The National Day holiday coincided with my fifth wedding anniversary with my wife Saylor. We had planned to spend the vacation together in Santorini, but on the morning of our departure, Saylor hurriedly packed her luggage and told me, “The company needs me for an urgent business trip.” I believed her, until late that night when I saw a post from Ryan, Saylor’s first love, on Instagram. In the photo, they were intimately close together, fingers intertwined, with matching couple bracelets shining brightly. I smiled bitterly. She had gone to Santorini after all, just not with the person she had promised. I didn’t call to confront her. I calmly liked the post. A minute later, Saylor called me in a panic: “It’s just a misunderstanding, we ran into each other on the business trip. I’ll make it up to you next year’s holiday, I promise.” I sneered, “It’s fine. Have a good time.” Saylor asked in surprise, “Why aren’t you jealous this time?” … When Saylor returned a week later, I didn’t rush to greet her at the door as I used to, taking her luggage and helping her change shoes. Saylor leaned against the doorway, frowning as she looked at me. “Yannick, where are my slippers?” In the past, I would always have her slippers neatly arranged to welcome her home, but not this time. Seeing me sitting motionless on the couch, watching TV, I said: “In the shoe cabinet. Find them yourself.” Saylor’s frown deepened when she heard my words, but after a moment’s hesitation, she relaxed her expression. She took out her slippers from the shoe cabinet and put them on. Walking up to me, she looked at the empty dining table and pouted, “I’m a bit hungry. Can you make me some dumplings?” In the past, whenever she said she was hungry, I would get up to cook for her even at 3 AM. But today I just coldly replied, “I’m busy. Order takeout yourself.” Saylor sighed with a flash of annoyance on her face, then immediately snuggled up to me and softened her tone, “Honey, I know you’re upset about my sudden business trip. I apologize. It won’t happen again. I brought you a special gift, can you forgive me this once?” I still stared straight ahead, my tone even. “You’re overthinking it. I’m not upset.” Saylor paused for a moment, frowning slightly. She took out a simply wrapped gift from her suitcase. After unwrapping it, it was a tie. Saylor looked at me expectantly and said, “Do you like it? I picked it out especially for you.” I remembered Ryan’s Instagram post from three days ago: A mall opening promotion, spend $1000 and get a free tie. That blue-green striped tie was now being presented to me by Saylor as a carefully selected gift. I didn’t show any dissatisfaction on my face, accepting the gift and saying flatly, “Thanks. You’re thoughtful.” Seeing that I had nothing else to say, Saylor was a bit taken aback. “That’s all you have to say?” I just gave a noncommittal “Mm” and asked, “What else do you want to hear?” Saylor frowned slightly and explained while holding my arm. “Are you still upset? I already explained that day, Ryan and I really just ran into each other at the airport and had a meal together during the business trip.” I just nodded, “I know. I’m not upset.” My reaction seemed to surprise her. She looked at me in disbelief: “Why aren’t you jealous this time?” “No reason. I’ve come to terms with it.” I stood up, grabbing my coat to leave. Saylor stepped forward to block my way and demanded: “Where are you going? Where’s my anniversary gift?” A month ago, I had bought a blue sapphire bracelet at an auction, and Saylor had seen the news. To her surprise, I took out my phone and transferred her $3000, saying: “I forgot to prepare anything. I’ve sent you some money, buy whatever you like.” Saylor fell silent. In our five years of marriage, I had always carefully prepared gifts for her on every holiday, without fail. She was stunned for a few seconds, then angrily grabbed my hand and asked, “What about the bracelet?!” I laughed coldly, pointing at her hand. “What bracelet? Aren’t you wearing the couple bracelet with Ryan?” Saylor immediately became very uncomfortable. “This… it’s just a friendship gift from him, don’t overthink it. I’ll take it off right now.” Having lived together for five years, I was familiar with her micro-expressions. From the way she clutched the hem of her shirt, I could see her panic. Since I had already given up, I really didn’t want to say more to her. I pinched the bridge of my nose, turning away with an exhausted look.
In the five years since our marriage, I had always put Saylor first in everything, and it had been a long time since I’d seen my old friends. I immediately bought a plane ticket to Hong Kong to meet up with my buddies. My friend Kevin immediately arranged a dinner when he received my call. After a few drinks, everyone looked at me and said almost in unison: “We thought you forgot about us after getting married. Does Saylor know you’re here?” I took a couple sips of wine and smiled, replying: “You can call me anytime from now on. I don’t need her permission anymore.” My phone screen kept flashing, with Saylor calling me over a dozen times. After Ryan returned to the country, there were many times when Saylor didn’t come home at night and I anxiously called her like this. A few times when I angrily questioned why I could never reach her by phone, she impatiently replied, “Is the sky falling? It makes me sick every time I see you calling me repeatedly.” Now, she had become the one making me sick. We partied until late at night. As we were about to leave, Saylor burst in, looking disheveled. She pulled out a chair and sat down naturally beside me, snatching my wine glass and saying, “Even if you’re in a bad mood, you shouldn’t drown your sorrows in alcohol. Don’t you know about your stomach problems?” For a moment, I was dazed. Her sudden show of concern made me very uncomfortable. I raised my eyes to glance at her coldly. “What are you doing here?” My friends politely greeted her. She smiled in response and then tightly gripped my hand, saying softly, “You weren’t answering my calls, so I had to come find you.” I shook her off with obvious displeasure and said coldly, “Saylor, I’ve already told you we have nothing to do with each other anymore. Please don’t do these out-of-line things.” Seeing my resolute attitude, Saylor stared at me in shock. I directly pulled my friends away, walking past her. Saylor ran out after us, shouting at my back, “Yannick, I’ve already come to make up with you. What more do you want me to do?” “We’re almost thirty years old. Can’t you be more rational than disappearing over a marital spat?” Saylor got straight into the car, following me back to Kevin’s place. In the car, she tried to talk to me again. I directly rejected her. She became somewhat exasperated: “You’ve had enough of your tantrum and enough to drink. Will you come home with me?” “I know you’re jealous, but Ryan and I really are just friends. Why do you have to hurt yourself like this?” I smiled and replied, “You misunderstand. I’m drinking because I’m happy to see my friends. It has nothing to do with anything else.” With that, I pushed Saylor away and went inside with Kevin. No matter how much she knocked, I ignored her. That night, I slept very soundly.
The next morning, Kevin knocked on my door to tell me Saylor was here. After getting dressed, I went downstairs to see Saylor sitting silently at the dining table with a gloomy face. I knew she was angry. In the past, even a slight frown from her would have sent me rushing to cheer her up. But this time, I walked away without looking back, hailing a taxi on the street. At the airport, I ran into Saylor again. She walked up to me, her tone full of anger. “Yannick, we’re married. There’s really no need to avoid me over some small matter.” I didn’t even look up, tapping on my keyboard as I replied, “You’re overthinking it. I have no intention of avoiding you.” Just as I finished speaking, Saylor’s phone rang with a special ringtone for priority contacts. After answering, I heard Ryan say through the screen: “Where are you? Don’t forget tonight’s party. Whether we can close this deal depends on today.” Ever since Ryan returned to the country after his divorce three years ago, Saylor had been secretly helping him using my name. I had originally planned to turn a blind eye. But seeing Saylor’s upturned lips, I felt mocked. She had never used such a gentle tone with me. Many times when she spoke to me, it was in a businesslike manner. I had suggested before that I hoped she could be gentler with me. Each time she impatiently replied, “Work is already giving me a headache. Can you not have so many demands of me?” Thinking of this, I immediately sent two messages to my secretary, telling him to inform our business partners that Saylor and I were in the process of divorcing. After hanging up, when she turned to look at me, she instantly put away her sweet smile. “The company still has some issues to deal with. There are no more tickets for the nearest flight. Can you give me your ticket? You can wait for the next one…” Seeing me motionless, Saylor repeated what she had just said. But I coldly responded. “I didn’t buy a ticket back to River City.” As soon as I finished speaking, Saylor exploded in anger. “Yannick, so from the beginning, you came to the airport just to put on a show, to tell me you’re jealous, right?” “You’re really childish!” With that, Saylor stormed off without looking back. I watched Saylor’s retreating figure with a surge of bitterness in my heart. No matter when, as long as Ryan called, Saylor would drop everything to rush to his side. Just like that New Year’s post Ryan had made: True love means that no matter when, you’re always her first choice.
I hadn’t bought a ticket back to River City because my destination was Singapore. After taking over the family business, what I wanted most was to enter the supermarket industry, and that plot of land in the west suburbs was the most suitable location at the moment. Kevin recommended a mentor to me, saying he was his father’s close friend. As long as I had a meal with him, I could learn a lot. We hit it off immediately. During the meal, the mentor helped me solve many of my current doubts. He liked me very much and suggested that I stay and study in his company for half a year, saying that after half a year I would definitely be able to successfully enter the supermarket industry and make a name for myself. With such an opportunity presented, I had no reason to refuse. After dinner, before I could send the mentor back to his residence, Saylor’s calls kept coming in. I impatiently hung up several times until the mentor spoke up: “Do you need to inform your family about coming to Singapore?” The mentor must have seen my affectionate contact name for Saylor. I shook my head and explained: “That’s my ex-family now. I’ve already decided to divorce.” After dropping the mentor off, I finally called Saylor back. As soon as the call connected, Saylor directly questioned me: “Yannick, what do you mean? Why are the business partners telling me today that they will only discuss cooperation matters with you face-to-face?” “What exactly happened? Haven’t I been in charge of all company affairs big and small for the past few years? Do you know how important tonight’s cooperation is to me?” Hearing her usual imperious tone, I couldn’t help but laugh. “So what?” Just as I finished speaking, Ryan’s voice came through the phone: “Saylor, you have to help me with this. I only have you now.” Saylor reassured him softly, “Don’t worry, I’ve got this.” Hearing this, I clenched my fist and struck the steering wheel hard twice, a surge of hatred rising in my heart. Saylor kept insisting to me that there was nothing between her and Ryan, yet she was comforting him tenderly right in front of me. I don’t know when Saylor started wearing this mask of false emotions when facing me. It’s truly disgusting. I coldly refused and then hung up the phone and turned it off.
I stayed in Singapore for two days. Besides having tea and chatting with the mentor and handling the onboarding procedures, I also found a place to live near the company. I had my assistant inform several business partners in advance about my plans to go abroad, and thanked them for their support over the years. There were no signs of Saylor having returned home. Everything was as usual, so I took the opportunity to change the passcode on the front door. After resting for a day, the business partners called me one after another saying they wanted to arrange a farewell dinner. I couldn’t refuse, so I had to attend. The private room door was ajar, and I heard Ryan chatting happily with the business partners. I was a bit puzzled, not expecting that a simple farewell dinner would invite Saylor and Ryan. I paused for a few seconds, but still pushed the door open and went in. Ryan was sitting in the main seat, leaning against Saylor. Saylor glanced at me and said, “Everyone here today is a friend, so just sit wherever.” “There was some confusion at the banquet that night. Now that everyone’s here, let’s have an open discussion.” The business partners’ gazes all fell on me. Seeing my gloomy face and silence, they didn’t say anything either. Ryan’s eyes were full of smugness as he smirked at me. I didn’t want to sit near them anyway, so I casually pulled out a chair and sat down. During the meal, Ryan kept toasting the business partners, loudly discussing the bright prospects after signing the cooperation. He was clearly very happy tonight. My phone also kept flashing. Saylor sent me several messages. “I’m going to announce something later, please give me some face. If you have any questions, we can discuss them when we get home.” “You should be able to see today that there’s nothing between Ryan and me. I have nothing to hide from you.” I kept reading until the last message popped up. “Ryan will probably drink too much today. I might have to send him home first after we’re done.” I raised an eyebrow and briefly replied “Whatever.” After a few rounds of drinks, Saylor saw the atmosphere was right and stood up with Ryan to make a toast and announce: “From today on, Ryan will be our company’s newly cultivated person in charge. He’ll be responsible for liaising with you all in the future. Please take care of him.” At this point, the business partner closest to me asked in confusion: “Liaising? What liaising? Frost Corporation has already decided to withdraw from River City, and we’re all prepared to withdraw our investments too. Who are you going to liaise with?” “What?! Withdraw from River City? Yannick, you…” Saylor was shocked, suddenly turning to look at me. I nodded calmly: “Yes, I plan to move Frost Corporation overseas.” Saylor’s eyes widened in disbelief: “You want to take Frost Corporation overseas? What about me?”
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