He Cheated, I Exposed His Double Lif

Chapter 3

The moment she ended the call, the women crowded around again.

"God, you two are so sweet. He checks in with you no matter where he is."

"After all these years, he's still like that. You must've done something incredible in a past life."

"Sophia, you have nothing to worry about. Every man in the world might cheat, but Andrea never would."

I had always thought Andrea paid close attention to me too.

He called me every day and sent one voice message.

Our calls were short, usually less than 1 minute, but he always said he missed me.

I had never suspected another woman.

My own career kept me busy, and Andrea was busy too. He always sounded exhausted when we spoke.

I never imagined that every ordinary detail of his life was being shared with someone else.

I carried the baby to a bench and sat down.

When I lowered my head, my eyes landed on her wrist.

She wore a custom rose-gold bracelet with a delicate double-sided sun-and-moon medallion. One side was engraved with a sun, the other with a moon. It was beautifully made.

I recognized it instantly.

Seven years earlier, I'd learned I was pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl.

My mother flew all the way to Sunmere and commissioned a jeweler she trusted to make two matching medallions, one with the sun and one with the moon. Then she walked part of the St. Elian Pilgrimage Route alone to pray for both children.

But the delivery went wrong.

My daughter didn't survive. My son did.

I was devastated, and the complications damaged my uterus so severely that I could never have another child.

My son had worn the sun medallion since he was little. I kept the moon medallion in the deepest compartment of my safe.

Whenever I thought about the daughter I had lost, I would hold it and cry until I could barely breathe.

My hand trembled as I turned the medallion over.

One name was engraved clearly on the back: Isabella.

Andrea and I had chosen Isabella for the daughter we lost. The name was said to mean "God's oath" in Veridian, and we had hoped she would be blessed with a safe, peaceful life.

"My daughter's name is Isabella. Andrea chose it."

Sophia returned with a smile and sat beside me.

"He had that bracelet specially made by a master artisan in Roseford. You have no idea how much Andrea loves having a daughter. He cried harder than I did the first time he saw her and said he'd protect her with his life."

It felt as though something inside my chest splintered all over again, but I kept my expression calm.

"He treats you well."

Sophia laughed and continued chatting as if we were old friends.

"Are you Andrea's new assistant? From Highcrest? I knew everyone on his old team there, but I haven't seen you before. He's shifted most of his work back to Veridia over the past 2 years. He probably doesn't go to Highcrest much anymore, right?"

I forced out a quiet, "Right."

"He used to go to Highcrest all the time. He'd be gone more than half the month. I used to joke that maybe he had another woman there."

She laughed as she said it.

"Then I realized he really was working. Once the Port Dorian business got going, things settled down, and now he's home every day. Sometimes you just have to get through the hard part."

A bitter smile touched my lips.

"That's true."

Before Andrea supposedly moved to Port Dorian, he returned to Highcrest for about 2 weeks each month.

I worried about how exhausting the travel must be and made sure he never had to worry about anything at home.

Even when his parents in Veridia were sick, I always told him to focus on work because I would take care of them.

Our s*x life became less frequent over the years, and we spent more and more time apart.

I still never complained.

Now I knew those trips had never been business trips.

He had been taking care of another family.

Sophia made no move to take the baby back. She kept getting up to greet arriving guests.

When she noticed how peacefully the child rested in my arms, she looked surprised.

"She really likes you. She cries the second any of my friends hold her, but you've had her forever and she hasn't made a sound. That's amazing."