Love in Flames, Promises in Ruin

I took a deep breath and held back the tears welling up in my eyes. "It's fine. Go ahead and focus on your work."

After all, I was planning to leave anyway.

He patted my head and rambled on, completely oblivious to the obvious shift in my mood, "That won't do. Our tenth anniversary is coming up. I'm definitely taking you on a trip to celebrate our tenth year together."

Kaden seemed genuinely excited about our tenth anniversary. But if my memory didn't fail me, that would be the day right after his wedding to Gwendolyn.

I lowered my head and let out a cold laugh but didn't bother to expose the truth. "I know. You should go wash up."

The moment he turned around, his phone suddenly rang. I saw the name "Gwendolyn" displayed on the screen.

Kaden's expression darkened as he hastily said, "It's a work call."

That was all the explanation he gave me.

As he stepped into the bathroom, the sound of the running water drowned out the ringtone. I couldn't help but strain my ears to catch even the faintest bit of the conversation.

"Be good. I won't come over today… Don't cause trouble for me. I need to spend time with my wife…"

His words came intermittently, and they were spoken in a clingy tone that I'd never heard before.

Clenching my teeth, I rushed to the guest bathroom and scrubbed myself clean from head to toe. The thought of Kaden touching me with the same hands he used to touch Gwendolyn made me so sick that I almost threw up.

There came the short chime of a notification tone. Then, I saw a text message from my dad pop up on my phone.

"I bought you a plane ticket a week from now. Take care on your trip home."

I took a deep breath and opened the video I'd received from an anonymous sender earlier that afternoon. The video showed Kaden and a few of his friends hanging out in a restaurant.

Someone asked, "Kaden, are you really not going to marry Ella? What if she finds out?"

Kaden was silent for a long time before finally saying, "My parents won't approve of her. She's just someone to have fun with. How could I marry her for real?"

As he spoke, he glanced in the direction of the camera. "What are you recording?"

The person holding the camera leaned in to kiss him and placed a hand on his chest, their voice dripping with smugness.

"Can't I take a video of my own husband?"

The video cut off abruptly.

The blow it dealt to my heart was devastating.