Before my grandmother passed away, her only wish was to see my husband.

I knelt in front of her sickbed and cried, calling Chris 18 times.

But he didn't answer any of them.

That night, after my grandmother died, I managed to take care of the funeral arrangements at the hospital. Then I saw Chris's Instagram.

He was celebrating his ex-girlfriend's birthday, and the caption said,

[As long as you're happy, everything is perfect.]

After leaving the crematorium, I printed the divorce agreement.

"Chris, let's get a divorce."

——

When Chris saw the divorce agreement on my desk, his first reaction was,

"Have you caused enough trouble?"

He just came back from outside, with a bit of alcohol on him, and wearing the same outfit as yesterday.

Chris had a cleanliness obsession, and there was only one person, who could make him willingly wear dirty clothes from the day before yesterday.

His first love, Sophia.

Looking at him, I remembered the moments I saw on Instagram last night.

When my grandmother was critically ill and only wanted to see her grandson-in-law, he was celebrating Sophia's birthday.

"Yes, I've had enough. So, Chris, I'm serious this time. Let's get a divorce."

I picked up the divorce agreement and handed it to him. "I set you free to be with Sophia."

He looked at me incredulously and laughed angrily, "You're really something, Anita. You stop making a scene but threaten me with a divorce, huh?"

He snatched the divorce agreement and held it tightly, scolding me, "When can you be mature? I was just celebrating a friend's birthday, and you won't stop making a fuss."

I couldn't help but ask him, "Am I the one causing trouble? Last night, my grandmother..."

But before I finished speaking, I was interrupted, "Not everything has to be about your grandma. Anita, how many times have you used her health as an excuse in the past three months?"

He pointed at my nose and scolded me, "Just because your grandma is sick, do I have to stay by the sickbed all the time and have no life of my own?"

He scolded me, making my eyes turn red, and I questioned him, "Chris, are you serious? Since my grandma got sick until now, you haven't visited her more than five times!"

Three months ago, my grandma fell. She was old, and her chronic illnesses had recurred. So she had been staying in the hospital during this time, relying on machines almost every day to sustain her life.

"And a few days ago, the doctor issued a critical condition notice. Did you come to take a look? I called you 18 times last night..."

He was hurt by my words and had an ugly expression. "You know what? Because of your calls, my friends take turns mocking me, saying that I'm henpecked and don't even have the freedom to go out!"

He threw the divorce agreement in my face. "Anita, don't forget how you married me in the first place. You used your grandma to blackmail me and forced me to marry you! Are you gonna use her to blackmail me for a lifetime?"

The paper brushed against my face, leaving a bloodstain. My face was in pain, but my heart was numb.

It turned out that our marriage, to him, was a moral coercion.

We grew up together like childhood sweethearts in the conventional sense.

The relationship between the White and Smith families was good, and we lived close to each other. Since our parents were busy with work, both Chris and I were mostly raised by my grandmother.

Since I was little, I had liked Chris. I would always invite him to join me, whenever I had something good to eat or play. Even the elders liked to joke about it.

"Do you really like Chris that much? How about you marrying him when you grow up?"

At that time, Chris also said, "She is so silly. If she doesn't marry me, who will like her?"

He once held my hand and said that when he grew up, he would marry me.

When I was 14 years old, my parents died in a car accident. I cried so hard at the funeral that I almost passed out.

Chris hugged me and said seriously,

"Anita, don't be afraid. I will protect you from now on."

The 16-year-old boy, with sincerity in his eyes, said, "I'll be there for you forever."

But that sentence, only I took it seriously.

From the age of 15 to 25, ten years,

I followed behind Chris, giving my all without any regrets.

During high school, he got into fights with people. Without hesitation, I stood in front of him to protect him. As a result, I broke a rib, which affected my performance on the SAT.

But when the elders asked about it, I didn't mention him at all. I only said, "I stood up to protect someone."

At that time, he laughed at me and asked, 'Do you love your brother so much?'

Blushing with shyness, I replied in a voice softly, "Yes, I do."

But Chris didn't hear it.

We went to different cities for college. He was the pride of a prestigious institution, while I barely made it into a common university.

I envied him and went to his school, only to see him kissing a tall and beautiful girl.

That girl was Sophia,

his first love.

In the following three years, I witnessed their joys and sorrows.

He caused trouble, and I took the blame; he made a scene, and I covered it up for him.

When he was in trouble, I was never absent; when he was perfectly good, Sophia appeared.

Until Sophia went abroad.

It was said that because their families disagreed with them being together. Sophia tearfully left the airport and broke up with him without looking back.

Chris got drunk, and I brought him home, but he pressed me down on the sofa.

That night, he called Sophia countless times. I curled up in pain, but he took me again.

When he sobered up, his eyes were red.

"Anita, I'm sorry."

He said, "I drank too much."

I hid my feelings, and forced myself to say, "It's okay. After all, we're both adults now."

But he always drank too much.

Chris naturally thought that I should pay for him.

When he was unhappy, he came to me. When he needed someone to sleep with, he came to me.

At that moment, I suddenly realized that I was just a plaything for him, available at his beck and call.

He would have fun with me, but would never take me home.

Until our relationship was discovered by my grandmother.

She thought we were in love, so she mentioned it to the Smith family, and they pressured him to marry me.

Chris' parents liked me a lot. After my parents passed away, they were even more responsible for taking care of me.

Knowing that we were living together, they were overjoyed and directly stated, "If you let Anita down, you won't be our son anymore!"

Under the pressure from both sides' elders, Chris didn't bow down, but I ended up in the hospital with a stomach bleeding for his new project.

Lying on the hospital bed with a pale face, Chris came to see me and asked, "Anita, do you really want to marry me?"

At that time, I was scared and stumbled as I waved my hand, "No, I don't want to. Please don't misunderstand me. I just want to help you..."

But before I could finish my words, he pressed me onto the bed.

After looking at me for a while and seeing my shy face, he lowered his head and kissed me.

He was dominant and overbearing. When I was about to suffocate, he finally let go of me and said, "Alright, let's get married then."

We got married and had a grand wedding.

That period of time was the happiest for me.

We were always together, and the tenderness and thoughtfulness he had once given to others finally fell on me.

I thought we would always be like this.

Until last autumn, Sophia returned to China.