Ch. Mr.chatterbox for her, Mr.Icebox for me? Ice melts and so did my love. 36 Mr.chatterbox for her, Mr.Icebox for me? Ice melts and so did my love. 36

Chapter 5 

The screen lit up. 

A slideshow. Thirty-something pages. 

A few people in the audience laughed softly, probably expecting some sweet anniversary video. 

But as the first slide appeared, the clapping died down. 

Because the first slide was a screenshot of our home Wi-Fi connection log. 

Three months of login data, organized into a clean table. 

Riley’s phone model and MAC address highlighted in red. 

May 12th, Wednesday, 11:47 AM to 8:35 PM. 

May 25th, Monday, 10:03 AM to 6:11 PM. 

June 3rd, Saturday, 1:15 PM to 11:42 AM the next day. 

Next to each date was my work schedule-business trips, overtime clock-ins. 

That time in June when Riley was at my place? 

I was in a work conference in Boston. Meetings ran past midnight. 

My hotel receipt, my video call logs-all of it right there on the screen. 

Murmurs started spreading through the crowd. 

The slideshow continued. 

That selfie of Riley’s-blown up to fill the entire screen. 

Her head tilted, phone covering half her face, grinning. 

Behind her, that stuffed figure in the suit-circled in red. 

Next to it, a comparison shot of the same doll sitting in my game room. 

Chapter 5 

Same position. Same angle. Same background. 

Then the photo’s metadata popped up. 

June 10th. 

Cut to my work calendar. 

That day I was at a client site two hours away. Didn’t get home till after eleven. 

I didn’t invite her over. 

So who did? 

“What the hell is this…” 

Someone in the front row whispered. 

“Are you serious? This is literally proof of an AFFAIR.” 

“I knew something was off! Who gives their wife’s best friend a job offer on their anniversary?” 

“They were obviously already involved. He’s just using his wife as a cover.” 

Cade stepped forward, trying to grab my hand. 

I pulled away. 

Before he could say anything, I played an audio file. 

This time from the dashcam. 

The video had a timestamp, matched perfectly with the parking log. 

First, car doors closing. 

Then the sound of shoes being kicked off. 

A sigh. 

Riley’s voice filled the theater. 

“When are you actually gonna tell her?” 

Her tone was flat. Like she’d asked this a hundred times. 

Her Mr Isshery for Me? Ice Melts, and So Did My Love! 

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Chapter 5 

Cade’s voice came after a pause. 

“… Not yet.” 

“Not yet? You waiting for her to find out on her own? Or waiting till you finally grow a spine?” 

Rustling sounds. Like something being tossed onto a seat. 

Then Riley’s voice shifted. 

“You’re scared, aren’t you?” 

“You’re the one who said you don’t feel anything for her anymore. So what are you waiting for? You want me to tell her myself?” 

I paused the recording. 

The theater went dead silent for a few seconds. 

Then the room exploded. 

Whispers from every direction. 

A reporter from one of the outlets we’d invited stood up. 

“Ma’am, when did you discover the affair? And how?” 

Cade’s face had gone completely white. 

He looked at me like he still didn’t understand what was happening. 

I raised the mic. 

“Since everyone’s interested, let me tell you-Riley and I met in elementary school. We’ve been best friends for eighteen years….” 

“MAYA! No, it’s not like that! You’ve got it wrong!” 

Riley’s voice cracked. 

But I didn’t stop. 

“Cade and I started dating in college. Got married two years after graduation. As for when they started? I’m still in the dark on that. If you’re curious, feel free to ask the other two people involved.” 

“As for when I found out-yesterday. On the drive back from our trip. That’s when I realized my best friend was dating 

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Mr. Chatterbox for Her. Mr. Iceberg for Me? Ice Melts, and So Did My Love! 

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Chapter 5 

my husband.” 

“Riley, you said I got it wrong-” 

Her shoulders jerked. She looked up at me, lips trembling. 

“-So tell me. What’s the truth?” 

“You gonna say the Wi-Fi logs are fake? That I photoshopped the date on your selfie? That I deepfaked the dashcam 

audio?” 

“Or maybe you’ll say I used AI to generate your voice?” 

Cade walked toward me. 

“Maya. Let’s go home and talk-” 

His voice was low. Almost begging. 

“Talk about what?” I cut him off. “Talk about how it didn’t mean anything? How you only love me? How you were just 

messing around with her?” 

He froze. 

“Cade,” I said slowly, “can you stand here in front of everyone and say you never loved her?” 

He didn’t answer. 

Silence was answer enough. 

Riley’s tears finally started falling. 

Her makeup smeared. Eyeliner running. 

She grabbed my arm, nails digging into my skin. 

“Maya, I’m so sorry. I fucked up. Please, just forgive me this once… We’ve been friends for eighteen years…. 

I looked down at her hand. 

That hand tied my shoes for me in first grade. 

Wiped my tears in middle school. 

Stayed up with me through a breakup in college.