Handprint on the Window

As I headed out for work the next day, I bumped into Mia Fontana, our new neighbor, in the elevator. She was a pretty young woman with a very sweet and demure voice.

She was wearing a floral dress with an exquisite sling bag over her shoulder. She looked young, fresh, and very likable in general.

I had a good impression of Mia because she was often very warm and welcoming with her greetings. Today was no exception. She smiled widely at me and greeted me. "Morning, Gaby!"

I stood next to her and returned her smile. Just as she lowered her head, her long hair fell slightly to the front, and I caught a whiff of a very familiar scent from it.

I was very shocked. Wasn't this the scent I'd smelled in my bathroom just yesterday?

My smile froze on my face. I looked at Mia's clean makeup look and did my best to suppress my emotions.

Then, I pretended to ask casually, "Mia, Rory said that the heater at your place broke down last night. Did you use the shower in my house?"

"Me? Oh, I didn't. I just used the toilet," Mia answered calmly. However, I could see that she was fidgeting with the chains on her bag.

She looked very anxious, and I could even see beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She quickly took out her compact powder to touch up her makeup. I immediately recognized the Dior makeup she was using on her face.

Hadn't Rory suddenly gifted me makeup from the same brand just the other day?

I remember coming home that day just as the parcel was being delivered. I opened it up and saw that it was a pile of Dior makeup. I didn't use makeup from Dior, so I was confused as to who would have bought them.

Rory had then rushed out rather anxiously from the bathroom, explaining that the gifts were meant for me. He'd claimed that he'd been trying to make it up to me for forgetting our wedding anniversary before.

Now that I thought back to it, it seemed as though the makeup Rory had bought had never been supposed to be mine after all.

I deduced that the person who'd used our bathroom hadn't been some random deliveryman but Mia, our neighbor.

If Mia had only wanted to use the toilet, why had Rory felt the need to lie to me about it? It seemed as though there was more to this than I'd thought after all.

The handprint must have belonged to Mia. Given how she was acting so anxious now, it wasn't hard to gauge that she must be having some sort of unspeakable relationship with Rory.

After stepping out of the elevator, Mia waved goodbye to me rather stiffly and awkwardly. I noticed that one of the clasps of the keychain on her bag was missing, so it was hanging lopsided. She didn't seem to have noticed, however.

The clasp looked familiar. I felt as though I'd seen it somewhere before, but I couldn't recall when or where. Maybe it was similar to a shirt button or clasp I'd bought before.

I shook my head, not wanting to pursue it any further. The scent of her perfume was more intriguing to me.

I wondered again if the perfume scent was a common scent. Maybe it was such a popular scent that many people used it. I couldn't be sure that it had been Mia.

I was worried that I was mistaken—if so, I would be accidentally accusing someone innocent and wasting all of my time on her.

So, once I was done with work, I went to a huge perfume shop and asked the salesperson for some samples. After browsing the shop and testing several perfumes, I still couldn't find what I was looking for, so I headed straight home

As soon as I got home, I suddenly remembered the clasp I'd seen on Mia's bag this morning. I'd seen its missing pair somewhere in our bedroom before. However, I hadn't paid much attention to it in the past, so it could have rolled under the bed and gotten lost.

In fact, it might still be there.

So, while Rory took Bella out for their nightly stroll, I dived under the bed and searched everywhere for the clasp. There was a thin layer of dust on the clasp when I finally found it.

It was the final nail in the coffin—undeniable proof that Rory was cheating on me with Mia. The truth hit me like a blow, and I collapsed onto the bed, utterly drained.