Jack and Rachel had been together for ten years, from high school sweethearts to newlyweds. To support her career, Jack willingly became a stay-at-home husband. He thought this was the happiness he wanted, until Rachel’s secret young lover called to mark his territory. Jack realized that years of devotion couldn’t compare to a few sweet nothings from a boy toy. Heartbroken, Jack decided to divorce, but Rachel coldly retorted, “You think you can get half of my assets? Dream on!” But Jack didn’t care about the money anymore, because he was already dying. Rachel had been working overtime a lot lately, and her appetite wasn’t good. Jack made her favorite sweet and sour ribs, but she only took one bite before rushing to the bathroom to retch. Jack was worried about her and wanted to check on her, but her phone on the table rang. The caller ID showed an unsaved number, and he instinctively picked it up to answer. “Babe, are you really not coming over tonight? I’ve got some new tricks prepared…” Before Jack could hear the rest of the sentence, Rachel suddenly snatched the phone from behind him. She angrily scolded him, “Who told you to touch my phone!” Jack stood there, stunned. From the day they met until their wedding, Jack and Rachel had been together for ten years. He thought he knew her well enough to trust her, and had never checked her phone. He didn’t expect that simply answering a call for her would provoke such a strong reaction. Rachel realized she had overreacted and quickly adjusted her tone, softening her expression. She explained, “It’s a new intern at the company. He keeps calling me for every little thing.” “Oh, do interns usually talk to their seniors with a cutesy voice and mention ‘new tricks’?” Jack asked. Rachel was at a loss for words but tried to defend herself, “He’s just a Gen Z kid. He jokes around like that all the time. Don’t overthink it. By ‘new tricks,’ he probably meant he came up with some new ideas and wanted my approval.” As if afraid Jack would continue to dwell on it, she cursed a few times at the person on the other end of the line. After hanging up, she playfully snuggled into Jack’s arms as usual. Then, pouting, she asked, “Are you jealous? You’re almost thirty, and you’re getting worked up over a kid?” “Of course not,” Jack lied.
Rachel usually cared a lot about her age. Once, when a college student handing out flyers called her “ma’am,” she was upset for an entire day. Now, to distance herself from the person on the phone, she kept referring to him as a “kid.” Her attempts to cover up were full of holes. Probably feeling a bit guilty, Rachel stopped working overtime for a while. She accompanied Jack to the supermarket and walked the dog in the park, just like when they first got married. However, she often stared at her phone absent-mindedly, with a sweet smile on her face. Jack didn’t want to dig deeper. After all, he didn’t have much time left and just wanted to spend it in blissful ignorance. Unfortunately, the algorithm didn’t spare him. In the friend recommendation list of a video app, Jack discovered Rachel’s “kid” with the cutesy voice. His name was Ethan, a handsome young man. The posting time of each of his videos coincided with Rachel’s “overtime” hours. In the videos, the faceless “older sister” girlfriend cooked for him, ironed his clothes, and patiently listened to his boring daily stories. But this “good sister” of his had Jack’s name initials tattooed on her wrist. “Honey, what’s wrong?” Rachel noticed Jack’s strange expression as he held his phone and asked tentatively. But the next second, Jack pulled her into his arms and almost frantically bit her collarbone. “Ouch… it hurts! Jack, stop it!” Ignoring her protests, Jack flipped her over and pinned her down. At that moment, he only wanted to vengefully leave his mark on her body again.
Slap! Rachel’s hand brought Jack back to his senses. His ears were ringing, and he covered his right cheek as his eyes gradually reddened. She thought she had slapped too hard and quickly sat up to ease the tension. “I’m sorry, honey. You scared me just now, and I instinctively…” “Well, anyway… it’s not that I don’t want to, but I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather lately. Let’s wait until next month for that kind of thing, okay?” Next month? Rachel had probably forgotten that their last time was nearly six months ago. About the same time her boy toy uploaded his first video. Jack remained silent, and as Rachel was about to say more to comfort him, her phone rang. She glanced at Jack, trying to appear calm, then walked to the window to answer. “Mm-hmm, don’t worry. I’ll be right there.” “Honey, I need to go out for a bit. Something came up at work.” Jack looked her straight in the eyes and asked, “Is it that intern from last time?” Rachel paused for a moment, then quickly explained, “You know how young people are. They can’t handle many things and always need help.” “Then fire him. What’s the point of keeping someone so useless?” Rachel didn’t expect Jack to say that. “Jack, who hasn’t made mistakes when they were young? Since when did you become so unsympathetic?” Great, she couldn’t even be bothered to call him “honey” anymore for the sake of her boy toy. Rachel left without looking back. As the door closed, the house fell into dead silence.
In the dark living room, only a mute dog kept Jack company. Seven years ago, on their way to get their marriage license, Jack and Rachel had found this mixed-breed dog. Rachel said its first half of life as a stray had been too bitter, so she named it Sugar Bean and said they’d raise it like their child. But just two months ago, behind Jack’s back, she had Sugar Bean’s vocal cords removed. All because she came home late one night and was annoyed that the dog disturbed her while she was catching up on sleep during the day. It seemed that both Jack and the dog had fallen out of her favor. Jack hugged Sugar Bean, lying on the couch, refreshing someone’s video account page over and over again. Sure enough, he had updated. “Which tie do you think looks best, babe? I’ve got a big client meeting tomorrow.” Ethan had posted three different outfit styles. He was either pulling at the tie around his neck with his shirt wide open, exposing his Adam’s apple and chest muscles, or using the tie as a prop, tying his hands behind his back or blindfolding himself. So this was the type Rachel liked now? She must have been having too much fun to notice the time. She didn’t return home until after 6 AM the next morning. She was surprised to see Jack sitting in the living room waiting for her. “You… didn’t sleep last night?” “Well, I was afraid you might still be angry yesterday, so I crashed at my friend’s place for the night.” Rachel continued to spin her lies, but Jack didn’t want to play along anymore. Expressionlessly, he tossed a pregnancy test in front of her. “Care to explain?”
When they got married, Rachel said she wanted to be child-free, so Jack had a vasectomy to support her decision. It was obvious whose child this was. “You knew?” A week ago, when Jack was leaving the house, he casually took out the trash. If the garbage bag hadn’t had a hole in the bottom, he wouldn’t have accidentally discovered this. Originally, knowing he didn’t have much time left, Jack thought that as long as Rachel and Ethan didn’t flaunt their relationship in front of him, there was no need to expose them. But Rachel kept treating him like a fool for the sake of that boy toy, and it became unbearable. In her panic, she still tried to argue, “Honey, even with a vasectomy, it’s not absolutely…” “Enough!” Jack interrupted her. “Do you remember when was the last time we were intimate?” Rachel’s expression flickered with confusion before settling into undisguisable embarrassment. Knowing she couldn’t talk her way out of this one, she finally came clean: “Yes, I changed my mind. Is that not allowed?” “When we got married, our combined monthly income was less than $1,000. How could we afford a child? I decided to be child-free because I understood your stress. Now that I’ve made it on my own, why can’t I have my own child?” So that’s how she saw it? But Jack clearly remembered that when she was just a sales representative at a small company, he had secured a stable government job. It was Rachel who worried that getting pregnant would cost her job, fearing that Jack might abandon her at any time. To give her the sense of security she wanted, he had the vasectomy. Jack’s voice trembled with anger, the lesion in his abdomen aching dully: “Is this your reason for finding a boy toy outside?” After saying this, how could she not understand who he was referring to? “Yes, I found a young hunk. He’s young, energetic, and knows how to sweet-talk me. Unlike you now, with no ambition and no romance, always looking gloomy. I’m already being merciful by not replacing you as my husband!” Jack laughed bitterly. So what he thought was companionship was, in her eyes, nothing but a burden she had long wanted to shake off. “Let’s get a divorce.” Rachel reacted as if she’d heard a joke: “You? Asking me for a divorce?” “Listen here, Jack. In my dictionary, there’s no such thing as divorce, only ’till death do us part’!”
After being a boss for a few years, Rachel’s demeanor had changed. She unconsciously started treating Jack the way she treated her employees. In the past, Jack would have let it slide, but now it was useless on him. He directly threw the prepared divorce agreement in front of her. Rachel sneered, tearing it to shreds in front of him: “You already had the agreement prepared. You’ve been looking for a chance to turn on me, haven’t you?” “We dated for three years and have been married for seven. Anyone would get bored! I just happened to get pregnant, and you caught me red-handed. As for you, can you honestly say you’ve never wavered? I think you’re just using this as an excuse, trying to divorce me and get half of my assets. Dream on!” Slap! Jack returned the earlier slap, with interest. “Don’t think everyone is like you.” Love isn’t just simple sensory stimulation, replacing partners when the passion fades. It’s about responsibility and companionship. Unfortunately, these things only reveal their true nature with the test of time. It was Jack who had chosen the wrong person, and he had to accept the consequences. “Whether you believe it or not, I didn’t ask for a penny in the agreement. I’ll only take my own savings.” “I have cancer. I don’t have long to live, so I don’t need the money anyway.” Rachel recovered from the slap, her tone slightly mocking: “Cancer? Jack, you’re not very creative, are you?”
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