"No!"
Kristen's eyes flew open. Beads of sweat dotted her fair forehead. She looked down at the wedding dress she was wearing and let out a breath of relief.
So it had only been a nightmare.
"Kris, are you alright? Why are you sweating so much?" Finn walked in from outside. Seeing her drenched in sweat, he pulled out a tissue and bent down to gently wipe her brow.
Looking into the tenderness brimming in his eyes, the unease in Kristen's heart slowly ebbed away.
Finn loved her so much—how could he possibly do anything to hurt her? That dream was far too absurd!
"I'm fine. I must've dozed off and had a bad—"
Kristen didn't finish. Her gaze dropped to his collar, and her expression froze.
He was wearing a white dress shirt today. Just inside the collar, there was a lipstick mark—hard to notice unless he lowered his head.
The scene from the nightmare flashed through her mind, and a chill crawled over her skin.
"I know today's been hard on you. Hold on a little longer. Once the wedding's over, I'll take you home to rest," Finn murmured, bowing his head to place a tender kiss on her forehead.
With her throat tight, Kristen forced out a single word. "Mm."
"Rest a bit more. I'll go entertain the guests," Finn said, his deep gaze lingering on her with a gentle warmth.
Just as he was about to leave, Kristen spoke up. "Finn, my phone's dead. Could I borrow yours? I want to post something on Weibo."
As always, Finn handed his phone to her without a second thought, ruffled her hair, and left with a smile.
When the lounge door closed, Kristen's eyes fell to the phone. She drew a deep breath. "It's not that I don't trust you—I just want peace of mind."
Finn's phone password was their dating anniversary. After unlocking it, the wallpaper was their wedding photo, and in WeChat, the pinned chat at the top was with her.
Grace was Finn's friend; Kristen had met her on set, and because of Grace, she met Finn—who then pursued her fervently for three months.
She scrolled through WeChat chat history from top to bottom but couldn't find Grace. She opened the contacts and searched from top to bottom until she finally found Grace at the very end. She tapped in—
The chat was completely empty.
She opened Grace's Moments and saw a recent post: "I'll always be waiting right where I am."
The attached image showed a shirt and a red dress laid together.
Most people wouldn't notice, but Kristen recognized at a glance that the shirt in the photo was the very one Finn had been wearing just now.
They had been together last night.
But when she called him last night, he clearly said he was out drinking with the guys.
Why lie?
The scenes from her nightmare rose unbidden in her mind.
In the five years after their marriage, rumors about Finn and Grace circulated constantly. They always explained to the public that they were just good friends. Yet every time Grace called, he would drop everything and go—even when Kristen had been in a car accident, miscarried, and was lying on the operating table about to undergo a D&C.
Would a "good friend" have zero chat history?
Or would a "good friend" deliberately delete all the messages?!
Kristen's hands trembled as she pulled out her own phone and dialed. "Can you recover deleted WeChat chat records?"
The person on the other end yawned. "You're calling me for this kiddie stuff? Kris, has dating melted your—"
Before he could finish, Kristen cut in, her voice shaking. "Can you or not?"
There was a brief silence. Then, promptly: "I'll send you a program. Install it on the phone, open WeChat with it, and you'll be able to recover the messages…"
Kristen hung up. The software arrived quickly. She forwarded it to Finn's phone, installed it, opened WeChat, and restored the chat history.
When she saw the unspeakable messages, the tears pooled in her eyes finally broke free and poured down.
Finn had really cheated.
"Kris…" Finn had come in to get her so they could head out together. The ceremony was about to begin.
Seeing her in tears, a surge of unease crashed over him. "What happened?"
His dark eyes fixed on her, full of concern.
Kristen turned her head to look at him. In her tear-bright eyes swelled a storm of fury and disgust.
(End of Chapter)