The Affair Never Ended

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The night before our wedding, I caught Dan Thompson cheating with a stranger.

Proud as he was, for the first time, tears streamed down his face.

He stammered, I was drunk, I mistook her for you. It will never happen again.

The woman, blushing, admitted, I've secretly loved Dan for years. I bribed the hotel staff to get a spare room key.

She knelt and apologized to me, swearing she'd stay far away from us.

I chose to forgive Dan.

After we got married, he truly seemed to love me.

Until Dan's thirtieth birthday.

I specifically took time off work and flew eleven hours on an international flight to surprise him.

On my way, I stopped at a convenience store for water.

The woman next to me was on the phone.

"You're so clingy! It's only been an hour, and my phone's practically exploded with your calls. Just wait, I'm going to drain you dry in bed tonight."

The voice was hauntingly familiar. I turned around and froze.

It was that womanthe one Dan had cheated with eight years ago.

After so many years, she didn't seem to recognize me. She turned towards the checkout.

I couldn't hear what the person on the other end said, but she playfully retorted, "I'm not cold, I'm wearing plenty, don't believe me? You can check later."

"You can reach your hand in, slide it along my waist, all the way to..."

On an impulse, I pulled out my phone and sent Dan a SnapChat.

"Dan, are you off work yet?"

No reply.

The woman reached for the shelf and picked up two boxes of condoms.

The same brand, scent, and sizethe ones I knew, the ones Dan always used.

Her voice was sickly sweet. "Since it's your birthday, you get to decide how many times tonight."

I glanced down at my phone.

Still nothing.

After paying, I followed the woman out of the store.

She purred into the phone, "Don't rush me, I see your car."

The London rain hit my face, cold as ice.

I pulled my jacket tighter, my hands trembling as I pressed the call button for Dan.

A cold, robotic female voice replied, "The person you are calling is currently unavailable."

I understood. He had activated 'Do Not Disturb' mode.

This year, he'd told me his overseas branch was incredibly busy, and he couldn't answer calls once he was in the office.

Not being able to reach him wasn't new.

A Bentley pulled up at a nearby street corner.

"Dan!"

The woman hurried forward, opening the passenger door.

I turned my head slightly to look.

One glance, and I was rooted to the spot.

The car window was half-open. The man in the driver's seat looked calm and distinguished.

The woman swayed her hips and planted a soft kiss on his lips.

He gave a helpless smile.

"Still so demanding."

The streetlights were dim, but I saw his face clearly.

The owner of that face had been with me for my entire thirty years of life.

At three, we held hands and walked into kindergarten together.

He secretly slipped me the candy the teacher gave him. "I'll protect you, don't cry."

At sixteen, he imitated a scene from a movie, hiding my portrait inside a book.

When I found it, his ears turned crimson.

"So what? I like you."

At nineteen, our first love, our first kisshe was so thrilled he paid for the entire restaurant bill.

"I can't wait to tell everyone I'm the happiest man alive."

At twenty-two, when he proposed, he swore in front of both our families that he would only ever love me.

Everything stopped the night before our wedding.

When I opened the hotel room door, he was tangled naked with a stranger.

That day was a blur of chaos.

Everyone said he was just drunk and mistook her for me.

As his childhood sweetheart, I should give him another chance.

Even the girl knelt and apologized, claiming it was all her fault, that she'd bribed the staff for the room key, just to fulfill a long-held secret crush.

Dan, who had always been so proud and strong since childhood, teared up for the first time.

Seeing my silent tears, he picked up a fruit knife and pointed it at his own heart.

"Ellie, it's come to this. I'm sorry for what I did to you."

"If you don't believe me, I'll tear my heart out and show you! You're truly the only one in there!"

Tears blurred his face.

His voice trembled.

"Don't leave me, Ellie, I'm begging you. You know I've loved you for so many years."

"If you leave me, I'll die, I really will die..."

Later, I sealed away that memory.

After all these years intertwined, I thought we were inseparable, that we'd go from childhood sweethearts to growing old together.

But in this moment.

Our thirty years.

Finally crumbled.

Dazed, I returned to his apartment. My mom texted me:

"So, did Dan freak out when he heard you're pregnant?"

I took a deep breath, swallowed the bitterness in my throat, and calmly replied:

"Not yet, I just got to his apartment, haven't told him."

The apartment door opened from the outside. It was Dan, who had returned.

Our eyes met. His expression faltered for a few seconds, then quickly regained composure.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming? I would've picked you up at the airport."

My expression was flat. "Wanted to surprise you."

He smiled, walking over and gently rubbing my hair. "I would never let you do that."

"Flying must be exhausting, right? It's just a birthday, you shouldn't have to deal with jet lag."

Dan was about to say more, but his phone rang.

As he looked down to reply, his eyes held the familiar tenderness and patience I knew so well.

Then he looked apologetic. "Too bad I have a client meeting tonight. My darling will have to be lonely."

Before I could say anything, he pulled a piece of clothing from the closet.

I instantly understood.

He'd come back for the personal item the other woman had forgotten.

This apartment, which he temporarily used for overseas business trips, was a place I had decorated for him little by little, whenever I had a spare moment.

I'd taken a week off work for it, even losing a major client.

But now, the vase I'd spent half an afternoon finding, and then personally brought from home, was gone.

Even the photo of us stuck on the fridge had disappeared.

A sharp, damp chill seeped into my core, just like the rain soaking my clothes.

I abruptly stood up, dragging my suitcase towards the door.

Dan followed me. "Are you mad?"

He put his arm around my shoulder from behind. "The apartment isn't cleaned up. I'll book you a five-star hotel nearby."

"I promise, I'll spend the entire day with you tomorrow, okay?"

As usual, he leaned in to kiss me.

A strange citrus scent, unfamiliar to me, filled my nostrils.

It was her scent.

I turned my face away. Dan didn't seem to notice, and rushed off.

By the elevator, a creep whistled at me, his gaze sticky.

"How much? If he doesn't want you, I'll take you."

"He has a girlfriend, I've seen her. You're so beautiful, why stoop so low?"

"All the neighbors know them. He was so head-over-heels, he wouldn't even let his girlfriend walk a step, often carrying her home from the parking garage sometimes. She always looked so happy."

He suddenly grabbed my waist, grinning, and leaned in to kiss me.

By instinct, I stomped hard on his foot.

While he cried out in pain, I pulled my suitcase and escaped through the emergency exit.

Even when I stumbled and fell, I didn't dare stop to check for scraped knees. I scrambled up and ran down the stairs.

I headed straight to the airport, sitting numbly in the departure lounge.

I couldn't understand. Why was Dan cheating again?

For the first two years of our marriage, I often had nightmares.

In them, Dan was naked, embracing a stranger.

I always woke up crying.

He would hold me, soothing me over and over.

"It's all my fault, I made my darling sad."

He changed all his electronic device passwords to my birthday and introduced me as his wife at every public event.

He always told me what he did and who he met every day.

Even when he had to stay overnight for a business trip, he would leave FaceTime on all night, falling asleep to the sound of my breathing.

We were both carefully rebuilding that trust.

When did it all start to unravel?

Vaguely remembering the woman's name, I opened Ins and searched.

It took only a minute to find her among the many accounts with the same name.

Only because her profile picture was taken in Dan's office back home.

The painting hanging behind her was one I'd custom-commissioned from a celebrated artist.

Just because Dan had once said he liked it, I had made a special visit, standing outside the artist's studio in high heels for an entire afternoon before finally persuading them.

Serena was a somewhat well-known travel blogger with a decent following.

I scrolled down.

The posts related to Dan first appeared three years ago.

Serena was holding hands with a man, the background our high school track.

"With my high school crush, finally!"

It was the same spot where, at eighteen, we had first held hands.

The night breeze was cool, and Dan's palms were sweaty from nervousness.

"When we're old and grey, let's come back here together."

In mid-August two years ago, on our wedding anniversary, Dan claimed he had to miss it because of work. Yet his posts showed him eating street food with Serena.

Last New Year's Eve, I was hospitalized with a high fever from the flu.

Dan appeared in Serena's TikTok, meticulously disinfecting a cut on her fingertip.

My hand, holding the phone, trembled.

Dan's face didn't appear in any of the photos.

But the familiar cufflink, the lines on his palm, made it impossible for me to keep lying to myself.

Serena's latest post refreshed.

The lace maid outfit in the picture was so revealing it made me sick to look at it.

"Bought it but forgot to pick it up. Good thing someone remembered. Tonight, I'm rewarding him."

So, that's what Dan had gone back to the apartment to get.

In the comments, a fan joked:

"You're living well! Your partner must adore you."

Serena replied: "I know, right? Today I asked him when he first fell for me."

"He said it was eight years ago, the day I first bravely confessed my feelings for him. He complimented my 'startlingly bright' eyes, said he could never forget them."

"Thinking he'd been thinking about me all these years just melts my heart."

Eight years ago was the day I caught them in bed.

I pressed my lips together tightly.

But the tears, disobedient, silently streamed down my face.

Serena posted another video.

The camera focused on a large bed strewn with rose petals.

A woman's voice giggled, "My fans want me to ask you, at thirty, do you have any new plans for our relationship?"

A man's low chuckle. "Plans?"

"I do want a baby, will you have one for me?"

The camera wobbled, and the sound of fabric violently rubbing together filled the air.

My fingertips went numb. I dialed Dan's number, pressing the wrong buttons several times.

The phone rang three times before it finally connected.

My voice trembling, I asked, "Dan, am I still in your future plans?"

He was silent for a few seconds, then casually replied, "Of course, why wouldn't you be?"

"Oh, by the way, my parents mentioned you had some big news for me. They've asked me about it several times, what is it?"

Serena's soft urging came from his end. "Dan, if you don't focus, I'll have to punish you, you know."

If I hadn't seen the video, I would have been foolish enough to believe it was his assistant.

My gaze fell on the shredded pregnancy test report in the trash can. I whispered, "Nothing."

The surprise was gone.

The past love, the future we'd envisioned together.

All gone.

Dan's voice took on a hint of anger.

"What's with the attitude?"

"I've turned down dozens of overseas collaboration opportunities for you, all because you're always so suspicious!"

"My meeting with a client tonight is also for our future. Can't you let me breathe for a moment?"

Tears streamed down again. I let out a soft laugh.

"Dan, you're right."

"I am being difficult."

"When you get back home, we're getting a divorce."

Dan hung up first.

He scoffed, "Fine, throw your fit if you want."

The dial tone echoed like a drumbeat in my chest.

For the twelve-hour return flight, I didn't sleep a wink.

Only when I lay on the operating table, and the anesthetic coursed through my veins, did I find release from the relentless pain.

The day I found out I was pregnant, I was overjoyed.

I thought this would be a new beginning for our little family, Dan's and mine.

Just a few more months, and the baby would have been born.

Happiness was within reach.

But now, everything was lost.

After a day of rest, I received another SnapChat from Dan.

"I'm back. Family dinner tonight, don't give my parents attitude."

"Ellie Miller, you're not a little girl anymore. There's a time and a place for tantrums."

I replied, agreeing to attend.

When I had composed myself and arrived at the Thompson family home, both our families were already there.

Dan sat next to me.

He looked at my averted face, his voice resigned.

"Are you still mad?"

He pulled out a necklace and placed it in my hand.

"It's my fault, okay?"

"An apology gift for you. Smile for me, hmm?"

My palm was icy cold.

Just yesterday, before I went into surgery, Serena had posted an Ins update.

On a messy bed, gifts were scattered everywhere.

She unwrapped them one by one: a limited-edition alligator skin bag, custom-made luxury perfume, a diamond-encrusted bracelet...

Only this gold necklace, she sniffed, wrinkling her nose, "It's so dated, I don't want it."

The person filming laughed dotingly, "It's my birthday, and you're receiving gifts, and you still complain? Should I just throw it away?"

I loosened my grip, letting the necklace fall to the floor.

Dan frowned. "What more do you want from me? Take it or leave it."

Mrs. Thompson smiled kindly, trying to ease the tension.

"I heard you went all the way to London for Dan's birthday, but he didn't spend time with you because of work. That was wrong of him."

My mom chimed in, trying to smooth things over.

"Ellie, you're going to be a mother soon, you can't be throwing tantrums, it's not good for your health."

"Going to be... a mother?" Dan froze, turning to me in disbelief.

"Ellie, you're pregnant?!"

He shot up, a smile he couldn't control spreading across his face.

"I'm going to be a dad, aren't I?!"

The coldness in his eyes melted, replaced by undeniable excitement.

I didn't avert my gaze, seeing every flicker of emotion clearly.

But this time, was it real, or fake?

I couldn't tell anymore.

And I didn't care.

Both sets of parents chuckled.

"Look at this silly boy."

I spoke softly, "No."

"That baby, I aborted it."

The atmosphere froze.

Dan's excitement solidified on his face.

His eyes darted around for a few seconds, then he forced a laugh. "Ellie, don't joke around."

I didn't reply. I pulled the pre-prepared divorce papers from my bag.

Then I gave a faint smile. "Dan, I've seen Serena. If we don't divorce, do you expect her to be a mistress forever?"