When Betrayal Became the Final Goodbye

The doctor announced my mother-in-law's time of death, and at that very moment, my phone rang.

The screen still bore the bloodstains from her desperate attempt to call for help.

I opened the notification and saw it was a friend request on Facebook.

[There's something you need to see. You won't regret it.]

Against my better judgment, I clicked the 'accept' button.

Even though I thought I was mentally prepared, my heart still skipped a beat when I saw the photo of Claudia lying on top of Nolan.

Nolan's exposed skin was covered in marks of intimacy. The woman in his arms had her eyes closed peacefully, with a smile of satisfaction I had never seen before.

Thinking about my mother-in-law who had just passed away, I suppressed the nausea rising in my throat and called Claudia's best friend, Susan Dole.

"Where's Claudia?"

Susan, on the other end of the line, scoffed. "Can't she have some privacy? Does she have to report her whereabouts to you?"

Susan was Claudia's closest friend, so she must have known where Claudia was.

"If you don't tell me, I'll expose your affair to everyone—your husband, your company, and all your family and friends."

I had always scorned Susan's behavior, and when I found out Claudia occasionally helped her cover it up, I even tried to persuade Claudia to stay away from her. Unfortunately, Claudia did not listen. She even scolded me for meddling.

It was clear that they were birds of a feather.

"Three... two..."

"Union Hotel! She's at Union Hotel!"

Before I could count to one, Susan had already betrayed Claudia.

I thought I was ready for the worst, but hearing those words still pierced my heart like a needle.

I stood outside the hotel room door and rang the bell.

"Who is it?" Claudia's questioning voice came faintly from inside. I did not answer.

I just knocked harder, pouring all the pain of the night into those knocks.

"Are you crazy? Why are you banging on the door?"

The door cracked open slightly, but before I could see Nolan's face, I shoved it wide open and barged in.

Nolan stumbled and fell to the ground without even trying to stop me.

It was only when I saw Claudia, drowsy and still lying on the bed, that I realized he had done it on purpose.

"Get dressed and come with me now!" I threw her clothes onto her face, refusing to look at her any longer.

Hearing my voice, Claudia immediately snapped awake. "Henry Scott, what are you doing here?"

When she noticed Nolan on the ground, her expression shifted. "Who gave you the right to hit him? Are you out of your mind?"

Nolan got up shakily, his face full of feigned grievance. "Henry, you misunderstood. We just finished putting my pet to sleep and were exhausted, so we came up to rest for a while..."

As he spoke, he adjusted his collar, revealing the red marks on his neck.

Noticing my gaze, he pretended to cover his neck guiltily and looked at Claudia for help.

My eyes caught sight of an urn on the table nearby, and a surge of fury rose from the pit of my stomach.

"So what if we were just resting on the same bed? Why are you making such a big deal out of it?" Claudia spoke slowly, blaming me for overreacting. She held her clothes in her hands but made no move to put them on.

I took a step forward and yanked her off the bed. "Get dressed and come with me! Mom is still in the hospital. Let's go now—"

Before I could finish, I felt a sharp pain in my head.

With a loud bang, Claudia had smashed an ashtray against my skull.

"My mother always did you right, and you're using her name to lie to me? Stealing her phone to trick me wasn't enough, was it? Now you've come here to scare me?

"You just wanted an excuse to spy on me and Nolan, didn't you? Well, now you've seen it, so get lost!"

Claudia stood on the bed, pointing at my nose and cursing furiously.

Nolan rushed over to comfort her, his eyes filled with smug satisfaction.

Thinking about my mother-in-law, lying all alone in the morgue, I swallowed the pain in my head and stepped forward.

"Please, come with me. Just this once. Trust me, even if it's just this one time. I'd never joke about something like this."

In front of Claudia and Nolan, I was as humble as I could be.

However, as long as Claudia was willing to see her mother one last time, it would all be worth it.

Seeing me like this, Claudia hesitated and pushed Nolan aside. However, in the next second, her phone rang.

It was a call from Susan.