In the fifth year of our marriage, Rylan had an affair with a famous celebrity on the Internet.
His friend asked him, "What if Stella finds it and divorces you? Or she wants to divide the property?"
With a cigarette in his hand, he smiled with disdain and said, "Stella is just someone who is desperate to cling to me. She loves me so much that she can't live without me."
Later, when I gave the divorce papers to him, he cried and asked me to stay with him.
However, I was so disappointed.
I didn't want to be with him anymore.
I was so tired that I didn't even want to be angry with him.
On my birthday, my friend proposed to celebrate it for me. When I passed a private room, I happened to see that Rylan, who should have been on a business trip, was holding a woman in his arms. They were intimate as if no one was around.
I knew this woman. She was a famous online celebrity now. Her name was Zoe Reed, and Rylan loved her so much.
Someone teased with a smile, "What if Stella finds it and divorces you? Or she wants to divide the property?"
Leaning against the sofa, Rylan held a cigarette. He just smiled with disdain and said, "Stella is just someone who is desperate to cling to me. She loves me so much that she can't live without me."
Others laughed. He held Zoe in his arms and kissed her.
He was so gentle and he had never looked at me like this, even only for a moment.
He said, "Zoe knows me best. I don't know why I chose to marry Stella. I think that she might have been a doctor for a long time or she is old, so she always has a disgusting smell of blood. I don't like to be pestered all the time. It seems that Stella doesn't have her own life. She always thinks about me and follows me. To be honest, I'm very annoyed with her."
I lowered my head and laughed. I thought it was ridiculous.
He seemed to have forgotten that his life was saved by me, the doctor who made him disgusted.
The first time I saw him, he was lying on the operating table in a coma. I was his lead surgeon and I had tried my best to save him.
When I saw him for the second time, he was just dumped.
At that time, he couldn't stand up because of the car accident. He had a heart transplant operation. He was abandoned by Zoe and he had the idea of committing suicide.
I came to his side at that time.
I encouraged him, stayed by his side through his rehabilitation, used my professional knowledge to perform acupuncture on him, and prepared healthy meals for him.
His legs were getting better and better day by day until he was no different from normal people.
On my birthday, he proposed to me, saying that I was a beam of light in his darkest moment and I helped him overcome the difficulties. Without me, he couldn't live till today.
He said he could betray anyone except me.
But today, on my birthday, he was with the woman who abandoned him years ago.
What I had done in the past five years had become a joke.
It was already midnight when Rylan came back.
He didn't expect that I was still awake.
He took off his coat and walked over. When he saw the cake thrown into the trash can, he was stunned for a moment.
It seemed that he finally remembered what day it was today. He rubbed between his eyebrows, but he didn't feel guilty at all. He was so annoyed.
"What's wrong with you, Stella? I've told you that I'm busy recently and I don't have time to celebrate such a boring day with you."
Boring day?
What was wrong with me?
But I didn't say anything, did I?
I looked up at Rylan. Compared to five years ago, he now carried a greater sense of reserve and nobility.
Time seemed to treat him specially, without leaving any trace on his face. He was still so handsome.
But when did he become less concerned about me?
It seemed to be the night two months ago.
That night, we watched a movie together and ate our favorite food. We laughed loudly as if we just got married.
At night, when we were kissing on bed, his phone suddenly lit up.
He glanced at it casually and then he was stunned. He lost his interest and walked out of the bedroom with his mobile phone.
That night, he sat quietly in front of the window and didn't sleep all night.
The second day, after he washed his face and rinsed his mouth, he sprayed perfume for the first time. It was the smell I didn't like, but he said he liked it.
At that time, I just thought that it might be the customer who liked it.
Now I thought that what he had meant was Zoe liked it.
From that day on, he came back late and didn't pay much attention to me.
Although we lived together, we had only seen each other for a few times.
Today, he even forgot my birthday and our wedding anniversary.
I had thought that he was really busy in the company, but I didn't expect that he was with another woman.
I sighed helplessly and pointed at the medicine on the table.
"Don't forget to take the medicine."
When I turned around, I couldn't help but remind him, "You can't drink alcohol. You'd better quit it."
I didn't know when he started drinking.
I only remembered that he had promised me that he would take good care of his body for me. He said that he would live well and accompany me for a lifetime.
But now, he was full of the smell of alcohol. Even though I didn't get close to him, I had smelled it.
Rylan's face darkened instantly.
He raised his arms and sniffed. It seemed that he had thought of something, and a trace of guilt flashed through his eyes.
"You don't have to wait for me in the future. You can go to bed early."
I stopped and didn't turn around. I just nodded.
After answering a phone call, Rylan left without telling me. He was so strange to me, as if we were just roommates in a rented apartment.
I lay on the bed, touched the cold and empty space beside me, and closed my eyes tiredly.
I felt weak and feeble. My body was so hot. I thought that I might have a fever.
I suddenly thought of Rylan. If he were here, would I not be so lonely and helpless now?
However, he hadn't come back for half a month since he left that night.
When I was about to fall asleep, my phone suddenly rang. It was Rylan.
As soon as I answered the call, a woman's anxious voice came from the other end of the line.
"Is that Stella? Rylan is sick. He doesn't bring any medicine. Can you bring it here?"
I tightened my grip on the phone.
The voice was from Zoe.
It was true that she had been with Rylan these days when he didn't come home.
"Where are you?"
My voice was hoarse.
I thought that I must look pathetic now. I was like a puppet without dignity, carefully protecting the precarious marriage.
But did it really work?
"Haven Club."
Zoe hung up the phone with a few words.
I put on my clothes, took the medicine in the drawer, and rushed to Haven Club in the heavy rain.
When I arrived, I didn't have time to wipe the rain off my body. I reached out and pushed the door open.
"Rylan..."
Before I could finish speaking, there was a burst of laughter in the room.
I stood at the door and I felt so embarrassed since my body got wet because of the rain.
They all looked at me, laughing. At this moment, I was like a clown, being contemptuously looked down upon.
I looked at Rylan in confusion and wanted to ask him for help.
He sat upright, holding a glass of wine in his hand and shaking it gently. He didn't look sick at all.
Someone looked at him with a smile.
"Rylan has won. I accept the punishment!"
I looked at Rylan stiffly and asked him with difficulty, "What do you mean?"
"Ha-ha."
He didn't say anything, but Zoe laughed.
Looking into my eyes, she raised her head and looked at me pitifully like a princess.
"I've heard from Rylan's friend that you are flattering him. I didn't believe it at all. I didn't think that anyone would come in such a heavy rain just because of a phone call."
I suddenly loosened my grip of the medicine bottle in my hand and let it fall to the floor. The sound was not loud.
I just felt that the blood all over my body seemed to have solidified. I was stunned.
I had been caring about him wholeheartedly all these years, but in his eyes, it was worthless.
It seemed that Zoe had not humiliated me enough.
She stood up and walked to me. She looked me up and down, and then took out the tissue and handed it to me.
"Stella, wipe your body. Rylan doesn't like the woman who is in a mess."
I waved away the tissue in front of me.
I ignored Zoe and looked at Rylan.
"Is she your mistress?"
Rylan's face suddenly darkened when he heard my words.
"Stella, stop it. Zoe and I... It's not what you thought."
When I was about to retort, Zoe held my arm intimately and said softly, "Stella, don't quarrel with Rylan because of me. He is right. We are not in the relationship as you thought. You should learn to be gentle, Stella. Don't you know that Rylan likes gentle women?"
I sneered. When I was about to push her away, she got closer to me. This time, her voice was so low that only we could hear it.
She said, "Stella, have you heard of a saying? You will never win a woman the man likes the most. Don't you know that the man you have been waiting for day and night makes love with me every night? Don't call me a mistress. The one who is not loved is the mistress. When I fell in love with Rylan, you didn't even know him. Do you deserve to compete with me?"
Even though I had expected it, when I heard it with my own ears, I couldn't help but feel helpless.
Looking at the fake smile on Zoe's face, I couldn't help trembling.
She was challenging me and trampling on my self-esteem. She had the favor of Rylan and she didn't feel frightened at all.
"Go away!"
I pushed her away. I was sure that I didn't use too much strength, but she screamed and fell to the floor.
Subconsciously, I wanted to help her, but Rylan rushed up. He pushed me to the floor, and then picked up Zoe.
"Are you hurt?"
Zoe shook her head and said, "Rylan, don't blame Stella. She vented her anger on me because she was in a bad mood."
Rylan turned his head and gave me a hard look.
His glance made me feel so sad.
At this moment, I suddenly felt that I was not his wife, but his enemy.
His eyes were cold and frightening.
"Rylan, I'm going back. You stay here and explain the misunderstandings to Stella. I don't want to get hurt again when I see you next time."
Zoe pretended to smile sweetly. She stood up and limped away.
I stood up with my hands on the table. My hand got hurt because of the broken glass, but I still hid my bloody hand behind my back.
Someone saw it and exclaimed, "Your hand is bleeding!"
Looking at the direction in which Zoe left, Rylan was so worried about her.
Hearing other's words, he looked at me. He glanced at the blood at my palm and frowned. The disgust in his eyes made me feel sad.
As I had expected, he didn't care about me at all. He just said impatiently.
"Stella, you are always so rash. You should learn how to be a woman from Zoe."
I felt pain all over my body.
He asked me to learn how to be a woman from Zoe.
But five years ago, it was this woman who abandoned him because she saw him seriously injured and that he was not good at doing things.
At that time, he had never mentioned Zoe. All he cared about was me. I thought he would never go back to find Zoe since she had insulted him like that.
But now, he seemed to have forgotten the terrible time. All he cared about was Zoe. He turned a blind eye to me, who had once helped him a lot.
"Wipe your blood. It's disgusting."
After saying that, Rylan walked forward without looking back.
I tried my best to keep up with him.
When I walked out of the room, I heard someone talking, "Mrs. Morris is really a joke. She is his wife, but she is humiliated by a mistress. What a coward she is!"
Someone echoed.
"Everyone knows that Mrs. Morris cares about Mr. Morris. I'm afraid that even when Mr. Morris brings Zoe back, Mrs. Morris has to serve him well. Since she only cares about Mr. Morris, she can't leave him."
I stopped and smiled bitterly.
That was right. I was such a loser.
But...
I looked at Rylan's back and was gradually lost in thought.
I had a reason to stay with him.