For four years, my wife Victoria, who rarely posted on SnapChat, suddenly updated her feed: [Whose clumsy little puppy is this who loves to play?] The picture showed a guy in a white shirt and jeans, pouting and hugging a puppy plushie while sitting in a gaming chair. It was Finn, a new idol from her company. I was staring, lost in thought, when a mutual friend commented below: “Girl, you forgot to switch accounts!” A few seconds later, Victoria’s post vanished completely. But not long after, it reappeared on Finn’s Ins profile. Victoria called me immediately. In the past, I’d have already screenshotted it, been absolutely livid, and rushed to confront Victoria, raising hell until the whole house shook. But this time, I just quietly watched the screen, waiting for the call to disconnect itself. When Victoria got home, I was sitting on the couch watching a movie. She tossed her car keys onto the entryway table, then bent down to kick off her shoes. “Nothing to do, yet you didn’t answer your phone?” Victoria never probed unless she had a guilty conscience. I didn’t even take my eyes off the TV screen. I casually replied, “The movie was too good. Didn’t notice my phone.” “The work dinner dragged on forever, that’s why I’m late. You don’t need to sit here waiting for me every day. Nobody wants to see you making yourself so pathetic.” Back then, I would’ve painstakingly explained that this was all a display of my love for her. But today, I suddenly couldn’t be bothered to say anything more. Victoria sauntered over to me and casually handed me a luxury brand paper bag. Today was the big premiere of Victoria’s company’s new show. To celebrate and wish for great ratings, I had, as usual, left work early, cooked a nice meal with good wine, and invited a few mutual friends. We were all waiting for her to come home to watch the premiere together. But after four episodes of the series aired, my friends ate dinner in an awkward silence and left one by one. Victoria, who had promised to be home early, was nowhere to be seen. I pretended not to notice Victoria’s continuous ten hours of gaming history, took the shopping bag, and placed it on the carpet. I had seen this bag once before, not long ago, when Victoria missed our wedding anniversary. Even the shape and size were identical. Victoria looked down at me for a moment, her brow furrowing, her voice turning cold: “Liam, can you stop throwing a fit?” Buying me gifts was Victoria’s most common way of apologizing. If I accepted the gift, she’d assume whatever unpleasantness had passed. If I brought it up again, I’d be accused of “dragging things on endlessly.” Now that I wasn’t making it easy for her, she was clearly annoyed. “I’ll open it for you.” Before I could even speak, she ripped open the packaging herself, pulled out a new watch, and handed it to me: “The sales associate said this watch was really hard to get. You’ll definitely love it.” I lifted my gaze. Victoria followed my eyes to the watch I had casually taken off and placed on the coffee table while rushing to prepare the big meal – it was identical to the one in her hand. The atmosphere instantly froze. “It’s late. Let’s clean up and get to bed. We have work tomorrow.” I said, neither warm nor cold, and stood up to go to the bedroom. “Tomorrow, I’ll have my assistant pick you up. You can go pick out a new one.” Victoria’s tone had a rare hint of caution. “No need.” I refused her without even turning my head. The next morning, perhaps sensing she had indeed gone too far, Victoria uncharacteristically offered to go to the office together. Still feeling exhausted, I nodded and agreed. She stood by her car, her face a mix of stifled anger and impatience. I don’t know when it started, but Victoria had begun constantly finding excuses not to let me ride in her car. She guarded her passenger seat like a treasure, absolutely forbidding me from laying a hand on it, forcing me to buy my own car. Whenever I asked about it, she’d raise her voice and scold me, saying I was losing my mind from too much internet, constantly causing a fuss over “passenger seat ownership,” and she didn’t have time for my inexplicable possessiveness. But now, her passenger seat had practically become Finn’s personal throne. Decorated with all sorts of puppy plush toys, plastered with cute puppy stickers. The passenger seat itself was custom-made, just to ensure Finn, with his height and long legs, could sit comfortably. Even the sun visor’s vanity mirror had been modified, just so Finn could check his flawless face anytime. Victoria glanced at me, then sighed audibly and opened the car door, moving all the various puppy plushies to the back seat. I watched her back and frowned slightly, saying, “Don’t bother. I’ll just drive myself to work.” Victoria buried her head, tidying the endless stream of puppy plushies: “I promised to go together. Finn’s young, he just likes cute things like these. Don’t take it to heart.” Even without the plushie decorations, the custom seat still looked garishly bright and clashed completely with the car’s overall style. Ultimately, I still didn’t get into Victoria’s car. No other reason, it just made my stomach churn.
I unlocked my car, but Victoria quickly strode over, pulled open the driver’s door first, and sat down: “I’ll drive. That way, we’re still going to work together.” I stood by the car window, speechless, and didn’t miss the flicker of awkwardness in her eyes. So, she *did* know how excessive it was to have the passenger seat look like that. Victoria was silent for a few seconds, seemingly trying to figure out how to smooth things over. Not wanting to hear any more nonsense, I quickly cut in: “We’re going to be late. Just drive.” She then closed her mouth and started the car. Barely ten minutes into the drive, her phone rang – “That Feeling, That Look I Can’t Escape,” Finn’s signature cheesy pop tune. A weak, pathetic voice came from the phone, making it hard not to feel protective: “Sister, my heart’s beating so fast. I think it’s because I stayed up too late playing games last night. Am I going to die, Sister? Boo-hoo, Sister, come save me! I need Sister to take me to the hospital.” After hanging up, Victoria didn’t say a single word, didn’t even glance my way. She just immediately pulled over and reached over to unbuckle my seatbelt. Her tone was strictly business: “My artist isn’t feeling well, I need to get there immediately. The office isn’t far from here, you can walk the rest of the way.” I got out of the car and had barely closed the door when Victoria eagerly started the car, leaving me with a pungent cloud of exhaust fumes. This was a prime location, a district where every inch of land was worth a fortune. No one here walked to work. A small scooter, probably not expecting anyone to be walking across the crosswalk, rounded the corner and collided head-on with me without slowing down. My forehead, palms, and knees all suffered varying degrees of soft tissue bruising. The nurse treated my wounds, taped sterile gauze pads with medical tape to prevent infection, and carefully instructed me: “Take off the gauze when you get home tonight to apply medicine. Make sure it doesn’t get wet before it scabs.” On the way to the office in a ride-share, the young female driver was juggling two phones—one for navigation, and the other streaming Finn’s live broadcast. Rows of comments scrolled by, all expressing concern for Finn’s health. “Thank you for your concern, everyone~ Don’t worry, little puppy Finn isn’t feeling so bad now, because Sister arrived like a superhero, and my heart feels stable again.” “No~ I didn’t confess to Sister. We’re not that kind of relationship, everyone, don’t spread rumors~ Sister is just so kind and so good to little puppy Finn~” Amidst the boy’s soft, whiny voice, two messages popped up on my screen. “Liam, my assistant said you missed the morning project planning meeting? Where did you go? Everything takes precedence over work, do I have to teach you that?!” “I told you to walk a bit, and you throw a tantrum and quit on me?! What are you trying to prove?!” The anger and impatience in her words practically leaped off the screen and slapped me in the face. I sometimes wondered if Victoria had a split personality; otherwise, she wouldn’t show such blatant favoritism. That evening, I changed my dressing in front of the mirror, then dragged my injured leg to the sofa to binge-watch a show. The sound of the fingerprint lock chimed at the door, followed by Victoria’s sarcastic voice: “I thought you’d finally gotten rid of that awful temper of yours. You’ve been so docile these past few days, turns out you were just saving up to drop a bombshell on me, huh?” Perhaps my motionless back enraged her, because Victoria stomped over to the TV and forcefully yanked out the power cord: “Liam, did your brain get eaten by a dog?! This is a film project aiming for awards! Do you have any idea how much money it costs to delay it by just one day?!” I still didn’t move or speak, just quietly watched as she suddenly froze. She suspiciously eyed the nasty wound on my forehead, and then my exposed elbow and knee, her brow furrowing: “What happened?” I met her gaze and replied blandly, “Minor issue. Just got hit by a car on the way to work.” Victoria blinked, suddenly reining in her aggression, and walked over to examine my injuries: “You had a car accident and didn’t even call me?” I pulled my hand away from hers and said lightly, “It’s just a minor injury. I’m not going to die. Besides, you were busy taking care of your artist’s health.” Typical empty words, as always. She could say all the sweet-sounding things she wanted, but how many times had I called her only to be met with a stream of scolding without any explanation? Victoria had long stopped caring if I ran into any danger. After being hurt so many times, if I still didn’t realize she wouldn’t come, I’d truly be beyond redemption. Victoria was particularly sensitive to that comment. She suddenly stood up, looked down at me, and sneered: “Do you have to use so many subtle digs, Liam? Was leaving you by the road some kind of heinous crime? You’re twenty-eight, not two point eight! You got hit by a car while walking, and you think you’re in the right? I think you deliberately got hurt to get back at me!” I watched her sudden outburst, speechless. What else was there to say? I’d only spoken one sentence, and she’d slapped a ridiculous stack of accusations on me. Too tired to argue, I stood up to go back to the bedroom. Seeing how difficult it was for me to move, Victoria put away her temper, sighed, and came over to support me: “I’ll sleep with you tonight. Just call me if you need anything.” Victoria hadn’t been back in our bedroom before 2 AM in a long time. That was because Finn needed to live stream every day to build his popularity, and he said that many female accounts would harass him during evening streams. He’d be scared without protection. So, Victoria always, without fail, locked herself in her study every night, dedicated to guarding Finn. She’d occasionally drop Super Chat donations to cheer him up, or engage in sweet interactions on stream, making sure everyone knew Finn was under her wing. I’d argued with her countless times, tried everything from soft persuasion to hard threats, but nothing changed her mind. She said it was just work. Eventually, she even threatened me with divorce. Although it left me speechless with a bitter taste in my mouth, I could only compromise. I looked into Victoria’s eyes. I didn’t refuse her offer, but when she reached out to embrace me, I said coldly: “Victoria, I agree to the divorce.” That sentence had a much greater impact than I’d expected. Victoria angrily snatched up her car keys and left the house on the spot, not showing her face for an entire week.
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