The Bracelet That Heard Every Secret

The night my boyfriend left for a business trip, my jealous roommate followed him into the very same hotel. “On a business trip with my senior. Sigh, he really can’t go a single second without me~” She posted a series of suggestive photos on Instagram. The man’s face was never shown, but he wore the exact same watch as my boyfriend. Even the tiny mole on his wrist looked identical. Tsk. If my boyfriend hadn’t been lying right beside me, I might actually have been fooled by her little stunt. Maya had tried every trick in the book to drive a wedge between Ethan and me. I might have let her off. But Ethan wouldn’t. That evening, I got a message from Ethan and headed downstairs. From a distance, I saw Maya spill a cup of soy milk all over him. By the time I reached them, Maya’s face was flushed. She was trying to wipe the soy milk off Ethan’s chest while he dodged her hand like his life depended on it. “Ethan, I’m so sorry. I got your clothes dirty. “Why don’t you take your shirt off and give it to me? I can bring it back to the dorm and wash it for you. “Nora never does laundry. I’m worried the stain will dry if we leave it too long, and then it won’t come out.” Ethan pushed her hand away and frowned at her. “My wife doesn’t need to do laundry. I wash all her clothes for her. As long as I’m here, why would she have to do that kind of hard work?” “What are you two doing?” I asked as I walked over. “Baby.” The moment Ethan saw me, all the coldness vanished from his face. His eyes lit up as he hurried toward me. To everyone else, Ethan looked like an untouchable mountain flower. In front of me, though, his aloof image completely collapsed. He was practically wagging his tail. Before he could wrap his arms around me, Maya rushed over and linked her arm through mine. “Nora, I’m sorry. I just wanted to say hi to Ethan, but I accidentally spilled my soy milk on him. You’re not mad at me, are you?” Maya and I lived in the same dorm room, but we had never been particularly close. Her sudden familiarity surprised me—and made me uncomfortable. I pulled my arm out of hers. As I did, I couldn’t help noticing the third button of her shirt had been undone, revealing a dazzling expanse of white skin. When I didn’t answer, tears quickly gathered in Maya’s eyes. She looked at me timidly. “Nora, are you angry? How much was Ethan’s shirt? I’ll pay you back every penny, okay? Please don’t be mad at me…” The shirt Ethan was wearing had been bought by me. It wasn’t particularly expensive, but I knew enough about Maya’s family situation to realize that paying me back might be difficult for her. I softened a little and was just about to tell her not to worry about it when Ethan spoke in a flat voice. “The shirt wasn’t expensive. It cost less than two thousand dollars. I’ll send you the receipt later. You can pay three hundred. Consider it a lesson, and don’t use such an obvious excuse to force physical contact with someone again.” Maya’s face flushed red with humiliation. She stared at Ethan with a wounded expression, looking as if she might burst into tears at any second. Ethan acted as if he hadn’t noticed. “There’s one problem, though. My payment apps are inconvenient right now. Send the money to my wife. She manages all my finances.” Maya’s expression shifted several times before she finally murmured to me. “Nora, I’m a little short on money right now. Could I pay you a few days later?”Considering her situation, I nodded. The moment I agreed, Maya took a deep breath and seemed to come back to life. She put on a brilliant smile and spoke to me affectionately. “Okay, then. You two talk. Nora, I’ll wait over there and walk back to the dorm with you.” Then, without giving me any chance to refuse, she ran to the entrance of the residence hall and kept glancing over at us. I found it strange and turned to Ethan. “When did you get so close to her?” The moment we were alone, Ethan stuck to me again like an oversized puppy. “Baby, you’re accusing me of things I didn’t do.” Ethan looked genuinely wronged. “I don’t even know her. She said she was your roommate, then came over and dumped soy milk all over me. She even tried to touch me everywhere.” I couldn’t help laughing. I ran my fingers through his hair and smoothed him down. “Forget about her. You came rushing over here. Do you have good news to share with me?” “I won an award!” Ethan’s eyes sparkled. He looked like he was waiting for praise. “The paper my advisor helped me publish won an award. The organizers invited me to accept it in person. Will you come with me? We can spend some time in A City while we’re there.” So that was it. The whole school already knew Ethan had won. I laughed and deliberately made a troubled face. “But A City is so far away.” The big puppy glanced around to make sure nobody was watching, then immediately started to whine. “No! My wife has to be there for my glorious moment!” He was so ridiculous that I burst out laughing. “All right, then. When are we leaving?” “Tonight! I already bought our tickets. Once we arrive in A City, we’ll still have time for a candlelit dinner. “I checked earlier. There’s a handmade pudding shop there that you love. We can go try it, okay?” He had already arranged everything, so all I could do was agree and return to the dorm to pack. Ethan waited outside. When I reached the bottom of the residence hall, Maya immediately followed me. She glanced back at Ethan before smiling sweetly and linking her arm through mine. “Nora, is Ethan here to take you to A City?” I looked at her. Thinking about the way she had acted earlier, I inexplicably decided to lie. “No. He’s leaving tonight. I just happen to have something to do at home, so I’m only taking him to the station.” “Oh~” Maya gave me a mysterious smile, then pretended to be startled. “Oh, I forgot to say goodbye to him.”As she spoke, she waved at Ethan in the distance. “Ethan, see you later! We’re heading upstairs first!” I frowned. The way she said it made it sound as if she and Ethan had plans that night. Most of my clothes at school were casual, and I didn’t have much to pack. I grabbed a few things, shoved them into my backpack, and left the dorm. I found Ethan waiting beneath a tree. He took my backpack from me, then held out his hand. I blinked at him. “What?” “Where’s my present? You clearly prepared one. When were you planning to give it to me?” When had this guy learned to read minds? I asked, amused, “How did you know I prepared a present for you?” Ethan waved his phone. “Someone sent me a photo and tipped me off.” “Who? Let me see.” He obediently handed me his phone and shook his head. “I don’t know. There’s no name saved. I’m guessing it was your roommate. We all added each other when we went out to eat together before.” That was true. When Ethan and I had first started dating, I had invited my roommates out for dinner. They had all added him on social media. I wanted to see which roommate had been nosy enough to send a tip to someone she barely knew. I took the phone and looked at the screen. Oh. It was Maya again. Before I could see what photo she had sent Ethan, his phone buzzed. Maya had sent him a message. “Nora said she won’t be staying in the dorm for the next few days. She even took several outfits with her.” A few seconds later, another message came in. “I asked her, and she said she wasn’t going out with you. She said she was going home. “But aren’t Nora’s parents overseas? A few days wouldn’t be enough for a round trip. “Where do you think Nora is going tonight, Ethan? “I’m really worried about her safety.” I hadn’t even had time to get angry before Ethan snatched his phone away. “What are you doing?” “I’m taking screenshots and calling the police!” Ethan’s brows drew together, his face filled with outrage. “She’s making malicious assumptions. I’ll call a lawyer tonight and sue her for defamation!” I burst out laughing. Ethan was almost too cute. “Don’t.” I caught his hand and stopped him. “I thought it was strange when she deliberately approached you earlier, so I lied without thinking. I didn’t expect her to message you so quickly. Don’t alert her yet. I want to see what she’s planning.” Ethan disagreed. “Baby, people like this aren’t worth wasting your time on. Teach her a lesson, and I guarantee she’ll never forget it.” I raised an eyebrow. “That’s exactly what I intend to do. Besides, she’s already come after me. Do I look like someone who’ll just swallow the insult?” The moment Ethan saw that I was unhappy, he pulled me into his arms. “Of course not. Anyone can be bullied, but nobody gets to bully my wife!”“Then give me your phone. I want to reply to her.” I held out my hand. Ethan didn’t hand it over. Instead, he took mine. “This little thing isn’t worth troubling my wife over. I’ll handle it.” He typed out a reply and sent it. “Who said she was going home to her parents? She’s coming home with me. My parents are attending the ceremony tomorrow, and I asked Nora to pick them up and bring them here. Is there a problem?” Ethan didn’t hold back. He had only narrowly avoided replying, “None of your business.” He showed me the message, clearly waiting for praise. I nodded to let him know I was satisfied. Then Ethan put the phone into my hand. “You already replied. Why are you giving it to me?” Ethan answered with complete seriousness. “To avoid suspicion.” I thought about it, then simply slipped the phone into my pocket. Maya didn’t send another message for the entire trip to A City. That night, Ethan and I were resting on the hotel bed. He had wrapped himself around me from behind like an octopus. I was idly scrolling through my phone when I stumbled across Maya’s Instagram post. “On a business trip with my senior. Sigh, he really can’t go a single second without me~” Maya had uploaded a nine-photo grid. Three were pictures of the hotel, three were selfies from different angles, and three were intimate photos. The man in the pictures never showed his face, but he wore a watch identical to Ethan’s. Even the tiny mole on the inside of his wrist was in the exact same place. Then I looked at the location tag on Maya’s post. It was the very hotel where we were staying. “Ethan, look at this!” I shot upright and grabbed him, shoving my phone in front of him. “How did Maya know you were staying at this hotel?” Ethan frowned as he took the phone. After thinking carefully, he said, “When I came back, I did notice someone acting suspiciously. Her back… looked a lot like Maya’s.” Ethan and I had returned to the hotel after dinner. Since we were tired from traveling, I hadn’t wanted to go back out, so Ethan had volunteered to run an errand. He had gone out to buy me handmade pudding. He must have run into Maya then. She had followed him all the way into the hotel. “Call the front desk. Ask if anyone came by asking for our room number.” Ethan called the front desk with a serious expression. A moment later, they confirmed that someone had indeed asked which room Ethan was staying in. I mouthed, “Check the cameras.” Ethan immediately understood. “We suspect someone may be stalking and harassing us. Would it be possible to review the hotel’s security footage?”