On our wedding anniversary, my sister Lila miscarried because of a slap I gave her. Everyone called me vicious and cruel. “When you do something wrong, you have to face the consequences.” My husband Ethan and my parents forced me to sign divorce papers, then sent me to jail. The day I got out, Ethan and Lila were getting married. I didn’t show up to cause a scene at their wedding like everyone expected. Instead, I boarded a train to another city and disappeared without a trace. … Seven years later. I unexpectedly ran into Ethan at the entrance of a small-town hospital emergency room. Just then, a child’s voice suddenly piped up behind me. “Mommy, how much longer? My tummy is so hungry.” Staring at the little face that looked so much like his own, Ethan’s eyes instantly turned red. “Whose child is she?” He was a patient’s family member, bringing his pregnant wife here for threatened miscarriage. And I was the on-duty doctor in the emergency room. “Clara?” Recognizing me, Ethan froze, instinctively looking at my palm. There was a shocking scar there. “You…” His Adam’s apple bobbed twice. The question he wanted to ask got stuck in his throat when he saw my cold, emotionless eyes. His gaze shifted to the child beside me. I moved the child behind me protectively and said to him coolly: “Family members please wait outside.” My eyes were calm, revealing no emotion whatsoever. As if I were looking at just another ordinary patient’s family member. After the emergency treatment ended, I carefully explained the post-procedure precautions to him. Ethan seemed to be listening attentively, nodding constantly, but his expression was clearly distracted. Finally, he asked a completely unrelated question. “After you got out, why didn’t you come home? We were all worried about you.” “And this child…” Just then, a nurse called for me. I nodded politely at Ethan, took my daughter’s small hand, and quickly left. “Mommy, who was that man just now?” My daughter looked back curiously. My voice was flat: “A patient’s family member.” “He looked like he was crying. He kept watching us.” I didn’t break stride: “You saw wrong.” The nanny who usually took care of my daughter had an emergency, so I had no choice but to bring her to the hospital. Fortunately, the nanny just called me. She’d finished her business and would be here soon to pick up my daughter. That evening, emergency cases kept coming in. I stayed busy until late into the night before finally dragging my exhausted body back to my office. I didn’t expect Ethan to still be waiting at the door. I frowned slightly: “Does Mr. Walker need something else?” The overly distant form of address made Ethan daze for a moment. “Mr. Walker can rest assured, Mrs. Walker’s condition isn’t serious. If there are no problems after observation overnight, she can be discharged tomorrow morning.” My tone was no different from how I spoke to other patients’ family members. Perhaps it was the words “Mrs. Walker” that touched some nerve in him. I clearly saw Ethan’s eyes redden, emotions churning. He seemed to have a thousand things to say, but his lips moved twice, and in the end, he only managed to say two words in a hoarse voice: “Thank you!” “If Mr. Walker has nothing else, I’ll be leaving now. If anything comes up, you can find the other on-duty doctors.” I nodded slightly and turned to leave. As I passed the nurses’ station, a young nurse grabbed me with a gossipy expression. “Dr. Reed, that was Ethan Walker, Manhattan’s most famous lawyer, right?” I nodded: “Yes.” “I heard Attorney Walker has never lost a case since he started practicing. They call him a legend in the entire legal field.” “Handsome, gentle, and rich—Mrs. Walker is so lucky. I heard they came here specifically to pray at the mountain temple for the baby Mrs. Walker is carrying.” As the young nurse spoke, her eyes showed undisguised admiration for Ethan and undisguised envy for Mrs. Walker. I smiled without saying anything. The current Mrs. Walker was indeed very fortunate. She had a husband who loved her, parents who doted on her, and a baby about to be born. She was practically showered with endless love and favor. Almost no one knew she was the other woman who had successfully taken the original wife’s place. My phone vibrated, snapping me back to reality. [Sorry, something urgent came up at the company. I’ll come get you a bit later.] I curved my lips slightly and replied: [You handle your business first. I’ll take a cab home.] Almost as soon as I sent the message, I received a reply: [Be careful on the road. Remember to text me when you get home.] Putting away my phone, I only then noticed it had started snowing outside. After waiting a long time, the ride-sharing app showed no available drivers. “Beep beep!” A car horn sounded behind me. A black Porsche Cayenne slowly stopped beside me. I recognized it as Ethan’s car at a glance. Because his license plate number was my sister Lila’s birthday. And my birthday was only one day later than Lila’s. The passenger window slowly rolled down, revealing Ethan’s sharp jawline. “Get in. I’ll give you a ride.” Looking at the still-spinning ride-sharing app, I only hesitated for a few seconds before opening the back door and getting in, giving him my apartment complex’s name. I was truly tired today and wanted to get home and rest early. And with the sudden weather change, the scars on my palm and abdomen were both painful and itchy. Since there was a ready car available, I might as well use it. Ethan had a strong sense of territory. Once upon a time, I wasn’t even allowed to put a small decoration in his car. But now. Inside the car, the air was filled with the scent of gardenias—Lila’s favorite. Everything in view was decorated in Lila’s favorite pink. Seeing me sit in the back, Ethan laughed self-deprecatingly: “So you really are treating me like a driver?” My voice was flat: “Just don’t want your wife to misunderstand.” The words “Mrs. Walker” were like a silencing spell. All the words Ethan wanted to say were swallowed back down. The car fell into suffocating dead silence.
I said nothing more, turning my head toward the window. Outside, lights and shadows flickered. In a trance, I found myself recalling that day seven years ago. That darkest day of my entire life. That day was our third wedding anniversary. I was away on a business trip but flew home overnight to surprise him. Instead, I accidentally stumbled upon Ethan and my sister Lila’s affair. They were in my marital home, in my marriage bed, tangled together. They were so lost in their passion that they didn’t even notice me standing in the doorway for a long time. Until Lila accidentally turned her head. “Clara!” Lila’s eyes widened as she cried out in shock. I thought Ethan, caught in the act, would be panicked or at least look guilty. But I was wrong. Ethan didn’t rush to explain to me. Instead, he gently pulled the blanket over Lila, covering the glaring intimate marks all over her body. “I thought you weren’t coming back until tomorrow?” Not only did Ethan show no guilt, his tone was actually reproachful. Back then, my temper was fiery. I couldn’t tolerate even a grain of sand in my eye. In that instant, resentment and rage nearly burned away my rationality. I became hysterical like a madwoman, attacking them with the most vicious words, smashing everything breakable in the room. The room was a complete mess. Lila cowered behind Ethan, trembling with fear. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to. Your husband and I just couldn’t help ourselves.” Lila’s voice carried an obvious sob. At this moment, her eyes were misty with tears, like a fragile white lotus flower, innocent and helpless. Completely different from the passionate, unrestrained woman on the bed just moments ago. Ethan carefully shielded Lila behind him, looking at me with condemning eyes. “You’re scaring Lila!” “Look at yourself right now. How are you any different from a lunatic?” I thought I was the one going crazy. I sent photos and videos of Lila and Ethan to our family group chat. I wanted everyone to see their ugly faces. Who would have thought, the moment the video was sent, my parents called with scolding words. “Clara Reed, have you lost your mind?” “Delete those photos and videos right now! If others see them, how will Lila ever show her face in public again?” My parents had always favored Lila. Just because Lila had been kidnapped on the street when she was little. She wasn’t found by my parents until she turned eighteen. To make up for all those years of loss. Dad and Mom were especially indulgent and doting toward her. And they demanded that I accommodate my sister in everything, always putting Lila first. Even our birthdays—because mine was only one day after Lila’s, my parents forcibly required me to celebrate a day early together with her. But the birthday cake always only had Lila’s name on it. But I never imagined that even in this matter, my parents would unconditionally protect Lila. “Divorce Ethan.” My sister had an affair with my husband behind my back. Not only did my parents not blame her, they forcibly demanded I divorce Ethan. “Why should I?” I demanded unwillingly. Lila was clearly the one in the wrong. Why should I be the one to give up my husband to her? My parents’ favoritism had gone completely off the rails. My chest felt like it was being pressed down by a huge rock, making it impossible to breathe, almost suffocating. “Lila is your sister. As the older sister, you should accommodate your younger sister.” As if dissatisfied with my feigned ignorance, Mom frowned, her tone extremely impatient. I instinctively looked at Ethan, at the man I had once loved as much as life itself. However, Ethan only looked at me coldly. He had no intention of explaining. Lila leaned weakly against Ethan’s chest. “Clara, Ethan doesn’t love you anymore. We truly love each other. Please, I beg you, let us be together.” “You know he’s your brother-in-law?” Consumed by rage, I slapped Lila hard across the face.
Lila’s body swayed and she fell toward the coffee table nearby. Lila cried out in pain, her face contorted as she clutched her lower abdomen. “Lila!” Ethan’s expression changed dramatically. “My stomach, my stomach hurts so much.” Lila’s face was deathly pale, her voice trembling. Ethan scooped Lila up and rushed toward the hospital. As he passed me, his eyes were as vicious as if I had committed some unforgivable crime. But I knew very clearly that Lila had hit the table herself just now. That was also when I learned. Lila and Ethan had been sleeping together for a long time. They even had a child. After several hours of emergency treatment, the child still couldn’t be saved. “Are you satisfied now?” Dad’s face was flushed red with anger. He raised his hand and slapped me hard across the face. Dad had used his full strength with that slap. My cheek burned with pain, my eardrums ringing. But the physical pain was less than one ten-thousandth of the pain in my heart. Everyone blamed me for causing Lila to lose her child, forcibly demanding I kowtow to Lila in apology. Of course I wouldn’t agree. The consequence of my stubbornness was this: Ethan and my parents put pressure on the hospital where I worked. The promotion that was within reach evaporated just like that. They even used this as leverage to force me to sign divorce papers. Then I was sent to the detention center by the three people closest to me. “When you do something wrong, you have to face the consequences.” “When you realize your mistake, then we’ll bring you home.” I laughed bitterly in my heart. Home? What home did I have left? The moment I discovered Ethan and Lila’s affair, my home was gone. After I went in, I was deliberately targeted. I ate rotten food, drank dirty water. I was also frequently subjected to unprovoked beatings… While I was being tortured to the point where life seemed worse than death, my husband and my parents were accompanying my sister on vacation abroad. It wasn’t until a month later when they returned that they heard I had nearly died inside. After a full eight hours of emergency treatment, I was finally pulled back from death’s door. When Ethan and my parents rushed to the hospital, I had already been sent back to my room. However, when they saw me on the hospital bed—emaciated, barely human in form from the torture— Ethan’s first words were actually: “Do you know you were wrong now?” “Don’t forget you still owe Lila an apology. You can use your recovery time to think about how you’re going to apologize to her. Because of you, Lila has been in a terrible mood. She almost developed depression.” Ethan’s voice was cold and hard, his tone as indifferent as if I were just some unimportant stranger. They say the greatest sorrow is a dead heart. If my heart had died when Ethan and my parents sent me to the detention center, Then after hearing Ethan’s words just now, my heart died even more completely. In that moment, I lost all desire to argue. My tone was flat, devoid of any emotion: “I was wrong.” I was wrong. Wrong to have been blind enough to fall in love with a cold-hearted, ruthless man like Ethan. Wrong to stupidly expect my parents’ love when I knew they were biased. Ethan kept glancing at me through the rearview mirror, several times wanting to speak but holding back. Until the car stopped at the entrance of my apartment complex. I opened the door and got out, thanking him politely: “Thank you!” Just as I turned around, Ethan finally couldn’t hold back and called out: “Clara!” I stopped and turned back around, quietly waiting for him to continue. “How can you live in a place like this?” “All these years, have you… been struggling?” As Ethan spoke, he surveyed the surroundings of the complex. The lighting was dim, the rickety iron gate covered in rust. The exterior walls of the building were mottled and dilapidated. His eyes reddened, his voice hoarse: “Do you want me to help you…” “No need. I’m doing fine. Thank you for your kind offer.” I didn’t understand. The person who had been so ruthless to me, who forced me to divorce and sent me to jail—why was he now putting on this deeply sincere act?
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