1 While packing up our new house, an old tablet of mine suddenly lit up, displaying a local trending video from three years in the future. The headline was impossibly eye-catching: Devoted Billionaire Buys Entire Island to Bring a Smile to His Beloved Wife. I laughed and passed the tablet to Nathan. “Mr. Bennett, you’re going to be trending in three years? Surely this beloved wife is me?” Nathan walked over, pressing a tender kiss against my forehead. “Who else could it be? You stayed by my side when we had absolutely nothing. I would give my life just to hold you in the palm of my hand.” Lost in a haze of happiness, I looked down and tapped the video. A reporter was asking with sheer envy: “Mrs. Bennett, we heard your husband personally committed his ex-wife to a psychiatric hospital just to appease you?” The woman on screen blinked, her eyes pooling with delicate tears. “Yes. Nathan said that was what she owed me.” The smile on my face instantly froze. The woman addressed as Mrs. Bennett was Sherry. She was my former best friend, the one whom I had once sold my own belongings and taken on crippling debt to save when she was in her darkest hour. And yet, barely an hour later, Nathan would stand in this very room, screaming at me, calling me cold-blooded and selfish, and smashing every single one of our wedding photos, all because of Sherry. Outside the door, Sherry’s muffled, calculated sobs drifted in. “Nathan, it’s all my fault. If I hadn’t come back, you two wouldn’t be fighting. Maybe I should just leave. I don’t want to lose her as a friend.” Then came Nathan’s gentle, comforting murmur. “It’s fine. I broke the photos, not you. Don’t be afraid, I’ll talk to her.” The door pushed open. He looked at the glowing tablet in my hands, showing not a single trace of guilt for his recent outburst. He opened his arms, expecting me to step into them. “Still angry? I lost my temper earlier, but you said some incredibly harsh things. Sherry is your best friend, and she’s already crying from guilt. Was it really necessary to humiliate her in front of the house staff?” My body felt like ice. I stiffened, deliberately stepping back from his reach. In that moment, the ruthless, cold billionaire from the future video and the gentle, brow-furrowed husband standing before me merged perfectly. I stared at him, my fingertips trembling slightly. “Nathan, let me ask you a question.” “What is it?” “If I went crazy one day, would you send me away? To an asylum?” Nathan’s brow furrowed deeper, his tone sharpening with reprimand. “What are you throwing a fit about now? We can retake the photos tomorrow. Sherry has nowhere else to go, she is already miserable enough. You used to sacrifice your own comfort to help her, so why is it that now, as Mrs. Bennett, you’ve become so cold and selfish? Can you really not tolerate your own friend?” My breath caught in my throat. There was no hysterical screaming, no shattered glass, just a heavy, suffocating silence. So, in my husband’s eyes, my past sacrifices to save my friend were simply expected of me, while defending the boundaries of my marriage now made me cold and selfish. The future was already unfolding, piece by piece. The next morning, Sherry didn’t leave. She walked into the living room holding a glass of warm milk, her eyes red as she reached for my hand. “We’re best friends, Evelyn. You used to care about me more than anyone. Please don’t let my presence ruin your marriage, okay?” I coldly pulled my hand back, ignoring her completely. By afternoon, as I approached the study with a glass of water, I heard rustling from inside. Pushing the door open, I found Sherry standing by my desk, holding my external hard drive. “What are you doing?” I demanded. “I only wanted to help tidy up. I remembered how you used to love the coffee I brewed when you were writing your drafts.” Before she finished, her hand suddenly trembled. The drive slipped from her fingers, clattering to the floor, and the mug of coffee tipped over, completely drowning the device. My chest tightened, a sharp pain piercing my heart. “Don’t touch that!” I rushed forward, pushing her aside to salvage the drive from the puddle of liquid. Sherry tumbled against the bookshelf, clutching her ankle as tears streamed down her face. “I’m so sorry, I only wanted to make things right. After all our years of friendship, won’t you even give me a chance to explain?” Heavy, rushed footsteps echoed down the hallway. Nathan burst into the room. He didn’t look at me once. He went straight to Sherry, gently lifting her from the floor. When he finally turned to me, his eyes were heavy with disappointment. My voice shook uncontrollably. “Nathan, when she had nothing, I borrowed from everyone I knew to pull her out of the dirt! Is this how she repays me? She destroyed my drive! It has ten years of our lives on it!” Nathan stepped in front of Sherry, shielding her. “Just because you helped her back then doesn’t mean you get to treat her like a criminal now! She was only trying to help you organize.” With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the drive directly into the trash can. “Nathan!” I gasped, standing up. “It’s just some old photos and outdated files,” he said, his voice entirely dismissive. “If it’s ruined, it’s ruined. I’ll make time to take new photos with you tomorrow. The doctor said Sherry has severe depressive tendencies and can’t handle any stress. Stop using a piece of useless junk to torment her just because she owes you a favor from years ago, will you?” I stood frozen in place. I remembered a night years ago, when a blizzard shut down the city and our basement apartment felt like an icebox. My hands were swollen with painful chilblains, but I kept typing away on my keyboard to finish my manuscript. He had come home from handing out flyers, immediately tucking my freezing hands against his chest to warm them, kissing my reddened fingertips. “From now on, every word you write and every photo we take will be saved on this drive. This is our most precious treasure, and nobody can ever take it from us.” “Okay,” I heard my own voice reply, dry and hollow. Nathan blinked, surprised by how easily I surrendered. He let out a sigh of relief, his voice softening into that patronizing warmth. “I’m glad you’re being reasonable. Sherry scares easily, so keep your history in mind and try to be more accommodating.” I didn’t look at him, nor did I look at Sherry. I turned around and walked out of the study, one quiet step at a time. I didn’t make another scene about the drive. I locked myself in my room. Thinking I had finally learned to behave, Nathan knocked gently on the door. “Sleep early, and don’t overthink things. I’m going to check on Sherry’s ankle.” The footsteps faded, followed by the muffled sound of my husband comforting another woman. Leaning against the door, I listened to the soft, gentle murmurs from the guest room. I knew my marriage had just entered the countdown to that viral video. The next afternoon. To completely shatter my resistance, Sherry was willing to risk her own life. I had just filled a cup of hot water and reached the top of the stairs when I saw Sherry standing near the edge, a few steps down. She glanced at me, and in the next second, she threw herself backward without hesitation. Nathan came charging up from downstairs. Sherry lay at the landing below, her leg visibly fractured, clutching her shin as cold sweat beaded on her forehead. She gripped Nathan’s sleeve, sobbing hysterically. “Nathan, don’t blame Evelyn… I just lost my footing. She was only angry with me, please don’t be mad at her.” Nathan cradled her tightly, snapping his head up to glare at me with pure fury. I pulled out my phone, loaded the high-definition hallway security feed, and tossed it right in front of him. The screen showed the truth with absolute clarity. I was standing yards away from her, not even close enough to brush her clothes. “Look closely,” I said, my voice dead of any emotion. “She threw herself down.” I thought the footage would wake him up, that it would force him to see Sherry’s true colors. But as Nathan watched the screen, his tense shoulders didn’t relax. He handed Sherry over to the family doctor who had just arrived, then stood up and walked over to me. He reached out, gripping my fingers tightly. “I know you didn’t push her,” his voice trembled slightly. “I always believe you.” But then, he spoke the most cruel words imaginable. “But Sherry’s mental state is on the verge of a total collapse. She has severe paranoia. I’m begging you… just apologize to her. Admit you pushed her, alright? Just do it to soothe a sick patient, to give her some security.” I froze, doubting my own ears. “What did you say?” I stared at him in disbelief. “She framed me, and you want me to confess to her crime?” “It’s just to soothe a patient!” Nathan’s eyes turned red, his voice thick with frustration and helplessness. “You’re healthy, Evelyn. You’re strong. You can handle a little unfairness! But if Sherry is pushed any further, she might actually die!” He squeezed my hands tighter. “Can you really not show a little compassion to save a life?” The hallway fell into a deathly silence, echoed only by his self-righteous demands. The deepest despair isn’t when a person doesn’t believe you; it is when he knows the absolute truth, knows you are innocent, and still demands your sacrifice. I looked at the man who claimed to love me. Slowly, deliberately, I pulled my hands from his grip. “Nathan,” I said, looking at his empty hands. “If this is to soothe her, then who is going to soothe me?” He froze, his mouth opening slightly, but no words came out. I didn’t wait for an answer. I already knew his choice. From that day on, I completely cut off all communication with everyone in the house. Having refused to apologize, I simply chose to ignore their existence. I stopped speaking entirely, spending days and nights sitting on my bedroom balcony, staring out into the void. No crying, no arguing. Outside my door, the sound of wheelchair wheels rolling by became a frequent occurrence. Sherry would purposely park herself right outside my room, raising her voice just enough for me to hear as she whimpered to Nathan. “Nathan, does she still hate me? She hasn’t left her room or spoken a word in a week. Yesterday I peeked through the gap in the door, and she was just staring at me with those cold, hollow eyes… I’m so scared.” Nathan’s voice was low, heavy with exhaustion. “Don’t be afraid. She’s just being stubborn, throwing a tantrum.” “But… I read a medical article the other day. People who resort to extreme silent treatment like this often have severe underlying psychological issues. I don’t care about my own comfort, but I’m worried she might hurt herself one day. Or what if she snaps and hurts you?” Inside the room, listening to her pretend to care for my well-being, I couldn’t even muster the energy to smile. I had believed Nathan possessed basic judgment. I believed he would at least respect our ten years together and not be blinded by such clumsy manipulation. Until three days later, in the afternoon. The bedroom door was quietly pushed open. Nathan walked in, followed by a man and a woman in plain clothes. The way they looked at me was not how one looks at a human being. I sat on my balcony chair, watching them coldly. “Get out.” Nathan didn’t get angry. He walked over, gently cupping my cheek. “Sweetheart,” his eyes filled with a terrifyingly deep affection, “you’ve been so suppressed lately. You don’t even seem like yourself anymore.” He pointed to the two strangers behind him. “This is a top-tier psychological care team I personally reached out to. I’ve arranged a room for you at a highly private, luxury sanitarium in the suburbs. The environment is beautiful and quiet, and no one will disturb you. Go stay there for a while, work with the doctors, and heal your paranoia and resentment, okay?” Hearing those words, the trending video from three years in the future began to play on a loop in my mind. I had assumed that scene would only occur after we had completely torn each other apart. I never expected the gears of fate to grind together so soon. I stared at the deeply affectionate man in front of me, my entire body trembling. “You think I’m crazy? You want to lock me up in an asylum?” Nathan’s brow knit together. He grabbed my shaking hands, squeezing them tight, his voice a mixture of gentleness and irritation. “How could you call it locking you up? Why do you always assume the worst of me? I’m doing this for your own good! Look at yourself right now, you look like a ghost! You can’t even communicate normally! Staying here will only torture both you and Sherry, destroying whatever love we have left. Go there to get some peace, be a good girl, and listen to the doctors. Once you’re better and your emotions are stable, I’ll bring you straight back home so we can start over.” He spoke with such absolute conviction, such flawless self-righteousness. The male doctor stepped forward, handing over a thick folder. “Mr. Bennett, since the patient is showing clear signs of resistance and persecutory delusions, we recommend immediate isolation. As her immediate family member, please sign this consent form for involuntary psychological intervention. Our team will handle the transport and closed treatment from here.” “Don’t worry, it’s just a routine procedure. The staff inside will take good care of you,” Nathan murmured, reaching for the pen the doctor offered. “Nathan,” I called his name one last time. His hand paused, and he looked up at me. “If you sign that paper,” I said, looking directly into his eyes without a single tear, “whatever was left between us dies forever.” Nathan’s pupils shrank. His fingers gripped the pen so hard they turned white. But a moment later, he let out a long, heavy sigh. “Look at you, still making these extreme threats. The doctor is right; you can’t control your emotions at all right now, always trying to manipulate me with these dramatic words.” Without another second of hesitation, he leaned down and wrote his name on the consent form. I watched the signature dry, seeing the immediate relief wash over his face. And then, I laughed. It started as a soft curve of my lips, but soon, I threw my head back and let out a full, ringing laugh. The sound seemed to unnerve Nathan, a flicker of panic crossing his eyes. “What are you laughing at?” He frowned, reaching out to hold me. “Nothing,” I said, quietly pulling my hands away, my gaze perfectly still. Seeing this, the two doctors stepped forward to take custody of me. “Mrs. Bennett, please cooperate with us.” “Don’t touch me,” I warned, throwing them a cold glare before turning back to Nathan. “Fine. I’ll go.” Nathan blinked, clearly caught off guard by my sudden compliance. Joy immediately flooded his features, erasing his anxiety. “You finally understand! Good, that’s wonderful! As long as you go get treated, I’ll give you anything you want!” “I want a chestnut tart from the bakery on West End,” I said. “You have to go buy it yourself, don’t send your assistant. When you bring it back, I’ll leave with them quietly.” Nathan breathed a massive sigh of relief. He wrapped his arms around me, kissing my forehead eagerly. “Of course! I’ll go get it right now. Wait for me here, don’t go anywhere!” He stood up, turning to the doctors with a strict warning. “You two wait downstairs. I’ll drive her over myself once I return.” With that, he grabbed his keys and rushed out the door. As the front door clicked shut, the house fell into an absolute, beautiful silence. I didn’t look out the window, nor did I check to see if Sherry was watching. I walked over to the vanity, opened the bottom drawer, and pulled out the divorce papers I had printed long ago. I slowly slid the wedding ring off my finger and placed it right in the center of the documents. Having finished, I calmly walked downstairs, bypassed Sherry who was watching television in the living room without a single pause, and stepped out of the villa that had nearly become my tomb. By evening, Nathan returned, excitedly pushing open the front door with a pastry box in his hand. “Sweetheart, I got the tart! It’s still warm, come try some…” The house was eerily quiet, save for the low drone of the television from the living room. “Evelyn?” Nathan called out, pushing open the bedroom door with a smile, only to be met by a cold, empty room. His gaze swept across the space, eventually settling on the vanity. In the next second, the smile on his face froze, and his pupils contracted with sudden terror.
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