The Wolf in the Fold

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My name is Quincy Scott, and Harry Luke has been my lifelong passion from kindergarten through university.

Our childhoods intertwined amidst the cicadas singing in the alley; he always gave me the largest cotton candy, promising to protect me forever.

On the day we graduated from university, he proposed to me, the diamond ring reflecting the sunset, shining brighter than the stars.

As I nodded, tears fell onto the back of his hand, my heart filled with the certainty that from that moment, the rest of my life would be his.

The days after marriage felt like being immersed in honey; he would prepare my favorite lotus seed soup at dawn and stay up late watching old movies with me.

At the socialite gatherings, they always surrounded me, their eyes betraying unmistakable envy: "Quincy, you truly married the right man. You got the position of Mrs. Luke."

Our marital home stands atop the city, with floor-to-ceiling windows framing a dazzling sea of neon lights.

He wrapped his arms around me from behind: "From now on, you'll see this view every single day."

I turned to nuzzle his chin, feeling this was exactly how a fairy tale should unfoldchildhood sweethearts, a union of great families, year after year.

The crisis came in our third year of marriage. Vivian Lincoln burst into my home, crying, and I hardly recognized her.

Her hair was disheveled, her eyes swollen and red, and she clutched a crumpled Divorce Agreement in her hand.

She said her husband had taken all their assets and fled with his mistress, leaving her with a mountain of debt and their five-year-old son, Andy.

I held her tightly, my heart aching; her shoulders shook like fallen leaves in the autumn wind as she repeatedly murmured, "Quincy, what am I supposed to do?"

I recalled how we had grown up together, how she once stood in front of me when I was bullied. Now that she was in trouble, there was no way I could turn away.

I found Harry Luke and told him about Vivian Lincoln's plight, my voice pleading, "Harry, Vivian is so unfortunate; let's help her."

Harry Luke stroked my hair, always ready to grant my requests: "Alright, I'll do as you say. Let her live in that vacant villa halfway up the mountain; I'll arrange the work at the art school, and Andy will attend the best international kindergarten."

I thought this was simply helping a friend through a difficult time, my heart full of gratitude for Harry Luke's kindness.

But I didn't realize that the tenderness in his eyes when looking at Vivian was gradually deepening into something I couldn't comprehend.

Not long after, I discovered that I was pregnant.

Holding the pregnancy test report, my hands trembled uncontrollably. I rushed home and threw myself into Harry Luke's arms to share the good news.

He held me close and spun me around, the joy in his eyes nearly overflowing.

After becoming pregnant, I grew unusually sensitive, yet Harry often came home late.

He said work was busy, but several times I caught a scent on his shirtnot mine. It was exactly the same fragrance that Vivian Lincoln frequently wears.

One late night, I got up to use the bathroom and overheard him speaking softly on the balcony, deliberately lowering his voice.

"Vivian, don't overthink it. Quincy is just emotionally unstable because of the pregnancy. I will take good care of you and Andy."

Those words pierced my ears like needles. I stood there, numb with cold, until he hung up and turned to see me, his eyes instantly filled with panic.

He explained that Vivian Lincoln had been feeling down lately, and that he had comforted her fearing she might do something reckless.

I forced down the unease in my heart and chose to believe him.

But once the seed of suspicion is planted, it grows uncontrollably and takes root.

On the day of the scheduled prenatal checkup, I arrived at the hospital half an hour early.

After waiting for an hour, Harry Luke still hadn't arrived. I called him, but it said he was already on another call.

The nurse beside me was scrolling through her phone and casually said, "Today's kindergarten parent-child sports day is really amazing; so many wealthy families showed up."

My heart skipped a beat as I opened Vivian Lincoln's social circle.

The latest post, from half an hour ago, showed her holding hands with Harry Luke and Andy by the track, their smiles blooming like flowers.

The caption read: "Thank you, Harry, for accompanying Andy to the sports day. He was overjoyed."

In that moment, I felt as if my world was crumbling.

I dialed Harry Luke's number, my voice trembling uncontrollably: "Harry Luke, where are you?"

He was still lying: "Quincy, there's an emergency meeting at the company; I can't leave. For your prenatal checkup, have the assistant accompany you first..."

"Enough!" I interrupted him, tears streaming down, "Vivian Lincoln's postyou think I didn't see it? You went to the sports day with her son, yet you want me to go to the checkup alone?"

He was silent for a few seconds, then his tone turned impatient: "I'm just doing Vivian a favor. It's not easy for her to take care of her child alone. Can you stop making a mountain out of a molehill?"

"Making a fuss over nothing?" I almost laughed out loud, bitterness and anger intertwined in my heart. "Harry Luke, I am carrying your child. Today is my prenatal appointment, yet you are with another woman and her child!"

When we got home, we had the fiercest argument we've had since we got married.

I questioned him hysterically, but he refused to face me, repeatedly insisting I was overthinking because I was pregnant. In the end, he slammed the door and didn't come back all night.

I lay on the bed, touching my still-flat belly, tears soaking into the pillowcase.

How could the person who once vowed to protect me for a lifetime become like this?

Determined to uncover the truth, I decided to visit Vivian Lincoln's apartment.

That day, I had made soup and planned to use delivering it as an excuse to see what they were really up to; I didn't tell anyone before leaving.

The door to the Midhill villa was unlocked. I gently pushed it open, and the living room was eerily silent.

I faintly heard intimate breathing coming from the second floor.

My heart shot up to my throat, and my feet felt like they were weighed down with lead as I slowly ascended the stairs, step by step.

The sound came from the master bedroom. Trembling, I pushed open the slightly ajar door.

The scene before me froze me in placeHarry Luke, shirtless, with Vivian Lincoln nestled in his arms.

Their clothes were disheveled, intimately entangled, and on the bed lay the silk quilt I had given Vivian.

"You two..." My throat tightened, my voice hoarse and unfamiliar even to myself.

"Vivian, I considered you my closest friend. I gave you my heart and soul. Is this how you repay me?"

Vivian Lincoln sprang away from Harry Luke's embrace, her face pale, tears streaming down: "Quincy, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. Harry and I truly love each other..."

"Truly love each other?" I looked at Harry Luke.

He frantically searched for clothes to put on, his eyes shifting, avoiding mine.

"Harry Luke, our twenty years as childhood sweethearts, three years of marriagedoes it mean nothing to you?"

He opened his mouth as if to speak, but in the end, he just lowered his head and remained silent.

At that moment, all my love and trust shattered into dust.

I turned and rushed out of the villa, letting the cold wind lash against my face, tears streaming like beads on a broken string, impossible to stop.

I hated their betrayal, but I hated my own foolishness even more.

I regarded Vivian Lincoln as my own sister and confided in her without reserve, never imagining I was inviting a wolf into my midst, destroying my marriage and happiness.

The next day, I drove to the Art School where Vivian taught.

I remembered she had a public class today; I was determined to unveil her hypocritical mask before everyone.

In the classroom, Vivian was gracefully teaching the students to play the piano, her serene composure filling me with a surge of disgust.

I suddenly flung open the door, strode up to the podium, snatched the sheet music from her hands, and slammed it onto the floor with force: "Vivian Lincoln, how dare you put on such a pretentious act? You stole my husband, destroyed my family; you're an ungrateful wretch!"

The students cried out in shock, and chaos erupted throughout the classroom.

Vivian's face flushed deep red before turning pale; she trembled as she pointed at me, her voice shaking, "Quincy Scott, you're insane! What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Am I talking nonsense?" I took out my phone and flipped through the photos I had taken yesterday at the villa's entrance (before rushing out, I captured their disheveled backs).

Holding it up before everyone, I said, "Look carefullythis is the gentle and kind Ms. Lincoln you all believe in, yet behind the scenes, she seduces my husbands!"

Whispers spread through the crowd as Vivian Lincoln's face paled visibly.

Suddenly, she pushed me away, rushed to the window, climbed onto the windowsill, and cried, "Quincy Scott, you have destroyed everything for me. What's the point of living now? I'd rather die!"

The teachers and students were all terrified and hurried forward to persuade her.

I stood there, my heart unmoved, filled only with boundless exhaustion and disgust.

In the end, Vivian was calmed down, but she cried as she called Harry Luke.

When Harry Luke arrived, he immediately rushed to Vivian Lincoln's side, anxiously asking if she was okay.

Then he turned his cold gaze towards me: "Quincy Scott, you've gone too far! You nearly harmed Vivian!"

"Gone too far?" I looked at him in disbelief. "Harry Luke, the one who betrayed this marriage is you, the ungrateful one is her, and now you're blaming me?"

"Enough!" he interrupted me, his tone resolute. "Quincy Scott, we're getting a divorce. Here is the divorce agreementsign it."

He took a divorce agreement from his briefcase and threw it down in front of me.