In the seventh year of my marriage to Lily, her wealthy first love returned from abroad. He had a face that was 70% similar to mine. At the class reunion, he cornered me in the bathroom and taunted: “Tell me, who does she think of every night, you or me?” I couldn’t help but throw a punch. But Lily yelled at me for his sake: “Why don’t you just die?” She didn’t know that I was indeed dying. At the class reunion, Lily’s first love had returned from abroad. Now successful and famous, he walked past old classmates amidst their flattery, stopping in front of Lily to say a simple “long time no see.” With just those words, Lily’s eyes instantly turned red. Classmates laughed and teased, “After all these years, Zack still only has eyes for Lily.” “If Lily had married Zack back then, she’d be Mrs. Jack now, instead of running that small company.” “I say it’s not too late for Lily to get a divorce now.” “…” Everyone was gossiping, with Zack and Lily at the center of attention. And I, as Lily’s husband, sat to the side, more like a piece of background scenery. I studied Zack. He had a face that was 70% similar to mine. In fact, I had always known that I was just a substitute Lily had found. I once vowed to use the rest of my life to make Lily truly fall in love with me, but— Now, I was dying.
Feeling suffocated, I went out for some air. But at the bathroom door, I encountered Zack. He smiled contemptuously, “Thank you for taking care of Lily all these years.” “Now that I’m back, she doesn’t need you anymore.” A lump formed in my throat, causing pain throughout my body. I looked at him coldly, “The choice is Lily’s. At least for now, I’m her legal husband.” Zack’s cold laughter rang out. “Where does your confidence come from? Just that face that looks a bit like mine?” “Tell me, when she’s lying next to you at night, who is she thinking of, you or me?” Every word was particularly grating. I couldn’t hold back anymore and punched him hard in the face. However, a cry of surprise came from behind: “Zack!” Turning around, Lily had already run up. She helped Zack up, glaring at me with red eyes. In seven years of marriage, she had never been this angry. “Ethan Summers, are you crazy?” “What right do you have to hit someone?” Their classmates also came forward to help Zack, looking at me with hostility. “Lily, your husband is really something. Even if he’s jealous, he can’t just hit people!” “Yeah, he’s so lacking in self-awareness. If it were me, I’d pack up and leave as soon as the real deal came back.” Amidst the chatter, Lily looked at me coldly, “You’ve really disappointed me.” My chest seemed to hurt even more. Suddenly, I tasted blood in my throat, but I managed to hold it back. I turned and left. On the steps outside the hotel, I slowly took out the medical report from my pocket. Ethan Summers, male, late-stage stomach cancer. The sunlight shining on that thin piece of paper was a bit dazzling. I couldn’t hold it back anymore and coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Seven years ago, Lily approached me, using the excuse of avoiding her family’s pressure to marry, saying she wanted to live together as partners. At that time, it was my third year of secretly loving Lily. So I agreed without hesitation. For seven years after marriage, we lived together respectfully, and later even developed feelings. I held that piece of ice in my palm for seven years, watching as the fortress she had firmly built slowly crumbled. To the extent that, later on, I even believed she had fallen in love with me. Now it seems. I was just deluding myself. Without realizing it, I fell asleep curled up on the sofa. When I woke up, it was to the sound of the door closing. When Lily came in, the wall clock was just pointing to 3 AM. Seeing me awake, she paused, then took off her coat and hung it in the closet. That coat looked a bit familiar. In the afternoon, it had been on Zack’s body. Lily walked to the sofa, half-squatting to hold my hand, “Still angry?” I didn’t say anything, just pulled my hand away and pushed the prepared divorce agreement in front of her. “This is the divorce agreement. Take a look.”
Lily was stunned for two seconds, then her face showed the anger of having her intentions exposed. “Ethan Summers, what do you mean by this?” “Nothing happened between us, we just met up with old classmates today.” “Can you stop being so unreasonable like a woman?” She asked three questions in a row, getting more and more agitated. The anger I had been suppressing all day finally burst out at this moment. “What about you?” “Lily, in these seven years of marriage, have I been a husband to you or just a substitute?” “When you kiss me, are you thinking of me or Zack?” I didn’t want to argue with her. But the knife-like pain in my stomach made me unable to hold back this question. Lily was instantly silenced. After a while, she got up and walked towards the door. “Ethan Summers, are you going to be this childish until you die?” Throwing down these words, she slammed the door and left. But I was stunned. Yeah. I’m about to die, and I’m still this childish.
Lily hasn’t been home for two days. I called her three times, wanting to urge her about the divorce. The first two times she hung up, and the last time she simply turned off her phone. I remembered that a few years ago, she had pulled me into her classmates’ Facebook group. I opened the computer and logged into the account I hadn’t used in a long time. It was still there. Someone in the group had posted some photos of a private gathering of classmates. I saw Lily in the photos, as well as Zack. She seemed to have been drinking and was passed out in his arms. I looked at every photo, then calmly tagged Lily in the group. “Come home, let’s sign the divorce papers.” She responded to me quickly. “What are you going crazy about now?” Soon after, I received a message notification: “You have been removed from the group chat.” Lily’s phone was still unreachable. But someone rang the doorbell. I pressed on my aching abdomen and went to open the door. “Mom? Why are you here?” Outside the door, my mother-in-law was carrying bags full of things, smiling tiredly, “You’ve been saying your stomach wasn’t feeling well lately, right? Mom got some herbal medicine from a traditional doctor. Remember to drink it.” “I heard this traditional doctor is very good at treating stomach problems.” Several bags were placed on the ground, filled with medicinal soup and dishes we liked. My nose suddenly stung. This old lady who had rushed over from dozens of miles away with bags and packages still didn’t know— No matter how good the doctor was, they probably couldn’t cure my body now.
After some hesitation, I still brought up the matter of divorce with her. “Mom, I’ve thought about it for a long time and decided to divorce Lily.” With a dull thud, the teacup in her hand fell to the ground. Shattered. Hot water splashed everywhere. I hurriedly went to help her up, but she grabbed me instead, “Ethan, did you two have a fight?” “If she did something wrong, tell Mom, I…” “No,” I interrupted her, “It’s my fault, we’re having some problems with our relationship.” I didn’t intend to expose her daughter’s misdeeds in front of my mother-in-law. For seven years of marriage, my in-laws had always treated me like their own son. Whatever Lily did wrong had nothing to do with them. Suddenly, there was the sound of a key in the door outside. Lily was back. “Ethan Summers, isn’t it enough that you’re making a scene at home? Do you have to make it public too?” Lily’s voice suddenly stopped when she saw her mother. However, my mother-in-law had already seen Zack behind her. Zack didn’t seem flustered, instead he took the initiative to come over, “Auntie, I don’t know if you remember me, I’m Zack Jack.” “Before I went abroad, I even had a meal with you.” My mother-in-law remained silent with a cold face. The atmosphere was awkward. Lily came forward to smooth things over, but was grabbed by her mother, “Lily, let me ask you, are you divorcing Ethan for him?” Lily’s face cTomed, “Mom, don’t get involved in this.” “Whether we divorce or not is between me and Ethan, we…” “Slap—” A slap interrupted Lily’s words. “Foolish girl!” My mother-in-law pointed at Zack, her hand shaking with anger, “Do you think he truly loves you? If he loved you, he wouldn’t have left you to go abroad in the first place!” Lily was also angered by that slap. The mother and daughter argued fiercely. Until I noticed my mother-in-law’s face didn’t look right. “Stop arguing!” I went forward to support her, “Mom, are you okay?” “Mom…”
My mother-in-law was hospitalized for a heart attack, fortunately it wasn’t serious. In the hospital room. Lily and I sat by the bed, my mother-in-law tightly holding my hand, tears streaming down her face. “Ethan, Lily is being foolish. This child has always been stubborn since she was little. Give her some more time, she’ll come to her senses.” I didn’t say anything. The old lady’s voice choked up as she gently patted the back of my hand, “All these years, we’ve always treated you like our own son. We only recognize you as our son-in-law.” “Mom’s health won’t last for another two years. If you two divorce, Mom…” “Mom won’t be able to close her eyes even on her deathbed.” I felt a lump in my throat. Unable to bear seeing the old lady crying and begging, I took a deep breath and said okay. Only then did my mother-in-law feel at ease. … In the corridor. I clutched my aching stomach and looked at Lily, “Find a day to get the divorce certificate.” Lily was stunned, “Didn’t you just say…” “I was lying to the old lady.” The more my stomach hurt, the calmer my expression became, “I don’t want the old folks to worry about our affairs.” “I’ll send you the divorce agreement when it’s ready.” “I don’t agree!” Lily frowned, “Ethan Summers, can you stop this nonsense? Zack and I are just classmates. He just came back, and our classmates have been organizing gatherings every day.” “Besides, we agreed to live together as partners from the beginning. Whether Zack is back or not doesn’t affect our marriage.” I found it laughable. Just as I was about to speak, I saw Lily’s expression cTome. Turning around. I saw Zack walking over with gifts. Lily, who had just been adamantly refusing divorce, suddenly fell silent. The pain in my body was almost unbearable. No longer having the strength to argue with them, I gave Lily a look, “I’ll send you the divorce agreement when it’s ready.” With that, I turned and left. And this time, Lily didn’t refuse. Next to Zack, she chose to remain silent.
At midnight. In the dark office. Lily fumbled around in the dark, searching through the desk drawers, almost turning over every drawer. While I sat quietly on the small sofa in the corner, watching her. Recently, the company was participating in a very important bid. And Zack, having just returned to the country and eager to establish business connections, was likely to have his eye on this bid. Lily still came. She came to steal our company’s bid documents for Zack. Seven years of marriage, all affection, completely destroyed in this moment. In the darkness, I held the bid documents and spoke softly— “Are you looking for this?” “Ah!” Lily screamed, seemingly almost collapsing from fright. When the lights came on, I saw her face clearly. Her expression was terrified, her eyes darting around nervously. “Ethan…” She came to her senses, calling my name with obvious lack of confidence. Soon. Zack’s figure appeared at the office door. Obviously, he had seen the lights come on in the office from downstairs. “Lily,” I looked at her calmly, “If you hadn’t tried to steal these bid documents, I would have still tried to leave us both with some dignity.” Lily bit her lower lip, “Zack just came back, this bid is very important to him…” “Isn’t it important to my company too?” Lily was at a loss for words. She knew better than anyone that this bid was also very important for the company. But she still chose to help Zack. As the atmosphere grew tense, Zack shielded Lily behind him, “I asked her to get it, what’s wrong with that?” “Half of this company belongs to Lily, why can’t she take it?” Under the fluorescent lights, he looked me up and down, his laughter contemptuous. “Ethan Summers, as long as I’m back in the country, this bid will definitely be mine.” “So will Lily.” Knowing he was trying to provoke me, but with the pent-up anger in my chest surging, I still threw a punch at him. “Go to hell!” Zack and I started fighting. Lily cried out and tried to separate us. “Ethan Summers, can’t you stop making trouble?” “Slap—” In the chaos, she raised her hand and slapped me. It didn’t hurt, but it was loud. Lily looked at me in shock, her hand still in the position from just now, trembling slightly. “I didn’t mean to…” My stomach was hurting badly. I suddenly felt more exhausted than ever before. Struggling to pick up the bid documents from the ground, as I stood up, I suddenly started coughing heavily. I covered my mouth with my hand, only to find I had coughed up some blood. But Lily didn’t notice my weakness. She was still trying to persuade me, “Ethan Summers, this bid is really important to Zack. Please, I’m begging you, okay?” I didn’t want to talk to her anymore. I turned around with the bid documents and slowly walked out of the office. I had given up on Lily. But this bid, I couldn’t. 9
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