Chapter 3 #3
By the time I reached Walker Corporation headquarters, night had fully fallen. The towering skyscraper was one of America's financial power centers. Most floors were already dark.
I swiped Alex's secondary card for me and took the executive elevator straight to the top floor.
The elevator doors opened to silence. The hallway was carpeted thickly, completely empty. The secretary stations were vacant, everyone gone home. Only the CEO's office at the end of the corridor still glowed with light.
I clutched the container, my heartbeat quickening involuntarily.
But when I reached the office door and raised my hand to knock, I froze.
The wooden blinds weren't fully closed. A gap about two centimeters wide remained.
Standing in the heavy shadows of the hallway, I could see clearly through the crack.
A woman sat intimately on the edge of Alex's large desk, lit by a vintage desk lamp. She wore an impeccably tailored business suit, legs crossed elegantly.
Right now, they were both looking at a document together. The woman leaned forward slightly, her body nearly pressed against Alex's, her thick black hair cascading down like seaweed, brushing across the shoulder of his suit jacket as she moved.
My breath caught the instant I saw that silhouette.
My first reaction wasn't anger. It was confusion. It was nearly eleven at night. Why was there a woman in Alex's office?
Then, the woman reached for the mouse. As she moved, the back of her hand naturally, deliberately, rested over Alex's right hand on the desk.
Her movement was so practiced, so unhesitant, as if they'd done this a thousand times before.
I stared at the scene, my legs heavy as lead.
A wave of indescribable shock crashed over me.
My husband—cold and distant at home, who only had his secretary reply to my texts—was sitting there, letting another woman touch him with such familiar, boundary-crossing ease, and he just kept looking at the document, showing no intention of pulling away.
The thought I'd been deliberately ignoring surged up like a tidal wave.
Was this why he hadn't come home for three straight weeks?
Was he... cheating?
My heart began pounding uncontrollably, a dense, acidic panic flooding through me.
But I forced myself to breathe, to stay calm.
Don't panic, Isadora. Now's not the time to spiral. Aside from that brief touch when she reached for the mouse, they really did just seem to be discussing work. They hadn't done anything more inappropriate. Maybe I was overthinking.
I didn't want to become one of those paranoid wives constantly interrogating their husbands about infidelity. That kind of hysteria would only make me hideous.
But since I was here, I needed answers.
I shoved down the sour ache in my chest, straightened my coat, and pushed open the half-closed office door.
At the sound, both people at the desk turned toward the door.
The moment Alex saw me, clear surprise flickered in his eyes. His hand, which had been resting near the mouse, pulled back awkwardly.
The woman, however, calmly slid her hand off Alex's, shifted her position on the desk edge, and looked at me with a faint, knowing smile.
I saw her face clearly now. A classic mature beauty. Sexy. But strangely familiar.
My fingers gripped the edge of the container as I forced a polite smile.
"Alex, your secretary said you've been working late a lot. I... I made some pastries. Brought them for you to try."
The woman still sitting on the desk edge didn't stand. She adjusted her posture slowly, then let her gaze settle on my slightly awkward face, her lips curving into an amused smile.
"Alex, is this your... new bride?"
I tightened my grip on the container's handle, struggling to maintain my composure as lady of the house, and turned to Alex, trying to ask.
"Alex, who is this? Aren't you going to introduce us?"
I looked at him, desperately hoping he'd give me some official, reasonable explanation of who she was.
But before Alex could speak, the woman raised an eyebrow and cut in. She tilted her head slightly, that mocking smile still on her lips.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is—"
"You should go home. You won't understand any of these business documents. You're just in the way here." Alex suddenly cut me off, rubbing his temples, his tone laced with irritation.
Looking at Alex's cold eyes, thinking of the housekeeper watching my every move at home...
I wanted to argue. I wanted to demand why he was treating me like this, why he never came home. But to avoid losing face in front of a stranger, I bit my lip hard until the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth, barely managing to force down the rising bitterness.
"Okay. Don't work too hard. Take care of yourself." I heard myself say it in a voice that sounded numb, mechanical.
Then I turned silently and walked out of the CEO's office, forcing myself to keep moving.
It wasn't until I was sitting in the car on the way home, staring at the neon lights flashing past the window, that I finally broke down. I hugged my knees and sobbed uncontrollably in the dark backseat.
I had to ask myself, "Isadora, is this the marriage you dreamed of?"
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