Jack didn't come home all night. He came back the next evening, bringing me a box of pizza.

 "It's from your favorite place. I queued for ages. You eat first. I'm going to take a shower."

"Okay!"



While Jack was in the bathroom, I took the spare key and the pizza box and went straight to the underground parking lot. 

The car was clean, and the passenger seat was adjusted to my usual position. There seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary. But what I really wanted to check was the dash - cam.



I went through all the recordings from the previous day to that morning. Jack drove to a university on the outskirts of the city. 

He called the girl and simply said, "Come down!"



The girl skipped over and got into the passenger seat. 

There were sounds of kissing and heavy breathing.

"Have you slept with that old hag?"

"Shut up!"

"Tell me, have you?"

Jack's voice was hoarse with desire. "What do you think?"

The girl gloated, "It's all mine now!"

"Don't beg for mercy later!"



The speed of the car showed how eager the driver was.

 The car stopped in a neighborhood near the university. The next time there was footage, it was 10 a.m. the next morning, and Jack was alone.



The video played silently. I sat in the car, stiff as a board, with my muscles aching from being so tense.

 I reached out to turn off the video when the phone in the recording rang. It was Ben, Jack's childhood friend.

"Where are you? Why aren't you here yet?"

"On my way."

"Tsk, being so late isn't like you. Don't tell me you've gone to see your little Peach again?" Jack just grunted in response.

Ben sounded exasperated. "Dude, you're seeing her too often. Are you serious about this?"

Jack chuckled. 

"What's real and what's fake?"

"Stop pretending! I thought you were just having fun. How did it turn into a long - term thing? 

I thought you were head - over - heels in love with Lily. Why did you suddenly cheat on her?"



This question seemed to stump Jack. After a long pause, he said, "Lily's 33 now!"

"So what?"

"I don't know why, but once she turned 30, I just feel she's... a bit repulsive."



How long had it been since Jack last showed me physical affection? I sat there, smoking and thinking. It seemed to have started about half a year ago.



At that time, I got swamped with work. I was working overtime and pulling all - nighters to get a promotion. Every night when I got home, all I wanted to do was sleep.



Jack would hug me and try to kiss me, but I'd push him away. "Not now. I'm too tired. Maybe next time."



The first time, Jack didn't mind and even felt sorry for me. The second time, he was a bit annoyed but held back his anger. 

The third time, he got really angry and stormed out of the house. I found him in a bar later.



I knew I had to do something. So I wrapped my arms around his neck and let him kiss me. 

But it was an unpleasant experience. I even felt pain. Jack noticed and ended it quickly.



That night, he turned his back to me and didn't hug me for the first time. I was at a loss. 

I didn't know how to fix things or how to comfort him. But then he told me it was his fault, that he was too impatient.

"Don't worry about it. After you're done with this busy period, we'll go on a vacation."



I thought the problem was solved. He still treated me well, even though he stopped hugging me in his sleep and we hadn't been intimate for half a year. But now he said I was repulsive.



That one word had haunted me ever since I heard it. Every time I thought about it, I felt a chill run down my spine.

 My hand holding the cigarette was shaking, and the ash fell on my hand, burning. 

But the pain from the ash was nothing compared to the pain that word had caused me.