Always Second to His Past

Isaac's birthday came, and I attended the celebration.

The company-provided apartment wasn't ready yet, and I had no intention of telling him about the transfer to the branch office.

I had considered divorce, but I didn't know how to bring it up. In the end, I decided to accompany him for one last birthday, as a final gesture to the years we had shared as husband and wife.

This time, I wore a black long dress of my own choosing.

When Isaac saw me, he frowned slightly. "Iris, why are you wearing this? You have a white dress in your wardrobe. Wouldn't that be better?"

He was trying to interfere with my choice again.

"That one's dirty. It won't come clean," I replied.

Isaac didn't catch the hidden meaning in my words. He just glanced at the time and urged, "Fine, then let's go. Don't keep the students waiting."

When we arrived at the reserved private room and pushed the door open, ribbons and cheers hit us at once. The room was decorated incredibly romantically, filled with white bellflowers.

I stole a glance at Isaac and noticed a flicker of complex emotion in his eyes.

Just then, the door on the other side of the room was pushed open, and a woman in a white dress stepped out. She carried herself with a gentle, refined air. Her long black hair was styled in the same straight manner as mine, and she wore pearl earrings similar to mine.

She was Lilith Walker. As expected, she had arrived as the "surprise gift".

"Isaac, it's been a long time. Happy birthday," Lilith said with a soft, restrained smile.

Isaac froze in place, and his hand slipped from mine without him seeming to notice.

"Lilith, when did you get back?"

"I arrived yesterday," she said.

Lilith's gaze drifted past him and landed lightly on me. "You must be Iris. Isaac often talks about you."

I nodded politely and returned a courteous smile.

After we sat down, the students arranged for Isaac and Lilith to sit together, claiming it was so they could revisit old memories and play games.

They laughed over college memories, talked about late nights in the lab, and discussed parts of the past I had never been part of.

As I watched my husband and his first love smiling at each other in the center of the crowd, I felt like an outsider.

Isaac didn't look at me once.

The birthday cake was a two-tier fondant cake. The class representative brought the first cut piece and handed it to Lilith.

"Lilith, the first piece has to go to you."

Someone bumped into the person in front of me, and a glass of red wine tilted sharply, spilling toward me. I saw it and instinctively dodged, but Lilith happened to be right behind me.

Isaac reached out quickly and pulled Lilith into his arms. In doing so, he yanked at me as well, causing me to lose my balance and crash into the coffee table behind me. The remaining half glass of red wine was completely splashed onto me.

The liquid dripped from my hair, leaving me completely disheveled.

"Lilith, are you alright? Did any of it get on you?" Isaac asked anxiously, checking her over.

Only after confirming she was unharmed did he finally let out a breath of relief.

It was only then that he seemed to remember I was there. When he noticed the red wine stains all over my body and my pale face, he asked uneasily, "Iris, I didn't notice you earlier. Are you alright?"

I remained calm, yet a deep sense of disappointment settled in my chest. My dress was ruined, and Isaac's instinctive reaction laid bare the brutal truth of our relationship.

I had been the foolish wife kept in the dark, believing in a happy marriage, while he was a husband living within a web of self-deception and lies.

"I'm fine."

I stood up and walked past Isaac and Lilith, who wore a faint, secretive smile.

The students watched the scene as if it were a show. I made my way into the restroom and slowly washed the red wine stains away.

The water ran cold over my skin, chilling me to the bone.

The absurd dream of the past three years had finally come to an end.

Right then, a message from Mr. Harper at the branch office arrived. "Iris, the apartment has been prepared early. You can move in anytime tomorrow morning."

I picked up my phone and replied, "Okay."