He was a soldier who swore to protect our family and country. How could I ever doubt him?
Looking back now, the documents I’d chosen not to read felt like sharp knives piercing my heart.
And I had handed them to him myself.
My hands and feet turned cold, my body swaying like I might collapse.
The thin medical report felt as heavy as a boulder in my grip. Every word on it was a red-hot blade, stabbing into my eyes.
The word “married” was crossed out with a red line, replaced by the cold, bold “divorced,” updated in the system.
A wave of absurdity and betrayal crashed over me, drowning out all else.
I fled the consulting room, my head buzzing. The world seemed to be spinning like it was falling apart around me.
I staggered to the cold corridor wall for support, fumbling out the old phone I’d used for years.
I wanted to call Tristian right then, to scream at him and demand answers.
But my fingers froze over the dial button, unable to press it.
I was terrified of hearing a lie he’d already rehearsed, or worse, an indifferent admission.
Then something hit me. I pulled a bank card from my pocket, my hands shaking.
I received my separation allowance from the army on this card.
I opened mobile banking, and the numbers glared back: this month’s allowance had arrived just three days ago. That was the full amount, no missing penny.
He’d cut me off legally, yet he’d kept taking advantage of my identity to collect the subsidy for a soldier’s wife without a shred of guilt.
How ridiculous!
I leaned against the wall and slowly slid to the floor. A dry, wheezing laugh bubbled up from my throat.
Tears streamed down as I laughed.
I’d taken care of every household task, cared for his paralyzed mom, and scrimped and saved just to get by, all to lift the burden of home from his shoulders and make our small family better off.
In the end, my whole life had turned into a cruel joke.
He’d gotten rid of me silently, like I was some trash.
And me? I’d been a fool, happily planning to bear him a second child to win him back, having no idea he had already fallen for someone else.
My stomach lurched. I clapped a hand over my mouth and stumbled to the restroom sink, retching until my vision blurred.
What I threw up wasn’t just sour bile, but also all the grievances I’d endured over the past seven years of our marriage.
I splashed cold water on my face. The bitter chill cut through the fog in my head, if only a little.
I wouldn’t let that jerk get away so easily.
Never!
I staggered home like a wandering soul.
The summer sun blazed fiercely, scorching the earth, and the weeds by the roadside were withered and dry.
But I felt no heat, only a coldness seeping out from the very cracks of my bones.
As soon as I pushed open the door, a stale stench mixed with the smell of medicine and urine hit me in the face.
“Water water…” Emilie lay on the bed, moaning indistinctly.
Half a year ago, she’d had a stroke and been left paralyzed. Now, she was unable to move, speak clearly, or take care of herself at all.
I looked at the haggard, aged woman on the bed, my heart going numb.
I walked over mechanically, poured a cup of warm water, and fed it slowly into her chapped lips with a spoon.
Her cloudy eyes fixed on me, as if she wanted to say something, but only a vague “ah” sound escaped.
Once, I’d always felt sorry for Emilie, taking care of her with all my strength. I’d cleaned up messes without a single complaint.
Tristian was her only son, her everything.
And I, as Tristian’s wife, had thought it only right to look after his mother.
But now, as I looked at her, the warmth and pity I’d once felt were all gone.
I didn’t owe Emilie anything.
Why should I be stuck here, guarding a paralyzed old woman and an empty house, while my traitor husband was enjoying his new life elsewhere?
I was no saint.
Hatred grew in my heart like wild weeds.
I had to find out the truth. I needed to see the evidence with my own eyes.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.