My Husband's Affair My Anniversary Gift (Lily and David) novel Chapter 394

Fireworks kept blooming in the sky, bright and careless, as if the world had nothing to regret. People were welcoming a new year with laughter, promises, and loud joy.

Jabco stood there, trapped in the past.

He was not waiting anymore.

He was hunting.

Waiting was too soft a word for what lived inside him now.

She might never come back on her own, but he would make sure he found her. He would not stop. He could not stop. At the very least, he needed one thing from her.

The truth.

What was his fault?

That question burned inside him every single day.

She was not someone who ran away easily. He knew her better than anyone else. She didn’t leave when he forced her into marriage. She didn’t leave when he threatened her, when he hurt her with his words, when he pushed her down until she had nothing left but pride. She stayed even when he became someone she should have hated.

She stayed through the worst of him.

And when things were finally getting better, when they were slowly finding their way back to each other, she disappeared.

Without a word.

Without even a final look.

He clenched his jaw, his hands tightening around the balcony railing.

He had hidden things from her, yes. He had hidden her father’s situation. But that alone could not be enough to make her vanish like this. Not her. Not Riyana.

He searched his memories again and again, tearing them apart, looking for a moment he missed. A sentence he should not have said. A silence that lasted too long.

Nothing made sense.

If he could not find her, he didn’t know how long he could last like this.

That truth scared him more than anything else.

She was nine months pregnant now.

The thought hit him like a blade to the chest.

She must be struggling. Alone. Carrying his child without him.

Facing fear, pain, and exhaustion with no one beside her. Every time that thought crossed his mind, his chest tightened until it hurt to breathe.

He had waited for her to tell him about the pregnancy herself. He wanted to hear it from her lips, to see her face when she said it. He wanted that moment to belong to them.

Instead, she left.

He had promised himself many times that he would accept whatever punishment she decided to give him. Even if he didn’t understand his crime, even if it destroyed him, he would take it.

But she had to come back.

At least once.

Tears finally slipped from his eyes and fell onto the cold floor of the balcony. He didn’t try to stop them anymore. There was no pride left to protect.

He had not cried when his mother died, when the world left him alone at a young age and taught him to survive without warmth.

But in these six months, he couldn’t remember a single moment when he hadn’t cried.

He was at his lowest point.

Broken in a way no loss of money, power, or status had ever broken him.

“Boss.”

Cristo’s voice came from behind him.

Jabco blinked slowly, as if waking from a nightmare that refused to end. He flicked the cigarette butt away and wiped his face with the back of his hand, forcing himself to stand straight.

“We found the location,” Cristo said.

His voice trembled, unable to hide the excitement. “She’s really there.”

For a second, Jabco didn’t move.

Cristo expected something. Shock, Relief. Hope, Anything.

But when Jabco turned around, his face was empty, Too empty.

Cristo froze.

The excitement drained out of him instantly.

“I’ve sent you the location,” he added quietly.

Jabco nodded once and walked past him, his steps steady but heavy. After a few steps, he stopped.

“It’s New Year,” Jabco said without turning back. “You should enjoy it too.”

Cristo looked up, confused.

“Don’t follow me,” Jabco continued. “I’m giving you a week off.”

Cristo stared at him, stunned and uneasy. Jabco never gave time off without reason. Never.

Her shape was soft and round, her movements slower, careful. Even from this distance, even as nothing more than a dark outline against light, he could see it.

She was pregnant.

Jabco’s breath caught in his throat.

His heart slammed so hard it felt like it might break his ribs. His eyes burned, blinking rapidly as if afraid the image would disappear if he didn’t hold onto it tightly enough.

That’s her.

He didn’t need logic. He didn’t need proof. His body recognized her before his mind could catch up.

Riyana.

His hands trembled as he slowly pushed the car door open. The sound felt too loud in the quiet night, and he froze for a second, listening. Nothing changed inside the house.

He stepped out, shutting the door carefully, softly, as if even the smallest noise might scare her away.

His eyes never left the window.

The shadow moved again.

She walked across the room, one hand lifting slightly, maybe resting on her back or her belly, the way pregnant women do without even thinking. The sight alone made his chest tighten painfully.

Six months.

Six months of emptiness, of guilt, of fear.

And she was right there.

Then something else happened.

Another shadow appeared.

A second figure entered the light from the side.

A man.

Jabco’s heart stopped.

His breath came out in a sharp, broken gasp. He stood frozen, staring at the window, his mind refusing to understand what his eyes were showing him.

The man stepped closer to her.

His hands reached out.

The shadow of his arms wrapped around her from behind.