My wife mentioned she’d need to work late tonight. I thought I’d surprise her by dropping off her favorite macarons at the office. But as I approached the door, I overheard her laughing with her male assistant: “Babe, I really wanna go to Hawaii with you.” “Worried your husband’ll find out? Simple. Just tell him you’ve got cancer and need overseas treatment. We’ll have our fun and come back whenever we feel like it.” I played it cool and left without a word. At daybreak, my wife came home. The second she saw me, tears started rolling down her cheeks: “Honey, the company did health screenings today. They found me get breast cancer. Stage four.” “I don’t want to be a burden. Let’s get a divorce.” I stared at Claire, frozen in place for what felt like an eternity. I still couldn’t wrap my head around it. My wife was actually cheating on me with her male assistant. From our wedding day onwards, Claire had always seemed perfect—beautiful and upstanding. Maybe she had her reasons? What if her assistant was blackmailing her? What if she had no choice but to go along with it? I must be overcomplicating things. I took a deep breath and pulled her close. “Honey, we’re married. We made vows—for better or worse, in sickness and in health. We promised to stick together no matter what.” “I don’t care what illness you have. I’m not leaving you, no matter what happens!” Claire suddenly pushed me away. “Jason, can you just face reality here?” “I have cancer! Stage four!” “I don’t have much time left.” “Just think of this as granting my last wish before I die.” “Please?” Tears streamed down her face. Seeing her cry like that tore me apart. Under these circumstances, I couldn’t bring myself to argue. Instead, I pulled her back into my arms, my voice tight with emotion. “Honey, what do you need me to do?” “Whatever you need, I’ll do it without hesitation.” Claire stopped sobbing. She looked up, her hands cupping my face, eyes red and puffy. “I wasn’t actually working late tonight,” she said softly. “Then why’d you come home so late?” “My assistant was consoling me. He mentioned there’s a new laser therapy overseas that can eliminate 99.99% of cancer cells.” “I wasn’t sure if it was legitimate, so I met with him in person to get more details.” Hearing the word “assistant” made my suspicions deepen. My wife’s new male assistant was young and good-looking. She was always comparing me to him, teasing me about being an old man. I never called her out on it or questioned her. Instead, I played along. “And what did you find out?” “He said it’s real, but expensive. I want to use the money from our joint account for treatment. Even if there’s the smallest chance, I don’t want to give up.” “Honey, you’ll support me, won’t you?”
“Yes, of course I’ll support you!” I nodded and gently kissed her forehead. “I can drop everything and go overseas with you for treatment.” “If it’s about money, I’d even sell a kidney!” Claire immediately pulled back. “You don’t know anything about that country. Besides, my assistant will go with me. You should stay here and take care of my parents.” “This new therapy has risks. I might not make it, so I need you to lie to my parents.” “Tell them I died from cancer. If the treatment works and I recover, I’ll come back and surprise them.” I frowned. “You think they’ll buy that?” “Don’t worry, my parents are easy to fool. If they insist on seeing my body, just tell them I didn’t want them to suffer, so you had me cremated and my ashes scattered at sea, like I wanted.” “You’ve really thought this through.” “Tomorrow we’ll file for divorce, then I’ll go abroad for treatment.” “You’re just going for treatment, not dying. Why do we need to get divorced?” “My assistant said there’s a new policy there. Unmarried women with breast cancer get a discount on this new therapy.” “Honey, I’m just trying to save you money. Can’t you see that?” “And it’s just a fake divorce, not real. When I get better, we’ll remarry.” “If it’s for your health, I’ve got no objections.” “Thank you, honey. I love you so much.” Seeing I agreed, Claire happily stood on tiptoes and gave me a quick kiss. The next morning, we went to file for divorce. She said she needed to discuss the overseas treatment with her assistant. Then she left. Less than half an hour later, my wife’s male assistant posted on Instagram. “I’m a genius! Convinced my boss to fake cancer so she’d divorce her husband. We just bought tickets and we’re heading to Hawaii!” “I’ve been waiting for this day forever. Once we get to Hawaii, I’ll post regular updates of me and my boss.” “Let everyone witness our happiness!” The post included several photos. Their faces weren’t shown, but their fingers were intertwined. I could clearly see the woman was wearing a black patterned shirt—the same one I’d personally picked out and bought for Claire. If yesterday I only had suspicions, now I was absolutely certain. Claire was cheating on me with her assistant. She divorced me just to go on vacation with him in Hawaii. In that moment, it felt like a ton of bricks hit my chest. I could barely catch my breath. We’d been married for years. We were always so loving. I never imagined she’d actually cheat on me. Claire didn’t come home that night. She texted saying she was planning the overseas trip with her assistant. They were flying out early the next morning. I asked if she wanted me to see her off at the airport. She said it wasn’t necessary. When I sent another message, there was no response. I put down my phone and took a deep breath. At this point, she was probably tangled up with that assistant. If I kept bothering her, I’d just look pathetic.
I tossed and turned all night. The next day, Claire and her assistant showed up at the airport. They were all over each other. Sharing a cookie between them. Stopping to kiss every few steps. They looked more like a married couple than we ever did. Worse yet—they walked right past me. Claire didn’t even notice me. I calmly recorded everything on my phone. I didn’t leave until they boarded the plane. At the same time, Derek posted another update. The photo showed them holding hands as they boarded. “Successfully boarded with my boss!” “Destination: Hawaii.” “I think I’m the happiest guy in the world right now!” The comments were full of envy and congratulations. Derek replied to each one personally. When someone in the comments asked, “I thought your boss was married? What about her husband?” Derek replied: “That middle-aged slob? He’s greasy and disgusting.” “My boss lying next to him every night was pure torture.” “But now it’s great—they’re divorced. From now on, she’s all mine.” “She’s finally free!” Since Derek had videos showing his face on his profile, everyone could see he was young, handsome, and charming. So no one blamed him for breaking up a marriage. Instead, they all said he and his boss were a perfect match. I was livid. I created a burner account and commented: “Your boss had a child with another man. Doesn’t that bother you?” Less than two minutes later, Derek replied. “How could she have had a child with that man?” “They didn’t have kids?” “She got pregnant before, but I didn’t want my amazing boss to ruin her figure from childbirth, so I convinced her to get an abortion.” Reading that response, rage shot through my veins. So that’s why Claire couldn’t get pregnant all these years. We went to the hospital for tests, and they said there was nothing wrong. Margaret and Mr. Anderson even reassured me not to stress about it. They said pregnancy happens when it happens. Just let nature take its course. But I never imagined the truth. It wasn’t that we had physical problems. It wasn’t that Claire couldn’t get pregnant. She did get pregnant. She just didn’t tell anyone. Then, at Derek’s urging, she secretly went to the hospital and had an abortion. Suppressing my murderous rage, I asked: “Aren’t you afraid of karma for convincing her to abort?” Derek replied: “Afraid of karma? Don’t make me laugh. There’s no such thing as karma in this world.” “As long as my boss belongs only to me forever, I don’t care.” “Even if I get struck by lightning, I’d accept it.” “Gotta go—we’re off to enjoy our time together in Hawaii. Bye, see you in the next video.” After that, Derek didn’t reply again. Meanwhile, I quickly made a major decision.
A few days later, during dinner, Margaret and Mr. Anderson asked me where Claire was. They hadn’t seen her in days. I hesitated before answering: “Claire’s been really busy with work.” They looked a bit suspicious but accepted the explanation. A week later, they were in a car accident. Mr. Anderson died on impact. Margaret was seriously injured. Fortunately, after emergency treatment at the hospital, her life was no longer in danger. But when she learned her husband had died, she cried hysterically and fainted several times. I took care of her in the hospital for two weeks. The question she asked most often was: “Where’s my daughter?” I never gave her a straight answer. Until one day, after I helped her finish her meal, she suddenly dropped to her knees. “Jason, ever since you married my daughter, I’ve treated you like my own son.” “Please, I’m begging you—tell me what happened to my daughter.” “Why can’t I reach her on the phone?” “When I asked her coworkers, they all said she quit a long time ago.” “What happened between you two?” I quickly helped Margaret to her feet. I couldn’t hide it anymore. I let out a long sigh and said, “Claire… she passed away from breast cancer. Her body was cremated, and her ashes were scattered at sea, just like she wanted.” “What… what?” Margaret gasped, staring at me in shock. I wiped my tears and explained through choked sobs. I told her that over two weeks ago, Claire found out she had stage four breast cancer. She didn’t want her family to suffer, so she chose to bear it alone. “Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” “Claire said to keep it secret as long as possible.” “You… you…” Margaret was both furious and devastated. First, she learned her husband was dead. Now she learned her daughter was gone too. Under the double blow, she fainted again from grief. When she woke up, she cried until she lost her voice. Later, I received a text from Claire using an unknown number. “How are my parents?” “You didn’t tell them the truth, did you?” I smiled and replied: “Did exactly what you told me to.” “You’re the best. Keep hiding it from them.” “Something happened at home. Do you want to come back?” “I’m busy. Whatever it is, don’t bother me.” “You handle it.” When I sent another message, there was no response again. Keep enjoying yourself with Derek, Claire. A cold smile crept across my face. After that, Claire and I completely lost contact. I could only occasionally catch glimpses of them having a great time through Derek’s videos. As for Margaret, after she was discharged from the hospital, she became depressed and talked to herself constantly. I could tell—she was losing her mind. One day, she suddenly called me into her room and handed me a sealed envelope. Her eyes were red as she said, “Jason, I can’t hold on much longer. I’m afraid I’ll completely lose my mind. Before that happens, take this. This is everything the Anderson family owns.”
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