Chapter 2

After recomposing herself, Leticia slowly walked out of the fitting room. Tristan looked at her instantly. His cold gaze melted away, revealing the tenderness in his eyes. His attention was solely on her right now. After that, the couple went to the restaurant they had made reservations at for lunch. But Leticia remained glum the whole time. Tristan thought Leticia had witnessed what happened in the boutique earlier, so he quickly apologized to her. "Are you mad at me, Letty? I didn't let that woman touch me just now. Please don't ignore me, okay?" Leticia didn't respond to Tristan, which made him even more nervous. "What's wrong with you lately? Why do I have a feeling that you've been moody for so long? Is it because I didn't get to spend time with you due to how busy work has been? "I'm sorry about that, Letty. I've been busy handling a project lately. It'll be over soon. After that, I can focus all of my efforts on spending time with you." Leticia slowly looked up at Tristan, her expression still impassive. "Tristan, are you sure you don't have anything to tell me?" Tristan didn't know why Leticia would ask him that kind of question. He was stunned for a moment, but he subconsciously rubbed his thumb against his forefinger as well. It was an action he always did whenever he was nervous. Leticia obviously picked up on it, but she soon saw Tristan shaking his head. "Nope." Leticia's heart throbbed slightly at the answer, but she didn't ask Tristan any questions after that. At the end of dinner, a server wheeled in the cake that Tristan had already ordered in advance. He had Leticia make a wish before blowing out the candles on the cake. It wasn't her birthday today. Tristan made it a habit to celebrate every holiday and anniversary formally over the years. The lights were turned off. The moment Leticia closed her eyes and made a wish, the vibrating noises of a phone could be heard piercing through the silent atmosphere. She opened her eyes just in time to see Tristan sliding a finger across the screen to activate the phone. After that, he read the latest text message he just received. The restaurant was dark enough to let the brightness of Tristan's phone reflect the screen onto the window behind him. The text read, "Tristan, what should I do? There's a blackout here! I'm so scared!" Leticia spotted Tristan's lips curling into a small smile the next moment. He even let out a soft chuckle. Then, she could hear his thoughts ringing out loud and clear. [She really is a scaredy cat. To think that she's afraid of a mere blackout… Whatever. I should go check on her later. After all, she's pretty clumsy on her own.] Leticia's complexion went pale. She felt her heart getting crushed by an invisible hand. No one knew that the system had bestowed upon her an ability to hear Tristan's innermost thoughts before disappearing from her life. All these years, Tristan loved and cared about Leticia and Leticia only. But three months ago, there was another woman's name which frequently appeared in his mind—Chelsea Pool. Chelsea was Tristan's best friend's younger sister who had just graduated from university. Recently, she had started working as an intern in Tristan's company. Leticia had yet to snap out of her trance when she heard Tristan's thoughts booming next to her ear once again. [But today's my and Letty's seventh-year anniversary. Isn't it bad to leave her here right now?] While Tristan was stuck in a dilemma, his phone screen lit up again. Apparently, Chelsea had sent him a few more messages. This time, she didn't write anything. All she did was send him a few stickers of animals acting cute and pitiful. There were even stickers of a cartoon character crying. Tristan finally couldn't endure it anymore. He toggled the screen off before telling Leticia something urgent came up in his company and that he had to deal with it. After that, he had his assistant wheel him out of the restaurant hurriedly. Leticia's heart sank to the pits of her stomach as she watched Tristan's silhouette fading into the distance. She remained slumped in her chair, feeling her blood turning to ice. Tristan had never lied to her throughout their seven years of being together. But ever since Chelsea appeared in his life, he began lying to Leticia time and again. Leticia had never felt this panicked and alarmed before. She tried to call out to the system, hoping to see the percentage that was left on Tristan's affection bar toward her. But no matter how many times she had called out to the system, it never responded to her. Only then did Leticia realize that the system had completely vanished from her life ever since she decided to stay in this world. Back when she made the decision, she bet all of her stakes on Tristan because she had full faith in him that she would never lose the gamble. But now, she dared not put her trust in him anymore. That night, Leticia couldn't sleep well. Thunder rumbled loudly all of a sudden in the middle of the night. Suddenly, she felt a pair of arms wrapping around her tightly. It appeared that Tristan had returned home since who knew when. Perhaps he didn't want to wake her up, for his movements had been very soft and quiet. That was why she only found out about his presence at that moment. Tristan knew very well that Leticia was terrified of stormy nights. That was why he'd still pull her into his arms reflexively despite being fast asleep. It was his way of reassuring her that he was there for her. As Leticia turned back to gaze at the handsome visage of her sleeping husband, she fell into deep thought once again. Would a man who was deeply in love with her be capable of falling in love with another woman? She returned the hug tightly before burying her face into the crook of his neck. But the next thing she knew, she found herself staring at a trail of bright red love bites littering his neck.