My husband who shared the same bed with me, had been having an affair with my childhood friend for ten years.

My husband and I had been childhood sweethearts, the envy of others.

But our more than ten years of relationship did not prevent him from cheating on me with my childhood friend after we got married.

I asked our daughter, "If we get divorced, who would you choose?"

She looked at me with disgust and said, "You are never satisfied. Where will you find another husband who provides for you without asking for anything? And you still want to divorce."

I was at a loss for words as I looked at her, and in the end, I didn't say anything.

After a sleepless night, I decided to make those who betrayed me pay the price.

In the end, my childhood friend went crazy, and my husband ended up in jail.

With teary eyes, my daughter said to me, "Mom, please take care of me again."

***

I found a used Dior lipstick in my husband Yerik's car.

This lipstick was trending online for a while, and I had kept it in my shopping cart for a long time.

Just when I was ready to bite the bullet and make the payment, he saw it.

He said his company had lowered his salary and we had significant expenses at home, so he asked me to hold off for a while.

I felt disappointed, but I didn't say anything.

I never thought that I would reach a point where I hesitated for a whole month just to buy a lipstick.

And to my surprise, my husband had already bought the lipstick I loved for another woman.

I felt a chilling sensation throughout my body as I slumped in the driver's seat, and my heart pounding.

I sat in the car for an hour, wiping away the tears from my face and sent a message to the group of my close friends.

I: [My husband is cheating on me!]

Yana: [Could it be some misunderstanding?]

Yvonne: [Did he suddenly become fearless? Don't panic.]

Yana: [Calm down and figure it out first! What did he do?]

I: [I found a used lipstick in the car, and it's not mine.]

Yana: [Maybe a colleague dropped it accidentally. Yerik seems like a family-oriented person, not someone like that.]

Yvonne: [Yana, don't you also work in that area? Have you ever noticed him getting too close to female colleagues?]

Yana: [I've seen him a few times, having meals with a girl, but I haven't witnessed any inappropriate behavior.]

Yvonne: [Men who lack self-respect are like rotten cabbage. Don't make excuses for them.]

The next moment, Yvonne's phone call came in. She started by comforting me, then abruptly scolded me. "How are you holding up? I still have some unused vacation days from last year. I'll take a fake sick leave and come back. If you're feeling really upset, go find Yana. Don't keep it all to yourself. And whatever you do, don't impulsively go to that jerk's company to make a scene. It won't be worth the effort, and you won't gain anything. In short, hold on, collect evidence of his affair first."

"I don't know what to do. Why does he do this to me?" I couldn't hold back any longer and burst into tears.

"Why bother with all the whys? He doesn't love you anymore! Men are all despicable. Now the most important thing for you is to gather evidence, try to get him to leave empty-handed, and then secure custody of Xenia."

I wiped my tears and tidied up a bit. Then I went to the fried chicken restaurant and buy hamburgers and fries.

I packed them up and went to pick up Xenia from school. These were treats that I usually prohibited Xenia from having.

Xenia came running out with excitement, but when she saw me, her face suddenly changed. "Why is it you? Where's Dad?"

"Dad is attending a company outing today, so I'm here to pick you up." I patiently explained, but Xenia still didn't seem happy.

She wanted to save the fried chicken to eat together with Yerik. Seeing her like this, my heart ached even more. She was just in fourth grade and already had to face the cruel reality of her parents' divorce.

For the first time ever, I took Xenia out to eat steak. I used to think outside food was unclean and rarely allowed them to eat out.

As soon as we entered the restaurant, Xenia confidently picked up the menu and began ordering, not at all like it was her first time here.

I asked her, "Have you been to this restaurant before?"

Without even lifting her head, Xenia replied, "Of course, Daddy is not as stingy as you."

"I'm just worried about you getting a stomachache from eating outside, and I do take you out for nice meals every month."

Xenia rolled her eyes at me dismissively and said, "Once a month? That's just being a cheapskate!"

Hearing her words, my heart felt heavy, but I thought that she was just throwing a tantrum like a child, so I didn't pay too much attention to it.

When we got home in the evening, I prepared the bathwater for Xenia and helped her get ready as usual.

I also washed and hung up her clothes. As for the living room, I didn't feel like cleaning it.

While assisting Xenia with her homework, I took the opportunity and asked her, "Xenia, if Dad and I were to separate, who would you choose to be with?"

"Of course I would choose Dad!" Xenia almost instantly blurted out without any hesitation.

I felt disappointed. "Why not choose me?"

Xenia snorted. "I just prefer Dad."

Afterward, Xenia realized and looked at me with disbelief. "You want to divorce Dad? You really are never satisfied. Where will you find another husband who provides for you without asking for anything? And you actually want to get a divorce."

I replied, "I was just asking casually to see if you love Dad or me more."

Xenia rolled her eyes. "Of course, I would choose Dad. He doesn't bother me about homework, and he takes me out for delicious food. Anyway, don't be ungrateful."

Xenia jabbed the pencil onto my arm, and it hurt so much that I gasped for air.

I felt a chill in my heart and broke out in cold sweats. Xenia's words and actions were giving me a headache.

I opened my mouth but couldn't utter a word. For the first time, I didn't care about whether she finished her homework, when she went to bed or if she had milk before sleep.

After returning to the room, I locked the door and lay down on the bed, exhausted.

I buried my head in the covers and burst into tears.

When Yerik returned, I could vaguely hear Xenia sweetly clinging to him and said, "Daddy, you're amazing.

"You're the best dad in the whole world.

"I want to find a husband in the future who is as good as you, Daddy."

Yerik replied softly, "Xenia, take your time growing up. You'll always be my little princess."

I lay on the bed trembling, hearing Yerik open the door and forced myself to calm down.

"Xenia is still awake, why are you sleeping already?" Yerik's tone turned cold, as if the gentle person in the living room just moments ago wasn't him.

Knowing that I couldn't avoid it, I pulled the covers down a bit and replied sullenly, "If you wanted her to sleep earlier, why didn't you come back earlier? Don't you know she was waiting for you?"

Yerik looked at me coldly. "I work hard to support the family, and you can't even handle these small tasks at home? Why are you so irresponsible?"

"I'm not arguing or making a fuss. Did I say something wrong?"

Thinking that I couldn't offend him for the time being, I softened my tone. "Okay, dear, let's go to sleep! I know you've worked hard. Tomorrow, I'll wait for her to sleep first before I go to bed."

Yerik didn't persist further and went to freshen up with a sullen face.

While he was washing up, I put a sleeping pill into his cup.

I had bought this at the drugstore today and told a big lie about it.

When he came out of the shower, I kindly handed him a cup of hot milk. "Don't be angry anymore, have some hot milk and get a good sleep."

Yerik drank it without suspecting anything, then handed me the empty cup without even considering if I wanted one too.

I realized that my position in this family was nothing more than a nanny.

Thinking about it, the pain on my arm from where Xenia had jabbed me with a pencil intensified.

In the middle of the night, I listened to Yerik's long and steady snores, suspecting that the sleeping pills were taking effect.

Back when we first started living together, his snoring used to keep me awake every night.

Now, strangely enough, listening to his snores made me even more sleepy.

I secretly took Yerik's phone and used his fingerprint to unlock it.

I opened his WhatsApp and searched through the chat history but didn't find anything suspicious. Could it be that I misunderstood him?

But that lipstick was tucked away at the very back of the storage box. There was no way it could have been accidentally dropped by a careless colleague.

Besides, a woman's intuition is usually accurate.

I inexplicably opened the settings and clicked on "Switch Accounts."

Sure enough, there were traces of another account logged in, showing that it was logged in three hours ago.

Wasn't that when he came home? Did he switch accounts as soon as he entered the house?

This account only had one contact named Heartland.

Yerik's name on this account was Everlasting.

I clicked on the conversation between Yerik and Heartland and saw messages sent three hours ago, [What if your wife finds out? ]

Everlasting: [Don't worry, baby. She won't find out.]

Heartland: [Do we have to continue this affair? Have you ever thought about marrying me?]

Everlasting: [Of course I have, but what about Xenia?]

Heartland: [I will take good care of Xenia. You don't even know how much she likes me. Last weekend, I gave her a Barbie doll, and she said I'm nicer to her than her own mom.]

I felt dizzy, tears streaming down my face, and my throat choked up, unable to make a sound.

So they had already formed a family of their own somewhere else without me knowing it.

I copied their entire chat history onto a USB drive and deleted all browsing records.

Before logging out, I clicked on Heartland's Instagram profile.

Then I saw their photos together, videos, and even Heartland's true identity. It was the final straw that broke me.

Heartland was Yana, my childhood best friend whom I had known since we were kids.

I also saw my daughter.

That was a video of them eating together at a restaurant the day before Xenia's birthday.

That day, Yerik had lied to me, saying he was taking Xenia to his parents' house for dinner.

It turned out that he took her to meet his lover.

Xenia was sweetly snuggled up in Yana's arms, and they looked like a truly happy family.

Yana, Yvonne, and I have been childhood friends since we started school together.

In middle school, I became desk mates with Yerik, which marked the beginning of our love-hate relationship.

Because of my connection with Yerik, Yvonne and Yana also got to know him and they became close friends too.

The four of us would hang out and have fun together throughout middle and high school.

After graduating from high school, Yerik and I started dating, but our relationship as a group of four didn't seem to change much.

We continued going out together, having fun, and playfully teasing each other.

During the university entrance exams, my grades were better than Yerik's. I got accepted to a university in a northern city, while Yvonne went to a university in a coastal city. Yerik and Yana stayed in our hometown.

We had a long-distance relationship for four years. Whenever there was a break from school, Yerik would come to visit me at my university.

During summer and winter vacations, we would spend time together. When we graduated from university, I decided to stay and work in the city where I studied. Yerik wanted to come with me, but his family strongly disagreed.

With no other options, we could only work for two years before making any plans.

Yerik was someone who had a strong need for control, although others may not easily notice it. I didn't realize it before we got married.

It's time for me to take actions into my own hands.