My wife, Sarah, suffered from severe postpartum depression.
Every night, she had to hide in the closet to fall asleep.
Once, I gently carried my sleeping wife out of the closet and put her back on the bed.
She woke up and cried non-stop.
The next day, her depression flared, and she ended up in the hospital.
After that, I just let her sleep in the closet.
Until our son’s first birthday. Sarah stretched lazily and walked out of the closet.
I looked at her full, rosy face and immediately told her I wanted a divorce!
Sarah’s eyes welled up with tears as she questioned me:
“If it weren’t for having your baby, why would I have postpartum depression? And now, just because I sleep in the closet, you want a divorce?”
“Tomorrow, 10 AM. We’re filing for divorce.”
As soon as I said it, I turned my wheelchair, ready to leave the banquet, but Mark, Sarah’s older brother, grabbed me.
“Luke, you better explain yourself!”
He glared at me, his grip tight, almost cutting off my breath.
“We’re both men, I know exactly why you’re doing this!”
Mark gritted his teeth, his eyes practically spitting fire, looking like he wanted to rip me apart.
“Isn’t it all about sex?”
“My sister nearly died giving you a child. Have you even looked at her stomach?”
“It used to be so perfect, and now it’s covered in stretch marks, like centipedes crawling all over. She gained thirty pounds having your baby, her body completely changed. And now you’re disgusted with her, aren’t you? Where were you before?”
Mark’s words were too blunt.
Everyone present.
They all stared at me with cold, angry eyes.
I knew a distant relative who divorced his wife after she lost her figure post-childbirth. That guy’s reputation was ruined in our circle; everyone talked about him like he was scum.
Seeing them about to crucify me, I was about to speak.
Mr. Henderson, Sarah’s father, slammed his wine glass hard on the table.
“Luke, a man who truly loves his wife finds prosperity.”
“Whose wife doesn’t go through this after childbirth? If you divorce my daughter for that reason, I’ll truly look down on you.”
Mrs. Henderson, Sarah’s mother, snorted impatiently.
“You men, your minds are always in your pants!”
“My daughter gave birth over a year ago, and she’s still not fully recovered. Can’t you be more understanding?”
“She’s your wife, not some ancient concubine, and certainly not just for your pleasure!”
I remained silent.
Sarah’s tears fell in heavy drops, her face crumpled in hurt.
“Luke, you heartless man, is that really why you’re divorcing me?”
“Just because I’ve slept in the closet every night for the past year, and haven’t slept with you?”
“Luke, is that all you ever think about? Our son is a year old now. How many diapers have you changed? How many times a day does he drink formula? Have you even cared?”
Sarah’s voice was choked with sobs, but her questions rang out loud and clear.
Everyone looked at me, outraged.
“He looks decent, but turns out he has no sense of responsibility. Doesn’t deserve to be a man.”
“I thought he wanted a son so badly, like he had some royal lineage to continue. Turns out he can’t even bother to raise his own kid.”
“Now I finally get why Sarah is depressed. If I had a husband like that, I’d want to die.”
I lifted my head, expressionless, and scanned the room, then sneered:
“Say whatever you want.”
“Sarah, first thing tomorrow morning, we’re going to the courthouse to file for divorce.”
“You admit it, don’t you?”
Mark clenched his fist and swung it at me.
“I’ll kill you, you animal! My sister was blind to marry a monster like you!”
As his fist came flying towards my face.
Sarah’s eyes widened, and she let out a horrified scream.
“Mark, don’t hit him!”
My wife rushed over without a second thought, shielding me.
“He was just in a car accident, he can’t fight back! If you hurt him, I’ll be heartbroken!”
Mark’s fist froze in mid-air.
He laughed bitterly.
“Luke, do you see? How much my sister loves you? She saw you about to get hit and didn’t even think, just rushed to protect you. It’s like a reflex.”
“You’re in a wheelchair now, practically a cripple, and she hasn’t abandoned you. What right do you have to complain about her?”
“Luke, I’ll ask you one more time
Are you absolutely sure you want to divorce her?”
“Yes.”
I turned to Sarah, my face blank.
Her eyes were filled with tears, shaking her head at me.
“Luke,”
She gripped my arm, pleading softly.
“I know I neglected you this past year, and I was wrong. I’ll make it up to you, slowly. I’ll change.”
I sneered, disgusted, and shook her off.
“Stop acting. Get away from me!”
“No matter what, this divorce is happening today.”
I turned my wheelchair decisively and left.
Thud.
Someone fell to their knees.
Sarah was sobbing, tears streaming down her face, and she plunged her hand directly into the wheel of my wheelchair.
If I moved, her hand would definitely be crushed.
I frowned slightly. “Let go.”
Sarah cried and shook her head.
“Luke, I’m kneeling here for you. Can’t we just talk things through? Please don’t get a divorce.”
“In front of so many people, if you just spring a divorce on me like this, my family will be so worried”
“And aren’t you just upset that I sleep in the closet every night?”
Sarah’s voice was choked with tears, and she swore to me.
“If you don’t like it, I’ll never sleep there again!”
“I’ll sleep in bed with you from now on, even if I can’t sleep, I don’t care”
Hearing Sarah’s compromise, everyone started pointing and cursing at me.
“He’s not even a man!”
“Making such a huge deal out of something so trivial, any woman married to him would be cursed!”
“Sarah’s had it so tough, living like this. If it weren’t for the baby being so young, I’d say she should divorce him too!”
The surrounding guests already saw me as an absolute scumbag.
They looked like they wanted to tear me apart.
I sneered.
“Then do you dare tell everyone why you really sleep in the closet?”
Sarah froze at my words.
A flicker of panic flashed in her eyes, then quickly vanished.
Mrs. Henderson stepped forward, scoffing:
“Didn’t we tell you? Sarah has postpartum depression; only a confined space makes her feel safe and relaxed. She just needs to be alone in a small space. Do you have to pick on that too?”
Mark, my brother-in-law, couldn’t hold back any longer.
“Sarah has already swallowed her pride and promised she won’t sleep in the closet anymore, what more do you want?”
I couldn’t be bothered to argue with them.
My voice remained cold and detached:
“Divorce.”
Mr. and Mrs. Henderson, who had been silent for a long time, immediately scowled and were about to speak.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
Three rhythmic knocks.
“Anyone home?”
Mark glared at me and went to open the door.
It was our next-door neighbor, Alex, a tall, handsome young man, easily 6’1″.
He was holding a bag of wedding candies and a bag of eggs.
Noticing the strange atmosphere in the room, he walked in cautiously.
“Uh, my wife just got pregnant, we bought a lot of candies and boiled eggs, thought I’d bring some over to the neighbors, you know, share some good luck”
He spoke, his gaze eventually settling on Sarah.
Sarah had her head down, not speaking. I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination, but a shy blush actually flitted across her face.
Too bad no one else noticed.
Mr. and Mrs. Henderson’s expressions softened a bit as they accepted the candies and red eggs from him.
“Oh, thank you so much. It’s rare for a neighbor to think of us.”
Alex still showed no signs of leaving.
He looked around, testing the waters:
“Did you guys have a fight?”
“They’re getting a divorce!”
Mark said, cuttingly, shooting me another glare.
Alex gasped, “Oh, man!” and immediately rushed over to try and calm me down.
“Listen, buddy, marriage is all about understanding each other. You can’t just jump to divorce at every little thing.”
“My wife’s only a few months pregnant, and she’s in so much pain at night she can’t sleep. I’m up all night massaging her back, but I know it’s what a man should do. You gotta take care of your own wife, right?”
Everyone in the room cast admiring glances at Alex.
“Now that’s a good man, he knows how to cherish his wife.”
Mrs. Henderson scoffed. “I wish Luke was like that. Too bad he’s such a petty jerk.”
Sarah’s eyes were red as she walked towards me again.
“Luke, I’m not asking you to be as responsible or as thoughtful as your neighbor. I just beg you, please stop this.”
“Our son is about to turn one. Do you really want him to grow up without a father at this point?”
I angrily pushed her away.
“Don’t touch me!”
“Your son will never be without a father.”
Then I couldn’t help but sneer.
“After we divorce, you can take him to find his real father”
Sarah froze, completely stunned by my words.
Behind her, Mr. and Mrs. Henderson and Mark were so furious they pointed at my nose and cursed.
“Luke, you bastard, how dare you say such a thing?”
Mark’s face turned ashen with rage. He lunged at me again, grabbing my collar and yanking me straight out of my wheelchair.
“Don’t think I won’t hit you just because you broke a leg. If you keep slandering my sister like this, I swear I’ll break your other leg too!”
I still looked at him, utterly expressionless.
“Slander?”
“Say whatever you want. I’m divorcing her anyway.”
Mark reached his breaking point and threw a punch.
He even grabbed a nearby stick, gritting his teeth, ready to break my leg.
I mocked him:
“Go ahead, kill me today.”
“As long as I’m still breathing, I’m divorcing Sarah!”
Everyone thought I’d lost my mind, absolutely insane to insist on divorce.
Sarah saw my face swelling, blood trickling from the corner of my mouth, and immediately rushed over, heartbroken, to shield me.
“Mark, stop it!”
“Luke must be going through something. Let’s give him a few days to think it over, okay?”
“Maybe in a few days, he won’t want a divorce anymore”
Everyone started whispering, calling me a fool, stubborn and irrational.
They said I was throwing away a good life just to get divorced, I must be possessed.
I scoffed.
And closed my eyes.
That day, Mark filmed me and uploaded the video to social media.
“Look at the venomous face of this man! His wife gave birth, he didn’t care for her, didn’t help her, drove her to postpartum depression, and now, just because she sleeps in a separate bed, he wants a divorce!”
“What kind of girl would be so unlucky as to marry a man like this?! I feel so sorry for my sister!”
Driven by his post, netizens launched a collective online witch hunt.
They blasted me online, calling me the worst kind of scumbag, a total freeloader who ditches his wife after she gives birth, a pig who only thinks with his crotch.
They even turned my face into memes.
Slamming me as the ultimate jerk.
I simply turned off my phone, ignored everything, and holed up in my study, dealing with work.
“I saw all the stuff online. It’s pretty nasty.”
My junior colleague, Maya, came to the house to drop off some files and casually mentioned it.
“So, Luke, are you really going through with the divorce with Sarah?”
“You’re still in a wheelchair, can’t move around easily. Without someone to help you, even getting to the courthouse would be tough, right?”
I couldn’t help but sneer.
“Isn’t that exactly what Sarah wants?”
Two months ago, I went out to buy breakfast for Sarah and was hit by a drunk driver.
I didn’t die.
But I broke a leg.
Since then, I’ve been in a wheelchair, unable to move freely.
Sarah had to take care of the baby and me, which was too much for her, so we hired a nanny.
But I later found out.
That car accident, caused by the drunk driver, was orchestrated by Sarah.
At first, I couldn’t believe it.
After all, to everyone who saw us, Sarah and I had been in love for eight years, known in our circle as a model couple.
We were high school sweethearts, inseparable from our school days right up to our wedding.
Our wedding photo was still displayed on the “Outstanding Alumni” board at the university.
But the video evidence sent to me by the private investigator explained everything.
Two months after my leg was broken.
I finally understood her true intentions.
Stuck in a wheelchair, I couldn’t move freely and had to confine myself to my study. I needed the nanny for everything.
But what I called “care,” was actually her monitoring me.
Sarah herself would hide in the closet all night.
Every time I woke up, my side of the bed was cold.
After that disastrous party, Sarah and I fell into a complete cold war.
Several times she tried to talk to me, but I refused to engage.
Yet, every few days, she’d try to smooth things over.
Coming to me, playing the victim.
One day, she came over, holding our son.
“Luke, I just had the nanny bathe our son. Will you hold him, please?”
“Since he was born a year ago, you’ve been so busy with work, have you really even looked at your son?”
Sarah’s eyes welled up again as she spoke.
“I know I was wrong before, I neglected and overlooked you. We finally built our little family, so from now on, if we have any problems, let’s talk it through and live a good life, okay?”
I didn’t even glance at them, coldly and impatiently stating:
“Take your son and get lost.”
Sarah was deeply hurt by my words.
She looked at me, incredulous, her eyes red. “Luke, he’s your son too.”
“Honestly, ask yourself, our son is almost a year old, how many diapers have you changed? How many times have you made him formula?”
“It’s true, for the first six months after he was born, you were so involved. But after that, you completely changed. For days, you wouldn’t even hold him”
“Look, can’t you see the hopeful look in his eyes? How much he wants his daddy to hold him? You two look so much alike”
Hearing her words, I seemed to be touched.
I slowly turned my head to look at the baby in Sarah’s arms.
Sarah’s eyes immediately lit up, and she perfectly timed it, gently pushing the baby into my embrace.
“Luke, I knew you weren’t that heartless.”
“Whatever happened, it will pass. Even for our son’s sake, we can’t just get divorced!”
That day, I remained silent, watching her son smile at me.
If it were before.
My heart would have melted.
But now, it was hard as iron.
I printed out several divorce papers, but Sarah tore every single one to shreds.
Sarah refused to sign, no matter what.
She was such a proud person, yet she humbled herself for me time and again, constantly trying to make amends.
If I truly wanted a divorce, I’d have to find another way.
After three days of my silence.
My chance came.
“Luke?”
In the darkness, Sarah tiptoed back into the room, calling out to me tentatively.
I didn’t respond, my breathing even.
Sarah sighed in relief.
She then turned and left.
For the past few days, since the divorce discussions started, Sarah and I had been sleeping in separate rooms.
After she had the baby, most of her time was spent caring for him, but evenings were an exception.
The doctor said she had postpartum depression and needed plenty of rest.
So we hired a confinement nurse and two nannies.
As soon as the lights went out, she would retreat into the closet, curling up inside to get a good night’s sleep.
That night, I had just closed my eyes.
I heard three rhythmic knocks in the dark.
It felt like a trick of the mind.
But I knew it wasn’t.
After waiting three minutes, I sat up.
And called the police.
“Hello, is this 911?!”
“My wife has been murdered!”
“Yes, the address is”
After hanging up, I called friends and family, one by one, telling them to come over immediately.
Mr. and Mrs. Henderson and Mark rushed over first.
Hearing that something had happened to Sarah, their eyes were red with anxiety, looking like they wanted to tear me limb from limb.
“Luke, where is my sister? Where have you hidden her?”
Mrs. Henderson was frantic, running around, her coat half on, searching the house with red eyes.
“You bastard!”
“Where’s my daughter? Where did Sarah go? She’s barely left the house since having the baby, how could she suddenly disappear in the middle of the night?”
Mr. Henderson also glared at me, his face grim.
“Luke! If anything happens to my daughter, I swear you’ll pay with your life!”
I alone remained silent, expressionless.
“Don’t worry yet.”
Everyone was confused, frantically wondering what I was playing at.
Someone even tried to call Sarah.
But her phone rang on the bedside table.
Sarah was gone.
But her phone remained.
I glanced down at my watch.
“Not everyone’s here yet.”
Finally, the friends and family I had notified started arriving, one by one.
Although they didn’t want to be bothered in the middle of the night.
As soon as they heard there was drama, each one was more excited than the last.
When they heard my wife had disappeared.
They immediately started whispering and speculating.
Some said I was crying wolf.
Others even accused me of murdering my wife for insurance.
They said I’d just been pushing for divorce a few days ago, and now Sarah was gone. I must have kidnapped and hidden her.
Seeing the atmosphere sufficiently built up, I sneered:
“Sarah isn’t dead, and she hasn’t disappeared.”
“The reason I said that was to make sure every single one of you came.”
I stood up from my wheelchair, slowly speaking:
“As for where Sarah actually went, next, I’ll let you all see the truth with your own eyes”
With that, I pressed the remote control and opened the closet door.
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