The company party turned into a game of Truth or Dare. The loser had to reveal a secret. Sarah’s assistant, Brooks, lost. He raised his glass, a smirk on his face. “Sarah and I share a secret. After she had her baby, she came back to work, and she was really uncomfortable in the office. I was the one who helped her with it.” Soon, people started egging him on. “Sarah has such a great figure! You got lucky!” “Just helped her? Nothing else happen?” Brooks licked his lips, savoring the moment. “Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m her assistant, helping her is just part of my job!” Sarah laughed, covering Brooks’s mouth. “Say one more word, and I’m docking your bonus this month.” My fists clenched in anger. Soon, it was my turn to lose. Facing everyone’s stares, I calmly said, “I’ll share a secret too. I’m planning to divorce Sarah.” A ripple of shock went through the employees. “Will used to be so forgiving! He didn’t even say anything when he saw Sarah and Brooks holding hands at the mall. What changed?” “Will, Brooks was just helping Sarah out! Don’t get mad!” Sarah stared at me. “Will, it was just a joke. Are you really going to be this sensitive?” I held back my fury. “It has nothing to do with sensitivity. I genuinely want to divorce you.” Brooks’s eyes instantly reddened. “Will, I didn’t mean it. I was just making a joke to liven things up. I didn’t know you were so sensitive…” I looked at him mockingly. “Then let me make a joke too. If I’m not mistaken, your sister has a red mole on her left thigh, and she also has a good figure…” “You…” Brooks’s face flushed crimson. He looked tearfully at Sarah. Slap! Sarah raised her hand and slapped me across the face. “Will, are you going to keep this up?” I clutched my stinging face, staring at her in shock. She hit me, for an assistant? “Will, you actually spied on Brooks’s sister? Get down on your knees and apologize to him right now!” I laughed, tears streaming down my face. “He jokes about me, and you want me to be understanding. I joke about him, and you want me to kneel and apologize?” I turned to leave. Sarah yelled after me, “If you walk out that door, if you don’t kneel and apologize, I’ll fire you from everything!” “Fine, Sarah! I’ll wait for you to fire me! And the divorce papers will be on your desk.” I walked out. The door slammed shut behind me. “Sarah, Will is such a jerk, isn’t he? And he even insulted my sister!” Brooks whined, looking hurt. “By his logic, if he knew we kissed in the office before, or that I helped you change when you were too drunk to yourself… he’d probably drop dead from anger!” “But it’s my duty as your assistant! Will is so narrow-minded; he sees everything as dirty.” Sarah patted him, comforting him. “He’s just jealous. Don’t take it to heart.” To comfort Brooks, she actually kissed him in front of everyone. “I think Sarah and Brooks are actually a couple.” “Yeah, Brooks has brought in so many clients for the company!” “Will hasn’t signed any contracts lately. He’s just a dead weight, can’t do anything right.” A chorus of flattering voices filled the private room. Brooks took the opportunity to pat Sarah’s backside a few times! Watching that scene, I froze just outside the door, unwelcome tears blurring my vision. I went home to pack my things. Just as I finished, my phone rang. It was a SnapChat video from Brooks. Sarah lay on a big hotel bed, her eyes hazy, two buttons of her top undone. Then, Brooks’s voice came through. “Will, Sarah’s had too much to drink. I brought her to the hotel to rest. I’ll leave after I help her get cleaned up. Don’t be jealous, okay?”
My forehead throbbed, veins bulging! This was an open provocation! I didn’t answer. I just switched off my phone. When I went into the bathroom to shower, I suddenly spotted a pregnancy test in the trash can. Two red lines. I froze. I’d been away on a business trip for a month. Sarah and I hadn’t been intimate in three months. But she was pregnant. Whose child was it? I stared intensely at the pregnancy test. Then, I burst into laughter! Followed by a torrent of tears! She and I had no future left. It was my own fault for investing too deeply, for loving the wrong person. After my shower, I saw our wedding photo on the wall, us smiling so brightly and happily, arms around each other. But now, everything had changed. I tore my half of the photo down and tossed it into the trash. I called my lawyer friend, and soon a divorce agreement was delivered. I signed it and arranged for it to be sent to the company. Sarah would see it first thing in the morning. After doing all this, I felt an abnormal sense of relief. But what about our four-year-old son, Leo? That night, Sarah didn’t come home again. The next day, I went to my parents’ house, intending to take Leo to preschool. Unexpectedly, Sarah was already there. She’d shown the divorce papers to my parents, Robert and Susan. My dad, Robert, stood up and shouted at me, “Will, how long are you going to keep this up?” “Sarah is such a good woman; you want to divorce her?” My mom, Susan, tried to reason with me. “Will, Leo is already in preschool. Don’t be foolish now.” Sarah’s eyes teared up. “Will, I’m the CEO of the company. Sometimes I need to bond with my employees. Why are you so jealous? Do you really have to divorce me?” After a long moment, I stared into her eyes. “Sarah, the baby you’re carrying… it’s Brooks’s, isn’t it?” Silence instantly fell over the room. Sarah’s body trembled. “H-how did you know?” “You don’t need to know how I know.” “Let’s divorce.” Sarah cried heartbreakingly. “Will, I made a mistake. I don’t want a divorce.” “Divorce.” Slap! It wasn’t Sarah who hit me. It was my dad! “So what if the baby isn’t yours? You’re really going to divorce her over this?” My mom also said, “Sarah has helped our family so much. She paid for your dad’s hospital surgery, remember?” “And Dylan’s four years of college, and his house down payment… all came from her.” Sarah grabbed my arm. “Will, let’s not divorce, okay?” She pulled me aside, her voice apologetic. “About the baby… I was just so lonely that night… it was just one time. I didn’t expect to get pregnant…” But on her face, I saw a look of pure happiness. “If you have to blame anyone, blame me, okay? Don’t blame Brooks, he’s just a young man…” I laughed, tears welling up. “A twenty-six-year-old ‘young man’?” I turned to leave. But my brother, Dylan, blocked my way. “Sarah just made a mistake in a moment of weakness.” “You should forgive her.” “When the baby is born, we’ll just raise it like Leo’s little brother or sister.” At that moment, four-year-old Leo walked up and hugged my leg, crying, “Daddy, don’t leave Mommy! And don’t be mad at Uncle Brooks, he’s so nice to me…” This was my child! He was even siding with Brooks! I felt profoundly alone, my heart pierced as if by a knife. They were all using their own self-interest to force me to stay with Sarah!
Had they forgotten my contributions to this family? Sarah and I were college sweethearts. One afternoon, during a heavy downpour, I slipped on my way back to the dorm. My ankle swelled up horribly, and the pain was excruciating. Then, Sarah, a classmate, came over with an umbrella and helped me up. Only when we got to the hospital did I realize half her body was drenched. “Sarah, thank you so much.” “We’re classmates; we should help each other.” She smiled at me, that innocent, radiant smile forever etched in my mind. After that, I pursued her. Soon, we were together. As graduation approached, her family’s company ran into financial trouble. She cried, clinging to me, saying that to save her family, she had to obey her parents’ orders and marry a man decades older than her, likely to be one of his many wives, just to save her family’s business. She was utterly helpless, the light gone from her eyes. I felt a pang of pity and promised to help her however I could. So, I resolutely sold my shares in the startup I’d built with friends – a company that was finally taking off after just a year – and loaned her family millions to keep it afloat. She hugged me, moved to tears. “I will be so, so good to you for the rest of my life.” Money wasn’t enough, though. So, I joined her company. Through sheer grit, my professional expertise, and countless nights making crucial deals – often involving far too much socializing – I pulled her family’s company back from the brink, and it even started thriving. After that, we got married, and soon our son was born. I thought we would live happily ever after. But then, while she was pregnant with Leo, Brooks, fresh out of college, became her assistant. From that moment, I noticed she changed. The office door was often closed. Sometimes she didn’t come home all night. She constantly found excuses to go on business trips. When she was home, she’d hide in the bathroom, talking on the phone in hushed, laughing tones. One time, when I couldn’t open her office door, I used my key. I found her sitting on the sofa, holding her young assistant. She hastily explained, “Will, Brooks just lost his balance and fell on me. Don’t get the wrong idea.” And I actually believed her ridiculous story. Later, I even saw them holding hands while shopping at the mall. Sarah explained that she’d seen a stalker following her, so she and Brooks pretended to be a couple to scare the pervert away. I believed everything she said! Because I trusted her one hundred percent, it never crossed my mind that she would betray me. But the person I loved most hurt me the deepest. “If you want a divorce, I’ll fire you immediately, and the company won’t give you any dividends.” Sarah threatened, “Without me, you won’t be able to make it in this industry. You’ll be a complete failure, maybe even end up sweeping streets!” She forgot that I was the one who saved her family from the brink of bankruptcy. It was my help that kept her from marrying a man decades older. Hearing her words, my parents and Dylan looked terrified. Dylan said, “Don’t be foolish, Will… Sarah just made a small mistake; you should forgive her.” Leo, in his sweet child’s voice, said, “Daddy, I want you and Mommy to be together!” Under my family’s pressure. I paused, then looked at Sarah. “I won’t divorce you, but you have to agree to three things: Terminate this pregnancy.” “Fire Brooks and never see him again.” “And give me the 50% shares that are rightfully mine.” At the time, when I invested millions into her family’s company, she promised to convert it into half the company shares.
But because we were together and I was already getting dividends from the company, I never pressed her for them. “Will, are you really going to be this cruel to me?” “Everything you just asked for is incredibly cruel to me.” “Even if it’s Brooks’s child, you could still raise it as your own!” “And no, I can’t fire Brooks. He’s brought in so many contracts lately. You’re nowhere near as good as him!” I’m not as good as him? I laughed, tears streaming down my face. “Then what more is there to say?” I turned and walked away. Behind me, I heard my son’s cries and my family’s accusations of me being unfilial. I returned home, grabbed my luggage, and headed out. I went to a hotel to check in. After I registered, the receptionist said, “Sir, your card payment failed.” I tried other payment methods, but none worked. Then I received a message from Sarah. “Will, are you having trouble paying?” “As long as you don’t divorce me and don’t force me to fire Brooks, you can buy anything you want.” Before, she’d asked me to give her my salary card. Then she’d give me an allowance each month. At the time, I didn’t think much of it, believing it would strengthen our relationship. I never imagined it was a way to control me. Unable to pay, I had no choice but to leave the hotel. The streets were bustling with people, but I had nowhere to go. I took my luggage and went to a park. “Will, Sarah sent me to pick you up and bring you home.” I hadn’t been sitting long when Brooks, driving Sarah’s brand new Rolls-Royce convertible, pulled up to the park entrance and walked over to me. I gave him a cold glance but said nothing. Brooks, seeing no one else around, smirked triumphantly. “Know why she’s pregnant?” “That day, she and I were meeting a client. On the way, I tried to kiss her.” “She was actually going to let me.” “But then, your call came in at just the wrong time.” “She talked to you and pushed me away.” “I was annoyed, so that night, I deliberately invited colleagues to get her drunk. Then, as usual, I took her to a hotel.” “In bed, I held her, and she thought it was you. She kept calling your name.” “I answered, saying, ‘How about I take good care of you?’” “I took the chance to undo her clothes, and then we made love.” Brooks bent over laughing. “You probably don’t know this, but while she was enjoying herself, she kept calling your name.” “It’s pretty funny, having an affair with another man, but calling out her husband’s name inside.” “But for me, it was incredibly satisfying.” I lunged and punched him! Brooks’s lip was bleeding as he fell to the ground. “Will, he was trying to bring you home, and you hit him?” “Daddy, Brooks bought me a toy car, why did you hit him?” Sarah walked over with Leo. Leo, clutching his toy car, shielded Brooks, calling me a bad dad. I suddenly understood. Brooks had done this on purpose. What chilled me to the bone wasn’t Sarah, but my son’s attitude. Sarah looked at me. “After you left this morning, Leo cried and refused to go to school. So Brooks took him to the children’s park all morning and even bought him a toy car.” “Later, he was worried something might happen to you, so he said he’d come pick you up.” “He had good intentions, and you beat him up like this?” Hearing this, Brooks said weakly, “Sarah, my face really hurts.” Sarah tenderly stroked his face, then helped him up. “Apologize to him right now!”
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