He Bought Another Life

I had just put my son to sleep when I received a call from an unknown number.

Mrs. Carter, this is BabyLux Boutique. Congratulations, you've won our grand prize.

I froze. What grand prize?

The voice on the other end quickly apologized.

I'm so sorry, Mrs. Carter. Today is April Fools' Day, and we played a little joke on you.

There's no grand prize, but there is a gift.

I thought it was another scam call and was about to hang up.

But then the voice continued.

"You and Mr. Marcus Shaw have spent two million dollars at our store.

We've prepared a gift package worth a hundred thousand dollars.

When would be convenient for you to pick it up?"

I froze. My husband's name is Marcus Shaw.

But my last name isn't Carter.

And we've never been to any baby boutique.

My eyes involuntarily fell on the baby stroller sitting awkwardly in the corner of our rental apartment.

The BabyLux logo on it made my heart skip a beat.

I had found it strange when Marcus brought it home.

BabyLux is a high-end baby boutique where even the cheapest stroller costs thirty thousand dollars.

But Marcus only makes forty-five hundred dollars a month.

I asked him where the stroller came from.

He said it was a perk from his boss for being an outstanding employee.

As he said this, his hand touched his nose.

He didn't know that's what he unconsciously does when he lies.

Marcus was lying to me.

When I tried to press further, the baby woke up, and I forgot about it.

But now, that thread of doubt resurfaced.

"Ma'am? Ma'am, are you still there?"

I snapped back to reality.

After responding, I heard myself ask in an oddly calm voice:

"I remember buying a mint green stroller from your store recently.

A friend saw it and really liked it. Do you still have that model in stock?"

Even as I asked, I found the question absurd.

Marcus and I are just an ordinary family.

How could we possibly know friends who could afford a stroller that cost tens of thousands of dollars?

But once the seed of doubt is planted, it begins to sprout.

I hoped I was just being paranoid.

Unfortunately, I wasn't.

The polite voice on the phone carried a hint of apology:

"The one purchased on January 24th?"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Carter. That stroller is a new product.

Mr. Shaw is a VIP, which is why he got early access.

If your friend wants one, they'll have to wait until the official release in May."

My eyes trembled slightly, and my grip on the phone tightened unconsciously.

January 24th was the exact day Marcus brought the stroller home.

He said it was an employee perk.

But the stroller hadn't even been officially released.

He brought home an unreleased stroller, and at the same time, another Marcus Shaw bought the same stroller that day.

Could there really be such a coincidence?

My heart felt like it had been cut, and a chill spread through my entire body.

If what the clerk said was true

Two million dollars in purchases. Where would Marcus get that kind of money?

He makes forty-five hundred a month and gives me four thousand.

What money could he possibly use to shop at a high-end baby boutique?

Could Marcus be having an affair with a rich woman?

Or was it really just a coincidence?

I couldn't stop my eyes from glancing at the stroller.

I heard my own hoarse voice slowly say, "Thank you. I'll come by tomorrow to pick it up."

After hanging up, I hesitated for a long time before dialing Marcus's number.

No answer.

Suddenly, uncontrollably, I remembered when I was newly pregnant and Marcus and I went to look at cribs.

The high prices at baby stores made me too afraid to even go inside, let alone somewhere high-end like BabyLux.

In the end, to save money, we chose to use the hand-me-down from my cousin's kid.

Back then, Marcus told me he would work hard to earn money so our baby could have the best.

My eyes started to burn as I looked at my son who had just fallen asleep.

Because we'd been weaning him recently, his little face had gotten so much thinner.

Thinking about how my son and I had been finding every way to save money while Marcus might have been spending over two million outside

My heart clenched painfully.

Just then, Marcus called me back.

I steadied my emotions before answering.

"Marcus, the company suddenly sent me on a business trip. Don't wait up for me tonight."

Business trips like this were routine for Marcus. Every time he got to a hotel, he'd send me a video check-in.

So I'd never suspected anything before.

But today, because of the baby boutique incident, I was unusually sensitive.

After a moment of silence, I said softly, "Okay. Be safe."

I wouldn't ask him anymore.

Tomorrow I'd go find out the truth myself!

Early the next morning, I dropped my son off at my best friend's house and headed straight to the nearest BabyLux.

Since it was a chain store, I could pick up the gift package at any location in the city.

I just needed to provide the consumer's registered name, phone number, and ID number.

As I gave Marcus's information, I heard my voice tremble.

Half a minute later, she looked up at me with even more enthusiasm than before:

"Hello, ma'am. We've confirmed that Mr. Shaw has spent two million four hundred thousand dollars at our stores over the past few years.

As a VIP customer, you're eligible for a gift package worth a hundred thousand dollars."

"If needed, we can arrange home delivery."

I watched her mouth open and close, but all I could hear was a roaring sound in my ears.

My heart plummeted, my legs went weak, and I staggered backward a few steps.

It really was Marcus.

He and another woman had spent over two million dollars at a baby boutique.

He was having an affair. And they had a child.

But where did the two million come from?

How many more secrets was he hiding!

Perhaps my face looked too terrible, because the clerk came over with concern. "Are you alright, ma'am?"

I quickly took several deep breaths to steady myself, forcing my lips into a smile.

"I'm fine. Can I look at the past purchase records?"

"I have a friend who's about to give birth.

She asked me what good products I've used before, but I really can't remember. I'd like to look at the previous purchase records to recommend some to her."

When the clerk heard there might be more business, her smile became even more genuine.

When the purchase records came up, my heart grew even colder.

The earliest purchase record was from two years ago.

Back then, I had just gotten pregnant, yet he was already taking another woman and child to buy baby products.

I blinked hard to moisten my dry eyes and scrolled through the screen.

Five thousand dollars for a pack of diapers.

I remembered when I first got pregnant, I stayed up for a whole month researching to find the cheapest, best diapers to save him money.

Eight thousand dollars per can of formula, which they'd been buying for two whole years.

But I had to wean my baby early to save money for our household.

Thinking of how haggard the baby looked from the weaning process, my heart instantly twisted into a knot.

And a hundred-thousand-dollar crib, various baby snacks.

They came shopping almost every week.

I dug my nails into my palm, my whole body numb to the point I could barely feel the pain.

After scrolling through thirty-plus pages of purchase records, my heart gradually calmed down.

I took out my phone and pretended to take notes for a while, then said to the clerk as casually as possible:

"Could you pull up the registered delivery address for me?"

"The delivery drivers always say they can't find the exact location. I want to check if it was registered incorrectly."

The clerk immediately apologized and pulled up the address for me.

21 Alder Lane, within the 'Oakwood Estates' gated community.

One of the city's most exclusive gated communities.

I repeated it through gritted teeth in my mind, then said to the clerk:

"It looks fine. Just deliver it in half a month."

Now I needed to go to Riverside Manor and see if Marcus, who was supposedly on a business trip, would be there.

But I forgot that security at places like villa districts is extremely tight.

I was stopped by the guard outside.

Unable to get in, I decided to wait nearby and see what happened.

I had barely taken two steps when a familiar voice behind me made my whole body stiffen.

"Aria?"

It was Marcus.

I slowly turned around and saw him still wearing the same suit he'd worn leaving the house yesterday morning.

And next to him was a woman holding a child.

He was standing brazenly in front of me with his affair partner?

I looked at Marcus. There wasn't a trace of guilt on his face. Instead, he looked surprised to see me.

"Aria, what are you doing here?"

Then he turned apologetically to the woman beside him and gave a slight bow:

"Ms. Jensen, this is my wife, Aria Miller."

Then he looked at me. "Aria, say hello to Ms. Jensen."

I was completely stunned.

Ms. Jensenhad I misunderstood?

But then I remembered Marcus had said he was going on a business trip. Why was he here today?

I directly asked about the doubt in my mind.

Marcus was about to scold me for being rude.

But Ms. Jensen smiled apologetically instead:

"I did arrange for Marcus to go on a business trip with me yesterday, but just as we were about to leave, I got a call from the nanny saying my child had a fever."

"I was too worried, so I canceled the trip and asked Marcus to help me with something."

"He's been running around helping me, so he probably didn't have time to call you back.

Marcus works very hard. I've already notified my assistant to give him a promotion and raise."

Normally, I would have been jumping with joy at hearing about Marcus's promotion and raise.

But right now, my brows only furrowed tighter.

Marcus chimed in. "That stroller I brought home a while ago was actually from my boss."

"She didn't like the color, and when she heard our child was just born, she gave it to me."

"I knew with your personality you'd make me return it if you found out the truth, so I didn't tell you.

Since we're here now, it's a good chance to thank Ms. Jensen properly."

Both of their faces looked completely open and honest.

It seemed like I really had been too suspicious.

But what about the two million dollars spent at BabyLux?

I couldn't help but ask directly.

Marcus froze for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed. He flicked my forehead from behind.

"I was making those purchases for Ms. Jensen.

She's too busy with work, and I used to work in the purchasing department, so she assigned this task to me."

"Otherwise, why do you think the company has so many employees with kids, but she gave the stroller to me?"

Looking at his expression, everything he said seemed to be true.

And all the questions could be explained.

But I still felt something was off, though I couldn't put my finger on what.

On the way back, Marcus asked me, "Aria, you weren't actually suspecting I was having an affair, were you?"

Since he asked, I might as well lay it out and ask him directly if he was.

He immediately raised his hands in surrender:

"How could that be, Aria? I don't have the heart or the guts for that."

"Besides, BabyLux is so expensive. If I weren't purchasing for my boss, how could I possibly afford it on my forty-five-hundred-dollar monthly salary?"

I stared at him motionless for a long time, then finally snorted coldly:

"You'd better not be. If I find out you've done anything to betray me, I definitely won't let you off!"

He immediately stuck to me like a puppy and hugged me.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

But my heart rose to my throat again when I went to pick up the baby.

I finally realized what had been bothering me.

The child Ms. Jensen was holding earlier clearly looked about the same age as my sonless than a year old.

But the BabyLux purchase records started two years ago.

Marcus was still lying to me!

But I couldn't understand why, if Bailey Jensen wasn't Marcus's affair partner, she would help him lie to me.

I returned home in a daze.

For the first time, the man I'd shared a bed with for years felt like a complete stranger.

After absentmindedly putting the baby to sleep, I confronted Marcus directly:

"Marcus, is there anything else you're hiding from me?"

He froze, then walked over somewhat helplessly and tapped my nose.

"Aria, didn't I already explain everything earlier?"

"Why are you still doubting me? If you keep this up, I'm going to get upset."

That was just like him.

In five years of marriage, Marcus had never raised his voice at me.

He'd even go so far as to say yes to everything I asked, always patient and accommodating.

That's why I'd been so unwilling to believe he could have an affair.

But now the facts were right in front of me.

The repeated lies proved Marcus was definitely hiding something from me.

Just based on his dishonesty alone, I couldn't easily forgive him.

I slapped his hand away and stared at him stubbornly.

He seemed surprised I was being so serious this time. He frowned at me.

"Aria, I absolutely have nothing else to hide from you."

My heart completely sank to the bottom.

"Marcus, if you don't tell me and I have to find out myself, you know what I'm like."

My words made Marcus show a rare cold face toward me.

He rubbed his temples wearily:

"Aria, do you have to push me to do something wrong before you'll be satisfied?"

"I work myself to death every day earning money, wishing I could split myself into eight pieces. Where would I have the time or energy to have an affair?"

By the end, his expression took on a hint of grievance.

"Aria, I'm telling you the truth. Please believe me."

He crouched in front of me, looking at me pitifully.

If not for the text message I'd just received on my phone, I might have actually believed Marcus.

Thinking of what I'd just seen

I clenched the phone in my pocket tighter, my heart feeling like it was being squeezed by a large hand, the pain making it hard to breathe.

But I couldn't keep pressing him aggressively.

I couldn't tip him off and give Marcus a chance to destroy evidence.

I needed to stay calm.

Besides the affair partner, I also needed to figure out where Marcus got the two million dollars.

I needed to find out everything.

With this in mind, I took a deep breath and smiled:

"Alright, look how nervous you are. I was just teasing you!"

"Who told you to lie about the stroller? I had to punish you somehow!"

As soon as I finished speaking, I saw Marcus's gaze pause, then he breathed an imperceptible sigh of relief.

I sneered inwardly.

Marcus, I'm waiting for you to let your guard down and show your true colors!

For the next few days, perhaps out of guilt

Marcus came home much earlier than usual.

He also stopped going on frequent business trips.

I realized for the first time that I could actually be this patient.

Until half a month later, Marcus couldn't hold back anymore.

That afternoon, he called to tell me he was going on a business trip, and I immediately pulled out my phone.

I hadn't been idle these two weeks either. I'd bought a small tracking device and put it in Marcus's bag.

On the screen, the red dot was heading toward Riverside Manor.

I quickly went downstairs and hailed a cab.

When I arrived, Marcus was hugging a woman tightly.

When I saw the woman's face clearly, I was shocked.

Marcus's affair partner was actually her?