Chapter 2
“Brother-in-law, do you remember the morning you went to pick up my cousin and found two pairs of shoes?” Emily asked. I was taken aback. That did happen! We have a wedding tradition where the bride’s friends and family hide her shoes for the groom to find. To get the shoes, the groom must give the bride a red envelope. That day, when I went to pick up Chloe, I found two pairs of shoes! I handed out two extra red envelopes!
At the time, I thought Chloe’s family wanted more red envelopes, so they put in an extra pair of shoes. Is there another hidden truth here?
Emily’s next words made my eyes nearly pop out of my head! She said they have another tradition. If a woman known as unfaithful gets married, her lover gives her a new pair of shoes. It signifies a double blessing. So, one of the pairs of shoes I found that morning was from Chloe’s lover! What a humiliation! I married a cheating woman with fanfare!
“Brother-in-law, I know you’re angry, but it’s not worth it for such a woman. I’ve always been single, waiting for you! I know you have a fire burning inside, and it’s hard to hold back.”
Emily gently took my hand. I looked at the charming Emily and gritted my teeth, “Seeing is believing! A chat record alone doesn’t prove anything. What if it was faked with Photoshop? I want to confront her! If it’s true, I’ll divorce her! But if it’s fake, then we shouldn’t contact each other anymore!”
Even then, I didn’t want to believe my gentle and virtuous wife was so awful! It happened to be during the Qatar World Cup.
The TV was showing halftime, and the cameras were sweeping over the stands. Fans caught on camera would be shown on the big screen at the stadium. People are open; if they see themselves on camera, they’ll wave and dance, and if they’re a couple, they’ll kiss publicly.
I saw Emily on TV! Emily was at the game with a Black man! They were caught on camera! They kissed in public!
“Brother-in-law, did you see that? My cousin is like a public bus! Entertaining foreign friends too!”
Emily continued to provoke me! “Enough!” I stopped Emily’s taunts and called Chloe! The chat records might be fake, but kissing a Black man in public isn’t! I called Chloe dozens of times and finally got through in the middle of the night, Qatar time!
“Where are you?” “I’m at the hotel!” “I saw the TV broadcast. What’s with the kiss with that Black man?” I asked, suppressing my anger. “Oh, that? That Black man is just a VIP client of our airline. We’re innocent… As for the kiss, it’s just a foreign tradition, okay? Don’t be so old-fashioned!” Chloe mocked my outdated views. I was about to say more, but she hung up in a hurry. Though I didn’t hear clearly, my instincts told me Chloe was definitely up to something!