My Husband Built Her the Same Garden Chapter 01
The day before our wedding, Dominic Kensington and I made a wager.
We wanted to see whether the woman he’d been having an affair with truly loved him, or if she was only interested in his money.
“I’ll definitely win,” he had said with complete confidence.
But on the very first day of him pretending to be broke, she dumped him and ran off to marry some rich heir.
Dominic was devastated.
From that moment on, I became the only person in his heart.
He even designed a one-of-a-kind estate, Rosewood Manor, and gave it to me as my wedding gift.
Until one day, five years later.
Someone posted photos of my Rosewood Manor online, and one particular comment caught my eye.
[What’s the big deal? I have one too. What’s there to brag about?]
The commenters immediately mocked her.
[Seriously? That estate’s design is patented. Who do you think you’re kidding?]
Refusing to back down, she posted photos of her mansion online.
I clicked on them without thinking.
The moment the images loaded, I felt my heart skip a beat.
Her estate was identical to mine.
The only difference was that mine was filled with roses, while hers was planted entirely with jasmine flowers.
Jasmine…
My gaze slowly shifted to Dominic, who was sleeping soundly beside me.
The blood drained from my face.
Dominic’s firs love… her name was Jasmine Whitmore.
A sudden clap of thunder exploded outside the window.
My mind went completely blank.
All I could do was stare numbly at the comment section as the new replies kept flooding in.
[You actually have one?! OMG, it’s covered in jasmine. Girl, you’re literally living the dream!]
The woman’s tone grew even more smug.
[Oh, it’s no big deal. My husband gave it to me.]
[I only mentioned liking it once, and he’d do just about anything to get it for me.]
The comments instantly filled with envy.
Then an inconvenient question appeared.
[I looked it up. The design patent belongs to Dominic Kensington, the CEO of Kensington Industries. He created it exclusively for his wife.]
[So if you have one too, either you’re the other woman, or someone’s breaking patent law.]
The entire comment section fell silent.
When I refreshed the page, those comments had already been deleted.
Beside me, Dominic’s breathing stayed slow and steady. One arm was wrapped tightly around my waist.
It was a habit he’d developed over our five years of marriage.
Back when our families arranged our marriage, I already knew about Jasmine.
At the time, I didn’t love him, so I gave him a choice.
I let a bet decide whether we would marry. He lost.
After we got married, however, I fell deeply in love with him.
And I truly believed he had left his past behind and belonged only to me.
But now, for the first time, I wasn’t sure.
Pushing my emotions aside, I went to the garage and found Dominic’s usual Maybach.
I pulled up the vehicle’s navigation history.
My palms were drenched with sweat while I waited.
There weren’t many destinations. Rosewood Manor. Kensington Industries. Ashford Group.
Other than those, there were only business partners and work-related locations.
Nothing unusual. And certainly no record of any place called Jasmine Hill Estate.
Navigation records couldn’t be deleted.
Leaning back against the seat, I slowly let out a breath as my racing heartbeat began to settle.
Maybe I was overthinking everything.
I remembered what I had told Dominic before our wedding five years ago.
“If there’s someone else you love, we can get divorced peacefully.”
That day, he lowered his eyes and replied with only one sentence.
“There won’t be.”
After a brief pause, he added, “I’ll fall in love with you. And you will be my one and only wife.”
Over the years, he had kept that promise.
Everyone talked about how the CEO of Kensington Industries was a total wife guy.
When it rained, he’d carry me in his arms so my feet wouldn’t even get wet.
When my period cramps got really bad, he’d stay up all night changing my hot water bottles.
Whenever I got sick, he’d be so worried that his eyes would well up with tears.
He’d even stepped in to chase off the illegitimate daughter who was trying to steal my inheritance.
From my personal life to my career, he took care of me in every way possible.
Thinking about all of that, I let out a long sigh.
Maybe I really was being paranoid. I should trust him.
I stepped out of the car and started toward the garage exit.
Then my eyes landed on an old, inconspicuous Santana parked in the far corner.
My footsteps stopped instantly.
It was the car Dominic had driven back when he was pretending to be broke to test Jasmine.
Almost as if possessed, I walked over, opened the door, and pulled up the navigation history.
The moment the screen appeared, my mind went blank.
There was only one destination. Jasmine Hill Estate, located in the south of this city.
My trembling hand continued scrolling.
The records seemed endless. The earliest entries dated back four years.
And the most recent one had been from last night.
Something inside me snapped.
Before I knew it, tears were streaming down and splashing onto my hands.
One drop after another, and they just wouldn’t stop.
I didn’t know how much time had passed.
By the time my eyes were swollen from crying, I finally went back to the bedroom.
The noise woke Dominic.
He was still half asleep. He reached for me and pulled me into his arms.
His voice was low and warm when he asked, “Where did you go?”
His embrace was warm. It was scorching. Yet my whole body felt ice-cold.
My voice came out hoarse. “I was thirsty.”
He just murmured something and drifted back to sleep, his arm tightening around me possessively.
And that was how I stayed, wide awake, until dawn.
The next morning, after Dominic left for work, I drove downtown.
I went to the dessert shop that showed up most often in Santana’s records. It was Whitmore’s Patisserie.
I pushed open the door, and a cheerful voice greeted me.
“Hi, welcome to Whitmore’s Patisserie. What can I get for-” The words stopped abruptly.
Our eyes met, and every trace of expression on her bright, youthful face just froze.