Tick, Tock—Marriage out of Time

After Ariel left, I placed the Patek Philippe inside my collector's box.

Each collector's box could hold 20 watches, and this was the fifth box that I was now using up.

Three years ago, a scandal broke out in Ariel's company, citing rumors that she was seeing male escorts on the side.

Ariel had set aside all of her work for the day and immediately came home to explain things to me. She said that she had only gone along with the male escorts because of certain business requirements of some sort, and that I was the only person she would ever love for the rest of her life.

And to show how sorry she was about the whole fiasco, she even bought me my first watch to cheer me up.

That watch had cost her 20 thousand dollars.

I had still been happy to receive the watch back then. I thought that the watch represented her attitude—that she was serious about this, and also that she paid attention to me and knew exactly what I liked.

Eventually, she gave me more and more watches over the years, and the price of each watch only kept increasing.

Soon, I couldn't even fathom a smile after receiving her watch gifts anymore.

About half a year ago, on my birthday, I received my 80th watch. Dejected, I had then promised myself that I would bring up divorce if she ever gave me the 100th watch.

Half an hour later, a deep, magnetic male voice sounded from my phone.

"Oh, you're here, Ari! I missed you so much!"

This was from the eavesdropping app I'd installed on Ariel's phone just now. It would eavesdrop on her conversations and send the recordings to my phone in real-time.

So, Ariel had really gone to see Claude after all.

"Weren't you the one who asked me to come over? So, how much did you have to drink?"

Claude just huffed and complained. "I lied. I never drank a drop. I just didn't want you to spend the night with your old man."

There were a few seconds of silence after that. Then, Ariel's voice sounded again, this time a whole lot colder than before.

"Claude, you're not allowed to speak about him like that."

Claude just scoffed again in disdain and said begrudgingly, "Fine, I get it. I can't refer to him as an old man, not even if he's not around.

"Say, do you think he'd be so happy and jump over the moon if he learned how much you defend him on the daily?"

There was a hint of sarcasm and frustration in Claude's voice.

Ariel just sighed loudly and tugged him into her arms. "Alright, don't get all worked up now. Come here and give me a kiss. Did you want some tonight?"

Then, the couple's disgusting lovey-dovey sounds pierced my eardrums.

A door closed shut with a click. Suddenly, the app stopped transmitting their conversation and went silent.

They'd both probably made their way into the bedroom by now.

Another half an hour later, I heard the couple softly talking to each other.

"Ari, have you settled the thing you promised me last time? Scooby's already been gone for three whole days…"

Claude's deep voice was laced with anticipation.

"Yeah."

Ariel sounded a little hesitant, but she still spoke to him in a doting manner. "I'll accompany you there tomorrow. Remember to keep a low profile. Don't let Dustin find out."

I frowned deeply.

Scooby was Claude's pet dog.

Had it died?

And what exactly did Ariel promise him that I was not supposed to know?

Before I could make heads or tails of the information, Ariel retrieved her phone and went back into the bedroom.

They then made love a total of three times for the entire night.

I stared up at the ceiling the whole night until the skies turned bright again.

I had heard of Claude's name a long time ago. He was Ariel's junior in high school, and they were each other's first loves.

Their relationship had been quite lovey-dovey back then, but when they officially announced their relationship, Ariel's family was the first to object.

I heard that Ariel's mother, Fiona Johnson, hired a private investigator to look into Claude's background. I didn't know what they found out about him, but whatever it was, it was enough for both Fiona and her husband, Nathan Sweeney, to stop them from seeing each other, by hook or by crook.

Ariel fought them for nearly half a year. However, in the end, Claude was the first one to fold and broke things off. Fiona then had Claude sent abroad for his studies.

Ariel had then lost all motivation in life after that, and she remained depressed for a few years. It wasn't until she met me that she finally let go of Claude and the past.

At first, I thought that she had already completely let go of her relationship with Claude after she married me. Yet, obviously, I had simply overestimated myself.

Once again, I tapped into the photo of the title deed that Claude had sent to me.

Ariel had bought him plenty of gifts over the past three years. However, these gifts had stopped at just cologne, sneakers, and clothing items.

This was the first time ever that she'd bought property, too.

The next morning, Ariel finally came home.

She looked at my bloodshot eyes and sat down on the bed next to me, looking at me pitifully.

"Didn't you sleep well last night, honey?"

"No," I said, rubbing my eyes, a little aversive to her touch. "Can you make some breakfast for me? I'm really hungry."

"Of course. You're my husband, after all."

Ariel then gently kissed me on the cheek, as if last night hadn't happened at all, and then turned to head out into the kitchen.

I quickly took her phone and pulled up her WhatsApp conversation with Claude.

The chat window indicated that the last time they'd chatted was just ten minutes ago.

"Are you coming to bring me to his mom's grave after you're done pacifying him?"

"Yes. Keep it a secret. Don't tell anybody about this."

"Don't worry, Ari. My lips are sealed. I love you!"

For some reason, their conversation sent a deep shiver down my spine, raising goosebumps all over my body.

Why were they planning to go to my mom's grave?

After I was done with breakfast, Ariel told me that she was going back to the office.

I got worried and went to a printing shop to make copies of the documents on the information Fiona had dug up about Claude's past when she ran the background check on him. Then, I took the car and drove to the graveyard.

Two hours later, I'd just stepped into the graveyard when I immediately caught sight of the two of them in the far yonder, standing in front of my mother's tombstone.