You Cheated In Front Of My Daughter?!

I ended my business trip earlier and went back home, but the moment I pushed the door open, I nearly vomited from the rotten stench that stank up the entire house. Ten minutes ago, Selena Niles, my wife, posted in the Moms Unite group. [I read together with Dolce today again. It might be tiring bringing up a kid, but mothers need to be part of their children’s growth.] Dolce looked up. Her face was dirty, and she said to me sadly, “Dad, Mom is playing with Howard in the bedroom.” Howard Zimmer. That was my childhood best friend. I treated him like a brother of mine, gave him a job, and let him move into my house. I was not expecting him to “take care” of my wife and daughter like this during the few days I was away on a business trip. While I squashed down my anger and cleaned the living room, I found a long, black thing among Dolce’s toys. At first I thought that it was my stun baton, but when I did a Google search on it with my phone, the item description made my stomach churn. [An adult toy. Silent. Easy to carry and can vibrate.] Meanwhile, my stun baton was nowhere to be found. At 2 a.m., a pained screech tore through the air. Chapter 1 When I dragged my suitcase through the door, my phone’s screen was still on Moms Unite’s homepage. Ten minutes ago, Selena uploaded a photo to the group. In the photo was Dolce. She wore a clean night dress and sat in front of a picture book with a bright smile. The caption read: I read together with Dolce today again. It might be tiring bringing up a kid, but mothers need to be part of their children’s growth. The mothers praised her. [You’re so disciplined.] [You raised Dolce up so well.] [Your husband is lucky to have you as his wife.] When I read those words, I felt a little regretful. I was supposed to be away for five days because of my business trip, but the project wrapped up earlier, so I changed my flight ticket back so that I could come back sooner to keep Selena and Dolce company. However, the moment I opened the door, the stench that filled my nostrils nearly made me hurl. The living room was covered in takeout boxes. Some of the soup had spilled on the floor and dried up until it formed a sticky, dark stain. The couch was covered in wrinkled clothes, and there were empty beer cans on the tea table. The trash can was overflowing, and flies were buzzing above it. Reading together with Dolce? Really? My heart sank. “Dolce?” I put my suitcase down and walked around the couch. In the next second, I froze. My three-year-old daughter was sitting on the carpet. Her face was dirty, and her hair was a mess. She held a filthy doll in one hand and a partially eaten, cold piece of fried chicken in the other. When she saw me, she immediately perked up. “Daddy!” She stumbled over to me, and I squatted down to pick her up. I was immediately assaulted by the smell of sweat, something rotten, and rancid cooking oil. Who knew how long it had been since she last took a shower? I felt as if someone had seized my throat. “Dolce, where’s Mommy?” Dolce pouted and pointed at the master bedroom sadly. “Mommy is in the bedroom with Howard. They’re playing and won’t let me go in.” I clenched my fists. Howard. That was my childhood best friend. His father passed away when he was young, and his mother brought him up alone. When he was a kid, he often came over to my house for food. My parents had hearts of gold and always said that he was a pitiful boy, so they asked me to take care of him. Later on, after he graduated, he could not find a job, so I pulled strings and arranged an interview for him. Then, he said that he had no place to stay since he had just come to the city, so I also let him stay in my house’s guest room for the time being. I always treated him like a brother, but it only took a few days of me being away on a business trip for him to “take care” of my wife and kid this way? While squashing down my anger, I asked Dolce, “You’ve been playing in the living room alone over the past few days?” Dolce nodded. “Mommy said she’s busy, and Howard told me that if I behaved, he’d order takeout for me.” She added in a whisper, “But sometimes, the food is so hot. I can’t eat it.” Anger exploded in my chest. Selena, Howard, what on earth did you two do? Chapter 2 I brought Dolce into the bathroom and put her in the bathtub. The moment the water touched her skin, it was so soothing that she closed her eyes. During the entire time I washed her hair, I had to control my anger. Meanwhile, my phone kept vibrating. Selena uploaded another post in the group. [Children need to be clean before they go to bed. I give Dolce a bath every day. Otherwise, I won’t be able to go to bed with ease of mind.] As I stared at the screen, I almost laughed. Clean? Dolce smelled so foul that even the janitor would scowl if she smelled her. Once she finished her bath, I put Dolce in clean pajamas and put her in the nursery. She was so tired that she could not keep her eyes open, but she still clung to my sleeve. “Don’t leave, Daddy.” I caressed her face. “I won’t leave. I’ll stay right here.” Once I put her to sleep, I went to the master bedroom. Before I reached the door, I heard Selena and Howard’s laughter. “Selena, this is a genius move.” Howard’s voice was filled with excitement. “If Philip knew that everything you post in the group is just an act, he might start crying.” Selena snickered. “What else can he do aside from earning money? As long as I post some pictures of me taking care of Dolce in the group, he’ll think that I’m working hard at home.” Howard then started whispering in a sickeningly sweet voice, “Are you going to reward me tonight?” Selena giggled. “Patience. You’ll get it later.” My mind went blank, and I shoved the door open. It slammed against the wall very loudly. The two people in the master bedroom jolted. Selena was sitting by the bed with messy hair. Meanwhile, Howard stood up from the bed in a panic and started smoothing out his clothes in a flurry of motion. When she saw me, Selena’s expression changed, but she soon took control of the situation and frowned at me. “Are you crazy, Philip? Why didn’t you knock before coming in?” Howard also spoke up. “You scared me, Philip! I was playing a game with Selena. Why did you suddenly barge in?” Selena? He only ever referred to her as Mrs. Wilson in front of me. Why were they suddenly on a first-name basis? I cast a glance at the bedside table. On it were two cans of beer, an unfinished box of roasted chicken, and Selena’s phone. The Moms Unite’s homepage shone on its screen. I demanded, “No one took care of Dolce for three days, and you spent those three days ‘playing games’ here?” Annoyed, Selena rolled her eyes. “What do you mean, ‘no one took care of Dolce’? She’s fine, isn’t she?” Howard immediately spoke up in her defense. “Don’t pull a long face the moment you come back, Philip. Selena already has a hard time taking care of a kid at home. What’s wrong with me helping her relax?” “Relax?” I laughed in exasperation. “She’s pretending to be a good wife and mother in that group while leaving my three-year-old kid alone in the living room with only cold takeout to eat. You call this relaxing?” Selena’s expression sank. “Watch your tone, Philip. Dolce is already three years old. It’s not like she doesn’t know how to cook for herself. Besides, you’re always out on a business trip, and I’m left taking care of everything in the house alone. What’s wrong with me taking a break from time to time?” I stared at her and said, “I don’t mind you resting, but you shouldn’t be joking around with a child’s safety.” I walked over and grabbed her phone. Selena’s expression changed, and she tried to snatch it back. “What are you doing? Give it back to me!” I avoided her and tapped on Moms Unite. The group was still praising her for being attentive, gentle, and a model housewife. I waved the phone in front of her and sneered, “Why don’t you take a video right now and show everyone how ‘well’ you took care of the house?” Selena’s face turned pale, but Howard ran over and shoved at me. “That’s enough, Philip! This is just an argument between you two. Why do you have to drag outsiders into this?” Caught off guard, I ended up ramming into the corner of the bed with my back. Pain shot up my waist. I was only able to remain upright by leaning against the wall. But Selena did not pity me in the slightest. She only stared at me coldly. “You’re so dull, Philip. Let’s go, Howard.” Howard immediately grabbed his jacket. Before he left, he gave me an annoyed look. “You’re like a resentful husband right now, Philip.” They then left with a loud slam of the door. The living room instantly fell silent. The very next second, however, Dolce’s cries shot out from the nursery. She had woken up from fear. Chapter 3 As I endured the pain in my back, I put Dolce back to sleep. Once her breathing evened out, I went back to the living room to clean up the mess. It was even worse than I imagined. I kept filling up bag after bag of trash. The takeout boxes had already turned moldy. The stains from the drinks on the floor refused to budge no matter how much I mopped them. The cleaning lasted until past 11 p.m., and I was finally able to return the house to a state where I could finally walk on it without worrying about stepping on something gross. When I bent down to pick up the building blocks on the carpet, a long, black thing rolled out from the pile of toys. I was stunned, and my first reaction was to think that this was the stun baton I had put in the entryway drawer. Some time ago, there was a drunkard in the residential area who frequently harassed single women or housewives spending large amounts of time alone. I bought a stun baton so that Selena could take it around when she left the house. But she thought that it was ugly and would destroy her image as an exquisite housewife, so I could only leave the stun baton in the entryway drawer. However, this particular stun baton did not seem right. It was shorter than the one I had bought, and there were strange lines on it. With a frown, I took a photo of it to identify it. In the next second, the product description popped up. [An adult toy. Silent. Easy to carry and can vibrate.] My stomach churned. Why was this among Dolce’s toys? I immediately thought about Selena and remembered her handbag. I also remembered the panic on both her and Howard’s faces just now. I felt my blood run cold. I went to the entryway drawer to take a look, and it only made me even more uneasy. My stun baton was gone. I stood still as cold sweat covered my back. Had Dolce touched it? Had she pressed the on switch? I rushed into the nursery and checked her hands. Once I was sure that she was okay, I sighed in relief. Then, I put that disgusting thing in three layers of trash bags before throwing it into the trash can at the entrance. After that, I washed my hands a few times with soap. Even so, I could not get rid of the unease in my heart. That night, I lay beside Dolce’s bed in the nursery but could not sleep. Some time past 1 a.m., I heard the door unlocking. Selena and Howard had come back. I did not make a sound. The nursery’s door wasn’t shut tight, so I could hear their whispers. Howard sounded a little drunk. “Selena, do you think Philip is still awake?” Selena snickered. “Don’t be scared. He’s the type who gets exhausted after putting a kid to sleep. Besides, even if he knows, what can he do about it?” Howard’s voice turned even softer. “What about Dolce?” Selena snapped impatiently, “Once Dolce is sleeping, she won’t know anything. Don’t talk about her. It just ruins the mood.” As I lay in the darkness, my fingernails dug into my palms. So, Dolce ruined her mood, did she? Howard continued, “Should I still sleep in the master bedroom tonight?” Selena giggled. “You always wanted to sleep there, didn’t you? Don’t worry. This is my place. I’m the one who gets to choose who sleeps in the master bedroom.” I felt like I had been stabbed in my heart. That was my bedroom with Selena. Before Dolce was born, I had picked the bed. I remembered how hard I had worked to earn money over the years. In the past, when Selena posted pictures of flowers, gifts, and money transfers, the caption was always this. [A woman loved by her husband will become gentler as time passes.] But her gentleness was never for me. I yanked off my blanket and wanted to rush over, but the pain in my back made me suck in a sharp breath. Just then, I heard a piercing cry from the bedroom. “Ah!!!” It sounded horrific, as if someone had been electrocuted. Dolce jolted awake. She rubbed her eyes and asked, “Daddy, what’s wrong with Mommy?” I hugged her and covered her ears. “Don’t worry. I’ll go take a look.” But right when I entered the living room, the doorbell rang. The moment I opened the door, I found two security guards standing outside. Behind them were a few neighbors with jackets over their shoulders. Mrs. Xanders, my upstairs neighbor, was displeased. “Mr. Wilson, what are you doing in the middle of the night? My kids are crying because of you.” Mrs. Lane, my next-door neighbor, said, “That scream sounded like you were slaughtering pigs.” The security guards looked at me awkwardly. “Mr. Wilson, we’ve received complaints from a few residents. Shouldn’t you check what’s going on at home?” Before I could answer, there was another howl of pain coming from the master bedroom. It was even more horrific this time. The entire crowd at the door fell silent. I sucked in a deep breath. “Let’s check it together, shall we?”