The Light of My Life

Just moments ago, I accepted a delivery order. My task was to pick up the order from the drugstore and deliver it to Jubilee Heights, a gated community. I was about a mile away from the drop-off location when I saw the order details.

The customer, Ms. Irina Upton, had purchased special protection product and added a note, saying, "Please deliver it within 30 minutes. You'll be getting an additional tip. Thanks."

It was noon. Were they in such a rush?

I recently started working as a delivery person, keeping it a secret from my husband, Edgar Graham. It was now my fifth day on the job, and I'd gotten accustomed to the delivery process.

After riding the electric scooter for about 15 minutes, I arrived at Jubilee Heights. The security guards didn't stop me, so I rode right to the delivery address—Block 18, Unit 802. I was familiar with this unit. Edgar and I once rented it seven years ago.

When I knocked on the door, it was answered almost immediately. The first thing that I saw was an extremely familiar blue shirt. Its buttons were undone, and it hung askew on its wearer, who wore the face that greeted me each morning.

Five hours ago, the owner of that face had given me a loving kiss and said, "I'm heading off to work now. Love you, Celia…"

But now, he was standing in someone else's house with a young, attractive woman nestled in his arms, her own wrapped around his waist.

Both of them turned to me at the same time.

I froze up, my mind going blank. For a few seconds, it felt as if the world had disappeared around me.

"Is that my order?"

The woman's voice pulled me back to reality.

Holding in the shock I felt, I glanced at Edgar. He didn't recognize me. I was wearing my yellow delivery uniform with a face mask and a cap. He wouldn't have expected me to turn up here.

"Hello. Are you Ms. Irina Upton who placed an order to be delivered to Block 18, Unit 802?" I asked, purposely disguising my voice.

"Yeah, that's me."

"Here's your order. Please give me a good rating," I said robotically before swiftly turning away, afraid that I might burst into tears if I stuck around any longer.

Confronted with evidence of Edgar cheating on me, I instinctively chose to flee. Even I had to scorn myself for being so pathetic.

When my mind went into freeze mode for those few seconds, all I could think about was my four-year-old son, Nate Graham. I needed to keep my wits about me.

After leaving the building, I sat on a bench in the garden out front and started a video call with Edgar. It rang for ages before he finally took the call.

He was standing in front of a white wall and was busy buttoning up his shirt.

"What is it? Did something happen?" Edgar asked. His voice sounded a little raw and hoarse. Clearly, my call had interrupted them while they were getting things on.

Worried that I would be disturbing him, I rarely called him during the middle of the day. I only did it if I had something urgent to talk to him about.

"It's nothing. I just missed you and wanted to see what you were doing," I replied.

Edgar shot a glance at someplace off-screen. He looked a little nervous.

"I'm out having lunch with my colleague. I'll be heading back to the office soon."

"I see. Well, I won't keep you any longer then," I said with a forced smile.

"Once I get home from work, I'll take you and Nate out for some seafood tonight," Edgar said, his tone as gentle as ever.

The call ended. Even though it was over 90 degrees Fahrenheit outside, I felt chilled to the bone.

When I saw how easily he lied to me, I had to wonder just how long he'd been tricking me. He was even doing it in the house we once lived in!

Just then, I got a text from an unfamiliar number.

"How does it feel to deliver it for your husband to use with another woman?"

This was undoubtedly that woman's attempt to provoke me. She'd also sent me a picture of Edgar leaving the bathroom with nothing but a towel wrapped around him.

I didn't respond to her text. She was trying to rile me up, but her petty tricks weren't enough to accomplish that.

From the moment I found out that she'd specifically asked for me to deliver protection product, I knew something was off. I'd delivered something to Jubilee Heights a few days ago, and there were photos of me in Edgar's phone. That woman had placed the order on purpose today.

She was unbelievably foolish for voluntarily giving me proof of Edgar's infidelity.

Well, I silently kept copies of the evidence for safekeeping.

Half an hour later, I saw two people exiting the apartment building.

That woman from earlier was holding onto Edgar's arm with a bashful glow of satisfaction.

I used my phone to record a video of them walking to the car and driving off.

Jubilee Heights was relatively near Edgar's office. It was ten minutes by car. Putting my cap and mask back on, I tailed them on my scooter and saw the woman getting out of the car at the intersection just before Edgar's office building. He kept on driving to the office.

I trailed behind the woman and realized she worked for the same company as Edgar.

At first, I couldn't believe they were even self-aware enough to take precautions to avoid being caught together. However, I soon recalled that Edgar once told me colleagues in the same department weren't allowed to be in a romantic relationship.

That meant the woman had to be in the same department as he was.

Another memory came back to me. A few months ago, Edgar had inadvertently mentioned a newly graduated intern who just joined his department. He said she was extremely dumb and didn't know how to do anything.

If I recalled correctly, her name was also Irina Upton.