To get his mind off the scent and consequently make himself feel better, he thought of Ashley.
Ashley had stayed in the home office as she had finally come up with a design for the necklace.
The design she had just drawn looked really good even on paper. The necklace had a heart-shaped
pendant with a hollowed-out middle. She left it empty so any couple could put their names or whatever
they wanted on it. Diamonds surrounded the heart, which was the perfect touch.
Ashley didn't know how she was able to design such a beautiful necklace. All she knew was that she
had Andrew on her mind the entire time she was drawing the necklace.
Ashley stretched her arms. It was half past ten. She didn't know if Andrew was home already.
She packed all her stuff and left the home office.
She made her way to the bedroom and bumped into Andrew who was seemed to have just gotten
back.
After he threw his jacket away, he only had his white undershirt on. The sleeves had been rolled up
showing off his nice arms.
Ashley had never seen Andrew like this because he was always well dressed no matter what the
occasion. Even when going to sleep, he was still dressed nicely. This was how Ashley knew something
was wrong.
Ashley was sure that something had happened to him.
Clutching her design book, she hurried over to him and asked, "What happened? Where's your
jacket?"
"I lost it," he simply replied.
Ashley's mouth twisted. She wasn't satisfied with his answer.
She wanted to know more.
She wondered how he lost his jacket.
However, she didn't press any further. She just tried to hold his hand like she normally would, but she
was surprised that Andrew moved his hand away in response.
Ashley felt even more strange. She asked, "What's wrong?"
Ashley knew that Andrew liked it whenever she held his hand. She couldn't help but feel confused at
Andrew's response.
Andrew pursed his lips and replied, "I'll hold your hand later. I feel really gross. Let me take a shower
first."
After which, he brushed past Ashley and headed to the bathroom.
Ashley gave him a weird look when she smelled the perfume of a woman as he passed by. However,
she wasn't so sure.
Ashley never wore perfume so it definitely wasn't her.
Ashely followed Andrew from behind until something made her stop in her tracks. She had seen
something that shocked her. Her eyes widened.
She remained frozen. Even as Andrew had already gone into the bathroom, she still hadn't moved.
Ashley was extremely shocked.
She couldn't believe what she just saw. She saw a lipstick mark at the back of Andrew's shoulder.
She remembered that Andrew told her that he was going to be working late. She didn't know where
that lipstick mark could possibly come from.
She was also sure that Andrew smelled like another woman's perfume.
After that lame excuse of about his jacket, Ashley could only assume that
Andrew had left his jacket in another woman's place.
Soon, all the blood drained out of Ashley's face.
She looked at the bathroom door and she didn't know what to do.
She had fought a lot with Andrew over the years but she never thought that she'd be fighting with
Andrew over a woman.
'Is there really another woman?' she thought.
However, she was already too angry. She had started thinking that Andrew had indeed cheated on her.
She started to come up with a game plan. She thought of just leaving and letting him be with his
mistress.
Ashley's head was spinning like crazy.
She lay on the bed, deep in thought.
She didn't even notice when Andrew walked out the bathroom.
When he walked out, he noticed that Ashley was lying on the bed just staring at the ceiling.
Andrew figured she was probably thinking about Lena.
Approaching her, he rubbed her hair and said, "What's on your mind?"
Ashley was taken aback by Andrew's sudden presence. She was still disgusted with him. She couldn't
believe he would touch her after he had just been with another woman.
Her body jolted in response. She turned her head to move away from his hand then she turned her
body sideways. Without even looking at him, she said, "Nothing. It was a long day, I'm tired. Let's just
go to sleep."
Andrew was surprised, being given the cold shoulder. He just assumed that Ashley was really tired so
he just let it go.
Ashley sneaked into the bathroom. He didn't toss his shirt into the washer and she didn't see it in the
bedroom so she figured it could still be in the bathroom.
However, she didn't find it there. She wondered where her husband might have put it.
'Did Andrew make the effort of tossing it outside the room?' she thought to herself. This only confirmed
her suspicions. Of course he was going to hide it, it had his mistress all over it!
She smacked her head when she realized that Andrew walked out of the bathroom empty-handed.
'Where could it be?' she wondered.
Ashley started to look in the bathroom again.
It was a big bathroom. Ashley spent a lot of time looking for the shirt and still, she wasn't able to find it.
Just as she was about to give up, she noticed something white in the trash can.
Frowning, she walked over.
She found the shirt along with everything else Andrew was wearing today. The trash can was big
enough for him to throw out everything he was wearing.
Ashley squatted down.
The red lipstick mark was really obvious—it looked so dark and red to Ashley. The perfume on the shirt
had mixed with the shampoo and Ashley felt gross.
Her mind went blank as she stared at the shirt.
Before she decided to look in the bathroom, she told herself that she could be wrong.
She told herself that she needed to trust Andrew. She reminded herself that Andrew said that he loved
only her. She kept telling herself that she should just trust Andrew.
However, she was wrong.
Andrew said he was working late, but he had come back smelling like another woman's perfume with
lipstick stains on his shirt.
Ashley assumed that he threw out his shirt because it was the evidence to his unfaithfulness. If he'd
only been working, he wouldn't have thrown everything he had worn today to the trash. Ashley felt her
heart twist in pain.
She was in the bathroom for a really long time. When she walked out, she looked calm as if she hadn't
just been crying her eyes out.
Andrew was in bed reading a book. Usually, Ashley would climb to bed and lay next to him. She would
ask him what he was reading. Then, they would talk and fall asleep together.
However, Ashley just walked to her side of the bed and laid down. She kept a distance between them
with her back facing him.
Andrew looked at Ashley then he frowned.
Andrew wasn't really good at picking up hints but even he could tell that Ashley was acting
weird.
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