“Stop… It’s too deep… I can’t take it!” A handsome man had me pinned beneath him, unable to move. His voice was tender, but his movements were anything but. “Baby, I’m only halfway there.” After catching my Commander husband cheating, I started seeing a Hollywood actor. Young blood, indeed. Eight-pack abs, 8.5 inches, and moves in bed I’d never even dreamed of. The next day, a video of the actor and me having sex went viral across the entire military base. My husband, Ryder, came to find me, his eyes bloodshot. “Where did he touch you?” I smiled carelessly. “My lips, my chest, my inner thighs… every place you used to love, he touched.” A storm brewed in his eyes, veins bulging in his neck. “Get her out of my sight!” I frowned, annoyed. “You cheated with your subordinate; I fell for my lover. We’re even. What right do you have to tell me what to do?” Three months ago, I returned home early from a mission, hoping to surprise Ryder Vance. Instead, I found him pinning Sara Lee against the window, moving wildly, whispering her name, “Sara.” From that moment on, that name became my nightmare. Because my name, Sarah, sounded so similar to hers. It hit me then: whenever Ryder and I had sex before, he’d always been calling out another woman’s name. My stomach churned. I pushed him away, stumbling into the bathroom, throwing up violently. Ryder quickly followed, his voice concerned. “Sarah? What’s wrong? Are you feeling sick?” I looked up, my eyes burning. “Ryder, just now… were you calling out Sara’s name, or mine?” His face instantly paled. The next moment, he kicked over a nearby chair. “Sarah! I told you, you’re the one I love, the one I chose!” He snatched up his clothes, pulling them on, and the door slammed shut with a thunderous bang. I pushed open the window and watched him stride across the yard, jumping into his military SUV. The engine idled for a long time until a distinctive ringtone cut through the silence. It was Sara Lee calling. I froze. The day he “returned” to our family, he’d supposedly deleted all her contact information right in front of me. When… when did he save it back? My cold fingertips tapped open the dashcam footage on my phone. Inside the car, Ryder stared at the blinking “Sara Lee” on the screen, his fingers tightening on the steering wheel, veins bulging. The ringing continued until the last second before he abruptly hit ‘answer.’ “Speak.” Only muffled sobs came from the other end, like a wounded animal. After a long moment, Sara’s choked voice whispered, “Ryder, I miss you so much.” Ryder’s breathing suddenly hitched. The engine roared to life, and the SUV sliced through the night like a sharp blade. The night wind howled, but it couldn’t blow away the frost in my heart. I saw my reflection in the glass, tears streaming down my face. The car soon stopped outside an officer’s apartment building. Rustling sounds came through the dashcam, followed by Sara’s whimpering moans, “It hurts…” “Bear with it, even if it hurts,” his voice was hoarse, almost unrecognizable. The woman’s broken sobs continued, “Ryder, I love you…” Then came urgent gasps and the sound of frantic kissing. Again and again, so desperate, so wild. I stood by that window all night, listening to the passionate sounds of my husband with another woman. Only when the morning light broke did I manage to move my frozen body, retrieving the divorce papers from the bottom of our safe. He had signed them that day he returned to me, under my coercion. If he ever cheated again, all his assets and properties would automatically transfer to me. But even the strictest terms couldn’t bind a straying heart. I signed my name, stroke by stroke, and headed straight to the military legal office with the papers. The lawyer carefully reviewed them, then looked up at me. “Ms. Stone, once this is filed, your marriage will be officially dissolved.” Walking back home on shaky legs, Ryder was already waiting. Seeing me, he let out a sigh of relief, his voice tinged with both fear and reproach. “Where have you been? Why haven’t you been answering your phone?” I gave a sarcastic smirk. “What, afraid I’d try to jump off a cliff again?”
His face instantly darkened, his impatience palpable. “Sarah! Stop threatening me with death! What else can you do besides torture me with these tactics?” My steps faltered, and I stared at him, stunned. When I first witnessed his affair, I couldn’t cope. Every time the image replayed in my mind, I’d throw up violently. In just seven days, I’d lost over fifteen pounds. I cursed him with the cruelest words, slapped him dozens of times, and left a permanent scar on his shoulder with a scalpel. He knelt in the hallway of the military hospital, admitting his wrongs in front of all his colleagues. But I still couldn’t sleep. After more than ten days of sleepless nights, I had a mental breakdown and accidentally fell off a cliff. I spent a week in the ICU, barely clinging to life. Since then, he’d been almost inseparable from me, enduring my anger and abuse, constantly watchful. So, in his mind, all of that was just my way of fighting for attention? Ryder looked at my bloodless face, his tone softening slightly. He turned and retrieved a takeout box from his jeep. “Your favorite strawberry pudding. I drove halfway across the city to get it.” I looked at the familiar packaging, my stomach twisting. On the dashcam footage, Sara’s soft, playful voice was still ringing in my ears: “Ryder, I’m hungry…” He had specifically driven to buy her a chocolate lava cake; the strawberry pudding was just an afterthought, an extra dessert. My voice was tired. “I don’t like that flavor anymore.” After ten years, I was already sick of it. I’d only kept eating it before so as not to waste his gesture. Just as I was about to turn away, he grabbed my wrist sharply. His voice was irritated and impatient. “Sarah! How long are you going to keep this up? I’ve already…” He didn’t finish his sentence before darkness swallowed my consciousness. When I woke again, I was in bed. Downstairs, faint voices drifted up. I leaned against the wall, slowly making my way down the stairs. By the front door, Ryder’s back was stiff. “How did you find me here?” Sara, in a white dress, looked up at Ryder with a pitiful expression. “Headquarters wouldn’t let me in, and you didn’t reply to my texts… Ryder, are you going to abandon me again?” Her fingers carefully clutched his sleeve. “Ryder, you explicitly told me you loved me.” Ryder abruptly took a half-step back, his voice incredibly low. “Please leave, Sara. Sarah is still sick, and I don’t want to upset her. Whatever it is, we can talk on the phone…” Before he could finish, Sara suddenly stood on her tiptoes and threw herself into his arms, kissing him fiercely. Ryder’s hands hovered in the air, his move to push her away hesitating when his fingers brushed her trembling shoulders. Gradually, the initially restrained kiss grew urgent, until he was breathing heavily, pinning her against the doorframe. “See?” Sara’s voice was laced with triumphant pride. “Your body is more honest than your mouth.” “You don’t love her anymore, Ryder. Staying with her out of obligation only hurts all three of us.” Ryder’s voice was filled with suppressed pain. “I can’t…” With a loud bang, I forcefully pushed open the door. Two startled gazes instantly shot my way. “Sarah!” Ryder instinctively wiped his mouth. I walked past him, directly towards Sara, grabbing her hair. I slapped her three times, hard. “You tramp! How dare you show your face here, you pathetic wretch!” Blows rained down, mixed with Sara’s cries and pleas. Until Ryder grabbed my wrist, his grip so strong it felt like my bones would shatter. “Enough!” He flung me away, and the momentum sent me crashing hard against the steel coat rack by the entrance. A warm liquid immediately welled up on my forehead. Through a blurry red haze, I saw Ryder rush over, carefully scoop Sara into his arms, and quickly carry her out. “Don’t be scared, Sara, I’m taking you to the hospital.”
I watched their figures disappear, my mind drifting back to when I was eighteen. On a snowy night during new recruit training, he snuck an armored vehicle out to show me the stars. On the frosted window, he wrote, “Ryder Vance will only ever love Sarah Stone.” I breathed on the glass, asking, “What if you break your promise?” He kissed me, cupping the back of my neck, his camo uniform brushing my cheek. “I won’t. I only want you.” I slid down the cold wall, slowly sinking to the floor, tears mingling with blood. I laughed hollowly, murmuring, “Ryder, you liar!” I woke up in the hospital. Outside my room, a crowd was gathered around the room next door, whispering and pointing. Inside, Brenda Vance, Ryder’s mother, was fuming. “I wondered why Sarah collapsed at home! You weren’t there to watch over her; turns out you were here protecting this… this woman!” She turned to the two security officers behind her. “What are you waiting for? If she wants to act like a tramp, then let her! She likes being a mistress, she likes sleeping her way up? Go! Strip her clothes off!” The security officers stepped forward, but Ryder swiftly moved to block them. His shoulder strap was askew, his eyes bloodshot. “Today, anyone who touches her will have to answer to me, Ryder!” Brenda, enraged, hurled her purse at him. A metal clasp cut his forehead, a bead of blood seeping into his thick eyebrow. Sara, who had been cowering behind Ryder, suddenly rushed out, falling to her knees on the cold tile floor with a thump. “Mrs. Vance! It’s all my fault! Punish me, please, but don’t hurt Commander Vance!” Ryder, who hadn’t flinched when he was hit, now his face instantly changed. He hastily bent down to pull Sara up. “What are you doing? Get up now.” The two of them tangled together, embracing like a pair of star-crossed lovers pushed to their limits. Through the shifting figures, Ryder’s gaze met mine. He let go of Sara as if electrocuted. “Sarah…” I pushed through the crowd, putting my hand on Brenda’s trembling arm. “Just forget it.” Those three words seemed to drain all my strength. I led Brenda, still furious and trying to hit Sara, back to my own hospital room. Ryder followed. His voice was hoarse, as if he was making an immense compromise. “Sarah, it’s my fault. I didn’t control myself.” “I’ll apply for a transfer away from her. From now on… I’ll make it up to you. Please, stop bullying her.” I was speechless. Bullying. What a ridiculous word. As if I were some villain tearing apart true lovers. No sooner had he finished speaking than a young nurse’s scream echoed from outside. “Patient in Room 302 tried to slit her wrists!” Ryder’s face instantly changed, and he turned to leave. Brenda blocked the doorway. “You try to walk out today!” He shoved her aside, rushing towards the door. I staggered, crashing into the IV pole, the needle tearing from my hand, leaving a crimson trail. Brenda quickly knelt to support me, tears streaming down her face. “Sarah…” Tears in my own eyes, I whispered, “Brenda, I’ve already submitted the divorce papers to the Department of Military Affairs.” After seeing Brenda off, I returned to my hospital bed. My phone suddenly pinged with a notification. I opened it to find Sara Lee’s secondary account had updated. She posted three photos. The first showed two hands clasped together. The second was a shot of Ryder’s gentle profile, focused on peeling a pear for her; The third showed her leaning against Ryder, looking up and kissing him. The caption read: [Military relationships are tough, but true love never fears waiting. I, this persistent gambler, have finally won back my hero. From now on, you’re mine.] Below, Ryder’s secondary account replied almost instantly: [Yes, forever yours.] I stared at that reply, feeling a strange sense of settled relief wash over me. With a light tap, I unfollowed and blocked both their secondary accounts, then uninstalled the tracking app and dashcam app I’d used to monitor Ryder’s movements. Four months after Ryder supposedly returned to our family, I finally… broke free from my obsession with him.
The next morning, I packed my things to check out of the hospital. As I was carrying my luggage downstairs, Ryder suddenly rushed up to me. His eyes were bloodshot. He grabbed my wrist, his grip so tight it felt like he was going to crush my bones. “Where’s Sarah? What have you done with Sara Lee?!” I was furious and in pain, struggling to pull away. “How would I know where she is? Let go of me!” Ryder scoffed in rage. “You don’t know? Who else would target her but you?!” He abruptly pulled out his phone and played a blurry surveillance video. In the footage, Sara was stabbed in the abdomen and collapsed in a small alley, blood pooling beneath her. Ryder watched the video, his eyes brimming with anguish, his voice taking on a pleading tone. “Sarah, I’m begging you, let her go. I shouldn’t have betrayed you, but please, once I get her out, I’ll make her transfer and leave the military, I’ll never contact her again. Just tell me the address, if we wait any longer, she’ll be in danger!” The last time he had begged me like this was when I was clinging to life after falling off the cliff. Then, he held me, crying, begging the doctors to save me. Lost in thought, I shook my head expressionlessly. “It wasn’t me. I really don’t know where she is.” Ryder’s face grew cold, inch by inch. “You’re really not going to tell me?” He suddenly sneered, dragging me by the wrist towards his military SUV parked on the roadside. I desperately struggled, trying to open the car door, but he just pressed the central lock. The next second, he pulled out a military knife and slashed my arm hard. “Ah!” Excruciating pain ripped through me, and blood instantly soaked my sleeve. Ryder’s eyes were bloodshot, his voice as cold as ice. “Tell me the address!” I was trembling all over. “I told you… I don’t know…” Our eyes met, and the ruthlessness in his gaze was like a poisoned dagger, stabbing my heart again and again. Before I could react, the military knife slashed my arm a second time, then a third… “Speak! The address!” he roared, demanding an answer with every cut. Blood streamed down my arm, dripping onto the car seat, blooming into shocking red stains. I curled up in pain, my tear-blurred eyes fixed on his cold profile. “I really don’t know… Ryder, how could you do this to me…” Time ticked by, and with each passing second, Sara’s danger increased. Ryder completely lost control. He clamped his hands around my throat, the hatred in his eyes terrifying. “Are you only satisfied if she dies? Where is she?! Where have you hidden her?! Speak, Sarah!” My vision swam with black spots, my breathing grew increasingly difficult. In my blurring consciousness, I could only weep silently: “I regret it so much… how could I have ever loved you…” Just when I thought I was about to suffocate, Ryder’s military communicator suddenly rang. He abruptly let go of me, frantically answering. “Major General Vance! Lieutenant Lee has been found!” Ryder’s eyes instantly lit up. “I’m on my way!” He hung up and then brutally kicked me out of the car. Ryder looked at me through the car window, his eyes cold. “You better pray Sara is okay, or I won’t let you off the hook!” When I woke up again, I was in a VIP private room at the military hospital. Due to severe blood loss, doctors had worked for a full day and night to pull me back from the brink of death. My arm was thickly bandaged, and over a dozen scars of varying depths were faintly visible through the gauze, each one a testament to Ryder’s brutality. Just outside the door, I overheard nurses discussing Ryder’s overwhelming devotion to Sara. To save her, he had summoned all the hospital’s specialists for her treatment. While she was in surgery, he disregarded regulations, personally going to St. Jude’s Chapel to pray for her safety. While she was unconscious, he stayed by her bedside night after night without blinking, watching over her. I listened in silence, my heart completely calm, no longer stirred. I completed the discharge procedures and requested a full injury report from the hospital. Just as I reached the hospital entrance, my lawyer’s call came through. “Ms. Stone, the divorce has been finalized. According to the agreement, Commander Vance’s military housing, personal honorarium, and other assets will all be transferred to your name within a week.” I looked up at the high-hanging sun in the sky. I offered a faint, fleeting smile, then calmly said, “Please send Ryder’s divorce certificate to him, cash on delivery.” After the lawyer acknowledged, my gaze fell on my bandaged arm, and my voice chilled slightly. “Also, file a lawsuit against Ryder for aggravated assault, with no possibility of settlement.” The moment I stepped onto the plane, I expressionlessly removed my phone’s SIM card, broke it, and tossed it into the trash can. Ryder, eight years of marriage, our feelings completely severed.
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