My Husband's Affair My Anniversary Gift (Lily and David) novel Chapter 313

That day was different.

Usually, Jabco picked her up after work. It had become a quiet routine without them ever saying it out loud. He would wait outside, sometimes inside the car, sometimes leaning against it. He never rushed her. He never complained if she came late. He just showed up.

But that afternoon, he sent her a short message.

Meeting tonight. Won’t be able to pick you up.

Riyana read it twice.

She didn’t reply immediately. She stared at the screen for a while, then locked her phone and slipped it back into her bag. She told herself it was fine. He had meetings all the time. She wasn’t a child who needed to be picked up every day.

Still, something felt off.

She finished her work with Lennox later than usual. It had been a long session again. When they finally wrapped up, Riyana felt tired but satisfied.

Just as she stepped out of the building, her phone rang.

“Kira?” she answered.

“Riyana!” Kira sounded excited. “We’re going out for drinks. All of us. You’re coming.”

Riyana hesitated. “Tonight?”

“Yes, tonight,” Kira laughed. “New place. Just opened. Good music, good crowd. Don’t say no.”

Riyana almost did.

But then she thought about Jabco not coming. About going home to an empty apartment. About sitting alone with her thoughts.

“…Alright,” she said finally. “I’ll come.”

The bar was loud.

Too loud.

Lights flashed in soft colors. Music thumped through the floor. The place was packed, full of laughter, clinking glasses, people leaning close to talk. It felt alive.

Riyana sat with her coworkers, a drink in her hand she hadn’t planned to finish. She laughed when someone cracked a joke. She listened more than she talked. At some point, the alcohol crept up on her without warning.

Her head felt light. Her cheeks warm.

She wasn’t drunk drunk, but she was not fully steady either.

“This place is nice,” someone said.

“It’s too loud,” Riyana replied, smiling anyway.

“You’re just not used to fun,” Kira teased.

Riyana laughed softly and took another sip.

After a while, she excused herself.

“I’ll be right back,” she said. “Bathroom.”

She walked carefully through the crowd, holding her bag close. The hallway toward the restroom was quieter. The noise dimmed behind her.

She splashed water on her face, looked at herself in the mirror.

Her eyes looked brighter than usual. Her face a little flushed.

"Get it together" she told herself.

When she stepped back out, adjusting her bag strap, her eyes lifted.

And everything stopped.

Her body froze before her mind could catch up.

Her heart slammed so hard it felt like it hit her throat. Jabco.

He was standing a few steps away.

For a second, she thought she was imagining things. That alcohol was playing tricks on her.

But no. It was him.

His posture. His broad shoulders. The way he stood slightly angled, one hand relaxed, the other wrapped around someone.

A woman. She was in his arms.

Riyana’s breath vanished.

Her fingers curled into tight fists without her realizing it.

The woman’s face was turned away, her head tilted toward his chest. She was close. Too close. His arm was around her waist, protective, intimate.

Riyana’s mind went blank.

She had known him for ten years.

Ten.

Even if she closed her eyes, she could recognize him by the way he moved, by his voice, by the way he held himself.

And then she heard it.

“Come,” he said softly. “Let’s go in.”

His voice.

So gentle.

So different from how he spoke to her.

Riyana felt something inside her crack.

He guided the woman toward a private room. His hand rested on her back. He leaned slightly toward her, lowering his head to say something Riyana couldn’t hear.

The door closed behind them.

Riyana stood there, completely still.

The noise of the bar rushed back into her ears all at once, but she felt detached from it. Like she was underwater.

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