Chapter 3Husband Personal Trainer for Her

I lay awake with my eyes open until dawn.

The next morning, while I was still washing up, my phone buzzed.

A friend request on SnapChat.

Username: "Ivy."

Verification message: [Hi there, I'm Coach Derek's student. I wanted to explain things to you.]

I accepted.

The next second, a photo came through.

A man's hand resting on a woman's thigh. The hand wore a wedding ring.

[Ivy: Girl, you really don't get it. Men work hard out there. When they come home and still have to deal with your attitude, who wouldn't feel suffocated?]

[Ivy: Derek says you have zero sense of romance. You won't even let him rip off your yoga pants. So boring.]

My hand trembled as I held the phone.

[Ivy: If I were you, I'd gracefully step aside. After all, Derek's happiness now comes from me.]

Naked provocation.

I screenshotted everything and was about to reply when Derek emerged from the guest room.

He'd changed into tight workout clothes, his hair slicked back.

"Mara, I'm skipping breakfast. Got an early class."

He acted like nothing had happened, completely forgetting last night's fight.

"Derek."

I held up my phone, showing Ivy's photos on the screen.

Derek's expression changed. He strode over and grabbed my wrist.

"She contacted you? That crazy girl!"

After seeing the chat history, instead of showing guilt, he actually looked relieved.

"Mara, don't listen to her nonsense. She's just some spoiled rich brat with mental problems. Delusional."

"Delusional enough to have your hand on her thigh?"

Derek ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

"That was to keep her hooked! She just dropped two hundred thousand on training packages with me! Two hundred thousand, Mara!"

"The customer is king. When the king makes excessive demands, can I refuse? I'm just playing along!"

He looked at me self-righteously.

"Can you be a little more mature? Stop competing with some young girl, okay?"

"Mature?"

I laughed bitterly. "Derek, you call cheating 'playing along'? You call your mistress provoking me 'a delusional young girl'?"

"What cheating! Don't make it sound so ugly!"

Derek raised his voice.

"Don't I give you all the money I earn?"

"Mara, have a conscience. I nearly crippled my leg saving you. Now I'm sacrificing my dignity for this family, and instead of being grateful, you keep attacking me. Are you trying to drive me to death?"

He brought up that scar again.

Every time we fought, he'd mention that car accident.

And every time he mentioned it, I'd have to back down.

But this time, I wasn't backing down.

"If it's so unbearable, refund the money. Stop training this client."

I stared at him. "Two hundred thousand. We don't need it."

Derek exploded.

"Are you insane? That's two hundred thousand! You think you can just say no to it? You think money grows on trees?"

"Mara, you're being so selfish! Who am I working so hard for? Now you want me to refund the money? You're trying to destroy my career!"

He glared at me viciously.

"This is unbelievable! I'm not coming home tonight. I'm working overtime at the gym!"

The door slammed shut.

I looked at the empty house, my heart growing colder by the second.

My phone buzzed again.

[Ivy: Derek left, didn't he? He said he's coming to my place tonight to fix my plumbing. Want to come watch?]

The attached image showed lingerie.

I replied with one sentence.

[Sure. Send me your address.]

Silence for a few seconds.

[Ivy: Skyline International Apartments. You actually dare to come? Don't cry on your way home.]