Chapter 2

I always believed my sacrifices were worth it because he loved his job, and I loved him.

We had happy times too. When he wasn’t busy, he’d travel two hours just to get a cake for me. He’d come home with a bouquet of roses, stay up all night to care for the newborn Doris, change diapers, feed her, and do household chores.

He loved holding my face, pressing his forehead against mine, and saying, "Jane, thank you. Without you, we wouldn’t have this family. I will always love you."

Then he went on that year-long assignment. I didn't know what he was doing, but once, I ran into him selling seafood at a market. I pretended we were strangers and walked past him. After that, we had no contact for a year.

When he returned, he was like a different person. He could go the whole day without speaking a word and showed no concern for our household. It was like a stranger sleeping next to me. I tried to mend our relationship, but Edward found excuses to avoid me. He eventually looked at me with a strange expression and sarcastically said, "I never realized before how much you crave intimacy."

Now, I finally understood our problem. I stood there for a long time before the woman noticed me. She seemed flustered, pushing Edward away and nervously shrinking into his arms. Edward's face showed a rare hint of panic. He instinctively shielded the woman before quickly calming down and said, "Jane, she's innocent. Don’t take your anger out on her. I’ll come home and explain."

“No need.” I coldly looked at the man I once loved deeply and asked, "I asked you to take Doris to her piano lesson. Where did you go?"

"I got a work call and couldn’t leave. I watched her get on the bus. It was only a couple of blocks after getting off. She's four; she knows the way." Edward explained.

Grief made me double over, barely able to stand. Tears mixed with rainwater streamed down my face.

Doris was only four years old. He let a four-year-old girl take a half-hour bus ride alone and then walk another kilometer to her lesson. He knew better than anyone how dangerous the world could be, yet he neglected his own daughter.

“Is this ‘work’ you mentioned just making out with her?" I raised my voice, pointing at the girl in his arms. She looked young, possibly still in college, and she bit her lip nervously, trembling. Edward instinctively comforted her before looking at me with impatience.

“Jane, stop scaring her. Try to understand the demands of my job, you used to be reasonable…”

I couldn’t hold it in any longer and slapped him hard. The girl screamed and reached out to touch Edward’s cheek, her face full of concern.

"We’re getting a divorce."

With that, I walked away without looking back.

Two hours later, Edward came back. Seeing that I had packed up most of the house, he frowned deeply.

“I’m exhausted. Can you stop acting like a child throwing a tantrum?”

"You think this is a tantrum?" I was too tired to argue, just staring coldly at him.