Crimes in the Name of Love

I waited outside for five hours.

When the last light in the building finally went out, Jasmine walked out. The moment she saw me, her face softened and she hurried over.

She grabbed my hand, her voice full of concern. "Why didn’t you come inside? How long have you been out here?"

"Not long," I said with a small smile. "I just got here. I know you’ve been busy, so I made you some food. The secretary told me you were in a meeting, so I waited outside."

She frowned and shook her head. "You shouldn’t have done that. You’re not in the best shape, you’ll make me worry."

Then, without waiting for a reply, she leaned in, wrapped her arms around me and kissed the corner of my lips.

The gesture was soft and familiar, but it didn’t feel the same. The warmth I used to feel from her was gone.

How far could someone go for someone they love?

She led me to the car, keeping her tone light as she spoke. "Oh, by the way, Joel is going to be released from prison soon. You two were close once, weren’t you? He’s paid for what happened and it’s all in the past now. Besides, the company has some new projects tied to—"

"It’s fine," I said, cutting her off. I forced a smile. "It’s over. I won’t be looking for him. Don’t worry about it."

She let out a small sigh of relief and gave me one of her soft smiles. "You’re amazing, you know that? I’m so lucky to have you."

I turned my head to look out the car window, letting her words hang in the air. Silent tears slid down my face, but I didn’t let her see them.

When we got home, she went to shower. The moment I heard the water running, I opened her laptop.

Her password was Joel’s birthday.

The wallpaper was a photo of the ocean at Milesea—the place where Joel had been living for the past three years.

I logged into her social account and my chest tightened. The header was a photo of her and Joel together, smiling like nothing else mattered.

Her follow list had one name. Just one.

I clicked it and my stomach dropped.

It was Joel’s account. Every post was of him, living his best life abroad.

The watch he was wearing? A new Greer Group release.

The suit? The latest from their endorsed line.

The place he was staying in? A Greer Group hotel. This hotel was built three years ago and it was the only project the Greer Family had overseas.

My hands shook as I clicked into her remittance records. There was only one name: Joel Sanford.

Three hundred thousand dollars. Every month. For three years.

I scrolled through the transactions, each one cutting deeper than the last. My chest felt tight, like the air had been sucked out of the room.

She hadn’t just lied to me, she had built his life, funded it, kept him happy and safe while I lived in the dark. I was the fool in her carefully crafted story.

Now I knew the truth. Three years of marriage and what did I have? Nothing.

The only photos of us were the wedding pictures hanging on the wall. I had begged her to take more, to keep memories of us together, but she always waved me off.

"We see each other every day," she would say with a laugh. "Why would we need more photos?"

But now it all made sense. It wasn’t about not needing photos. It was that I wasn’t needed.

I let out a dry, bitter laugh. There was no point looking through anything else. I already knew enough.

I grabbed my phone and booked a flight. Three days from now. Then, I started canceling all my documents.

Three days. That was all I needed to walk away from three years of lies.

I set a countdown on my phone and made it my wallpaper. A reminder of what was coming.

When Jasmine came out of the shower, I was already in bed, lying on my side. She thought I was asleep and didn’t say a word.

But I didn’t sleep. Not for a second.

When the first light crept through the curtains, I got up to wash my face.

My phone buzzed. Her voice came through the line, sharp and questioning. "Nash, what documents did you cancel?"

I held the phone away for a second, steadying myself before answering. "Nothing serious. My ID expired, so I set up an appointment to renew it. That’s all. Aren’t you supposed to be discussing the project today? Go on, get to work."

She hesitated, then let out a relieved sigh. Wrapping her arms around me, she rested her head against my chest.

"Thank you," she whispered. "Having a husband as understanding as you is the biggest blessing of my life."

I smiled faintly, looking down at her, but I didn’t say a word.