The day it went viral online that I’d cheated on my husband, everyone assumed Ethan Vance would divorce me. Yet, he calmly went on a trip with his mistress. When asked about it, he spoke nonchalantly. “Ten years ago, I jumped from the third story of the school building to pursue Anastasia Reed, and broke a leg. She called me a pathetic simp, unworthy of love.” “Ten years later, I’ve ruined her. I’ve trapped her in the marital prison she hates most, making her life a living hell.” “I don’t love her anymore, so how could I care if she cheats?” His words were recorded and sent to me. A thirty-million dollar wager was placed, betting I’d beg for forgiveness within a day. Instead, I calmly dialed the hospital’s body donation program. Ethan didn’t know that on the day he confessed his love to me ten years ago, I dropped out of school and vanished because I’d been diagnosed with a rare disease. Doctors had given me countless death sentences, but my love for him pulled me through time and again. Now, I no longer loved him. A marital prison couldn’t hold a dead woman.
A month after Ethan went traveling with his mistress, I signed the body donation agreement. I calmly packed all my belongings and called the cemetery manager. “Ms. Davies, please buy me that plot.” “Yes, I won’t be burying a body, just some old things.” “Could you please pick up the packed items from Ethan’s villa?” With everything arranged, I transferred the last of my money via PayPal. The moment my account balance hit zero, there was no fear or confusion. Only a sense of peace and release from death. A year ago, I thought my illness was cured. With a mix of hope and trepidation, I returned to New York, hoping to win Ethan back. But I found everything had changed. Ethan hated me. He wished I was dead. He trapped me in the marriage I despised most. Reminding me again and again how much I’d hurt him back then. For a year, I quietly endured it, trying to melt away the hatred between us with love. But I failed. The consequence of that failure was my disease relapsing. This time, Ethan got what he wished for. His screams in bed, asking why I didn’t just die, had finally come true. Forcing myself to ship out the packed items, I swallowed a handful of painkillers. Just as the pain began to subside, my phone rang. Ethan’s Ins feed had updated again. He’d posted countless photos of him and Serena on their trip. They kissed under romantic snow-capped mountains. They planted a pine tree named after them in a vast, endless desert. They went deep-sea diving and took photos with sharks… All the things I had once written in my diary. All the things Ethan had promised to do with me. He had done them, one by one, with Serena. A sharp, stabbing pain pulsed in my chest, and I endured it numbly. Just as I was about to turn off my phone, Ethan’s call came directly through. “Ana Reed, send ten boxes of condoms to the Hilton Hotel.” “Serena is allergic to strawberry-flavored ones. If you mess up again, I’ll tell the vet to stop treating your precious sick dog!” Ethan’s voice was slightly breathless, and if I listened closely, I could hear a woman’s seductive voice. I gripped my phone, it took me a long moment to find my voice. “Ethan, Buddy is already dead…” “Poisoned by your mistress…” A month ago, Ethan held a welcome-home party for Serena. That night, he threw the games in front of me, deliberately losing to her multiple times. The first time, Serena demanded he French-kiss her for three minutes. Before the kiss, he drank the soup I’d spent three hours making for him, then locked lips with Serena, deliberately humiliating me.
The second time, Serena demanded he take off his shirt and leave seven hickeys on his abs, to commemorate their seven years apart. He stood before me, his voice cold, and ordered me to take off the shirt I’d ironed for him that morning. The third time, Serena leaned limply against him, pulling out a hotel key card, and wanted to go to bed with him. He tossed me a black card and told me to personally go buy condoms. I threw the strawberry-flavored condoms from my bag onto the table and walked away. In the middle of the night, Serena had an allergic reaction to strawberry-flavored condoms, went into anaphylactic shock, and was hospitalized. To punish me, he brought a critically ill Buddy home. When I found out, the doctor was telling me the news of my relapse, and Serena called me on FaceTime, laughing. “Ana Reed, I’m so sorry. I accidentally fed your dog rat poison. It died, foaming at the mouth.” My fingers gripping the phone turned white, and a sharp, continuous throbbing pain shot through my chest. Buddy was the dog we’d promised to raise together. Its warm yellow fur was the first color I saw after countless resuscitations. It had accompanied me through the most painful ten years, only to be poisoned to death. Tears streamed down my face. I didn’t wait for Ethan to speak again, hanging up the call immediately. Numbly, I returned to my bed, curling up, trying to draw warmth from around me. Just then, my phone started buzzing with texts, one after another. **[Ana Reed, do you know who orchestrated your affair??]** **[It was Ethan Vance!]** **[He knew you hated cheating most, but for Serena’s amusement, he still did it!]** The anonymous texts. I froze. My eyes were glued to the words: “Ethan orchestrated your affair.” Emotions churned within me, and a metallic taste of blood filled my throat. I once had a happy family. But because my dad cheated, my mom drove us away. The car collided with a semi-truck. My mom shielded me, her body crushed into pieces. That night, my mouth, eyes, and nostrils were all filled with the taste of my mother’s blood. I had once laid bare my deepest vulnerability. Ethan had protected it carefully, treasured it. Now, for Serena’s amusement, he’d used infidelity against me. My whole body spasmed with pain. I didn’t take any more painkillers and finally passed out. The next day when I woke up again, I signed for the euthanasia pills the doctor had sent. I unwrapped the pills and had just put them into my bag. When the villa door was suddenly kicked wide open. “Ana Reed, who told you to send Serena so many strawberry-flavored things!” “Don’t you know her allergy is so severe she couldn’t even stand the smell of strawberries?!” Ethan radiated cold fury, his eyes filled with intense disgust. I froze, then saw Serena, behind him, covering her face, smiling a knowing, meaningful smile. “Ethan, my face is ruined!” “I have to get my revenge…” Before she finished speaking, Serena strode forward. She slapped me, hard, across the face, again and again. “Smack!” “Smack, smack, smack!” My face stung and swelled from the slaps. I leaned against the wall. After collecting myself, I picked up a nearby vase and smashed it over her head. “Crash!” The vase shattered on Serena’s head. I stared intently at Ethan, and asked the question. “Ethan Vance, was that affair, was that all your doing?!” “It was my doing.” “I knew you hated cheating most, I did it on purpose!” “Ana Reed, do you know what I regret most?” “Saving you in sophomore year of high school! I should have let your dad and his mistress beat you to death!”
He spoke each word slowly. Ethan’s eyes harbored deep hatred. He gave me a look of disgust, then stepped back, calling a doctor to bandage Serena up. I slid down the wall to the floor. My heart felt like it was being chiseled open with an axe. In my agony, I finally realized that perhaps I had been wrong ten years ago. My perceived “good intentions” were actually slow poison. Ten years later, the poison took effect. Neither Ethan nor I could escape it. “Ethan, actually ten years ago, I…” Lying on the floor, I forced the metallic taste of blood down and began to speak. The next second, a delicate, fearful voice sounded. “Ethan, my head hurts so much! Come over and look at me!” Serena’s voice cut me off. Ethan walked past me, a sneer on his face as he spoke. “Ana Reed, you want to say you had a hidden reason back then? Do you think I’d believe it?” “Or, to put it another way, can the leg I broke for you just magically reappear?” His cold, mocking words were like a sledgehammer striking my soul. I bit down hard on my lip, looking down at Ethan’s left leg, which moved with an unnatural limp. All strength left my body. Without another word, I slowly stood up to return to the bedroom. But Ethan mocked me again. “Ana Reed, wrongdoers must be punished, didn’t you say that?” “How will you apologize this time?” “I’ll apologize with my death…” I said calmly, my fingers resting on the doorknob. I noticed my fingers, once slender and strong, were now dry and brittle like wood. “Ana Reed, what did you say?!” Ethan grabbed my hand tightly, his voice trembling with anger. “Death? You want to use death to escape your guilt towards me?” “I’m telling you, no way! In this world, as long as I don’t want you dead, you can’t die!” Ethan spoke through gritted teeth, his eyes blazing with fury. I didn’t say a word, calmly letting him hold my arm. Ethan didn’t know that everyone is subject to the natural cycle of life and death; he couldn’t stop it. “Ethan, I remember you broke a leg falling from the third story of the school building trying to pursue Ana Reed. How about we make Ana Reed jump from the third floor of the villa?” “There’s a pool below anyway, she’ll be fine.” After a few seconds of silent stalemate, Serena, her wounds bandaged and her eyes filled with hatred, walked over. She gently tugged Ethan’s arm, whining. “Ethan, just agree! Ana Reed hit my head so hard, she has to apologize to me!” “Plus, I have a photography exhibition soon, and I still need a dramatic diving photo!” Ethan’s grip on my arm tightened, and hatred churned in his eyes. In that moment, I thought he would just strangle me. But a few seconds later, he let out a cold laugh. “Fine!” “Let’s do it!” “I also want to see if our little scaredy-cat, who used to be terrified of heights and water, has overcome it yet?” That familiar nickname echoed in my ears. I clenched my fists and bit down hard on my lip, remaining silent. Ethan, however, smiled and had the bodyguards take me to the third floor of the villa. “Ana Reed, I’ll be waiting for you on the first floor. Don’t disappoint me with your apology…” Forced by the bodyguards to stand by the third-floor window, my whole body trembled. The long-suppressed metallic taste of blood seemed ready to burst forth. “Ana Reed, hurry up! Ethan and I are getting tired of waiting!”
On the ground floor, Ethan and Serena stood side-by-side. I didn’t know what Serena said, but Ethan bent down and kissed her. A sharp pain pierced my heart. I took out the euthanasia pills from my bag, remembering the doctor’s instructions. “Ms. Reed, if you want to go quickly, take this new pill.” “But after taking it, you mustn’t touch water for an hour, or your body will…” The doctor’s horrified expression reappeared in my mind. I held the euthanasia pills, turned, and had a bodyguard call Ethan. “Ethan, can I not jump?” I asked quietly, and Ethan’s sarcastic voice immediately came through. “Ana Reed, are you scared? Want me to give you a push?” “With your fake ashes.” Ethan’s words made my heart clench. Just then, the bodyguard came out carrying the box I’d sent to the cemetery for burial. “Shipping things to be buried in a cemetery?” “Ana Reed, you’re a real comedian.” “And this urn, it looks so convincing. If Serena hadn’t told me your dog was still alive, I would’ve been fooled.” “I’ll give you ten seconds. Jump now, or all these things are going straight into the pool!” His cold words came through the phone. I bit down so hard on my lip, I tasted blood, and was about to speak. But Ethan was already counting down. “Ten!” “Nine!” “Eight!” … Each count, one after another, was like the anesthetist’s countdown before surgery. I smiled through my tears, and agreed, my voice hoarse. “Okay…” The countdown on the phone stopped. Without hesitation, I swallowed the euthanasia pill. I stood on the windowsill. Just as I spread my arms, I heard a startled cry from below. “Ah! I didn’t mean to!” “I just wanted to see what was inside…” Serena’s surprised voice floated up. The small dog urn in Ethan’s hand was knocked over. A gust of wind blew, and the ashes inside scattered into the pool. Gray ashes floated on the surface of the water. Tears rolled down my eyes, blurring my vision. I spoke to Ethan on the phone one last time. “Ethan, after this apology with my death, I’ll owe you nothing anymore…” With that, I leaped from the third floor of the villa. My body plummeted rapidly. The wind whistled past. Memories flashed through my mind. I saw Ethan when we first met, his face radiating a bright, righteous energy, shielding me behind him. I saw Ethan bringing me tampons for the first time, his face flushed, but still asking if I was in pain. I saw Ethan, having written ninety-nine love letters, his eyes filled with love, swearing to love me forever. In the final flicker of my life, I saw the only sweetness in my short life. As my consciousness faded and I hit the pool, I saw twenty-eight-year-old Ethan, his face filled with shock and panic. … By the swimming pool, Ethan’s face was splashed by the water. The icy cold water snapped him back to reality. He looked at the ashes floating in the pool. My words echoed in his mind. For a moment, his mind went blank. “Ethan, Ana Reed’s expression when she jumped was so funny. When I put it in my exhibition, it’s going to go viral!” Serena held her camera, laughing carelessly. “Oh, why isn’t Ana Reed coming up yet? It’s so cold out, we should go back inside!” Serena pulled Ethan, heading towards the villa. But Ethan remained rooted to the spot. His eyes were fixed on the pool.
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