He suddenly became passionate about fitness and started paying attention to his appearance. His clothes always carried a faint scent of lily of the valley. He was acting suspiciously flirtatious. So, I followed him. I overheard him insulting me while joking with his friends: “Olivia is no longer the campus beauty you guys knew. Now her figure is all saggy, no different from a middle-aged woman. I feel unlucky every time I see her bland face.” “If it weren’t for having to split half of our assets in a divorce, I would have married my little sweetheart long ago.” Later, I found a prenatal screening test for Down syndrome in his briefcase. It turned out that his mistress was already over four months pregnant. The information about the pregnant woman on the test caught my attention. When I saw that familiar name, I froze on the spot. What do you do when you’re middle-aged and discover that your husband, with whom you’ve built a life together from nothing, is cheating? This question seems difficult to answer. You have children together and have accumulated considerable assets through years of hard work. You’ve shaped a rash and naive young man into today’s gentle and elegant figure. But now, he belongs to someone else. Should you quickly divide some assets and get a divorce? It doesn’t seem quite fair. Should you drag them along, exhausting the last of your marital affection? But doing so would disgust them and yourself. So, what’s the best answer? My answer is, I can’t get divorced! But… I can become a widow!
Discovering Jack’s affair was actually a very accidental small incident. That day, before letting our housekeeper take Jack’s tailored suit for dry cleaning, I habitually checked the pockets. Then I pulled out a Chanel Coco Mademoiselle lip balm from the right pocket. The lip balm showed obvious signs of use. It couldn’t be something he had just bought for me. And it definitely wasn’t his own. Because this lip balm leaves a shimmering effect on the lips, something only girls would use. The faint lily of the valley scent from the clothes rushed into my nostrils. I stood there stunned for a long time without moving. Perhaps it was a woman’s unreasonable sixth sense. Just this lip balm and this whiff of fragrance made me certain that Jack was having an affair. He wasn’t a person without boundaries. He wouldn’t put a girl’s personal items in his own pocket. So, the lip balm might have been deliberately placed in his pocket by someone else to test me, or Jack might have kept it for that person and forgotten to return it. Either way, the result was obvious. I expressionlessly put the lip balm back in the pocket and returned his suit to its original place. I went to the bathroom and washed my face, trying to clear my dizzy mind. But it didn’t help much.
After sitting numbly for two hours. I called Ryan Thompson, Jack’s senior secretary. I originally wanted to subtly inquire about Jack’s whereabouts these days. When the call connected, I heard Ryan softly shush someone, and then the noise in the background gradually quieted down. A moment later, he asked with a hint of amusement in his voice: “Mrs. Wilson, are you looking for Mr. Wilson? What a coincidence, he just left to meet a client and isn’t in the office right now.” Meeting a client without taking along his capable and skilled senior secretary? The lie was rather clumsy. “No, I’m looking for you,” I directly denied. Ryan paused for a moment, then replied with a smile: “Mrs. Wilson, what can I do for you? Just say the word.” My fingers lightly tapped on the sofa armrest, my voice as cold as ice: “Ryan, do you remember how you climbed to your current position?” There were a few seconds of silence on the other end. When he spoke again, his voice carried a hint of guilt: “You sponsored my education, then brought me into the company and personally mentored me.” “Then why did I leave the company and can now only stay at home doing nothing?” I immediately asked again. “It’s… it’s because I dozed off while driving and caused an accident, resulting in… resulting in your left scapula being fractured. Since then, your left arm has had limited mobility…” Ryan stuttered in his response. Even without seeing him, I could imagine his uncomfortable and fidgety appearance at that moment. I took a deep breath, suppressing the anger about to erupt from my chest. “Now, I’m looking for Jack. Is he there?” “…Yes!” “Where are you now?” “The Jiuzhou Club.” “Room number.” “61008.” I hung up the phone.
As Ryan said, my left arm had limited mobility due to the accident injury, causing excruciating pain every time I raised or moved it outward. I couldn’t even hold the steering wheel with both hands while driving. I had been persistently doing rehabilitation for the past two years, but with little effect. I took a taxi to the Jiuzhou Club. Ryan was already waiting at the entrance on the first floor. When he saw me, he smoothly took the bag from my hand and led me towards the elevator. In the elevator, he wrung his hands nervously, awkwardly apologizing to me: “Mrs. Wil… I mean, Olivia, I’m sorry.” “It’s just that Mr. Wilson is only meeting friends today. I was afraid you’d worry, so I said he went to see a client.” Today he’s meeting friends. What about before? My expression remained cold, and I didn’t look at him again. How could I expect sincerity from an outsider when my husband of twenty-three years would cheat? Ryan escorted me to the private room door, then excused himself to go to the bathroom and left. I wanted to push the door open, to see which woman Jack was holding in his arms. Voices teasing Jack came from inside. I withdrew my hand and stood quietly at the half-open door of the private room. Someone spoke up to joke: “Old Jack is really behaving himself. We’re all surrounded by women, but he’s just sitting there drinking juice.” Someone quickly responded. “Of course, Jack married the campus beauty we all envied back then. She’s a perfect helper. I heard their son even got into Fudan University under Olivia’s guidance. Tsk tsk, having a virtuous wife really does bring prosperity for generations.” “You’re all wrong!” This voice belonged to Marcus Evans, Jack’s old friend. Half mockingly and half enviously, he said: “He’s keeping himself pure for his little girlfriend. She’s strict with him, set twenty house rules, including not drinking or messing around behind her back. Otherwise, she’ll punish him by not letting him into her bed. Last week he secretly drank and upset his little girlfriend. It took hundreds of thousands worth of jewelry to appease her.” “Really?” Several people snickered in surprise. Jack relaxed back against the sofa, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Marcus continued sarcastically: “The girl is only 26, just 7 years older than his son. He can actually bring himself to do it. Don’t you think he’s a beast?” No one responded to his words. Jack crossed his left leg over his right, looking even more at ease. “Haven’t you heard that men are forever young at heart? I’m just seeking some excitement. “You don’t know, Olivia is no longer the campus beauty you guys knew. Now her figure is all saggy, no different from a middle-aged woman. She’s always sickly. I feel unlucky every time I see her bland face. “Besides, even if she were a celestial beauty, I’ve been sleeping with her for over 20 years. I’m tired of it. “If it weren’t for having to split half of our assets in a divorce, I would have married your little sister-in-law long ago.”
It was like having a bucket of ice water dumped over my head. Chilled from head to toe. A chill running through my bones. If I hadn’t heard it with my own ears, it would be hard to believe these words came from the mouth of my humble and gentle husband. Some of what he said wasn’t wrong. You can never imagine how heartless a man can be once he’s changed his mind. He becomes a complete stranger to you. I didn’t disturb them and turned to leave. At the elevator, Ryan was pacing back and forth. Seeing me approach, he quickly came over, smiling: “Mrs. Wilson, I was right, wasn’t I? Mr. Wilson was just catching up with old friends. Those girls in the room have nothing to do with him. He even specifically asked me to order juice for him, afraid of getting drunk and worrying you.” I looked at the man before me, now full of shrewdness. The caution and sincerity in his eyes from years ago had long since disappeared. His face was full of ingratiating smiles: “Mrs. Wilson, let me take you home. Mr. Wilson is with his old classmates anyway, there’s nothing for me to do. Don’t worry, I won’t tell Mr. Wilson you were here.” I didn’t object to his kindness. Ryan was driving the business car used to pick up Jack. As I sat in the back seat, two sets of overlapping handprints, one large and one small, on the car window caught my eye. My heart suddenly sank. I stared fixedly at those chaotic large and small handprints, which seemed to be telling me what kind of dirty story had taken place here. After getting out of the car, I waved goodbye to Ryan. “Thank you for driving me back. “Oh, by the way, the back window is dirty. Remember to clean the glass next time after you’re done.” Ryan froze for a moment.
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