Chapter 2

My wife had been well-behaved these past few days.

She hadn't gone out to parties at night.

But today, I saw Tristan post his hiking photos.

It was the exact mountain I wanted to climb!

And in the corner of one picture, I spotted a pair of hands.

The ring on one hand was unmistakably Mira's.

I grabbed my phone and confronted my wife with the photo.

"You went hiking with him?"

Her face immediately flushed with embarrassment and panic.

"I was just scouting out the trail! I mean, I'm going with you in a few days, right?"

It was the first I'd ever heard of needing to "scout" a hiking trail.

Didn't her friends call hiking "old people's entertainment"?

Why were they all so enthusiastic when my wife said she was going hiking?

"I asked you to go before, and you refused. But now you're all over it with Tristan? Mira Harrington, how can I not overthink this?"

Seeing me get angry,

My wife's own temper flared.

"I told you I was just scouting the trail! If you're so bothered, let's go right now! You want to hike, right? We'll go together right now!"

She pulled my hand, dragging me toward the door.

I yanked my hand away.

"No need."

I walked into the bedroom and started packing my suitcase.

My wife stared at me, shocked. "What are you doing?"

I kept packing, not looking up at her.

"My mom's sick. I'm going home to see her."

I'd married Mira right after college.

Since she was an only child and couldn't leave her parents, I'd moved a thousand miles to settle in her city.

But I was an only child too. Now my mom was sick, and I couldn't even be there for her immediately.

Mira froze for a moment.

I saw several emotions flash across her face.

A silent, suffocating tension filled the air.

"Why didn't you tell me? Honey, I'm sad that Mom's sick too. Do you need me to come back with you?"

I bent down, packed the last item, and closed my suitcase.

"No need."

Anyone who truly wanted to go wouldn't ask.

That night, I took a direct flight to City B.

Counting the time, it had been two years since I'd gone home to see my parents.

Looking at my mother in her hospital bed, an unexpected wave of guilt washed over me.

"Cole? Why are you here? Where's Mira?"

"Mom, I came to see you. Mira... she's pretty busy with work."

My mother didn't have many wishes, only that our family life would be harmonious.

"Good, good. It's nothing serious, you don't need to worry about me. You didn't have to come. What a waste of your time!"

I spent the next few days taking care of my mom.

Mira, on the other hand, was checking in on me constantly.

Every day, she'd ask when I was coming back.

After my mother recovered, she urged me to return to City A.

So I told my wife the date of my return.

The day I landed at City A airport,

A luxury sedan pulled up in front of me.

My wife sat in the passenger seat, shouting,

"Honey, over here!"

I looked closer; the driver was Tristan Hayes.

My wife naturally got out to greet me.

Tristan gave me an insolent smirk. "Cole Sterling, you can handle your own bags, right? I won't bother getting out."

I didn't reply, just put my suitcase in the trunk myself.

My wife linked her arm through mine affectionately. "Honey, you're finally back! Tristan heard you were returning and offered to pick you up himself!"

I opened the back passenger door, expecting my wife to join me, but she casually opened the front passenger door and got back into the front.

Tristan, with a cheeky grin, casually put his hand on Mira's shoulder, then glanced at me and immediately explained,

"Cole, seriously, I just wasn't comfortable with Mira coming to pick you up alone."

What a pathetic man, always relying on his woman. He's totally beneath me.

My wife's face showed a hint of awkwardness. She quickly changed the subject, opening her phone to show me a group chat.

"Honey, Tristan really did offer to pick you up, okay? Don't misunderstand. I've been so good these past few days, waiting for you at home every single day."

That group chat had all their old neighborhood friends in it. Everyone but me.

I pressed my lips together. "It's fine."

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