Chapter 2

Since I had a few days off, I immediately rushed home as soon as possible. However, Katie was behaving very coldly toward me.

I approached her with a huge smile on my face, trying to win her favor with a hug. "Darling, I'm home!"

Katie broke free from me and didn't even look up at me before asking, "Where's the bag you promised me?"

I produced a designer bag from behind my back like I was putting on a magic show. "Of course it's here, darling!"

Katie's expression finally eased up when she saw it. She took the bag from me without another word and started taking loads of pictures of it with her phone.

I came closer to her again, but she pushed me away at once. "Go away. I'm busy."

I peeked at her phone. She was getting a ton of message notifications on it. It made sense because she owned an online store and was often very busy with orders.

I knew that I couldn't argue with her, so seeing that she wasn't in the best mood, I decided to stop pestering her.

However…

My lips curled upward by just a little. I was going to make it up to her tonight!

Katie only put her phone away and came to bed late into the night.

I immediately approached her and handed her a set of sleepwear. "Darling, here's your night dress. Let's go to sleep."

Katie's expression froze. She then said rather awkwardly, "It's been rather cold at home. I won't be wearing that to sleep."

Cold?

I was stunned.

My residential area was very well-known for providing top-tier, state-of-the-art heating in our homes. So, why would Katie feel cold at home?

I touched her forehead with my hand. "Are you having a fever?"

She pushed my hand away impatiently and said, "What's up with you? Hurry up and go to sleep."

I was a little disappointed. It hadn't been easy for me to come home tonight, yet Katie was acting very coldly toward me.

She didn't use to be like this.

In the first year we got married, Katie always clung to me whenever I was home. She would stay close to me all day and night. But now, she was acting like a completely different person altogether.

"Darling, please don't be mad anymore," I said, scooting closer to her again, unwilling to give up.

However, Katie just went toward the light switch to turn off the lights.

I was antsy. Then, when her guard was down, I lunged forward and pulled her pants down.

Katie immediately turned around and tried to pull her pants back up.

A large, red stamp, like those used in grading beef, immediately caught my eye.

I could feel my brain exploding in slow motion. That was because the stamp mark was precisely in the center of Katie's buttcheek.

Who on earth would want to stamp a beef grading stamp on their own butt?

At once, all sorts of scary thoughts invaded my head like a tsunami. I eventually settled on the worst-case scenario—Katie was cheating on me.

I asked her shakily, "Katie, what's the matter with your butt?"

A trace of horror appeared in Katie's eyes. However, she seemed to compose herself fairly quickly as she laughed and said, "Ah, don't bring that up. I went home to my parents' two days ago and spent the night there, and naughty little Danny stamped that thing on me.

"He even stamped it on Mom and Dad too! It's basically become a family stamp at this point," Katie said in an amused voice, sounding very convincing. "You know, Dad nearly skinned that little brat alive!"

She was talking about Danny Locker, her nephew.

Seeing that I didn't seem fully convinced, Katie continued, "I'm just telling you that the stamp is going to take a while to come off. I've been worried about it for days. I didn't want anyone else to see it and make fun of me."

I managed to catch a loophole in Katie's explanation. "You went back to your parents' two days ago? But I didn't know about it."

Katie suddenly flew into a rage. She yelled at me, "What, are you suspicious of me now? You're always so engrossed with work. When have you ever come back home anyway? Do I have to report to you even if I was just going home to my parents'?

"If that's the case, why have you never thought about me or how lonely I'd be, always home alone?"

I was at a loss for words.

Katie didn't wait for me to answer. Instead, she just turned her back to me and went to sleep.

I couldn't sleep a wink.

I didn't know how long it was, but her phone suddenly lit up with a notification.

Although we'd been married for years, I had never once looked through her phone before. This time, however, I glanced briefly at her phone screen. I immediately caught sight of a text message preview on it.

"So, baby, is the stamp still there? Why don't you take a photo of it for your master?"