At a class reunion, Jessica Stone, the former high school beauty queen, posed a question to the girls.
After ten years of marriage, what would you do if you found out your husband was cheating?
Most of them declared, Divorce!
Jessica’s gaze then landed on me.
I declared boldly:
I, Sarah Miller, would rather be widowed than divorced! Period.
Everyone laughed, but Jessica’s face paled, her eyes holding a strange glint.
Seven days prior, Jessica had called me, inviting me to a junior high reunion.
It had been almost twenty years since we graduated high school. The thought of reuniting was genuinely exciting.
I have a peculiar habit: excitement makes me lose sleep.
The first night, I tossed and turned, unable to drift off.
My husband, Mark Davis, sleepily pulled me close, his arm wrapping around me.
“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”
“Jessica’s organizing a high school reunion. I’m a bit too excited to sleep.”
“Silly goose.”
He gently patted my back, as if soothing a child.
“Let’s count sheep together.”
Lulled by his comforting presence, I slowly drifted into dreamland.
It’s no exaggeration to say that my husband was the most gentle and understanding man on earth.
But at that reunion, Jessica Stone, the former school beauty, asked all the women a question.
“After ten years of marriage, what would you do if you found out your husband was cheating?”
Most of them shouted, “Divorce!”
Jessica looked at me.
I proclaimed with certainty:
“I, Sarah Miller, would rather be widowed than divorced! Period!”
Everyone chuckled, but Jessica’s face changed dramatically, a peculiar look in her eyes.
I just thought it was a playful moment during the reunion, and I had complete confidence in Mark.
Yet, Jessica’s eyes never left me the entire evening.
When our gazes met, she’d quickly look away.
Later, when I went to the ladies’ room, I cornered Jessica in the stall area.
“Jessica, we’ve been classmates for years. If there’s something on your mind, just say it.”
Jessica awkwardly denied everything.
I might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I could spot such petty tricks a mile away.
“Tell me!”
Jessica stared intently into my eyes, speaking with gravity.
“You have to promise me you’ll stay calm!”
A bad premonition washed over me, but I took a deep breath and nodded.
Jessica pulled out her phone and opened her photo album.
It was like my mind hit a landmine and exploded.
The pictures were of Mark with various different women.
If they were just ordinary photos, I wouldn’t have cared—I’m not that kind of person.
But Mark’s poses with each woman were incredibly intimate, even more so than with me, and his eyes were brimming with undeniable flirtation.
“These… you?”
Noticing my confusion, Jessica offered a bitter smile and pulled up another photo.
“Look.”
It was a picture of Jessica and Mark together.
I felt like I was going insane. The nerve of that homewrecker!
“He told me he was single!” Jessica quickly explained.
“I was completely fooled by that scumbag!”
“Why should I believe you?”
Jessica scrolled through her SnapChat messages with Mark.
They were disgustingly mushy, filled with flirtation, and discussed money.
“He told me he was single and took over a million from me. I was completely naive, dreaming of marrying him and starting a family. Then, one day, Chloe Peterson sent me a photo of his family, and that’s when I realized I’d been duped.”
“Who’s Chloe Peterson?”
My head was spinning.
“Another woman that scumbag cheated.”
Rage and confusion swirled inside me. I hadn’t even processed Jessica, and now there was Chloe.
I made an excuse and left the reunion before it ended.
I needed to go home and confront Mark.
What was going on? What had he been doing behind my back? How many women was he involved with?
Jessica ran after me.
“Sarah, don’t do anything rash!”
Rash?
If she weren’t an old classmate I hadn’t seen in years, I would have slapped her silly!
“Sarah!”
Jessica grabbed my arm, and I violently yanked it away.
“Get your hands off me, don’t you dare touch me!”
Jessica’s eyes immediately welled up.
That bitch, trying to play the victim with me now?
Pfft!
2.
I jumped into a cab and sped away.
As I was pondering how to confront Mark, how to unleash the anger raging within me, my phone rang.
It was Mark.
That bastard actually had the nerve to call me?
I answered, about to unleash a torrent of curses, when my daughter’s soft voice came through.
“Mommy, what time are you coming home? I miss you.”
My nose stung, and tears threatened to fall.
After ten years of marriage, I’d finally managed to get pregnant and have our daughter. This five-year-old child was my entire world.
If Mark and I had a huge fight, what would happen to Lily?
If Mark was prepared, I might not even get full custody of our daughter.
I remembered my earlier declaration:
“I’d rather be widowed than ever get divorced!”
I swallowed back the tears, forcing them down.
I wouldn’t let Mark get away with this unscathed.
For this devil, only hell awaited!
Back home, Mark was as attentive as ever, fetching my slippers and running a bath.
Normally, I’d be so touched I’d shower him with kisses.
But now, just looking at him made me feel nauseous.
Turns out, all that charm was just an act.
“Sweetheart, did you drink too much?”
Seeing my pale face, Mark didn’t seem suspicious.
It was true; my straightforward personality was like an open book to him.
With his two-faced act—a Casanova outside and a devoted husband at home—I’d clearly been outmaneuvered.
As a woman, facing her husband’s betrayal, it’s impossible not to feel panicked, confused, and furious.
But what could I do now?
The only thing I could do was force myself to calm down!
I had already lost so much, I couldn’t afford to lose everything!
Playing along with his comment, I feigned drunkenness.
I rushed into the bathroom, forcing myself to make retching sounds, letting the tears I’d been holding back finally stream out.
“I need to shower.”
I pushed Mark out of the bathroom, turned on the shower, and cried my heart out.
Carrying Lily back to her room, she quickly fell into a deep sleep.
Mark quietly pushed open the door, carefully tucked us in, and then silently left.
Everything had happened so suddenly, making me genuinely believe Mark was cheating.
But as I calmed down, and Mark was being so gentle and considerate, I started to doubt the authenticity of those photos.
Jessica and I hadn’t seen each other in over ten years.
If she knew Mark was my husband, why would she make a big show out of organizing a class reunion?
And why would she so openly tell me she was with my husband?
I suspected she had another motive!
Was her goal to force me out and take my place?
Highly possible!
Jessica called again, saying she wanted to talk.
I said:
“I don’t want to talk. If you think this can stir up trouble in my marriage, I’m sorry, but you’re barking up the wrong tree!”
There was a long silence on the other end, then the call disconnected.
I sneered. Did she think being pretty gave her a free pass?
Pretty faces don’t make up for brains. Pathetic.
Unexpectedly, Jessica wasn’t giving up. She actually showed up at my office.
“Sarah!”
Jessica grabbed me without explanation and pulled me into her car.
“What do you want?” I demanded, getting agitated.
“Is breaking up other people’s families fun?”
Jessica didn’t say much. She just drove me straight to an unfamiliar place.
The place was teeming with men and women, filled with intoxicating music.
Since I got married, I’d never been to a place like this.
Especially after having my daughter, my routine revolved around work, home, and later, the daycare.
3.
I believed that a married woman should be a good wife.
Jessica seemed to be a regular here; she led me expertly to a secluded corner.
“There’s a show about to start here. I hope you can watch it calmly.”
It certainly was a show.
I watched Mark walk in with another woman.
Their behavior was intimately affectionate, the whole scene oozing with flirtation.
“That’s Chloe Peterson,” Jessica said, watching me closely.
“According to our investigation, besides you, his wife, he has two other girlfriends: me and Chloe.”
Watching Mark’s frivolous behavior, then thinking of his tender attentiveness at home…
My mind spun even more.
Should I believe Jessica, or should I believe Mark was innocent?
The three women eventually sat down together.
There was me, Sarah Miller, Mark’s wife, a business executive at a private company.
Jessica Stone, the owner of a chain of beauty salons, who had been cheated not only emotionally and physically, but also financially.
And Chloe Peterson, a second-generation heiress with inheritance rights to two private hospitals, who had suffered the same fate as Jessica.
The atmosphere was awkward.
Jessica asked me again what I planned to do.
I was Mark’s legal wife. If I was willing to forgive him, they would withdraw and try to salvage my marriage.
“We’re old classmates!” Jessica said earnestly.
“I hope you live well, otherwise I wouldn’t have told you directly.”
A pang of sadness hit me.
My marriage actually needed third parties to save it.
“We can step aside,” Chloe spoke up.
“But can you guarantee that scumbag will settle down and be a faithful husband?”
Who could guarantee that?
No one!
And even if I saved this marriage, could I truly go back to before, enjoying Mark’s care and affection with peace of mind?
Could I sleep without reservation next to a man whose mind and body were so defiled?
I couldn’t!
But if I chose divorce, what would I get?
The legal owner and boss of my current company was Mark’s aunt, but the real boss, the unofficial one, was Mark.
The reason I’d worked so hard on business deals all these years was because I always believed it was our family business.
Now, I finally realized Mark had calculated everything meticulously.
The house was in both our names. What good would half the property do?
If I divorced, I’d face unemployment. Ten years of hard work would have been for nothing.
I’d have nowhere to go, because Mark had the capital to buy out my half of the property.
At worst, I’d lose my daughter, whom I practically gave my life for.
In short, divorce would leave me with absolutely nothing!
I remained silent. I seemed to be the biggest loser now.
Jessica and Chloe were smart women; they naturally understood my predicament.
Jessica gently clasped my hand.
“Sarah, don’t worry. We’ll teach that scumbag a lesson together!”
My demands weren’t greedy. I just wanted to reclaim what was mine.
For example, the profits I’d generated for the company over the years.
Chloe laughed, calling me weak.
“If it were me, I’d take ten times that amount!”
I offered a faint smile.
This was the difference between being married and unmarried.
For them, their relationship with Mark could be resolved with a simple breakup.
But I had my daughter to consider.
So I didn’t want to burn my bridges and jeopardize my chances of winning custody of Lily.
They say three women can put on a whole drama series. Our grand show was just beginning.
The company’s legal representative and boss were both in Aunt Carol’s name.
This meant that if Mark and I divorced, the company would have absolutely nothing to do with me.
4.
Yet, over the past decade, the profits I’d generated for the company were in the tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions.
Leaving with nothing was not my style.
As the business executive of the company, and the unofficial ‘boss’s wife’ among employees,
I was intimately familiar with all the company’s operations and finances.
Of course, the most important thing was not to let Mark suspect anything.
So I had Jessica anonymously report the company for tax evasion.
Sure enough, the tax authorities soon arrived to investigate.
While this had a significant impact on the company, it was the only way I could think of to force Aunt Carol out.
Mark’s aunt, Aunt Carol, was a seemingly shrewd middle-aged woman.
She had a relatively stable nursing job of her own.
On top of that, she received a monthly consulting fee and a year-end profit share from the company’s net earnings, pocketing money faster than anyone.
But if anything went wrong, she’d bolt faster than anyone too.
Tax evasion could be a big deal or a small one.
If you had a good attitude, proactively paid back taxes and fines, it would blow over.
But for someone like Aunt Carol, taking money out of her pocket felt worse than losing a limb.
Of course, she wouldn’t have to pay these sums personally.
But Aunt Carol received a profit share based on the company’s earnings.
If taxes and fines were paid, how much of her profit share would vanish? Would she agree to that?
I knew she wouldn’t.
Otherwise, our report would have been pointless.
Now, with the tax authorities investigating daily, she, as the boss and legal representative, had to be present.
But she played completely dumb, claiming to know absolutely nothing.
So she pushed me forward, saying I was the real boss and she was just a figurehead.
How could she say such things?
The investigators’ faces darkened immediately, and they asked me what was going on.
“I, I’m just an employee!” I explained, flustered.
Aunt Carol wasn’t having it. She pointed at me and yelled,
“This company was opened by her husband! He didn’t want to use his own name, so he used mine. He promised back then that he wouldn’t hold me responsible for anything, and now he wants to push the blame on me? Dream on!”
The investigators told me to call Mark immediately.
I cried as I called Mark, telling him the company was in trouble and he needed to come quickly.
As soon as Mark entered the door, Aunt Carol grabbed his shirt and started wailing,
“Mark, Mark! I knew something was up when you didn’t register the company in your name or your wife’s name! Turns out you two were scheming to scam your poor aunt!”
“You only gave me a tiny management fee every month, and a little bonus at year-end just to shut me up. You two were living the high life, evading taxes, while I was just a pawn! You really are my wonderful nephew!”
Still wailing, she threw herself onto the ground, then started gasping dramatically.
Mark’s face was livid.
I stood to the side, feigning panic. If I hadn’t been trying so hard, I might have burst out laughing.
Mark finally managed to soothe Aunt Carol and get her to leave, only to face further questioning from the investigators.
His handsome face was twisted in a grimace.
After seeing the investigators out, Mark sat in the office, staring blankly ahead, a dangerous glint in his eyes.
“If I find out who reported the company, I swear I’ll make them regret it!”
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