On my birthday, I received a notification for a $131,400 transfer. I was about to call my husband Adrian West to ask about the money when I accidentally stumbled upon his intern secretary’s Instagram story. The post read: The most romantic surprise gift. It featured a screenshot of the $131,400 transfer and a photo of two people holding hands intimately. I had just liked the post when Adrian immediately called me, his voice urgent: “It’s Emma’s birthday today, so I’m just playing along with her little act. Don’t take it to heart, okay?” I let out a cold laugh and hung up directly, then without hesitation, froze all his bank cards. As long as he didn’t touch my money, I couldn’t care less who he played around with. That evening, I waited alone at the restaurant for Adrian for ten hours. At first, I held onto hope, but gradually my mood grew cold. As night deepened, the golden sunset disappeared completely through the gaps between tall buildings, leaving only a sky full of stars. I pulled out my phone, my heart completely cold, and sent Adrian a message: “Adrian, you kept saying you’d be here for me. Is this how you show it?” Right after sending the message, I received another text notification for a $131,400 transfer. I frowned. He had time to send money but couldn’t spare a moment to reply to my message or come see me? I was about to call and ask what exactly he was trying to pull when I accidentally opened Instagram. The next second, I completely understood where that money had gone. The latest post was from his secretary. The photo showed an intimate picture of the two of them, along with a screenshot of the $131,400 transfer. The caption read: The most romantic surprise gift. And that man who looked so carefree and spent money without a second thought was my husband who had disappeared for an entire day. My eyes instantly welled up with tears. They looked so intimate in the photo that if I weren’t legally Adrian’s wife, I probably would have cheered for their love story too. I forced a smile. My chest felt suffocatingly tight. I never imagined Adrian would betray me so blatantly. But thinking about it, it wasn’t really surprising. In these three years, I hadn’t even figured out whether he actually loved me or not. Toward me, he had always been cold and distant, politely courteous. We were nothing more than two strangers wearing the title of husband and wife. Suddenly, I felt utterly exhausted. After chasing Adrian for so many years, I really didn’t want to waste any more time on him. It was completely pointless. These three years felt like a dream—a dream where I had been deceiving myself. Thinking about this, I couldn’t help but recall the past. Six years ago, I first saw Adrian. He was by the sidewalk then, carefully making his way through traffic to carry some frightened kittens to safety. He looked so innocent and gentle at that moment—just that one glance captured my heart completely. Unfortunately, I only caught a glimpse of him from afar through the crowd that day and never got the chance to talk to him. He probably never knew that somewhere in that sea of people, a girl had quietly remembered him for so many years. Later, through a twist of fate, I became Adrian’s wife. I always thought it was destiny’s arrangement. Even though throughout these three years of marriage, he remained distant and polite toward me. I never complained, always believing that someday he would come to like me. Only today did I finally see clearly that Adrian had always kept his first love hidden in his heart. That’s why he had always been so thoroughly cold toward me. How meaningless. Thinking about this, I scrolled through my chat history with Adrian. The messages he initiated were pitifully few, just like the pleasant expressions he usually gave me—rarely any good ones. Forget it. Was a man like this really worth continuing to love? I closed the chat window and immediately contacted a familiar lawyer, asking him to help me draft a divorce agreement. Finally, I left Adrian just one cold message: “Let’s get divorced.” To spite him a little, I even made a point of going to his intern secretary’s post and liking it.
Just then, Adrian’s phone rang. I stared at the screen, hesitating for a few seconds before finally answering. “What’s with the attitude now? Today is Emma’s birthday, and I’m just going through the motions with her. Don’t make a big deal out of nothing, okay? I don’t need to explain such trivial matters to you—you’re being way too controlling. We’re married, sure, but you don’t need to treat me like a prisoner. Hey, Natalie, are you even listening?” Adrian fired off his accusations rapid-fire, his voice getting louder and louder, as if he wanted to dump all his frustration on me, making it seem like I was the one in the wrong. How ridiculous. I couldn’t help but let out a cold laugh. “Adrian, I can’t be bothered arguing with you. We won’t have anything to do with each other much longer anyway, so you can keep whoever you want company—I don’t care. And next time you want to spend money on some woman, go ahead, just don’t touch the money in my account.” Adrian probably thought I was jealous, because his voice suddenly softened. “Baby, I know I shouldn’t have been away on your birthday today, but you have everything. You come from money, your parents adore you—Emma has nothing. She only has me.” Those words pierced my ears worse than any insult could have. What was wrong with my parents giving me a good life? My fingertips trembled, and just hearing his voice made my stomach churn. I used to give my heart hoping to touch his someday, but reality loves to slap you in the face, leaving you nowhere to hide. “Adrian!” I bit my lip, my voice hoarse and tight. “Let’s get divorced. That way you can take care of your mistress with a clear conscience.” After saying that, I hung up and pulled the cake over, lighting the candles. Outside the window were endless streams of traffic and flickering neon lights. I closed my eyes and whispered softly, “Happy birthday, Natalie.” My lawyer worked fast—the divorce papers were delivered to my office first thing the next morning. Adrian didn’t show up until nearly noon. He pushed through the door and walked to my desk, looking completely apologetic. “I’m sorry, honey. I know you’re upset, and last night was definitely my fault, but Emma has no one else in this city except me. I really couldn’t just leave her there. It’s just a birthday, right? I’ll pretend I didn’t hear what you said yesterday, and we can just live our lives together, okay?” I looked up at this man I’d been with for three years, and the red mark on his neck made my eyes sting. A cold smile spread across my face. He couldn’t even be bothered to cover up the marks on his neck when he came to see me—if that wasn’t provocation, what was? Since he was being so blatant about it, what was the point of keeping someone like that around? I grabbed the divorce papers from the coffee table and threw them in front of him. “Divorce.” Adrian froze, and when he saw the papers, his whole face tensed up. “Natalie, are you serious? Do you really need to be this ruthless? Why should I walk away with nothing? I deserve half of everything from these three years of marriage.” I picked up my coffee cup without even lifting my eyes and splashed the scalding coffee right in his face. The hot coffee ran down his decent-looking face, with coffee stains dripping from his chin—quite the sight. Adrian was stunned by my move, and when he snapped back to reality, he started yelling at me: “Natalie, have you lost your mind?” “Yes, I’ve lost my mind—lost it enough to waste all these years on you. You’re such a piece of trash, I must have been blind to ever think you were worth it! Fooling around with your mistress—God knows what kind of diseases you’ve brought home!” Last night I had someone investigate everything, and that’s when I learned about all the things I’d been kept in the dark about. When Adrian said he was on business trips, he was actually taking Emma Hart on getaways. When he said he was working overtime, he was actually getting hotel rooms with Emma. Even those regular transactions on that card were money he was transferring to Emma. Adrian was counting on me never suspecting him. If I hadn’t accidentally seen Emma’s Facebook, if it hadn’t been for that $131,400 transfer, I would have stayed completely in the dark. Besides their secret affairs, the materials my secretary brought over also revealed their past history. Emma was Adrian’s college sweetheart. If it hadn’t been for the West family’s financial troubles three years ago and their desperate need to marry into my family, I wouldn’t have even had the chance to be his wife. I thought it was fate that brought us together, but it turned out to be nothing more than a calculated move by his family. Throughout our three-year marriage, Adrian had always been cold to me. I knew few arranged marriages turned into love stories—most couples just got by on the surface. But I was soft-hearted, always thinking I could be different, that even if he was cold, as long as I put in the effort, I could eventually warm his heart. In the end, all I got was betrayal. Adrian just watched me wear myself down for him, losing my spirit and living like I was nothing. In his eyes, all my efforts and genuine feelings were probably just a joke. In the end, he even had the audacity to bring his first love into the company and spend every day with her. Thinking back to his parents’ fake surprise when they “accidentally” ran into Emma, I finally understood they weren’t clueless—they were just playing dumb to protect their son. After all, the West family still needed the Quinn family to stay afloat. How pathetic. Three years of devotion, ending up as nothing but a joke. Since things had come to this, I might as well cut my losses and leave.
“What are you talking about! Who’s messing around with who!” Adrian shouted at me, roughly grabbing my wrist. My wrist throbbed with pain from his grip, and I frowned. But seeing his bloodshot eyes, I couldn’t help but laugh, my face full of disdain. “Adrian, do you really think I’m an idiot? How many times you and Emma got hotel rooms together – one check of the records would tell us everything. Stop going crazy in front of me. Your family still depends on mine for support. Please recognize your place.” Adrian finally started to panic. He suddenly realized that this time I wasn’t just throwing a tantrum. Adrian’s face instantly froze, and he slowly released my hand, his tone softening. “Natalie… we’ve been married for so many years, do you really have the heart to leave me with nothing?” His pitiful appearance disgusted me. I waved my hand to cut him off, my voice ice-cold. “Adrian, cut the crap and just sign the divorce papers.” I pulled away from him and looked directly into his eyes. “You know how much I loved you, how much I trusted you, but you never took me seriously, even though I’m your wife.” At this point, I couldn’t help but let out a long sigh. “So now I don’t want to revolve around you anymore. Didn’t you find me annoying? Fine, now I’m letting go voluntarily. You and Emma – I wish you both happiness.” After I said this, Adrian’s face looked even worse than before. “I didn’t!” He gritted his teeth and forced out those words. I shook my head, my heart completely cold. Adrian really was a man without backbone. On one hand, he couldn’t let go of his first love, and on the other, he couldn’t give up the benefits from my family. He wanted everything. I was already tired of dealing with him and just wanted to get out of this mess quickly. I had a meeting in the afternoon and no time to waste on him. But just as I reached the elevator, Adrian caught up and blocked my way, his face full of rage. “Natalie, stop right there and listen to me!” I looked at him expressionlessly, curious to see what tricks he had left. Looking at me, his voice softened. “Honey, I know I was wrong last night. I shouldn’t have left you to be with Emma. But after three years of marriage, are you really willing to just end it like this? If you really don’t care about me, why are all those portraits you drew of me still in the room, with tear stains from your crying last night still on them?” As he said this, Adrian’s face showed a smug expression. Hearing these words, my body instantly stiffened, and I felt completely cold. Adrian had seen everything. Last night, after discovering his betrayal, tears wouldn’t stop flowing. I pulled out that stack of portraits I’d drawn of him – three years’ worth accumulated into a thick pile. Looking through them one by one, each one filled with my heart and soul, tears dropping and soaking the paper. But I wasn’t crying because of his betrayal – I was heartbroken that my three years of genuine feelings had been trampled on like this. In three years, I’d almost lost myself completely. To please him, I changed my personality, making myself appear especially sweet and understanding. My friends used to laugh at me, asking how the little tyrant who used to rule the playground had become like this. They were right – how could I have changed myself like this for someone so unworthy? I shouldn’t be like this. Maybe because I hadn’t responded for too long, Adrian relaxed and even tried to take my hand. “Honey, let’s not get divorced. Look, your eyes are all red from crying. Why don’t you go home and rest first?” A breeze blew in from the window, and the cool air on my face finally brought me back to my senses. My eyes were indeed dry and irritated. I hadn’t slept all night, then got up early for work today, leaving me dizzy and exhausted. I pulled my hand back directly and looked up at him. “Adrian, this is the first time in three years you’ve humbled yourself to try to keep me. Is it because you’re afraid that after the divorce, your family won’t get any more benefits? Am I right?” Adrian suddenly fell silent, lowering his head and not daring to look at me. The answer was written all over his face.
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