Chapter 3

Early the next morning, while Lucas was still unconscious, I left with an insulated food container.

Even though this marriage was riddled with holes, I still went to City Central Hospital.

My mother-in-law had been hospitalized for severe kidney failure for half a year, relying entirely on my round-the-clock care.

Consider it one last act of filial duty, a way to draw a final line under twelve years of feelings.

When I pushed open the hospital room door, my mother-in-law was praising me to the family member of another patient.

"I've been sick and it's all thanks to Sophia. She's been more devoted than my own daughter would be."

Seeing me arrive, she beamed with joy and quickly told me to sit down and rest.

I ladled out the fish soup I'd been simmering all night and placed it in her hands.

"Martha, Lucas had a fever last night. I need to go back and check on him in a bit."

My mother-in-law, Martha, was holding the bowl, drinking soup, when the phone propped on the small table for watching videos suddenly rang.

It was a SnapChat video call notification. The name "Bella" flashed on the screen.

My mother-in-law's hands were covered in soup, making it inconvenient to pick up, so she gestured with her chin.

"Sophia dear, help me answer it."

Without thinking much, I reached out and swiped the green answer button.

When I saw that familiar young face, my expression froze.

It was the woman who had been naked and entwined with Lucas six months ago after he got drunk---Bella White.

In the video, she was holding a little boy who looked about three years old.

The boy called sweetly toward the camera: "Grandma! Look at the car Daddy bought me!"

Bella, on the other hand, spoke with a coquettish complaint toward the screen.

"Martha, Lucas drank too much here last night and got a fever, so I let him sleep in a bit longer."

"That crazy woman didn't go nuts and torment him again because Lucas came home late, did she?"

The air in the hospital room became deathly silent in that instant.

My mother-in-law was so startled she trembled, and the scalding fish soup splashed all over the blanket.

"Soph... Sophia! Let me explain!"

Ignoring her burns, she lunged forward trying to grab the phone.

I stepped back, staring fixedly at the child on the screen who bore such a striking resemblance to Lucas. I felt cold all over, trembling.

"Cousin? This is the cousin you told me about?"

Caught red-handed, my mother-in-law sighed and simply stopped pretending.

She grabbed my hand, speaking earnestly, her face full of pity and helplessness.

"Sophia, don't blame Lucas for keeping this from you. Bella has been so accommodating these four years, never once asking for status."

Four years ago?

My head buzzed, my insides twisting together so painfully I couldn't breathe.

So this woman's existence... wasn't just a drunken accident from six months ago?

My mother-in-law gently patted the back of my hand, speaking softly and persuasively.

"I've watched you grow up, and I do care about you. But you have to think about Lucas too."

"You went through that kind of trauma. You won't let him touch you even once every ten days or half a month. He's a hot-blooded, normal man."

"You can't expect him to be a monk his whole life because of your little problem, can you?"

"Bella said the child can still call you Auntie. You're still the legitimate wife of the family."

"Nothing changes. Bella will never disturb you two. Isn't that good?"

My legs gave out instantly, and I collapsed into the chair behind me.

I didn't catch another word my mother-in-law said after that.

Memories and reality tore at each other in my head, literally ripping me in half.

Four years.

Every time Lucas went on a rescue mission to another city, he would stay on voice calls with me all night.

He said he knew I had no sense of security, that I was afraid of the dark, and that hearing his breathing would help me sleep.

Once he was in danger at a disaster site. Even risking his life to dig out a backup battery, he still had to report to me all night.

But I never imagined that what I thought was ultimate devotion was just a scam.

Every all-night phone call he made to comfort me---was Bella White lying beside him?

Was that child even sleeping next to him?

While lying together with another woman and child, he coaxed me---the clueless fool---on the phone.

A tremendous sense of absurdity drowned me.

I stood up, no longer acknowledging my mother-in-law, and stumbled out of the hospital room.

Since the "perfect ending" in everyone's eyes didn't include me, then I'd just give up my position as wife.