Chapter 2After My Mom and I Met Our Deaths, They Were Driven Mad With Regret

At that moment, I looked at Ronnie's phone lying next to his pillow and couldn't resist picking it up.

In all our years of marriage, I had never checked his phone.

Quietly, I unlocked it with his fingerprint and was shocked to see the pinned chat at the top. It was with a girl.

She looked a lot like me. Her Instagram location showed she had recently been in Andor.

That was during the days I was visiting my parents, and Judith had just returned to the country.

Suddenly, I recalled how Ronnie, always so composed, had inexplicably gotten drunk that night.

When he murmured, "I miss you so much," who was he really looking at through me?

Tears fell unconsciously.

He had fooled me and everyone else.

Then, I found a folder in his phone containing a journal, all written about one person.

Judith Mosley, his high school crush, the heiress to a wealthy conglomerate, his unreachable dream.

Back then, Ronnie hadn't yet inherited his family business, and when he confessed, Judith rejected him.

Now, she was back and had reached out to him.

She loved shopping at high-end stores. I created a fake account as a beauty store manager and added her. Judith didn't suspect a thing.

The next day, Ronnie still drove me to the design conference himself.

In the audience, he sat in the front row as usual, watching me with admiration as I presented my work.

The presentation ended with thunderous applause.

Then, suddenly, something caught his attention. He stood abruptly, apologizing to me in haste.

"Andrea, something urgent just came up. I'll join you later."

Before I could clearly see the anxiety on his face, he had already left me behind.

Looking down, I instinctively checked Judith's Instagram.

Five minutes ago, she had posted a tearful selfie with the caption that read, "It's such a sunny day. I even made breakfast, but I dropped a plate and cut my hand. I feel so strangely calm. I just want to die."

Her makeup was flawless, her red-rimmed eyes against her pale face evoking pity.

Thinking of Ronnie's anxious expression just now, I tightened my grip on my phone.

Still, I kept my composure and finished the day's activities.

Afterward, I didn't return to the home I shared with Ronnie. I went back to my parents' house instead.

The moment I saw my mom, I couldn't hold back anymore. Choking on tears, I said, "Mom, Ronnie... he has someone else."

It wasn't even someone new, it was the love he never let go of. I was just a laughable substitute.

Mom once told me that when she was young, she gambled everything on love, her life, and her belief in a man's devotion.

It was absurd.

Back then, I didn't understand her words, but now, I felt them in my bones.

They were fighting over the phone again.

Mom spoke calmly, "If you've fallen for someone else, let's divorce."

But Dad only thought she was threatening him.

"Brynlee, you just want to take half of my wealth and leave. Listen, unless you walk away with nothing, it'll never happen!"

The line went dead abruptly, leaving Mom with a bitter smile.

"See? Men are all the same. Andrea, maybe neither of us needs to stay with them anymore."

I felt my heart shatter into pieces. "Mom, is there really no way to save the price we've paid?"

She chuckled softly and shook her head.

"In three days, I'll leave this place."

Mom told me she had accumulated millions of points over the years from her missions, converting them into real-world money, a billion dollars.

She had already transferred it all into my private account.

"The freedom I couldn't have in my lifetime, I hope my baby can have instead," she said.

I held her tightly, sobbing uncontrollably.