Leo-Chloe-Maya Novel Who’s the Real Cheater

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My wife came home from her business trip and found me in a compromising position with the nanny on our living room couch.

She exploded. She called her family. They dragged me outside, tying me to a tree in our courtyard for a public shaming.

Leo Thompson, why? Chloe wailed in front of everyone. "Was I not enough for you?"

Her intern, Alex, hit me with a branch. Called me scum.

I tasted blood and tears. I looked straight at Chloe. "Does this scene look familiar, Chloe? It's just like the day Lily died."

Chloe froze. "You... you remembered?"



"Leo Thompson!" Chloe's voice was a raw, furious roar, her eyes blazing.

"Our daughter has been gone for a month. One month! And you're already screwing the nanny in our home? Do you have no shame?"

Chloe's eyes were blazing red, her voice a furious roar.

I calmly lit a cigarette. "Feel free to cheat too. I wouldn't mind."

"Stop acting so innocent. You're never home. You're probably already screwing someone else."

The nanny, Maya, pulled on her black stockings with a smirk, twisting the knife.

I chuckled.

Chloe completely lost it. She lunged at Maya, hand flying toward her face for a slap.

But I caught her wrist in a tight grip.

And I let Maya walk away.

"Leo! You're actually protecting some outsider? You scumbag! You bastard!"

Chloe's eyes were wide with shock. She started wildly punching my chest.

"Stop being crazy!"

I impatiently shoved her away.

Just then, Alex, Chloe's intern, arrived with her family.

They saw Chloe collapsed on the floor, and everyone erupted.

Alex charged at me, grabbing my collar. "Leo Thompson!" he snarled.

"Not only are you cheating, you hit your wife? Are you even a man?"

"Do you have any respect for Lily's memory?"

His spit sprayed across my face.

"You don't get to talk about my daughter!"

I snapped. My fist connected with his jaw, sending him stumbling back.

Chloe panicked. "Have you gone rabid? Why did you hit Alex?"

Her family saw I wouldn't back down. Rage burned in their eyes.

"My daughter gave you everything! he didn't care that you came from nothing, with no car and no house, and she still married you."

"How could you betray her?"

"We shouldn't have been soft-hearted! Even if you'd knelt in the rain until you died, we shouldn't have allowed this marriage!"

"Today, I'm going to let everyone see your true colors! And I'll make sure you can never work in the medical field again!"

All her relatives swarmed me.

I was overwhelmed. They dragged me, helpless, to the center of the complex and tied me to a tree.

They ripped my clothes off, leaving me in nothing but my boxers.

"Everyone, come look! Look at this cheating, wife-beating bastard!"

"Someone tell me," a relative wailed, "why is my niece so pathetic? She gave her all to her family, and her husband runs off with the nanny!"

"This animal was fooling around with the nanny right in front of his own daughter's memorial photo! It's an outrage!"

Chloe's family cried and screamed, drawing the entire neighborhood to crowd around.

When people heard what happened, they stared at me with pure fury, cursing me as subhuman, saying I deserved to die.

"You were hospitalized after your accident, and Chloe cared for you day and night! After just a few days, this is how you repay her? Where is your conscience?"

"You pathetic, weak pig! I'll kill you!"

Chloes parents slapped me wildly.

Encouraged by this, some in the crowd spat on me. Others grabbed dirt and rocks and started throwing them.




I was utterly humiliated.

Chloe's eyes were hazy with tears as she questioned me. "Leo Thompson, tell me! Why did you cheat?"

I let out a bitter, self-mocking laugh. "You know why."

"Was I not enough for you? But that closet full of lingerie, I bought all of it for you! What more do you want?"

Chloe cried even harder, almost screaming in despair.

That was all the provocation the crowd needed. Their fury ignited.

"Chloe, this bastard is hopeless. Today, I'll make sure you get your revenge."

Alex first wiped away Chloe's tears, then picked up a branch from the ground and savagely lashed me.

"You rotten scumbag!"

Again and again he struck, until my body was a mess of bloody welts.

And the crowd cheered.

"Hit him harder!" Chloe's family yelled. "Don't let him off easy!"

Only Chloe stopped Alex. "Leo, we've been together for ten years, it wasn't easy.

"If you admit your mistake and promise in front of everyone that you'll change, I'll give you one last chance."

The crowd praised her for her kindness, lamenting that such a wonderful woman was wasted on a man like me.

"Admit my mistake?"

I ground my teeth until I thought they would crack. "Chloe, doesn't this scene look just like the day our daughter, Lily, died?"

Chloe's pupils immediately constricted. "You... you remembered everything?"

It was over a hundred degrees," I pressed on, seeing her freeze. "Lily was surrounded, being screamed at by a crowd."

"Your favored and beloved intern, Alex, didn't help. He locked her in a dog cage to 'teach her a lesson'."

"Do you have any idea how desperately she cried?"

Chloe's fists clenched tightly, and she murmured, "Alex didn't mean to."

Hearing her words, a few blood-tinged tears slid from my eyes.

"Chloe! Lily was your own daughter! How could you be so heartless?"

"That day, Lily couldn't even get a sip of water. The sun peeled her skin, and her lips cracked and bled."

"When you saw her dead, didn't your heart ache?"

My accusations rang out.

Chloe trembled all over, and Alex beside her looked nervous.

The residents of the complex all stared at them, their gazes becoming strange.

"Her own daughter was killed by her intern, and the mother still keeps him around? Is she sick?"

"They probably have something going on."

"No wonder the husband cheated for revenge, his heart must have turned to ice."

Besides that.

Mrs. Thompson also glared at Chloe, demanding, "Didn't you say Lily's death was an accident?"

"Alex, what exactly happened?"

Mr. Thompson glowered at Alex, waiting for an explanation.

"It's all my fault..."

Alex slapped himself, feigning remorse and sobbing, "That day, I took Lily out to play. I just went to buy water for a second, and when I turned around, Lily was gone."

"Later I found out she ran into a bakery to steal bread, was caught by the store owner, thrown into a cage, and put on the roof as punishment."

"During that time, Chloe was busy with surgery. I sent messages and called Leo, but no one answered."

"I'm sorry, I didn't watch Lily properly, I deserve to die!"

After saying that, he wildly slapped himself again.

"Okay, stop hitting yourself."

Chloe was heartbroken and quickly stepped forward to stop him.

"I didn't get any calls or messages from you that day, you killed my daughter..."

Before I could finish.

Chloe turned and slapped me, raging, "How many times have I told you? It has nothing to do with Alex! It was the bakery owner who committed the evil act, and he's currently wanted by the police."




"Besides, if you hadn't abused Lily, not given her food, would she have stolen bread?"

I suddenly froze.

"As a mother, don't you know your own daughter? Would she really steal like that?"

"Don't you know how much Lily adored me?"

Chloe was always busy with work, performing multiple surgeries every day, so I decisively quit my job at the hospital to care for Lily.

If Lily wasn't eating enough or dressed warmly, she would have been malnourished long ago.

Moreover, Lily was a sweet and well-behaved child, she would rather starve than steal bread!

Chloe remained silent.

Alex, however, indignantly said, "Leo Thompson, stop making excuses!"

"I investigated at the daycare. The teacher said Lily fainted a few times, but always recovered after eating something or having a drink."

"I have surveillance footage as proof!"

With that, he pulled out his phone and played a video.

The teacher was playing games with the children.

Lily suddenly fainted.

"I have dozens of videos like this! Leo Thompson, what more do you have to say?"

Alex said coldly.

"You bastard, you actually didn't give Lily food? What kind of father are you?"

"My poor granddaughter must have been starving to steal bread. It's all your fault, you irresponsible father."

Mr. and Mrs. Thompson cried out, rushing forward to hit and curse me.

The other relatives followed suit.

The surrounding residents cheered again, wishing they could all rush up and strangle me on the spot.

Chloe looked at me, saying disappointedly, "Alex kept this quiet out of respect for me."

"But what about you? You repay kindness with cruelty, actually slandering Alex!"

"Killing Lily wasn't enough, you want to kill Alex too? When did you become so malicious?"

Hearing her righteous accusation.

I smiled bitterly, tears in my eyes. "Chloe, some things aren't facts just because you see them with your own eyes."

"What if I told you Lily had low blood sugar? Would you believe me?"

Chloe momentarily froze.

Alex sneered, "Leo Thompson, are you trying to use this to say you didn't cheat? That what Chloe saw was all fake?"

"Exploiting your deceased daughter, you're truly disgusting!"

At his words, Chloe raged, "Leo Thompson, I'm not just Lily's mother, I'm also a doctor!"

"Do you think I wouldn't know if she had low blood sugar?"

"Don't try to twist the facts to justify your cheating!"

Mr. and Mrs. Thompson and the others cursed me as an animal.

In the endless barrage of insults, I stared intently at Chloe and shouted, "I never cheated! You and Alex framed me!"

"Bullshit!"

Alex immediately retorted, "You were caught red-handed and you're still denying it! You have no shame!"

"Still spouting nonsense, I'll smash your mouth!"

Mr. Thompson pulled off his shoe and viciously threw it at my mouth.

My mouth bled profusely.

Yet my attitude remained unchanged. I said coldly, "I can prove my innocence in a moment, but some people won't be so lucky."

I stared fiercely at Alex and Chloe, my eyes filled with hatred.

"Enough!"

"Do you really think people will believe you with empty words? Are you treating us like I was born yesterday?"

Chloe put a hand on her hip, indignant. "I'm telling you now!"

"The moment you admit your mistake today, is the moment we let you go. Otherwise, you'll stay here under the blazing sun!"

I didn't utter a word.

The surrounding residents all said I was stubborn to the core, utterly despicable.

I was still under the scorching sun, like a skewer roasting, burning from the inside out.




Sweat soaked my clothes.

But evaporated just as quickly.

Dehydration left my mouth parched, my lips cracked, and my head spinning.

I thought of my daughter.

She was in this very weather, alone on that rooftop, calling out to no one, crying for help that never came.

Her tiny life, slowly slipping away, eventually dying of dehydration.

She must have been so desperate, so in pain.

She surely wished her mommy and daddy would suddenly appear like superheroes, handing her a bottle of water and a popsicle.

"I bought watermelon and popsicles, and various cold drinks, everyone can have them for free!"

Alex's shout broke my thoughts.

He had someone bring a cart of watermelons and three portable ice chests, offering relief to everyone around.

"Alex, you're so thoughtful."

Chloe took the cold drink Alex offered, a happy smile playing on her lips.

"It's nothing, just what I should do."

Alex smiled, then distributed cold drinks and popsicles to Chloe's family.

"This young man is so capable."

"He's eighteen times better than some scumbag!"

Mr. and Mrs. Thompson praised him profusely.

The surrounding residents also gave thumbs up.

Only I felt sick to my stomach.

Alex took a popsicle, walked up to me, and sneered in a low voice, "Hot and thirsty, aren't you?"

"Just call me 'Dad,' and I'll give you some. Otherwise, you'll just end up like your daughter, baked to a crisp."

"I even recorded how pathetic she looked back then. I rewatch it every night..."

My eyes were bloodshot. I spat a bloody phlegm at Alex, cursing, "You monster!"

Chloe rushed over, glanced at the bloody phlegm on Alex's face, and immediately lashed out at me.

"Leo Thompson!"

"Alex was kindly offering you a popsicle, and you repay his kindness with cruelty, you ungrateful jerk!"

"I must have been blind to ever fall for someone like you!"

Still not satisfied, she raised her hand to slap me.

"Keep your filthy hands to yourself!"

Just then, a playful female voice cut through the air.

Everyone looked over.

It was Maya, the nanny, who had returned, followed by a team of police officers. They immediately untied me.

Chloe was furious, glaring at Maya. "You homewrecker, you actually dared to come back!"

"I've seen shameless people, but never someone this shameless. Being a homewrecker and then having the nerve to call the police!"

Alex also cursed her with disgust.

Mr. and Mrs. Thompson's fists clenched, grinding audibly, as if they wanted to tear Maya apart.

"Anyone can talk big."

"What evidence do you have to call me a homewrecker?" Maya asked.

"I... I saw it with my own eyes!" Chloe gritted her teeth.

"So, you have no evidence, huh?"

Maya's lips curved into a smile. She turned to the police officers and said, "Chloe Thompson and Alex slandered me as a homewrecker and deliberately assaulted Leo Thompson."

"Please arrest them!"

At her words, I, who had played along, also smiled.

The show was just beginning!

Alex immediately panicked. "You homewrecker, you're actually playing the victim! You're utterly despicable!"

"Can't afford to live anymore? A homewrecker being so arrogant!"

Chloe frowned, looking at me. "Leo Thompson, if you're still a man, admit it!"

I took a sip of the cold drink Maya handed me. "I'm innocent, why should I admit to anything?"

"If you think I cheated, then show me the evidence."

Hearing me, Chloe threw the popsicle in her hand, indignantly saying, "I saw you two intimately close on the sofa with my own eyes!"