Chapter 5 Conclusive Evidence

After putting Molly to sleep, Cecilia sat on the sofa, replaying Sophie's words in her mind.

When Molly was little and had no one to look after her, she willingly gave up the career she'd built from scratch, handing the company over to Sebastian while she devoted herself entirely to the family.

But now Molly was about to start elementary school, and the second child she and Sebastian had been wanting still hadn't come. Going back to work wouldn't be such a bad idea after all.

It would help lighten Sebastian's load and make things easier for him, while also keeping her busy and preventing her from overthinking at home.

Of course, the main thing was that her skills shouldn't go to waste—she needed to earn more money.

Supporting a big family wasn't easy.

Lost in thought, Cecilia accidentally fell asleep on the sofa.

When she woke up, she found her neck was stiff—it hurt badly whenever she moved.

She got up despite the pain and headed to the bedroom.

Sure enough, Sebastian hadn't come back.

Whenever he took Brenda somewhere, staying out all night seemed to have become the norm.

With Molly about to wake up soon, she had no choice but to call Sebastian.

His phone showed it was turned off, so Cecilia had to call Brenda instead.

The phone rang for a long time before someone answered. "Where's Sebastian? Put him on."

"What's wrong?"

The voice coming through the phone sounded so flirtatious.

Cecilia got goosebumps. The pain made her extremely irritable, and her voice rose several notches. "Put Sebastian on the phone!"

The other person protested quietly, "What's with the crazy behavior so early in the morning... He's not awake yet. If you have something to say, tell me, and I'll pass it on!"

Cecilia couldn't stand her acting like she owned Sebastian. She just wanted to finish talking and hang up. "I have a stiff neck and can't move. Tell him to come home and take Molly to school!"

"Such a hassle!" Brenda muttered unhappily and hung up.

Half an hour later, Sebastian called back. "Honey, don't move around, I'll be right home!"

After Sebastian got home, he first took Molly to school, then brought Cecilia to the hospital for a checkup.

The doctor said it wasn't serious—cold compress first, then hot compress, and it would get better.

Cecilia leaned against the headboard, enjoying Sebastian's attentive care.

Thinking about what Brenda had said on the phone, she felt really bothered. "Honey, I'm sorry for making you run around like this!"

"What are you talking about? You're my wife, and Molly is my daughter. Taking care of you is what I should do!"

Cecilia was touched again, looking at Sebastian with adoration. "Thank you, Honey!"

"Don't say sorry to me, and don't say thank you either. I'm your husband—taking care of you is perfectly natural."

She had to admit, Sebastian really had a great personality!

No matter what happened, he could immediately understand Cecilia's emotional needs, being considerate and comforting, making her feel safe depending on him.

Sebastian leaned in and kissed Cecilia's forehead, then had her hold one corner of the towel wrapped with ice for the cold compress. His tone was gentle as he reminded her, "Honey, just stay in bed and rest today. I'll take a shower and make you something to eat. I need to go to the office this afternoon, and I'll pick up Molly after work."

The doctor's method was effective—by afternoon, the discomfort in Cecilia's neck had eased.

After getting out of bed, unable to sit still, she noticed Sebastian's dirty clothes from this morning were still in the washing machine.

Thinking about the white shirt he wore yesterday, she decided to take it out and hand-wash it.

But she never expected to see something that would break her heart.

On the back collar of the white shirt were several bright lipstick marks.

At that moment, Cecilia's heart hurt —the pain made her unable to stand steady.

She angrily threw the glaring shirt into the wash basin.

Only now did she suddenly realize—Sebastian really had cheated.

So the livestream footage was real, the photo of his back was real—only Sebastian's words were fake.

She had trusted him so much. Just last night, she was lovingly planning their future, and he had betrayed her.

Cecilia helplessly slid down onto the cold floor, the bone-chilling cold spreading through her limbs.

She held her head, her heart aching to the point of suffocation, yet her mind kept flashing images of Sebastian holding another woman.

She had given everything to this family—her youth, time, money—only to be met with his betrayal.

How ridiculous—how did Cecilia end up in such a situation?

She kept telling herself to stay calm. She couldn't just let this go.

Since Sebastian dared to cheat, she would definitely take back her company and make him pay.

After a while, she stood up from the floor and took out her phone to photograph the lipstick marks.

When her eyes fell on Sebastian's caring messages, she only felt it was ironic.

She scrolled to her chat with Sophie and saved the photo of the back view Sophie had sent her.

Then she made a voice call.

After connecting, Sophie immediately teased, "Calling me at this time—did you and Sebastian come to a decision? Did he agree to let you go back to work?"

Cecilia's lips curved into a bitter smile. "Haven't mentioned it yet!"

"See, I told you Sebastian would convince you again, and you didn't believe me!"

After Sophie finished complaining, she noticed Cecilia's silence and asked with concern, "Is there something else?"

"Yeah, I wanted to ask if there's any news about the photo?"

A bang came through the phone. "I forgot! I'll go ask for you right now."

Then came the sound of a chair being pushed back. "Gotta go, wait for me!"

The waiting was agonizing.

Cecilia didn't let herself sit idle.

She called Brenda again.

This morning, when she asked to speak to Sebastian, the person on the other end hemmed and hawed, finally saying she'd pass on the message.

Thinking about it now, Sebastian probably wasn't at her place at all.

The call connected, and Brenda's extremely impatient voice came through.

"What is it now?"

Cecilia tried to stay calm, took a deep breath, and asked directly, "Did Sebastian sleep at your place last night?"

Brenda answered smugly, "Of course."

"But you only have one bed!"

Brenda paused. "Can't he sleep on the sofa?"

Cecilia knew beating around the bush with someone like Brenda was useless. "You're lying. Sebastian has a bad back—he can't sleep on the sofa!"

Pushed into a corner, Brenda started throwing a fit. "Anyway, he was at my place last night. Where else could he be? On the street? Listen, Cecilia, aren't you being suspicious again? Sebastian works so hard out there, gives you good food, good clothes, good everything—can't you just calm down and stop being so paranoid all the time?"

Cecilia didn't want to waste words with her. "Brenda, I'm asking you one more time—where exactly was Sebastian last night? If you don't tell the truth, I'll have him cancel all your cards!"

The other end was silent for a moment, then switched to a more sensible tone. "Fine, I'll tell you, okay? He really wasn't at my place, but where he went, I have no idea!"

She hung up right after.

At that moment, Cecilia's phone received a photo from Sophie.