My Husband's Affair My Anniversary Gift (Lily and David) novel Chapter 315

Next morning, Riyana woke up, grabbed her bag, and walked straight out. No good morning. No glance. No pause at the door. She didn’t even know why she was acting like this, but something inside her was refusing to slow down.

Her chest felt tight again. Not anger this time. Fear.

A quiet, crawling fear that sat somewhere deep and refused to leave.

Last night kept replaying in her head. Jabco standing in that bar. His arm around another woman. The way his voice sounded softer with her. That image had carved itself into her mind, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t push it away.

She told herself she didn’t care.

She told herself their marriage wasn’t normal anyway.

But her heart didn’t listen.

By the time she reached work, she was already exhausted. She sat at her desk, opened her laptop, and forced herself to focus. Lines, colors, schedules. Anything that wasn’t him.

She was halfway through replying to an email when her phone vibrated on the table.

She frowned slightly and glanced at the screen.

Unknown number.

For a moment, she hesitated. She almost ignored it. But something in her chest tightened, and before she could think too much, she picked it up.

“Hello?” she said quietly.

“Ri, my daughter.”

The phone slipped from her hand.

It hit the floor with a sharp sound, but she didn’t hear it properly. All the sound around her faded in an instant.

Her whole body went cold.

It felt like electricity shot through her veins. Her legs went weak. Her fingers curled tightly as if trying to grab onto something invisible.

That voice.

She hadn’t heard it in twenty years.

Twenty years.

Her heart began to race so fast it hurt. Her breathing turned shallow, uneven. Her vision blurred.

No. No. This can’t be happening.

Her mind screamed at her to run, but her feet wouldn’t move. Memories she had buried so deep came rushing back without warning. Dark rooms. Locked doors. The sound of shouting. The feeling of being small and powerless.

Her chest tightened painfully.

“Ri? Are you there?” the voice came again, this time from the phone lying on the floor.

She flinched like she’d been hit.

Her eyes stayed fixed on the phone, wide and empty. Her hands were shaking so badly she had to press them against her thighs to stop them from trembling.

Her mind went blank.

For a moment, she forgot where she was.

She forgot how old she was.

She wasn’t an adult anymore. She wasn’t strong. She wasn’t married, working, living her own life.

She was small again.

Trapped.

Her breath came out in short, broken gasps.

Stop. Stop. Breathe.

She didn’t know how long she stood there like that. Seconds? Minutes? Time didn’t exist.

Slowly, her eyes began to move.

She looked around. Paintings, Frames.

Light coming in through the window.

This is my office.

Her fingers dug into her palms as she forced herself to focus.

I’m here. I’m safe.

The walls were familiar. The smell of paint and canvas surrounded her. The soft hum of voices. Someone laughing faintly in another room.

She wasn’t locked anywhere.

She wasn’t alone.

Her breathing didn’t steady immediately, but it slowed enough for her to think.

Don’t pick it up.

She repeated it in her head like a rule.

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