Chapter 2The Secret Inside His Hearing Aid

Cam never came back that night.

The next morning, I came downstairs, my eyes raw and swollen, only to find him in the kitchen, apron tied around his waist, busy making breakfast.

He heard me and immediately turned, a cajoling smile on his face, though the dark circles under his eyes betrayed his sleepless night.

“Alisa, you’re up? Come eat.”

He walked over to me, carefully took my hand, and his voice was the familiar, comforting tone of a loving husband.

“I was an ass yesterday. I shouldn't have yelled about the hearing aid. It just… it holds so many memories of when we had nothing. I was overly sensitive. Please, don’t be mad at me, okay?”

He lowered his head and pressed a light kiss to the back of my hand.

“You know I can’t function without you.”

Looking at his sincere, slightly exhausted eyes, I almost allowed myself to believe that the previous night had simply been a terrible nightmare.

My heart, shamefully, softened.

What if the recording was truly just a misunderstanding?

The idea, once planted, grew frantically.

We had spent seven years together, climbing from a cramped rental to the top of a publicly traded company. We’d weathered real storms. What could a misunderstanding be that we couldn't talk through?

I took a deep breath, deciding to break the awful stalemate.

He was looking at me, his eyes pleading. “Alisa, I messed up. Please talk to me.”

I nodded. “I’ll bring you lunch at the office today.”

Cam’s eyes instantly lit up, as if he’d been granted a full pardon.

“Perfect! I’ll finish up my morning meetings and wait for you. What do you want? I'll have my assistant pre-order something.”

“Don’t bother. I’ll make it.”

That afternoon, carrying a stainless steel thermos, I walked into Cameron's company for the first time.

He always insisted that corporate life was too stressful and messy, and he wanted me to remain a worry-free princess.

The receptionist was surprised to see me, but politely led me toward the CEO’s suite.

The door wasn’t fully closed.

As I was about to push it open, a melodic, overtly flirtatious female voice floated out. “Cam, the Q2 earnings report looks sketchy. Why don’t you come look at it over here?”

This was followed by Cam’s voice, a familiar tone of exasperated indulgence. “You’re just too lazy to use your own brain, Teresa.”

I pushed the door open, freezing in the doorway.

The woman was a dazzling, striking beauty—a stark, vibrant contrast to my own quiet elegance.

But I recognized her instantly.

Teresa Sabrina.

That face—the one I’d only seen on the old campus forums seven years ago, the one universally revered as the Art Department’s untouchable goddess.

She was draped across Cam, practically sitting in his lap. They were bent close, heads nearly touching, intimately reviewing the same document.

Hearing the door, Cam reflexively looked up, and his face instantly drained of color.

He tried to pull away from Teresa, but she tightened her grip on his arm, leaning even closer, her full chest intentionally brushing against his bicep.

She raised her head, giving me a slow, assessing look, her eyes holding a glint of genuine contempt.

“Well, hello there. You must be Mrs. Miller. I thought you were the catering staff.”

She laughed, a bright, brittle sound.

“Cam is hard of hearing, you know. I have to be close so he can follow. You don’t mind, do you?”

I ignored her, my eyes locked on Cam, waiting for his reaction.

I waited for him to shove her away, to step in front of me and shield me, to offer the quick, practiced explanation I was used to.

But he just stood there, frozen. His gaze was shifty, his face a miserable portrait of guilt and helplessness.

“Alisa, please don’t misunderstand. Teresa is our new financial consultant. We were just… going over work.”

Going over work?

Did their "work" involve being intimately wrapped around each other?

A sudden buzz filled my head. Everything fractured.

The whispered gossip from college, the judging eyes, they all flooded back.

“Did you hear? Campus King Cameron Miller is dating Alisa Wells now.”

“Everyone knows he loves Teresa Sabrina. Alisa is just a rebound, a desperate fallback.”

“Teresa didn’t want the poor guy back then, so Alisa got the sloppy seconds.”

The thermos clattered from my hand, the noise swallowed by the thick carpet. Hot soup splashed across the floor.

I didn't say a word. I turned and walked out.

And again, just like the night before, Cameron did not follow me.