.
I started looking through his phone. The password was still my birthday, unchanged.
SnapChat was the same, nothing there.
Everything I saw at the hospital last night seemed like a dream.
But I knew it was just a façade.
I started searching his car.
Finally, I found another phone in a hidden compartment.
I tried the password many times without success.
I had to use Nolan’s fingerprint to unlock it.
The content inside pierced my heart.
It was full of their photos together.
He saved her contact as “Sweetheart.”
The only contact on SnapChat was her.
Going back to the beginning, the chat history started three years ago.
An intern asking a senior for advice.
Six months later, she confessed to him.
Nolan rejected her without hesitation.
“I’m married, and I love my wife very much.”
“Don’t say things that could be misunderstood.”
But he didn’t delete her from SnapChat.
He let her slowly infiltrate.
“It’s snowing today, guess who I thought of.”
“I’m on a business trip, and I encountered a creepy guy. I was so scared, but I really miss you.”
“Today’s my birthday, I’m so lonely. Can you talk to me, please?”
“Is it wrong to love someone? I was just a few years late. But I love you too.”
Finally, on her birthday the following year.
“If you still hate me, just delete me. I’m tired of sending messages into the void. I want to let you go and myself too.”
Nolan initiated a message: “Happy Birthday.”
Reading this, I vomited up the breakfast I had just eaten.
I stood up, looking in the bathroom mirror at the pale, disheveled woman with dark circles under her eyes.
So old and ugly.
No wonder Nolan fell for someone else.