Chapter3

There was a brief silence behind me.

"I have to catch up on night shoots tonight, you know that. Don't wait up for me."

I didn't say anything more and pushed the door open to leave.

The corridor was very long. It wasn't until I turned the corner, where no one could see me anymore, that my tears welled up without any warning, blurring my entire face.

Evan, a man's heart could only hold the silhouette of one lover.

Late at night, I didn't go home.

My secretary sent me the license plate of the car he was driving tonight. I sat in my car, waiting from a distance. The lights at the underground garage exit turned on, and Evan's car slowly drove out. I kept a distance of three parking spaces, following him neither too closely nor too far behind.

The car drove all the way to the East End and finally stopped downstairs at Leah's apartment building.

He didn't ring the doorbell. He just took off his suit jacket, grabbed a faded, washed-out old hoodie from the backseat and put it on. Then, he got out of the car, stood alone in the rain, and looked up at the lit window on the sixth floor.

The rain fell heavier and heavier. He didn't move.

I sat in the car, gripping the steering wheel as my fingertips slowly turned cold.

I waited for a long time before the light on the sixth floor went out with a "click".

He stood by the car for a long time again before slowly walking back inside.

I sat in my car, my hands gripping the steering wheel tightly, a wave of sourness churning in my stomach. He had always loved passionately and liked to express it openly. But now, his eyes were filled with an affection and restraint I had never seen before.

Two hours had passed. My husband, a Best Actor, risked being discovered by the paparazzi to confess his love to another person in the most forbearing way.

I turned the car around and went home. My whole body felt cold.

On the entryway cabinet, the bouquet of roses he gave me yesterday had already wilted. The petals were drooping. I looked at it for a long time but didn't touch it.

The living room was very quiet. I sat on the sofa, covering my forehead with both hands.

At exactly eleven o'clock, the door lock clicked.

Evan pushed the door open and came in. He saw me covering my forehead at a glance and suddenly realized something. His face changed drastically. He rushed over in a few steps and knelt in front of me.

"Chloe, you know everything, don't you?"

I stared into his deep blue eyes and didn't answer.

"Nothing happened between her and me," he said urgently. "We haven't slept together, we haven't kissed, we haven't done anything. We just got too close. It doesn't count as cheating."

Hearing his excuse, I swatted away the hand he reached out to touch me.

"Chloe, what does this mean?"

I pushed the divorce agreement and the asset liquidation statement in front of him.

"The most hurtful thing isn't physical betrayal." I looked into his eyes. "It's clearly realizing that you gave your love to someone else."

"Evan, I don't want to watch you give your heart to someone else anymore."

He held me tightly in his arms.

"I don't agree! From the beginning to the end, the only person I've ever loved is you."

He fiercely tore the stack of papers in half, the pieces scattering all over the floor.

"I won't let you go." His voice tightened, and he dialed his management team's number right in front of me. "Cancel all the schedules and premieres for this month. Don't ask why."

After hanging up the phone, he turned around and looked into my eyes.

"We're going to the 'Deep Blue', departing from Miami."

"No work, just the two of us. Then we'll announce my retirement there and find a place to settle down, okay?"

His heartbeat transmitted through his shirt, heavy and fast. I suddenly remembered that afternoon many years ago when he stood downstairs at my house. He was just like this, so anxious that he couldn't even finish a sentence.

After a long time, I finally nodded my head. The word was stuck in my throat and took a while to come out.

"Okay."