Cheating Is Instinct? Then Let’s Get You Neutered

Chapter 3

As his transformation approached, Colin became increasingly unstable.

Afraid something might happen to him, I stayed by his side.

While we were on our way to inspect a property, Vera called and insisted that he pick her up.

Colin ordered me into the back seat and gave her the passenger seat.

Vera glanced at me and smiled brightly.

"Why do you look so pale, Faye? Don't tell me you're jealous.

"I guess it makes sense. Colin loves me, not you. That must be killing you.

"But what can I say? I'm irresistible. An old woman like you never stood a chance against me."

In the rearview mirror, Colin's smile was full of affection.

When he noticed my expression, he gently consoled me.

"Faye, Vera is just very direct. Don't take it personally.

"Besides, she really is younger and prettier than you. That's simply a fact."

I closed my eyes and said nothing.

When he was poor, he had never claimed to be ruled by animal instinct.

Once he became rich, the excuses never stopped.

He simply couldn't control himself and wanted a respectable-sounding justification for it.

When I refused to respond, Vera pouted in boredom.

She opened a box of chocolates and tried to feed one to Colin, scattering wrappers everywhere.

Once, when I tried to eat in his car, he not only refused but threw my food out the window.

Colin always claimed he was obsessed with cleanliness.

"Faye, we're going to spend the rest of our lives together.

"Other people may not understand me, but how can you refuse to?"

I had understood him, all right.

I had understood him so thoroughly that I let his mistress walk all over me.

"He can't eat chocolate."

I frowned and stopped Vera.

"It upsets his stomach. Eat it yourself."

"Really?"

Vera glanced at Colin and started to withdraw her hand.

But Colin lowered his head, took the chocolate from her fingers with his mouth, and licked her fingertip while he was at it.

Vera giggled.

"Colin, why are you like a cat? Do you enjoy licking people?"

When we reached the company where the negotiations were taking place, Colin walked ahead with an arm around Vera.

Sweating, I followed behind with the bags.

Whispers rose around us.

"Mr. Archer is so good to his girlfriend. He never lets go of her, even when his arm must be tired."

"His secretary looks miserable, trailing after them like that."

"Look at his girlfriend's bags. They cost tens of thousands of dollars each!"

Each word stabbed into my heart like a needle.

It felt as though airtight walls were closing around me, almost suffocating me.

As I watched their intimate figures recede ahead of me, I slowly stopped walking.

I didn't want to follow them anymore.

By late afternoon, the sun was sinking and the moon stretched long shadows across the ground.

Colin and Vera finally came outside.

Laughing and talking, they got into the car, having forgotten me completely.

The car pulled away in a cloud of exhaust.

The last shred of hope inside me died.

I lowered my head and was about to call a cab when the car returned.

Colin stuck his head out the window and sighed in relief.

"Faye, so this is where you were.

"I was frantic when I couldn't find you. Why didn't you say anything?"

I didn't answer. I simply got back into the car.

Outside the window, the moon was perfectly round.

Colin ate another piece of chocolate from Vera's hand, a faint smile on his face.

Suddenly, his body began to convulse.

He trembled violently, clutching his chest as his eyes rolled back.

Startled, Vera immediately grabbed him.

"What's wrong with you?"

Colin forced his eyes open, but before he could speak, his body began shrinking inch by inch.

Moonlight poured through the window. Soon, only the tiny silhouette of a cat remained on the seat.

Vera's pupils widened.

Her terrified face stared back from the rearview mirror.

"A monster... You're a monster..."

Vera screamed uncontrollably and scrambled backward.

She pounded on the window, then, as if suddenly coming to her senses, reached shakily for the door controls.

As she turned, she caught sight of my cold smile.

To her, I must have looked twisted and terrifying.

The next second, Vera let out a shriek, rolled her eyes back, and fainted.

I snorted, climbed out of the car, and dragged her into the back seat.

Then I put Colin in the passenger seat, floored the accelerator, and sped straight to the hospital.

The doctor I had booked was already waiting for me.

When he saw me, he breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.

"Why did you wait until tonight? I thought you weren't coming for another few days.

"Fortunately, it's only a minor procedure. Let's run some tests first."

After a flurry of preparations, the doctor finally began the neutering procedure.

The light over the operating room came on.

Colin slept soundly, completely unaware that anything was wrong.

The corners of my mouth curved upward.

Everything was only beginning.

(End of Faye's POV)

*****

Colin woke in excruciating pain.

Still groggy, he reached for a glass of water.

The unconscious Vera was roused as well.

The instant she opened her eyes and saw Colin, she screamed.

"Monster! You're a monster!"

She scrambled to the door on all fours, desperate to escape.

Colin came fully awake. The intense pain made him yank down the blanket to see what was wrong.

The next second, the truth struck him like a hammer to the skull.

Trembling, Colin struggled upright, his eyes bloodshot.

"How did this happen...? How could this happen?!"