Chapter 2

It was obvious what had just taken place.

Cynthia saw me, but she didn't feel embarrassed at all.

"It's such a bother, really. I already said I didn't want to do it here, but he's so in love with me that he couldn't wait any longer. I'm sure you know who he is, Daphne. After all, he's… pretty good at it."

I said nothing, but I started clenching my fists without even realizing it.

My relationship with Sean was built over two decades. It wasn't that easily shaken.

But, when I saw the button on the floor, it felt as if I had been hit on the head with a hammer. It looked exactly like the buttons on Sean's shirt.

Feeling dazed, I ran back to the lounge where the party was. Sean and his friends were chatting away happily.

He, who was always impeccably groomed, had a missing button on his shirt.

…

It had taken less than half a day for me to go from being overjoyed at being reunited with my boyfriend to being confronted with the fact that he was probably cheating on me.

Sean took me back to the riverside villa. He kept kissing my cheek.

Staring fixedly at him, I asked, "Sean, is there anything you want to tell me?"

However, I saw no trace of guilt or evasiveness in his eyes as he replied, "Yes. I missed you so much every day. I hated my stupid body for being so weak."

Something warm dripped onto my shoulder.

"I've really missed you. I love you so much. I won't ever let you leave my side again—not even for a second."

Growing up, Sean was known as the most fearless and mischievous among the children in our neighborhood. I was probably the only person he ever cried for. It seemed clear to everyone that he was truly in love with me.

He would shed his tears for me, and yet, in the middle of the night, he ran off to the balcony to make a call when he thought I was asleep.

"Why did you provoke her today?" Sean said to the person on the other end of the line. "I'm not mad at you. I know you're just indignant on my behalf."

Indignant? It was as if I had wronged him.

Back then, I had a ton of great opportunities here, but Sean had gotten severely ill with an unexplainable condition. I abandoned everything I had going for me back home to head abroad just so he could have a greater chance of survival.

Anyone else could've been justified in their criticisms of me, but not Sean. He had no right to do so.

I continued to hear bits and pieces of what Sean was saying out on the balcony.

"Don't come over tonight. She just got back. It wouldn't be good for me to ask for a breakup now. Be good and wait for me, okay?"

My tears soaked into my pillowcase.

Sean and I were childhood sweethearts. When he was a child, he loved squeezing my cheeks and shyly calling me his.

When he turned 17, in a rare display of seriousness, he waited at my house with a bouquet of my favorite roses. He was so nervous that his entire body was trembling.

"Daphne, I swear I will always love you."

And yet, he was on a call right now, coaxing his other lover.

"I love you, of course. You're the only one I love," he said.

An excruciating pain rocked through me. Sean, the man I had loved for ten years, had really cheated on me.

He seemed to have sensed something, for he turned around and met my gaze. Instantly, he stiffened.

"Daphne…"

He put his phone away and, with great difficulty, walked back to me.

Lying on the bed, I quickly stopped my torrent of tears.

"Who were you on a call with in the middle of the night?" I asked. "What were you talking about?"

Exhaling in relief, Sean lay down beside me before replying, "It was just a work call."

Sean seemed to have gotten sharper. Even though I didn't ask about Cynthia, he took the initiative to bring her up.

"Daphne, I have something to tell you," he said.

He told me that when he first saw Cynthia, he mistook her for me, but she had fallen in love with him at first sight.

"Perhaps that's why she was hostile toward you today," he explained. "But I'm loyal to you! Daphne, I swear I will never have anything to do with her."

I closed my eyes, allowing my tears to fall down onto the bed.

He held me and said affectionately, just like he had many times in the past, "You know how much I love you."

In the past, Sean's unbridled love for me made me have full faith in him. But If I hadn't seen that button, or if I hadn't stayed awake and heard everything he said just moments ago… I would've believed him now.