While I was working in a cafe at the mall, I received a call from my mother, her voice trembling with tears, “Elena, your dad has a 6-year-old bastard son…” Before I could comfort my mother, I saw my husband walk into the jewelry store hand in hand through the glass window. He placed a diamond ring on that woman’s finger. My voice started to tremble, “Mom. Arvin has also cheated on me!” ***** Shaking, I hung up my mother’s call and watched Arvin Steven chatting and laughing with the other woman in the cafe. I clenched my hand tightly, and without realizing it, the manicure I just got broke straight away. I took a deep breath and called Arvin. “Arvin, where are you? What are you doing?” I suppressed my emotions and asked calmly. As long as he offered me a reasonable explanation, I would definitely not overthink it. But I was wrong. He answered me impatiently and questioned, “Didn’t I tell you this morning that I would be working overtime in the lab today? Why are you being so paranoid?” After saying that, he hung up the phone. I watched Arvin flirting with that woman across from him and couldn’t help but flare up. I rushed out of the café and barged into the jewelry store. When I walked in, Arvin was clearly shocked, but he quickly regained his composure and frowned as he questioned me, “Are you following me?” His accusatory tone made me grit my teeth. But instead of explaining myself, I grabbed the other woman’s hand and took off the ring. “Arvin, you’re so generous!” Other salesmen looked over, which made Arvin uncomfortable. He softened and coaxed me, saying, “Honey, let’s go back and talk.” He grabbed my hand, his expression serious and pleading. In the end, I went soft, and my tone softened as well, “What about her?” I looked at that strange woman with resentment in my eyes. “Why does she have to ruin someone else’s marriage? We are all women. Why is she doing this to me?” I wondered. The woman looked guilty, but when she spoke, it left me at a loss for words, “Elena. Arvin and I are truly in love. Can you…” “Shut up!” Arvin immediately interrupted her. I couldn’t help but feel a bit of joy and pride. “Arvin ultimately loves me and cares about me. This woman is just a small obstacle in our marriage. Everything will be fine as long as we surmount it.” I thought to myself. I looked at the woman who acted arrogantly and said, “Shame on you! How could your parents raise such a shameless daughter like you?” Suddenly, Arvin gave me a hard slap on the face. My mind went blank, and my face was in severe pain. “You can’t say that about my benefactor,” Arvin said and left with the woman. I was so stunned that I stood there in a daze. “Did he say that woman was the daughter of his benefactor? She is Sansa Dalton!” I realized it. I never dreamed that one day I would meet the family who funded Arvin, and it was under such circumstances. After a while, Arvin came back, pulled me, and walked towards the car. “I asked Sansa to go back first, and I will explain this to you later.” He exerted so much force on the grip, giving me pain. “That hurts,” I spoke. But he remained indifferent. After pushing me into the car, Arvin slammed the car door shut with a “bang.” After he got in the car, I spoke up, “No matter who she is, you are already married now.” I looked at him, hoping he would give me the answer I was expecting. He stared at me and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I can’t do it.” My heart suddenly sank. He continued, “Sansa attempted suicide because of me. Thankfully, Mr. and Mrs. Dalton discovered it in time and saved her. They set aside their pride to ask me for help, and I couldn’t refuse.” I found his explanation absurd. Their daughter was determined to steal someone else’s husband, and those people used Arvin’s gratitude to force him into an affair. I couldn’t just give up like this. “I know several handsome PhD guys. I can introduce them to her.” “She only wants me.” Arvin stared at me. I wasn’t sure if it was just an illusion, but I actually saw a hint of smugness in his eyes. “Indeed, how many men can make a woman commit suicide for them? But what about me? I’m his wife. Don’t my feelings matter?” I wondered. “This is unacceptable,” I stated my position clearly. He sighed, “Elena, please be understandable.” Utterly disappointed, I asked back, “Did you even consider my feelings, even a little bit?” We fell into silence. My phone rang, and I answered it. My mother’s voice came through with a nasal tone, “Elena, your dad has come back with his illegitimate son!”
In a hurry, I rushed into my parents’ house. As soon as I entered, I heard my father pleading, “Honey, I made a mistake. But he’s a child and has to go to school. I have to take responsibility for him!” My mother stood in the corner, constantly wiping her tears with her sleeve. I walked between the two of them, blocking my mother and facing my father directly. He looked at me and said, “Elena, I know you are kind-hearted. Please talk some sense to your mother and let Freddie be registered in our household. He needs a spot in a good school.” “Dad, you should know that Arvin and I are trying to get pregnant. If your illegitimate son has taken up that spot, what about my child in the future? There is only one quota every nine years here.” I looked at my father and questioned. He was a bit at a loss. “But… but…” I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking it was all over. My father still cared about me and would certainly consider my future child. However, to my surprise, Arvin replied, “Actually, we’re not in a hurry to have children any time soon.” I looked at him in shock. He was the one who proposed to us to get pregnant back then. Why did he say such a thing now? I suddenly noticed my father and Arvin exchange a glance, and I knew something was off. They were in this together! “Yes, you’re not pregnant yet. You don’t have to worry about it now.” My father regained confidence and replied. My mother and I remained silent, not knowing how to react. My father pulled Freddie Linch over and pressed him to kneel on the ground. “Please give this child a chance to live. Freddie, bow to them.” For the first time, I felt my father was so strange. “If we don’t allow this child to register in our household, we’ll be denying him a chance to live. Is that what he’s saying? Hasn’t he been living well for these past few years?” I thought. But six-year-old children are often frank. Freddie actually asked with confusion, “Dad, why do I have to kneel to them? Didn’t you and my grandma say that I am the only offspring of the Linch family and that everything of the Linch family belongs to me?” His words made me widen my eyes. My mother was trembling all over. “You… you’re really something…” My father hurriedly covered Freddie’s mouth. “He’s talking nonsense! Children say what they like.” After saying that, he knelt. “I’m such a beast! When my mother was seriously ill, she made me promise to have a son to carry on the family lineage, or she would never rest in peace!” I pressed my lips tightly together. “I knew my grandmother favored boys over girls early on, but my father clearly told my mother back then that he didn’t care about whether it was a boy or a girl, and he only wanted one child. He had held that idea for over twenty years, yet my grandmother actually made him change his mind. How is that possible? Was it really my grandmother who forced him, or did he already have such thoughts? We’ll find out over time.” I thought to myself. My father looked at the mother, “Honey, you wouldn’t want to see me without an heir, would you?” “Am I not your heir?” I stared at my father. He lowered his head. But Freddie replied for him, “Of course not. My dad said you are a girl, and in the future you will be…” Although my father quickly covered Freddie’s mouth, I already knew what would come next. I couldn’t believe my father always regarded me as an outsider. Had he been pretending to love me all these years? My father continued to pressure my mother, “Honey, we’ve loved each other for so many years. Don’t make me hate you.” My mother immediately clutched her chest with her hand. Failing to control myself, I rushed forward and slapped my father in the face. “Bastard! My mom has a heart disease. How could you say such a thing to hurt her?” Without giving him a chance to react, I tried to drag my mother towards the door. But my mother remained still. She just looked at me with a pained expression. I sighed and said to my father and my husband, ” Who will you choose, us or that child? It’s up to you to decide.’ Finally, I pulled my mother and rushed out the door. As soon as we stepped out, we bumped into Sansa Dalton. She stood with a stranger woman. My mother was stunned. “You are Freddie’s mother, Helen Garret…” Before we could react, the two of them suddenly knelt in the hallway. “What are you doing?” I was shocked and hurried to make them stand, but they refused. Helen was the first to speak, “Karen, I know what I did was wrong. But I had no choice at that time. When I escaped from my wedding and left the village, I was penniless. Freddie’s grandma came to me and said she’d give me money for having a son for Mr. Linch, so I agreed. “Don’t worry. Mr. Linch and I have no feelings for each other. “I’ve worked so hard to raise Freddie in the past few years, and now he’s about to go to school. Could you please do me a favor?” She cried out in sorrow, making my mother sound like a cold-blooded, ruthless villain. Before I could speak up for my mother, Sansa chimed in, “Elena, I’m in love with Arvin. I know this is wrong, but I can’t help myself. “Don’t worry. I’m not here to destroy your marriage. I just want to be a part of your family. “You can still be his wife, and I’ll be his mistress. I don’t care about my identity.” Hearing her words, I choked on my saliva and started to cough violently. She actually said I could still be Arvin’s wife, and she would be his mistress. I was rendered speechless. After they finished speaking, they unexpectedly bowed to us as if they had rehearsed it. My mother was a bit soft-hearted and wanted to help them up. I grabbed her and said coldly, “Since you know what you did was wrong, why did you still do this? “Is it because you have no sense of shame? “You just don’t care if what you did would hurt other people, do you?” After speaking, I pulled the two of them up forcefully and gently pushed them away. I dragged my mother, ready to leave. Suddenly, they fell to the ground at the same time and cried out, “Ah!” I looked at them in disbelief. I just pushed them gently. How did they fall to the ground? My father and my husband rushed out of the room to help them up. Nervously, I wondered if they would buy their lies. They were clearly trying to frame me. My father and my husband wouldn’t be so foolish to believe it. However, they bought their lies. “How can you two be so vicious?” My father spoke, glaring at us fiercely. My husband wore a guilty look and said, “It’s my fault. If I hadn’t put Elena in this situation, she wouldn’t have done something like this.” The two of them quickly passed the blame on me and my mother. My mother tried to explain, “It wasn’t us. They fell by themselves.” The father sneered, “Are you saying that they framed you? Karen Zander, I never expected you to be such a coward who shirks responsibility. You are so petty!” My mother patted her chest with her hand, her face pale. I hurried over to support her. But my father continued to speak, “You’re still pretending! I’ve been tolerating you for so many years because of your heart disease. But you take advantage of that!” My husband tried to mediate, “Henry, please don’t be mad. I believe that Karen and Elena acted out of impulse. We can just ask them to apologize and let it go.” I sneered and said, “Apologize? We didn’t do anything wrong. Why should we apologize!’ My father rushed over and slapped my face, saying, “Don’t sass me!” I was stunned for a moment and couldn’t react. My father opened the door, walked in, and threw out two suitcases, saying, “You will reflect on yourselves outside. If you can’t realize your mistakes, you will not come in!” Then, he pulled other people back into the room and slammed the door shut. So, that was how they thought of my mother and me. They had no trust in us at all. I bought some drugs for my mother’s heartache and then booked a hotel room. My mother lay in bed, tears streaming down her face. “Elena, do you think your father still loves me?” I lowered my head and held her hand. “Mom, there’s no need to maintain that marriage at such a point.” She looked at me silently. I took her phone and said, “If you can’t say it, I’ll help you.” She remained silent for a moment, closed her eyes, and nodded slightly. So, I sent the same message to both my father and my husband: [Let’s get a divorce.] We agreed to meet my father and husband in a cafe. My mother and I specially dressed up for the meeting, aiming to make those two scumbags regret it. When we arrived at the café, the two of them had been waiting for a while. We took our seats, and the room fell into silence for a moment. My father spoke first, “You look great today.” “Yeah, it’s rare to see you all so dressed up,” Arvin said. My mother and I nodded slightly, feeling pleased by their compliments. My father nodded and said to my mother, “Honey, we have been married for nearly thirty years, and we have weathered so many ups and downs. There is no need to divorce over this matter.” “Henry and I talked about it. What you did to them before was only out of anger, which is completely understandable. We’ve already gotten them to forgive you.” Arvin said to me. I scoffed at such remarks. He sounded so condescending. I couldn’t help but sneer, “Are we supposed to say ‘Thank you, My Lord’ now?” Arvin lowered his head and said, “That’s not what I meant…” Seeing this, my father patted Arvin’s shoulder. Then, they took out two boxes from under the table, opened them, and inside were two jade bangles. That was a tradition passed down through generations in my mother’s family. When you meet someone you admire, you can give them a bangle as a gift. It represented the love that my mother and I once had for them. Arvin held out the bangle and pushed it in front of me, saying, “Elena, please don’t give up our marriage, okay?” His cheesy remark made me feel a chill. I asked, “Who cheated first? Who’s the one giving up our marriage?” I squinted my eyes and glanced at my father and Arvin. The two of them lowered their heads in silence. After a while, they took out two copies of the divorce agreement. “If you really want a divorce, let’s do it by this agreement.” My mother and I picked up the agreement and read it carefully. My mother frowned and looked at my father. “Henry, is this how you repay me after more than twenty years of marriage?” I placed the divorce agreement on the table and stared at Arvin. “Are you saying we only have 250 bucks in our joint account?” He must be deliberately humiliating me! Arvin suddenly took my hand and said, “Because I don’t want to divorce.” Feeling uncomfortable, I tried hard to pull my hand back, but I couldn’t get it out. My father also spoke in an affectionate voice, “Honey, I just don’t want to leave you and our daughter.” Worried about my mother’s heart disease, I looked over anxiously. But my mother just remained silent, her expression unchanged, with no signs of having an episode whatsoever. I couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Arvin still grasped my hand tightly, unwilling to let go. I could no longer bear it, so I bit him. I vented all of my resentment and grief on that bite. Suddenly, I tasted blood in my mouth. He let out a painful grunt and released my hand. I got up and pulled my mother, wanting to leave. But my mother spoke up, “I think maybe we can take them in and make a big family.” I looked at my mother in disbelief. I wanted to ask her. My mother placed her index finger on her lips, signaling me to be quiet. I didn’t understand, but I kept quiet. Arvin and my father were excited. “Honey, you finally came around!” “Thank you so much, Karen.” I couldn’t bear to see their faces anymore, so I turned away. My mother chuckled, got up, and held my hand. “Let’s have dinner at our house tonight. Elena and I will go prepare first.” Arvin and my father were pleased to hear that. My mother pulled me out of the cafe, and her smile immediately vanished. After getting in the car, I asked my mother, “Mom, why did you do that? Are you really going to take them in?” My mother shook her head and said, “Of course not.” She leaned over and explained her plan to my ear. I was stunned for a moment and nodded. In the evening, Arvin, my father, and their respective “family members” who were outside all gathered at our house. My mother and I smiled and entertained them. I didn’t realize other emotions from my mother’s smile. But when I saw Sansa take Arvin’s arm, I felt pain in my heart. I secretly hoped that Arvin would not bring Sansa along. Perhaps he might realize how inappropriate it would be. But he didn’t. At the dining table, Sansa looked at me in gratitude. “Thank you for your understanding, Elena. I don’t think I can live without Arvin.” She downed the wine in her hand in one go. My body trembled slightly. Sansa’s words felt like a slow torture to me. I bowed my head, forcing my gaze to soften. “You are deeply in love with Arvin. I just can’t bear to separate you two.” Arvin held my hand, his eyes full of gratification. I discreetly withdrew, lifting the wine glass for a sip. Helen also thanked my mother profusely. “Karen, thank you. I don’t have to worry about Freddie’s schooling anymore.” With a proper smile, my mother waved her hand. “Don’t worry about it, Helen. We’re family. You don’t have to thank me.” My father patted my mother’s shoulder. “So… can we change the way we address them?” Suddenly, Sansa asked, her eyes filled with longing. “What?” I wondered. Yet, I remained silent. Unconsciously, I looked at my mother. My mother secretly winked at me. I guessed her meaning. So, I closed my eyes and calmed myself. “Of course.” Unknowingly, my voice trembled. I looked at Arvin, hoping he would oppose, even if just for show. But he didn’t. Sansa smiled and called out in excitement, “Honey.” That sound exploded in my mind. Arvin nodded and held Sansa in his arms. My heart felt as if it had shattered into pieces at that moment, and I could no longer feel any emotions. Helen, encouraged by my mother, hesitantly changed her address to my father. My father replied with a flushed face, “Good! Good!” I still couldn’t see any emotion on my mother’s face. It seemed that my mother had long decided to end her marriage. I, on the other hand, still harbored a glimmer of hope. I looked up at a corner of the ceiling, where a faint red light was flickering. On the following day, Arvin and my father took their women out to take wedding photos. My mother and I cleaned the house, leaving behind a new divorce agreement and a tape. Then, my mother took out the bangles that represented love and handed one of them to me. We smashed them to the ground. When the bangles hit the ground, they shattered into pieces. Just like our marriage and relationships, they became beyond repair. With our suitcases ready, my mother and I boarded the plane heading to Eurico.
When my mother and I got off the plane and turned our phones on, we saw many missed calls. There were also messages, some positive, some threatening, and some furious. We deleted them all. We came to the airport service area, ready to use our card to buy something, but we found it couldn’t work. They froze our card! An unknown call came in, and I answered. It turned out to be my father and Arvin. Before we could speak, my father shouted angrily, “What is this nonsense again? Get back here!” Arvin played the mediator, persuading my father, “Henry, please calm down. It’s okay if they take a vacation abroad. After all, they have just gone through so much lately.” Then, he said to me, “Honey, please come back. I miss you. Henry also misses Karen.” I looked at my mother. She shook her head and waved her hand, indicating she didn’t want to speak to them. I nodded and turned my attention back to the call. “You should just live with your wives. We’ll stay out of your way.” I said sarcastically, “Aren’t you husband and wife now?” “Wasn’t that you guys who suggested it?” Arvin hurriedly said, “If you feel uncomfortable, we’ll ask them to stop addressing us like that.” I found it amusing. They actually thought that was what my mother and I cared about. I couldn’t believe they actually played dumb with us. How silly they were. I didn’t respond, allowing silence to prevail. Suddenly, a hoarse female voice came over. I listened carefully and recognized that it was Sansa’s voice. She said in a trembling voice, “Elena, if you don’t like me, I can leave. Although I love Arvin to my bones, and I might die after leaving, I don’t want to ruin your marriage. I don’t want to upset Arvin.” “Sansa, please don’t say that…” I heard Arvin say with a gentle and worried tone. I felt a bit disgusted. Helen’s voice came through the phone as well, “If Karen cannot accept us, we will just leave. As long as Freddie can go to school, I don’t mind leaving.” She also began to weep sorrowfully. I accidentally laughed out loud. “What are you laughing about?” My father’s voice came out, “I can’t believe I have such a cold-blooded daughter like you!” I couldn’t help but mock, “Yeah, like father, like son. You are selfish and cold-blooded, and I certainly am not a good person, either.” “You!” My father sounded so angry that it seemed like he smashed something to the floor. I could hear the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground over the phone. “Come back, or I won’t unfreeze your bank card! Without money, you will starve!” I sneered. They finally got to the point. I said coldly, “Father, did you watch the tape we left?” “What about it?” He sounded displeased. I smiled and said, “You know that bigamy is a crime, right? In the video, you behaved like a couple. You also have an illegitimate child. Not to mention, you two just went to a studio to take wedding photos with those two women. The evidence is all there. If my mom and I file a lawsuit, you two will end up in jail!” Arvin hurriedly came to smooth things over. “It’s not that serious. There’s no need to do this.” I said sternly, “That divorce agreement we prepared is fair to you. Sign the document and unfreeze our bank card. Otherwise, we’ll see each other in court!” Then, I hung up the phone! My mother looked at me appreciatively, and I smiled back. After a while, I received a message on my phone: [We’ll sign it! I hope you won’t regret it. Arvin and I will marry Helen and Sansa right away.] [Do you think we can’t do without you?] I replied: [I wish you happiness.] Then, I blocked their numbers. My mother and I successfully made the payment and then took a taxi to a university. We came here as visiting scholars for three years. In the following days, my mother and I immersed ourselves in work and research. One day, when we finished work, and left the university, we saw Arvin and his father stand at the entrance holding flowers.
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