On our fifth wedding anniversary, I carefully selected a luxury sports car as a gift for Jack. Just after completing the payment, I happened to see an Instagram update from Lily Reed, the scholarship student I was sponsoring: “Celebrating my birthday with my beloved, enjoying the most beautiful scenery.” In the photo, her sunglasses inadvertently captured the reflection of a familiar male figure. I smiled, liked the post, and left a warm wish. Not long after, Jack called in a hurry, his voice filled with displeasure and reproach: “We’re not what you’re imagining. How can you be so narrow-minded? Are you jealous of someone young and beautiful?” “Stop doing things that make people look down on you.” When Jack walked in, I changed my mind. I slowly put the fifth anniversary cake I was about to throw in the trash back on the table. He saw the cake on the table and frowned, “It’s not anyone’s birthday, why are we having cake?” I remained silent and opened the packaging in front of him. The cream was covered with fruit. When he saw me insert the “5th Wedding Anniversary” topper in the middle, his mocking expression instantly froze. In just a moment, he quickly regained his composure, but his guilty eyes didn’t dare meet mine. “I… I was too busy. I forgot about such an important day. I’m sorry…” I dodged his attempt to touch me and cut a piece of cake, putting it on a plate and shoving it into his hands. “Eat up, at least you made it in time.” He was displeased. “Opal, what do you mean? I just forgot, do you have to give me the cold shoulder? We celebrate our wedding anniversary every year, what’s wrong with missing one?” Since I had put effort into preparing the cake early in the morning, I decided to cut a piece for myself as well. Seeing that I wasn’t responding, he snatched the knife from my hand, and due to using too much force, he cut my palm. I cried out in pain, clutching my bleeding wound, tears streaming down uncontrollably. Jack frantically searched for gauze and antiseptic to stop the bleeding. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to…” I walked to the third cabinet on his right, took out the first aid kit myself, and proceeded to treat the wound step by step. I winced in pain. He tried to help me disinfect with a cotton swab, I avoided him. He tried to help me bandage, I avoided him. He tried to check how I was treating it, I avoided him. This time he finally frowned, “Is this about what happened earlier today?” “Is it really necessary? I was just helping take a few photos.” How could it not be necessary? My husband had time to help someone else celebrate their birthday and enjoy beautiful scenery, but forgot our own wedding anniversary. How ridiculous? I finished cleaning up and continued eating the remaining cake. He grabbed my wrist, advising, “It’s dirty, don’t eat it.” Following his gaze, I finally saw the spots of red plum on the cake that I had stained. What a pity, I hadn’t even taken a bite. If it’s dirty, let’s throw it away. Before I could act, Jack beat me to it and put the cake back in the box, “Don’t move, sit and rest, I’ll go throw it away.” Bang. The sound of the door closing behind me came, separating my world from his. I sat at the table for a long time, long enough for Jack to leave and not return. The next day, I indeed saw Lily’s update on Instagram again. “Glad to have you by my side.” It was a side profile of Jack listening intently to a doctor’s instructions in the hospital room. Last night, Lily’s mother had a cancer relapse, and he was urgently called to the hospital. I very generously liked the post. Jack’s call this time came a bit late, probably because he had to run errands for everything at the hospital, and Lily hadn’t had time to “pour out her troubles” to him yet. “Opal, can you stop making a fuss? Lily is young, and it’s only right that I help take care of her a bit in this unfamiliar city? Don’t be so cold-hearted?” Lily was also on the other end, begging me not to misunderstand. Her affected voice irritated me to no end. I pinched the bridge of my nose and said, “Jack, I got hurt yesterday too.” I thought I could use his causing my injury as a reason to evoke his guilt. He should be taking care of me, not some irrelevant person. Unexpectedly, he suddenly flared up: “Is that little injury worth constantly dwelling on? Lily’s mother has cancer, you should be able to distinguish what’s important, now is not the time for you to make unreasonable demands.” I fell silent. He noticed my lack of response and realized his attitude had been a bit too harsh. So he softened his tone: “Does your hand still hurt? Be good, I’ll come home early today and we’ll…”
Huh. I hung up the phone. I went out and got into the car that came to pick me up, heading straight to the hospital. Seeing the wound on my palm, the doctor scolded, “It’s so deep, why didn’t you come earlier? Any later and you might have needed a tetanus shot.” I was at a loss for words, after a while I replied, “I forgot because I was angry.” Walking out of the hospital, I ran into Jack and Lily walking side by side, going out to eat. I felt instantly annoyed. I wanted to avoid them at first. But then I thought, I’m the legal one after all, it would be too cowardly to just walk away like this. I didn’t approach them, but Lily’s sharp eyes noticed me. She clung to Jack’s arm, her challenging gaze meeting mine. They were chatting and laughing, occasionally whispering in each other’s ears, looking exactly like a perfect couple. Just as Jack was about to see me, Lily’s exaggerated performance voice rang out: “Jack, your wife is here. Did she misunderstand something? Is she jealous of someone young and beautiful?” Jack pulled her behind him, clearly taking on the role of her protector, frowning impatiently as he questioned me: “Why are you here? Opal, can you stop picking on a young girl?” I laughed bitterly. “When did I pick on her?” I hadn’t even opened my mouth or moved my hand, how was I picking on her? “You came here just to make things difficult for her, didn’t you? If you have any issues, come at me. Her family situation isn’t good, I’m just helping her out, don’t make a big deal out of nothing.” As Lily’s scholarship sponsor, I knew which hospital her mother was in. I couldn’t be bothered to argue with this delusional couple, and had specifically asked the driver to avoid it this morning. I didn’t expect they had changed hospitals. And made me run into them again. I turned to leave. Ouch, Jack grabbed my injured hand as he tried to stop me. I’m particularly sensitive to pain, and tears immediately welled up in my eyes. Seeing this, he let go, his expression changing to panic. The hand that reached out to grab my bandaged hand was dodged as I hid it behind my back. “Go ahead and take your little girl to eat, don’t let her starve.” Ignoring Jack’s ashen face, I strode past them, leaving them behind. Arriving at the parking area, I indeed saw the sports car I had bought a few days ago waiting for me. I opened the door and sat in the passenger seat. Maddox’s concerned voice came through: “You were fine this morning, why do you look like someone bullied you now?” I shook my head, “It’s nothing, take me to the law firm.” “Alright, considering you gave me that car, I’m at your beck and call.” While waiting at a red light, Jack walked past the front of the car holding Lily’s hand. Maddox’s surprised voice sounded beside my ear: “Wow, that guy who just passed by really looks like your husband.” “If it weren’t for him holding the wrong person’s hand, I would have mistaken him for Jack.” I pressed my lips together and nodded, “You didn’t see wrong.” “What?” Going to work, I saw Lily’s figure at the company. Jack had arranged for her to intern at the company. The company recruits some soon-to-graduate students to work every year, and if she could contribute to the company’s revenue, I certainly wouldn’t object. What I didn’t expect was that a week later, Jack assigned her a big project. If she succeeded in negotiating it, she would get a higher commission. If she didn’t negotiate well, the company would suffer a significant loss. Such actions that harmed the company’s interests were opposed by many people, including me. But Jack didn’t listen. As the project approached a crucial point, he came to me. “Lily doesn’t understand many things, can you guide her?” I stared at Jack indifferently: “Now you remember me?” I heard that Lily’s negotiations hadn’t gone well, and the other party demanded a change of personnel, otherwise they wouldn’t continue cooperation. They didn’t outright say they would stop future cooperation only because of the pleasant cooperation in the past few years. I didn’t expect him to be so muddle-headed, confused in emotions and now confused in work as well. Entrusting such an important matter to the newcomer Lily. I started to not understand him anymore. Did I really make the wrong choice back then? He put his arm around my shoulders and sighed: “Still so angry? Still upset?” “No.” He lowered his head to kiss my cheek, but I pushed him away. “We’re at work, mind the impact.” I noticed his body go from stiff to relaxed. The frost on his face melted instantly: “Mm, I’ll kiss you when we get home.” The next second, he remembered he hadn’t been back to that so-called home for a long time, and his eyes flashed with discomfort. “I’ll definitely come back today.” I agreed to go save the situation. The RG boss and I were old acquaintances. Back then, they were willing to cooperate with a small company because of me. Jack was clear about this point. To salvage the company’s reputation, this trip was necessary. After work, I thought I wouldn’t see Jack’s figure as usual. I had just prepared my own dinner. The doorbell rang. Opening the door, Lily greeted me with a bright smile: “Sister-in-law, I’ll be troubling you again tonight.”
I was confused. Jack spoke up behind her: “You have to go to RG early tomorrow morning, right? Lily lives far away and definitely won’t make it in time tomorrow, so she’ll stay at our place tonight.” I watched him brazenly bring another woman into our home. He showed Lily around the layout of our house. I walked back to the dining table and suddenly lost my appetite for the dinner I had just served. In my ears was the sound of Jack patiently answering Lily’s curious inquiries about the decorations in the house. “Jack, this ceramic doll is so cute. Where did you buy it? I want to buy one too.” She picked it up and waved it at Jack. “This was a gift my wife gave me back then, she painted it herself, isn’t it cute?” “Wow, your wife is so talented, can she paint one for me too?” She looked at me expectantly. Before I could speak, the ceramic doll I had once given to Jack fell to the ground and shattered into pieces. Just like my mood, broken into pieces. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry… It’s all my fault, I wasn’t careful when I put it back.” My face darkened. Lily apologized repeatedly, making a show of crouching down to pick up the pieces. Her hand had just reached out when it was cut. Jack’s eyes suddenly tightened as he glared at me: “What are you doing scaring her, it’s just a broken doll?” That ceramic doll was something I bought when we traveled abroad together after he successfully proposed to me. When I first bought it, it was all white, and I used paint to change its colors. When I gave it to Jack, he said it looked like me, and he would treasure it like he treasured me. I never thought that in just the fifth year of our marriage, it would become a “broken doll”. Jack went to the cabinet to find the first aid kit. Only Lily and I were left in the living room. She changed her weak demeanor, smirking as she said proudly: “Looks like I do have some status in your husband’s heart.” I nodded and said, “Then I wish you success.” The next morning as I was leaving, Jack’s car was parked by the roadside waiting for me. Lily’s head popped out of the passenger window, waving at me: “Hurry up and get in, we’ve been waiting for you.” Maddox’s car had just arrived. I said perfunctorily, “Let’s go separately.” Before Jack could say anything, I walked around his car and got into the sports car behind. Arriving at RG Company, Jack and Lily were waiting for me in the lobby. He looked at Maddox following behind me, and the arm he was about to put around my shoulders tightened. His eyes flashed with anger as he smiled insincerely: “Opal, aren’t you going to introduce us?” I pried his fingers off, saying coolly: “A friend.” Lily smiled and spoke up: “Let’s go upstairs quickly. Don’t keep everyone waiting.” Unexpectedly, Jack’s face turned cold, and he yelled at her: “Isn’t this all because of the trouble you caused?” Lily’s smile froze on her face, and she looked at Jack awkwardly: “I’m sorry, Jack…” Her pitiful appearance made even me feel sorry for her. No wonder she could hold onto Jack. As we went upstairs, Maddox whispered in my ear: “Is this the man you insisted on marrying back then?” “Your taste is much worse than mine.” I followed his gaze to Jack walking in front, not refuting. Walking into RG’s CEO office, Jack and Lily were left outside. Jack was stunned, pointing at me and saying: “I came with my wife.” The secretary apologized: “I’m sorry, you can’t go in.” He then pointed at Maddox: “What about him?” “He’s a friend of our CEO, of course he can go in.” The secretary led Maddox and me into the office. Jack’s burning gaze felt like needles on my back. The RG CEO was Maddox’s good friend, and we had known each other for a long time. The communication went smoothly, and they didn’t make things difficult for me. I agreed to their reasonable requests and finalized the terms for renewing next year’s cooperation. After saying goodbye, Maddox and I left together. Jack caught up and grabbed my wrist tightly, causing me pain. Maddox’s eyes darkened as he also grabbed me, telling Jack: “Let go.” Jack, overcome with anger, swung a punch at Maddox’s face: “I’m grabbing my own wife. What’s it to you?” Lily and I quickly pulled them apart. I shook my head at Maddox, apologizing: “Go wait for me in the car, I’ll come find you after I resolve this.” After he left, Jack said in a low voice: “You’re not allowed to leave with him.” I pulled my hand away, looking at him seriously and said: “Jack, let’s get a divorce.” He frowned, incredulous: “Just because I hit him?” I pressed my lips together, not knowing where to begin. I had previously consulted a law firm about divorce matters. “If that’s what you say, then so be it.” I turned and left without looking back. Behind me, Lily spoke up to persuade: “Jack, she must be saying it out of anger. I’ll go help you talk to her.” He said: “No need.” “When she’s done throwing her tantrum, she’ll naturally come back!”
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