After a brief moment, I called the hospital again. "You're certain the ultrasound is for Emma Clark? I'll be there right away." It took me a long while to regain my composure to see Emma's name printed on the report. I didn't confront Emma. Instead, I steadied my voice and said, "My wife thinks she left her ID here yesterday. May I also see the surveillance?" The doctor didn't expect this but still called a guard to take me to the monitor room. On the screen, I clearly saw my wife, my wife of six years, walking arm in arm with a young man barely out of college. They were so sweet. He placed his hand on her belly, beaming. She looked at him with unmistakable tenderness. And after the checkup, they slipped into a quiet corner and kissed. My heart crumbled to ashes. So this was the warmth she never gave me in our whole marriage. The guard soon paused the video and turned to me. "You okay?" I swallowed the pain and shook my head, but my eyes couldn't leave the boy's wrist. A green gemstone watch. Emma's initials. That's a wedding gift from me, custom-made, one of a kind. A token of my love now worn by another man. My blood boiled, but I forced it down. I tipped the guard and asked for a copy of the footage, then left. When I got home, Emma wasn't there. I sat on the couch for a long time, unable to accept that the woman who vowed to love me for life had already changed. Then I saw a booklet lying on the coffee table. That's the roster of the graduate students she had just recruited. I felt a voice told me to flip through it. Then I stopped on one picture. Daniel Wright. The same boy from the video. I photographed the page and sent it, along with the footage, to a private investigator. "Check them," I said. Then added, "And trace every expense from the past year." Less than an hour later, he called back. "Mr. Collins, her finances are clear and easy to go through. I'll send a full report tomorrow." After a pause, he said, "But, be prepared." I hung up as Emma's call came in. I wasn't ready to alert her before I made full preparation. I answered calmly. "Honey, something came up at school. I won't be home tonight." Her voice was sweet and considerate as usual, as if love had never disappeared. "And I'll be back from work tomorrow. What do you want for dinner? Wontons?" Once, I would have believed that voice, now, it only made me sick. "Sure," I said. "And tomorrow I also have a gift for you."
By the next day, the investigator's materials were already in my inbox. I opened the folder. One file immediately caught my attention. It held details about a private Instagram account belonging to Daniel Wright. His latest post was a photo taken late at night: a figure seen from behind, bent over a desk, rushing to finish a paper. But it wasn't Daniel. I knew that silhouette far too well. It was Emma Clark. Caption: "Professor Em couldn't bear to see me stay up late. Even while pregnant, she insisted on helping me revise my paper. I'm spoiled." The date hit me like a blow. Three days ago. It was our wedding anniversary. That night, I had cooked an entire table of food, waiting for Emma. She said she had urgent work at school and never came home. I scrolled on. On Valentine's Day, Daniel was already wearing the green gemstone watch, fingers tightly interlaced with Emma's. Behind them was a mess of rumpled sheets. Caption: "Professor Em said I'm the boy she loves most. She'll give me everything, even herself." I recognized the place instantly. It was the apartment we lived in when we first got married. It was small, but it held years of memories. I thought I was prepared, but the image still stabbed straight through me. My mind went blank. I forced myself to keep scrolling, screenshotting every piece of their sweet moments as evidence. Just as I was about to close the page, another photo froze me in place. Daniel stood in a laboratory, smiling with confidence. On the board behind him were scattered data points. I recognized what they were. They were all from my anticancer drug research. My patent. Ten years of my life, my tears and blood. A dangerous idea began to take shape. I staggered to my feet to get Emma's work computer. It was locked. Without thinking, I entered my birthday. She had once said every password she used—bank cards included—was my birthday. I had once smiled indulgently at how childish that was, but I also felt a warm joy for a long time, happy at the devotion behind her choice. Wrong. Her parents' birthdays. Wrong. Our wedding anniversary. Wrong. Her own birthday. Still wrong. My hands shook as I entered Daniel Wright's birthday, the one listed in the roster. Access granted. The screensaver pierced my eyes. A photo of the two of them lying in bed together. But I had no time to dwell on the pain. Inside her folders, my ten years of research sat neatly archived, authored under Daniel Wright's name. She had once said she wanted to learn my research approach. I trusted her and sent everything without hesitation. I never imagined she would cut off my future just to clear his path. My body swayed. I bit down hard on my tongue until the taste of blood filled my mouth. Only then did I steady myself. I saved the evidence and shut down the computer. My heart still beat fiercely. Emma had once sworn she would love me for life. And she had said also nothing disgusted her more than academic misconduct and plagiarism. Turns out, her life of loving me was short. And betrayal meant leaving someone no way out. But she had forgotten one thing. The patent was never fully complete. There were still critical flaws that hadn't been solved. Since you chose to betray me, then let those flaws become the blade that cuts through your lies and brings me a final piece of justice.
Watch? https://cps-front.novelix.live/app-api/ext/new/20260619NAOqB8u39q ? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "Novelix" app ? search for "ni440321", and watch the full series ✨! #Novelix