CHAPTER 2

🍒 CHERRY It was very late at night when the bedroom door opened and Adam walked in noiselessly. Although the lights were still on, my eyes remained closed, not because I was feeling sleepy, but because I was scared that if I looked Adam in the eyes, he would somehow find out that I was hiding something. Maybe Adam was right about Roman. Maybe he really did have some bitterness toward the Whitmores, and that was why he couldn’t stand seeing Adam happy. Perhaps everything he had said was only meant to create doubt between us. I shouldn’t let him get into my head. The sound of the shower turning on had me turning toward the bathroom door. I stared at it, listening to the sound of the water running behind the closed door. Why did Roman have to say all those things? I sighed quietly and turned back toward the wall, pulling the blanket a little higher over my body. Eventually, the shower stopped running. I heard the bathroom door open, followed by Adam’s quiet footsteps across the room. The mattress dipped a few seconds later, and before I could even pretend to be asleep, he pulled me into his arms. “I know you are awake, Cher,” he whispered before placing a soft kiss behind my ear. Taking a deep breath, I turned around and cupped his cheek. His skin was still warm from the shower, and the familiar scent of his soap immediately filled my nose. “I didn’t want you feeling bad, thinking I stayed up late waiting for you.” A small smile stretched across his lips. He leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to mine. “I bought you flowers. They’re in the kitchen. I wasn’t sure you would still be awake to receive them.” See? There is no way this man is cheating on me. A man who comes home late after a long day and still remembers to buy his wife flowers doesn’t seem like someone who is hiding another woman from her. “Thank you.” I snuggled deeper into his body, resting my head against his chest before closing my eyes. His arms tightened around me, making me feel safe in a way only he could. “I love you, Adam.” His thumb rubbed gentle circles over my arm. “I love you too, Cher,” he whispered. For a few seconds, neither of us said anything. I listened to the steady rhythm of his breathing, allowing myself to relax in his embrace. “And because I love you so much,” he continued quietly, “I hate that I have to leave.” My eyes opened. “Leave?” I lifted my head to look at him, my heart suddenly beating faster. “Where are you going?” “Seattle.” My entire body went cold. “You’re going to Seattle?” I asked, staring at him. “When?” He must have noticed the tremor in my voice because he suddenly leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to my lips. “I know tomorrow is your birthday, and I hate that I have to leave tomorrow, but it can’t be helped.” Tomorrow. I had completely forgotten that tomorrow was my birthday with everything that had been going on. Roman’s words had occupied so much of my mind that I hadn’t even realized how close my birthday was. “So what are you going to do in Seattle tomorrow?” I asked, trying my best to keep my voice steady. “Business. I have this business I have to wrap up.” Swallowing heavily, I moved away from his embrace and sat upright. I pulled the blanket over my lap, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. “Are you going to be back tomorrow too?” He shook his head. “I’ll be back in a week.” A week? My eyes immediately watered, and I knew in that instant that if I didn’t get away from him, I was going to end up crying right in his face. I quickly looked away, pretending to be more bothered by the blanket than I actually was. “Alright then,” I said, forcing a small smile. “But you owe me a birthday dinner when you get back.” Nodding, he sat upright, cupped my forehead, and planted a kiss on it. “Of course I do.” I smiled weakly. “Good. I’ll hold you to that.” “I need to use the restroom,” I whispered, rolling out of bed. I picked up my phone from the bedside drawer and hurried into the bathroom before Adam could notice the tears threatening to spill from my eyes. “Don’t forget to use an air freshener when you’re done!” Adam teased from the bedroom, like he normally did whenever I stepped into the toilet with my phone because that meant I was about to take a long s**t. Under normal circumstances, I would have laughed. I might have even thrown a sarcastic response back at him. Only this time, I didn’t find his joke funny at all. I sat down on the closed toilet lid, my fingers trembling as tears rolled down my face. They clouded my eyes, making it almost impossible to see what I was typing on my phone. I didn’t even know what I was doing anymore. My heart pounded so hard that it felt like it was trying to break through my chest. Everything Roman said kept replaying in my head, each word feeding the fear I desperately tried to ignore. Clicking on Roman’s number, I typed out a text with shaking fingers. I AM GOINF FO SEATTLE TOMORROQ. PLEASE COME PICK ME UP. The moment it went through, I covered my mouth with my palm to muffle the strangled sobs that escaped me. I don’t remember how long I sat there, crying at the possibility that my husband might actually be cheating on me with my sister. My sister. The thought alone made my stomach twist painfully. How could Adam do something like that? How could my sister do something like that to me? Eventually, I forced myself to get off the toilet seat. My legs felt weak beneath me as I wiped my tears with the back of my hand. I took one last look at my phone before looking down to delete the message I had sent to Roman, just in case Adam decided to snoop through my phone. That was when I noticed the typos in the message. I had written the words so quickly that I hadn’t even realized how badly I had butchered them. I didn’t give two f***s about that. My fingers trembled as I hit the delete button, removing the message from my phone before stepping out of the bathroom, returning to the bedroom. Adam was already asleep. I swallowed the lump in my throat and carefully climbed back into bed. Pulling the duvet over myself, I turned my back to him and didn’t move an inch. Not when the night slowly passed. Not when the first rays of morning filtered through the curtains. Not even when Adam leaned down and kissed me goodbye before leaving for Seattle. I kept my eyes closed and pretended to be asleep because I didn’t trust myself to look at him. Because if I did, I knew I would either break down and ask him the truth, or I would give myself away completely. So I stayed still. And I didn’t move when the maid eventually came upstairs to call me downstairs for breakfast. However, when a knock came on my door and I was informed that Roman was waiting for me in the living room, I finally got off the bed. I had spent the entire day lying there, thinking about everything Roman told me, trying to convince myself that he was wrong, trying to find excuses for Adam, for my sister, and for every little thing that suddenly seemed suspicious. I walked into the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and splashed some cold water over my face before staring at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes were swollen from crying, and I looked nothing like the woman I was yesterday. I looked exhausted, broken, even. Quickly looking away from my reflection, I walked into the closet and threw on an oversized round-neck top and a pair of joggers. I didn’t bother with makeup or fixing my hair properly. I simply pulled it together absentmindedly and grabbed the flight ticket I had shoved into my Birkin earlier. Then I walked out of the bedroom. One glance at me, Roman could tell that I somehow believed the words he told me yesterday. His eyes slowly ran over my body, starting from my hair, which was barely held together, down to my oversized clothes and the slippers on my feet. “Are you okay?” he asked. Ignoring him, I walked past the door, heading to the car, ready to put this nightmare behind me, and give my heart the consolation that my husband isn’t cheating on me.