Part 1The Smart Speaker That Exposed My Husband's Second Love

I was cleaning the house on the second day after my husband left for a business trip when I casually said to our smart speaker, "Alexa, play some music."

Instead, an unfamiliar sultry female voice came through the speaker.

"Sure thing, my little moonbeam. Also, a reminder for James - don't forget Aria's birthday surprise tonight~"

I froze, the music suddenly grating to my ears. My husband's name is James. Who was Aria?

I immediately called James: "Did you mess with our smart speaker at home?"

There was a pause on the other end before he laughed it off, "Oh, a friend came over to visit the other day. Maybe they connected their account. Why?"

I laughed and said it was nothing. After hanging up, I pulled up the speaker's login history and took a cab straight to the company address associated with that unfamiliar account.

The taxi stopped in front of the "Starlight Design" building.

I looked up. The glass curtain wall glared dazzlingly in the sunlight, much like the company's aggressive momentum in the industry over the past two years.

Our main competitor at "Dreamscape Design".

The receptionist was very professional, not giving me the cold shoulder despite me being from a rival company. She simply made an internal call in a businesslike manner.

A few minutes later, a girl in a white dress walked out quickly. She had waist-length hair and a bare face, looking clean and innocent.

Aria.

When she saw me, there was a clear moment of panic in her eyes, like a startled deer, but she quickly composed herself and squeezed out a shy smile.

"Hello, may I ask who you are?"

"About the smart speaker," I got straight to the point, looking at her calmly, "The login records show it was your account."

"Oh, that speaker!" She had a sudden realization, then scratched her head embarrassedly, "That belongs to my roommate. She used my phone to log in a few days ago, said her membership had expired and wanted to use mine for a bit. Did it cause you any trouble? I'm so sorry!"

Her words were watertight, both distancing herself and appearing innocent and naive.

If I didn't know James's personality, I might have believed her.

That man, arrogant and sensitive, how could he let an unrelated intern use a personal account to log into a device at home?

My gaze slowly moved from her face full of innocence to her slender wrist.

There was a silver bracelet.

Two irregular circular links interlocked, with a small letter "J" engraved on one of the links.

That was the gift I had personally designed and had a craftsman friend make for James on our wedding anniversary last year.

J for James.

The only one of its kind in the world.

Aria noticed my gaze and instinctively tried to hide her hand behind her back.

But I smiled, stepping forward with an almost gentle tone: "That's a unique bracelet. Did your boyfriend give it to you? He has great taste."

Her face went white in an instant, her lips trembling, unable to utter a word.

That was enough.

I didn't look at her again and turned to leave.

Getting into the return taxi, I immediately called my best friend Emma, the best divorce lawyer in the industry.

As soon as the call connected, her loud voice came through: "Well, well, if it isn't the great designer Olivia! Did the sun rise from the west today? You actually remembered me?"

"I need a favor," I said, watching the streetscape rapidly receding outside the window, my voice unnaturally calm.

"Look into someone for me. An intern at Starlight Design named Aria. Also, dig up all of James's financial transactions and hotel records for the past six months. Don't miss a single one."

Emma went quiet for two seconds, dropping her joking tone: "...Are we raiding the house?"

"Worse than that."

After hanging up, the car fell into dead silence.

It wasn't long before James's call came through.

I looked at the word "Husband" on the screen, finding it incredibly ironic. I took a deep breath before answering.

"Olivia, what's wrong?" His customarily gentle and refined voice came through the receiver, with just the right amount of concern, "I heard from Emma that you asked her to look into something. Are you having trouble at work?"

Look, he even planted a spy so quickly.

I pushed down the surging emotions and said in the most normal tone: "No, I just suddenly miss you very much."

On the other end of the phone, he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, then chuckled softly.

"Silly girl, I miss you too. Once I finish this project, I'll fly back to be with you right away, my little moonbeam."

The words "little moonbeam" clearly pierced my ears.

My grip on the phone suddenly tightened.

So, I wasn't the only moonbeam.

Or perhaps, I never was.