On Valentine’s Day, Mia Parker and I were caught in a dangerous hostage situation. The captor made Lucas choose between us. Without hesitation, he chose to save me. But Mia lost her life as a result. Since then, Lucas has grown increasingly cold towards me. When I ate cake on my birthday, he said: “You can still celebrate your birthday, but Mia will never come back.” When I put on lipstick, he remarked: “You still have the heart to prettify yourself, while Mia’s clothes were torn in her final moments.” Overwhelmed with guilt, I spent a fortune on weekly counseling sessions for Mia’s sake. But later, I discovered: The so-called hostage situation was entirely orchestrated by Lucas. The money I spent became the down payment for their new home together. My hands trembled uncontrollably as I stared at the endless stream of messages. Lucas’s contact name for Mia stabbed at my heart. “Wifey” Those two words felt like a stinging slap, leaving me dizzy and disoriented. It made me feel like a fool for the past two months. Realizing Lucas was about to finish his shower, I quickly wiped away my tears and put his phone back. To hide any signs of crying, I even touched up my makeup with some foundation. But it turned out to be unnecessary. Lucas didn’t notice my tear-stained face. Instead, he mocked: “You still have the heart to put on makeup? What’s the point of looking pretty when Mia can never come back?” I froze, feeling as if my entire body was being crushed by pain. Seeing my lack of response, Lucas impatiently urged: “Let’s go, don’t keep Mia waiting.” My heart ached again, and the tears I had just managed to stop threatened to fall once more. This year’s Valentine’s Day was the most unforgettable day of my life. That day, Mia and I were caught in a hostage situation together. But the captor said: “The ransom can only save one person.” My wrists were bound by rough rope, and my eyes were red from crying countless tears. Mia was terrified too, shaking uncontrollably. Lucas, without hesitation, called out my name. As Lucas’s wife, I should have been happy about his unwavering decision. But later, the captor chose to end it all with Mia, both plunging into the sea. From then on, Mia’s name became my nightmare. Lucas, guilt-ridden for failing to save Mia, grew increasingly distant towards me. He refused to sleep in the same room with me. “Seeing you reminds me of Mia. I’m sorry, but I just can’t handle it.” I couldn’t even show a hint of relaxation in his presence. On my birthday, when I just wanted to eat some cake, Lucas publicly knocked over the cake and accused me: “How can you think about eating cake? Mia died because of you. How can you be so heartless?” But Mia’s death wasn’t my fault at all. I was a victim too.
The cold wind stung my face as I secretly wiped away a tear. Lucas, being tall, took large strides and soon left me behind. “Can’t you walk faster? Don’t you want to spend this money?” Hearing his impatient tone, I swallowed the questions I wanted to ask several times. Two months ago, on the seventh day after Mia’s death, Lucas met a spiritual advisor somewhere. The advisor said: “Mia’s life shouldn’t have ended. Now, due to unfortunate circumstances, her soul is trapped. If no one prays for her, she might have trouble reincarnating.” Hearing this, my heart sank. I secretly glanced at Lucas’s reaction. As expected, he was moved. Lucas, who once told me in college that he was an atheist, believed the advisor’s words. He unhesitatingly took out all his savings to pray for Mia. But because he was unemployed, he didn’t have much money. The advisor had said: “For a soul that died unjustly like Mia’s, you need to ensure weekly prayers for at least half a year.” One thousand dollars each time, I didn’t know how much money this half year would cost. “Mia’s death is partly your responsibility too. You won’t just stand by, will you?” Seeing my hesitation, Lucas complained: “Do you really want to see Mia unable to reincarnate? Aria, people have hearts of flesh. I can’t believe you’re so heartless.” So, I sold all my jewelry. I used my entire monthly salary for the prayers. But Lucas was still unsatisfied. “This money is only enough for a few months. How can it last half a year?” I wasn’t without temper. Mia’s death wasn’t my responsibility either. “Honey, we can’t just think about this. We need to consider our future too, right?” “Besides, I really don’t have any extra money now.” “Do you want me to sell our house?”
Hearing my anger, Lucas softened his tone. He said gently: “Of course we can’t sell this house.” At that time, I really thought he was considering our future. But it wasn’t until I saw his chat history with Mia that I realized. His future didn’t include me at all. This house we bought when we got married was in Lucas’s name. So he didn’t want to sell it. He planned to live there with Mia after getting rid of me. As for the money for Mia’s prayers, he had his eye on the house my parents left me. “Didn’t your parents leave you an old house? Why don’t we… sell that one?” I disagreed. Lucas then became upset, accusing me of being heartless. He started drowning his sorrows in alcohol every day, refusing to come home. During that time, I felt like our family was about to fall apart. Under pressure, I finally agreed and listed the old house online. … “The prayer session is complete. For this time’s payment, let’s do a bank transfer, shall we?” The advisor, like many times before, chanted a bunch of things I couldn’t understand. After about half an hour, the prayer session was considered complete. Lucas immediately nodded, signaling me to pay. I took out my phone, remembering the chat history I had seen. “This woman is so stupid, she believes everything you say?” “I didn’t expect her to be so obedient, doing whatever I tell her to.” “Honey, how long until we can be together for good?” “Just wait a bit longer. Once that old house is sold and we get the money, we’ll have the startup funds for our new home!” Thinking back to those words now, I wasn’t as heartbroken anymore. I just felt disgusted. My love for Lucas had become his tool to exploit me. How ridiculous… Seeing that I hadn’t transferred the money yet, Lucas grew anxious. “Honey, what’s wrong? Hurry up and pay, the advisor is waiting.” “You don’t want Mia to become a wandering ghost, do you?”
“Mia grew up in an orphanage without parents. She finally made it to her twenties, only to die in her prime…” Usually, hearing these words would have made me feel guilty. But now, I only had one thought in my mind: “Serves her right for being an orphan!” I smiled and replied: “I really can’t come up with the money these days. Why don’t you pay for it this time, honey?” Hearing this, Lucas was stunned, his face darkening. “What do you mean? Aria, if you don’t want to pay, just say so. Why lie?” I didn’t know why Lucas was so sure I still had money. So I showed him my SnapChat balance, which I had already transferred out earlier. “I’m not lying, I really don’t have any money left.” “You pay this time, and I’ll give you the money back when the house sells, okay?” Hearing about the money from selling the house, Lucas’s face instantly lit up with a smile. He waved his hand, speaking in an affectionate tone: “Honey, what are you talking about? What’s mine is yours, and what’s yours is mine, right?” Hearing this, I almost laughed out loud. But I managed to hold it in, not revealing anything. When it was time to go back, Lucas suddenly received a phone call. If I wasn’t mistaken, it must have been from Mia. Sure enough, after hanging up, Lucas pretended to be troubled and said: “Honey, one of my buddies got drunk. He needs me to help take him home.” I smiled faintly, thinking of Lucas’s childhood friends. The first time I met them, they called me “sister-in-law.” I thought it was just them being friendly. But later I found out that every time Lucas brought a girl to meet them, They would all jokingly call her “sister-in-law.” Even when Mia and I appeared together at a dinner party, Lucas’s friends made a few teasing remarks: “Lucas, which one should we call sister-in-law now? Haha!”
Thinking about it now, it really is true that birds of a feather flock together. The funny thing is, I actually thought Lucas was different from them. “What about me then?” I looked at Lucas, suddenly curious about how he would answer. This place was far from the city center, and it wasn’t easy to get a taxi. Lucas clearly hadn’t considered this problem and was taken aback for a moment. “Why don’t you… wait here for a bit? I remember seeing a few cars when we came.” The early spring wind in River City was strong, sometimes stinging the face like a slap. Right now, my face felt like it was burning. For a moment, I felt like I had never really known Lucas at all. Where was the Lucas who used to tie my shoelaces, bring me breakfast without being asked, and proposed to me in public without caring about others’ opinions? I tried hard to hide my emotions that were about to break down, my voice trembling slightly: “Can’t you give me a ride? The wind is too strong here, I’ll get cold if I stand for too long.” In the past, if he heard I was cold, Lucas would immediately take off his coat and give it to me. But now, he chose to remain silent. After a while, Lucas spoke with a hint of reluctance: “But my buddy said he’s in the next city district, it’s not on the way.” If a person doesn’t love you, they can think of a thousand reasons to refuse you. The car drove away, kicking up dust that got in my eyes, causing a few tears to fall. I stood in the wind for two hours until a private car passed by. The kind-hearted driver agreed to take me back to the city. The driver was speeding, and while waiting at a red light, I saw that familiar license plate through the window. So even the “not on the way” was a lie. Lucas, is there anything true left in your words? At that moment, overwhelming emotions swept over me, and tears silently slid down my cheeks.
“Stop crying. It’s not worth it for a man.” The female driver handed me a couple of tissues. Though her tone was cold, I could feel her kindness. Actually, in those two hours, more than just this one car had passed by. It’s just that the other drivers were all men. Before I could even ask, some of them would ask with a smirk if I needed a ride. I got scared and quietly moved to the side. Until this female driver appeared. The kindness of a stranger moved me more than Lucas’s cheap and fake love. “Thank you.” I wiped my tears and asked curiously: “How did you know it was because of a man?” The female driver sneered: “Because seeing you so lost reminds me of my past self.” Later, we exchanged names. I told Rachel: “The driver of that white car is my husband, but he’s probably going to see another woman now.” Rachel looked at the direction of the car with disdain and asked: “Do you need me to help you?” … As I had guessed, Lucas was here to see Mia. Using my money, she had checked into the best hotel in River City. Lucas knocked on a room door with familiarity, and then out came the face I would never forget. “Honey, you’re finally here!” Mia was wearing a revealing nightgown that barely covered her thighs. She threw herself into Lucas’s arms and whined: “You still smell like that bitch, it’s so disgusting!” Hearing this, Lucas smiled indulgently: “Then what does Mia suggest we do?” Then, the two exchanged knowing glances. They started kissing passionately while entering the room. “Disgusting!” Rachel cursed, then said firmly: “Sister, I’m definitely going to help you with this! I can’t stand seeing scumbags hurting innocent people!” I thanked her, and then we went to the front desk together. After showing my marriage certificate, the front desk didn’t give us any trouble and immediately pulled up the surveillance footage of the two entering and leaving the hotel together.
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