The day my sister ran away from her engagement party, I knew Marcus Lee would never truly love me. So she left for another country without a care, leaving me behind to hold her place as Mrs. Lee. I didn’t cry or make a scene. While still young and vulnerable, I gave everyone a graceful way out. Then I put all my effort into making Marcus Lee fall in love with me bit by bit. And I made sure to step away right after my sister came back. On my birthday, Marcus drove me to a campsite in the mountains. Tonight there would be a rare red moon, visible only once every fourteen years, along with a meteor shower said to grant wishes. A few ladybugs landed on my face, startling me into grabbing his hand tightly. He instinctively flinched but then, feeling how cold my hands were, pulled me into his embrace. In our five years of marriage, Marcus gave me anything I asked for. Houses, cars, luxury goods. Others said they’d never seen a man who loved his wife so much. They said it with such certainty that I even began to hope a little. So at my celebration dinner, emboldened by alcohol, I leaned on Marcus’s shoulder. “This year, I want to spend my birthday with you,” I said. “I don’t want any parties. I just want you with me.” He hesitated unusually long, only agreeing after the atmosphere had grown awkward. I no longer cared whether his tone was reluctant or helpless when he agreed. I was just overjoyed, waiting eagerly for nightfall. But just as the sun set, his phone rang. The signal wasn’t great in the mountains. Through the static came a few sudden sobs. “Marcus, I’m so scared.” “Why is no one here?” Crystal’s voice came through loudly, and Marcus’s face instantly darkened. The signal suddenly cut out, the static disappearing, leaving only the sound of birds flapping their wings. My hands grew cold again. I moved closer and grabbed his sleeve, but he shook off my hand, holding his phone up high searching for a signal. I stood frozen in place while he just frowned, constantly redialing, not even bothering to look up and explain. I sighed, grabbed my coat and got in the car. In the distance, I could faintly see the stars, but Marcus didn’t care. He just stepped on the gas. At the foot of the mountain, I stubbornly got out of the car and checked into the B&B I had booked in advance. Late at night, I huddled on the balcony wrapped in clothes. As soon as my phone regained signal, my mother’s calls started coming in non-stop. She had never called me before, not even that night when I nearly died from pain in the hospital after an unexpected miscarriage. I silently watched her incoming call notification. The ringtone stopped abruptly after a minute, then a new call came in. I pressed answer, and as expected, a mix of scolding and crying came through. “Couldn’t you have said something about canceling the party? Do you know she waited in the wind for two hours?” “If Marcus hadn’t come in time, her health really couldn’t have taken it. You know how fragile your sister is!” I looked at the winding river of stars in the sky and spoke sarcastically. “If she can’t take it, don’t you as her mother help her by taking my blood and bone marrow? How could she not handle it?” The woman on the other end was taken aback by my words, then seemed to be provoked into shouting. “Did we ever short-change you on food or drink? The Taylor family may owe you, but we still raised you.” “Do you have to be so intolerant of your sister? Do you want her to get sick?” “Your sister even gave up Marcus for you. What more compensation do you want from her before you’re satisfied?” Her voice was so self-righteous, framing all of Crystal’s willful actions as being forced. After all these years, I thought I was past being hurt by her favoritism. But the love and care for Crystal in her words made me so jealous I nearly cried. A shooting star seemed to streak by outside. I quickly closed my eyes, holding back my tears. I turned my phone face down and made a sincere wish. In this new year of my life, I want lots and lots of love. When I opened my eyes, Marcus’s message was at the top. “Happy birthday, Fiona.” I deleted the text and turned off my phone. In this new year of my life, I decided to take back my love and give it only to myself. When I asked my lawyer friend to help draft divorce papers, her eyes went wide in disbelief, just like when she learned I was marrying Marcus. Back then she had said: “That playboy? Are you sure about this?” Now she was saying: “He treats you so well. Are you sure about this?” I thought carefully again and said seriously under her complex gaze: “Divorce papers, you know. Better safe than sorry!” Five years ago, Marcus not only turned down a socially suitable marriage prospect but also declared he would give up everything to marry me, shocking everyone. Because the proposal target was me. Not my sister Crystal, who shone brightly and won international cello competitions. It was me, the least favored daughter of the Taylor family, disliked by my parents and unable to please men. At first, everyone thought I was just a tool Marcus was using to vent his anger. After all, he had pulled strings for Crystal, introducing her to the best professors, only for her to decide to go abroad without a word, leaving him no room for discussion. But in less than a month, Marcus posted our marriage certificate online and arranged for me to work at his family’s company. Overnight, it seemed, those who had looked down on me became incredibly friendly. Even my mother, who never spared me a glance, softened her expression and personally did my hair, sending me off to be married. At that time, I thought maybe I, who had been ignored by fate for twenty years, was finally blessed for once. Even if the beginning wasn’t pure, I was willing to be brave this once, just for myself. So I worked overtime day and night, struggling to stand shoulder to shoulder with him. At home, I took care of everything personally, leaving his family no room to find fault. When Marcus first saw his mother – who was usually extremely picky with others, who had cursed Crystal until she slammed the door and left – now affectionately holding my hand and refusing to let go, he just stared at me blankly, his eyes full of confusion and deep shock. It seemed that from that day on, he began to realize I wasn’t as weak and useless as rumors claimed. He started learning to accept me, even learning to… fall in love with me. He completely changed from his playboy ways, accompanying me in gardening and cooking. As long as he wasn’t on a business trip, he would definitely be home before midnight. I would heat up hangover soup for him as soon as I saw the car lights come on outside the villa. And when he came in, he would grab my hand, kiss the ring on my finger, and whisper in my ear: “I’m so tired today. I missed you.” So intimate that I almost fell for it unguardedly. He started being too good to me, so good that I even thought he had truly fallen in love with me, so good that I almost let my guard down, so good that I nearly gave him my all without reservation. Until a month ago, when I received an anonymous text message. [Thank you for your hard work these five years, but I’m coming back next month, and some things should be returned to their rightful owner.] [Right, little sister?] Her tone was confident and certain. I felt dizzy. Why? When she wanted to go abroad, she could abandon everything and let others clean up her mess. And now that my life has finally gotten on track, she can just casually turn it upside down. [I’m very satisfied with my life and have no plans for divorce at the moment.] [Neither does Marcus.] It took all my courage to send that. She seemed to disdain replying and went silent. The next second, I received a bank notification of a $200,000 deposit from my husband Marcus. Memo: Sorry. In an instant, it was like a bucket of cold water poured over me from head to toe, waking me up. Of course. Without his consent, how could she be stupid enough to send such a provocative message to my phone? She and Marcus both valued face above all else, so arrogant that even interfering in someone else’s marriage seemed justified to them. I turned off my phone and poured out the hangover soup in the kitchen. He wouldn’t be coming home tonight. Five years. It was time to wake up from this dream. Thank goodness, I think I almost really fell in love with you. It took less than a week for news to spread through my social circle that I had consulted a lawyer about divorce, along with rumors that Crystal was rushing to rekindle her old flame with Marcus as soon as she returned. Some said I was useless, that as a country bumpkin I couldn’t keep my husband’s heart. Others mocked Crystal, saying she’d wasted so many years abroad only to come back and fight her own sister for a man. Crystal kept her cool, but someone else couldn’t stay calm and rushed to speak up for her. Tyler’s call came just as I was about to chair a meeting to finalize the spokesperson for the company’s New Year product line. The angry young man’s voice came through the speaker: “You’re so useless you can’t keep your own husband, so you’re throwing mud at Crystal?” “I didn’t realize you were hiding such depths. Who knew you’d jump at the chance to be so despicable.” My secretary beside me was so embarrassed she wanted to cover her ears, but I calmly circled the key points for today’s meeting with my pen while saying into the phone: “If you really have what it takes, either be man enough to tell Marcus to stop harassing Crystal, or persuade Crystal to be patient and wait for my divorce before latching on. Don’t let people think the Taylor family produced a homewrecker.” “But you’re just a spoiled brat your parents ruined. You took over the company but still need Marcus’s company to feed you.” “You don’t dare offend him, so you come throw your weight around with me.” I took a sip of water and grinned with satisfaction. “What a useless thing.” I hung up, cutting off Tyler’s impotent rage. Tyler and I hadn’t been in contact for years. Even when we met at parties, he would only grudgingly call me “sis” for Marcus’s sake. Tyler grew up with Crystal, while I was sent to live with our grandparents in the countryside. Naturally, he wasn’t close to me. In his eyes, I was still the timid Fiona who didn’t even dare speak loudly, never imagining I would be so dismissive of him. He didn’t know that I was now fully in charge of the fashion line at Marcus’s company. So in the meeting, with one hint from me, support for Tyler’s company for the next quarter was cut off. In the spacious office, I finally experienced how great it felt to have a say. That evening, Marcus came home unusually early, even earlier than me. He seemed to have dug out the divorce agreement I had hidden in the drawer. The thin sheet of paper was torn into pieces and thrown in the trash. He stubbed out his cigarette and slowly spoke. “I heard you cut off the deal with the Taylor company just because I went to save Crystal?” “She fainted from the cold for your birthday party. I couldn’t just let her die, could I?” “You really don’t have to be so intolerant. It’s petty.”
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