On Christmas Eve, I received a very peculiar commission request. The client was in a rush. She said money was no object and ordered five matching couple avatars in one go. I agreed immediately. I figured if I pulled an all-nighter, I could finish them by tomorrow morning. Then, I could surprise my boyfriend of five years, Liam, with a spontaneous trip to Aspen to see the snow. But when I opened the reference photos, my blood ran cold. The man in the pictures was Liam. The woman? I recognized her, too. It was Amber, the admin of Liam’s biggest fan page, back from when he first started gaining traction as a pro tennis player. I stared at the photos, zooming in and out, praying my eyes were playing tricks on me. The next second, my phone lit up. A text from Liam. "Chloe, the sponsors are insisting on a dinner to discuss the new contract. It’s looking unlikely I’ll make it home tonight." "But you just focus on getting ready for our New Year’s wedding. Wait for me. Love you." I stared at the screen. The wedding? Yeah, that was definitely going to be missing a key element now. I called my brother in Germany. "Ryan," I said, my voice trembling but cold. "I need to prepare a big gift for Liam for New Year's Day." 01 I hung up the phone. I clicked on the client's—Amber’s—social media feed. She hadn't blocked me. Her latest post was from thirty minutes ago. [Christmas Eve wish: To be with my Hubby forever!! ❤️❄️] The photo showed her and a man passionately kissing in the snow. The location tag: Aspen, Colorado. I would recognize that man even if he turned to ash. There was a jagged scar on the webbing of his left hand, between the thumb and index finger. It looked like a蜈蚣 (centipede). He’d gotten it during a training session when a racket snapped. Someone else in the world might have a hand scar, but not that exact shape. And then I saw the comment underneath. Liam_Tennis: [Growing old together with wifey.] I switched back to my texts with Liam. Ten minutes ago, he told me he was at a business dinner. My hand, usually so steady when holding a stylus, was shaking uncontrollably. It felt like a knife was twisting in my chest. A sudden wave of nausea hit me. I ran to the bathroom and hugged the toilet, retching until my eyes watered. So, the "sponsors" were just a cover. He was in Aspen. With her. I video-called him. He declined instantly. A second later, a text popped up. Liam: [Chloe, is everything okay?] Liam: [Can't video chat right now, babe. The sponsors are making toasts, it's rude to be on my phone.] Liam: [I'm sorry, sweetie. I know I've been busy. I'll make it up to you when I get home, okay?] His words seemed so sincere. A week ago, I would have been moved to tears by his dedication. Now, I knew the truth. He was cheating. One week before our wedding. I didn't know if Amber hired me on purpose or by accident. My own profile picture was literally a drawing of me and Liam. I switched back to the chat with Amber. I put on a mask. Me: [Wow, you and your boyfriend look so perfect together! I’ll definitely make these look amazing for you.] Amber took the bait. She started gushing about how they met. But I caught the slip-up: she mentioned they had been together for two years. Then she cut the convo short. "Hubby cooked dinner for me. Gotta go eat!" She sent a photo. A man wearing an apron, peeling shrimp at a dining table. It was Liam. 02 Two years? I did the math. Two years ago, Liam had just started making a name for himself on the circuit. He was handsome, played an aggressive game, and gained a lot of female fans. For a while, he kept talking about this one "superfan." I asked who she was, and he brushed it off. "Just a devoted fan, Chloe. She runs the fan club." Eventually, I got annoyed, and he stopped mentioning her. I thought he was respecting my boundaries. Turns out, they were just taking it underground. I stopped replying to her. I sat down at my tablet. My time is expensive. Rush orders are expensive. Whether Liam was cheating or Amber was taunting me, money was money. Who holds a grudge against cash? I painted through the night. By dawn, I sent the files. Amber paid immediately. I looked at the bank notification, counted the zeros, and finally went to sleep. When Liam came home, I was still in bed. He brought the cold winter air in with him. I woke up because his hands were wandering under the sheets. I grabbed his wrist. "Cold." He paused, clearly surprised I was awake. He touched his nose sheepishly and smiled. "Hey, sleeping beauty." "I rushed back to spend Christmas morning with you. I even got you a gift!" "Are you happy, babe?" His tone was expectant, cheerful. But all I could see was him kissing Amber in the snow. I forced a smile and hugged him. "Since you're back, go shower first," I said. "Wash off the travel fatigue. Just like we promised." "Okay!" He agreed. It was a rule we made years ago: wash away the bad vibes from the outside world before getting into bed. Really, I just wanted him to wash off the smell. That cloying lily perfume he reeked of was giving me a migraine. While he showered, I checked my phone. Liam had changed his WhatsApp profile picture. I checked Amber’s. They were matching. It was one of the pairs I drew last night. I laughed, a dry, humorless sound. We’ve been together five years, and he doesn’t even recognize my art style? Using a portrait I drew of him and his mistress as his profile picture? Is he stupid, or just cruel? Liam walked out, drying his hair. He saw me staring at his phone. Panic flashed in his eyes, but the lie came smooth as butter. "Babe, don't overthink it! I just found this online. The guy looks just like me, right?" "You never want to use matching avatars with me, so I had to find my own." "If you don't like it, I'll change it." Even when caught, he tried to make it my fault. My heart still ached, but my resolve was hardening. 03 I took a deep breath to steady my voice. "Where did you find it? It’s crazy, it looks exactly like you!" "I don't think I could even draw you that accurately." Liam was about to reply when his phone rang. He answered, glanced at me, and immediately put on a worried face. "Slow down. What happened to the team?" "Do I really have to be there?" "Did the coach approve this?" Three minutes later, he hung up. He looked at me with pained eyes. "Chloe, I'm so sorry. I have to bail on you again..." I looked at him calmly. "What happened?" "Training camp. There's a match in Seattle today, and a teammate injured his wrist. Coach needs me to fill in." "It's Christmas... I'll make it up to you in a few days, I promise." He was already changing his clothes. "I left your gift in the living room. Open it carefully, I spent ages picking it out!" He checked his phone, sent a text, kissed my forehead, and left. Smooth. Practiced. Usually, he would beg for my permission. Today, he didn't even wait for a response. He didn't know that the walls in the hallway aren't soundproof. I heard him on the phone as he walked to the elevator. It wasn't the coach. It was a woman. "I miss you, Liam. I hurt my wrist playing tennis... it hurts so bad." It was Amber. I watched him perform his little play and felt nothing but disgust. Five years of love, destroyed by the excitement of a fling. My stomach cramped again. Wait. The nausea. I ordered a pregnancy test via instant delivery. Ten minutes later, I was staring at two red lines. Just then, Amber messaged me. 04 Amber: [Chloe, oh Chloe. You really are naive, aren't you?] Amber: [Did you seriously not recognize the man in the drawings?] Amber: [Liam has been home for less than two hours. I just used a little trick, and he’s already running back to me.] Amber: [Men are simple. If you service them well in bed, their hearts stay with you. Did you ever wonder who he’s thinking about when he sleeps with you?] I felt the blood freeze in my veins. She knew. She hired me on purpose. She sent a video. Five seconds long. Filmed from a second-story window. Liam, holding a takeout bag, running desperately from his car toward the building. Amber: [I'm pregnant. Almost four months.] She was laying her cards on the table. She wanted me to quit so she could take the spot of Mrs. Bai. I didn't reply. I muted her notifications. I touched my flat stomach. I booked the earliest appointment for an abortion. This child was innocent, but I had no choice. I would not tie myself to this man forever. I opened social media to take down the pinned photo of me and Liam. Then I saw Amber’s new post. [Loving the Christmas gift from Hubby! My favorite!!] It was a photo of a luxury jewelry set. Next to it was an ultrasound. I zoomed in. Four months. Then I saw her comment below it. Amber: [It’s a pity the silk scarf that came with the set got lost. Hubby said he lost it! So annoying!!] Amber: [But he said it was just a free gift with purchase anyway. He promised to buy me a designer one next time! Hehe, love him.] The scarf was lost? I remembered Liam telling me to "open the gift carefully." I walked to the living room. My hands trembled as I lifted the lid of the box he left. Inside lay a silk scarf. I laughed out loud. A harsh, broken sound. So this was what five years of love amounted to? I was the trash can for his mistress’s free gift with purchase.
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "387651", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel