Kevin and I were college classmates, and we married after graduation. All our relatives and friends envied us. I had a stable job while Kevin had achieved some success in his business, and we had a lovely daughter. In the eyes of others, our marriage was almost a perfect model.

As someone who grew up without care from my parents, I cherished our marriage very much.

My mother died when she gave birth to me. My father Johnny thought that I had caused my mother's death and refused to give me any fatherly love.

My grandma Mary detested me and never even hugged me.

When I was still a baby, my grandmother Sofia took me home. But when I was five years old, Sofia died of illness. I had no other relatives, so I had to go back to live with Johnny and Mary.

My arrival made them unhappy. Johnny had started a new family and had a son, which made Mary very happy.

So, I became their free babysitter. I learned to cook at the age of five and make bread at the age of seven. If I cooked badly, I would be beaten.

Johnny would kick me angrily, and my stepmother Kathy would point at my nose and scold me.

"You're so useless. Keeping you here is wasting my money. Get out!"

Mary would hold her grandson and stare at me with her eyes wide open.

"You bastard, get out of here now!"

I couldn't stay at home anymore, so I squatted under the big tree at the entrance of the alley and waited until they finished eating and calmed down before I went back.

They didn't remember to leave the door open for me, so when I was young, I often spent the night under the tree at the entrance of the alley and regarded this tree as my family.

Some neighbors who couldn't stand it would give me some bread or a bowl of soup.

I lived like this until I was in junior high school and met my teacher Maria.

I was the thinnest student in the class. I only eat bread and drink water every day. Sometimes I would buy a jar of pickled cucumber. I thought pickled cucumber was the most delicious and nutritious food.

But one day, I saw my classmates casually throwing the pickled cucumber that I left into the trash can, and kept saying, "It's so disgusting."

I didn't understand how could pickled cucumber, which cost money, be unpalatable.

I picked up the jar of pickled cucumber from the trash can silently. Maria passed by, looked at me, and left without saying a word. I ate the pickled cucumber with bread that day.

Maria often asked me to her dormitory, asking me to help her finish her meals. She had a high ponytail and was young and beautiful. I looked into her eyes, which were bright and lively, and thought she was like an angel!

She let me take showers and wash my hair in her dormitory, and she treated me like her sister or daughter.

There was no longer lice on my head, nor did my hair look messy. Instead, I had a high ponytail and bright eyes.

But I was still very skinny.

But Maria made me understand that I was a person and a good-looking girl. I must be confident and decide my destiny.

Maria said, "Katherine, you are very smart and beautiful. You should study hard, get into college, and change your destiny."

When Johnny wanted to make me drop out of school, I stood in front of him and told him that I would not drop out and that I wanted to go to school.

Mary came to the school to make a fuss, and Maria advised her that I was talented and should be well nurtured.

But Maria, who was so kind, flushed when she was scolded by Mary.

"What do you mean? When she grows up, she will marry someone. What did you teach Katherine? She never dared to talk back before. It was all your instigation. No wonder no one wants to marry you!"

I was so angry that I clenched my fists and stood in front of Maria to protect her from Mary's insults. I thought Maria must be extremely disappointed in me. She was so nice to me, and yet she was scolded by my family like that.

I borrowed someone else's cell phone to call the police. That was the first time in 16 years that I learned to fight for myself.

After the police learned about the situation, they found out that my family had managed a marriage for me. They planned to let me marry Tom from the next village, who was a cripple. Tom was almost thirty years old and no woman was willing to marry him, so Tom gave my family 150 thousand dollars.

I couldn't get rid of it, so I could only threaten them with my life. I put the knife on my neck, and they were scared. I didn't have to marry the cripple, and I was able to continue my studies, but I had to raise the tuition by myself.

Since high school, I had been working part-time, washing dishes in a small restaurant for ten dollars a day, with meals provided. And I picked up waste and sold it to earn living expenses.

Fortunately, I survived and went to college successfully.

When I finished shopping at the supermarket downstairs and walked to the door, I met Mia who happened to come in. She greeted me warmly and said that she had just moved here and came to buy some necessities.

Knowing that she was suppressing her eagerness to show off, I invited her to visit my home when she had time, and she immediately agreed to come after she finished cleaning up her house.

I looked at her back and stood at the door for a while to enjoy the cool breeze.

When I was checking out just now, through the glass of the supermarket, I saw her standing outside the door, looking at me. She started walking towards me only when I finished paying. It was not hard to guess her purpose. She was still too young.

Kevin was at home with Kathy, but he kept glancing at his cell phone. As soon as I entered the door, he got up and put on his shoes.

"Katherine, stay with Kathy. I'm going to buy a pack of cigarettes."

I didn't say anything but just watched him close the door silently. I said in my heart, "Kevin, your excuse is poor. You have already quit smoking long ago."

I waited until Kevin came back with cigarettes at eleven o'clock.

Apart from telling him to take medicine, I didn't ask or say anything.

The moment I closed the bedroom door, I heard him let out a long sigh of relief.

I took Kathy to see Maria. Maria had just retired and was no longer under pressure from teaching. She was gentle and dignified. Seeing that I dressed Kathy too little, she scolded me like a mother and then took Kathy to buy clothes.

I followed behind her and listened to her.

I proposed to buy a house in her name. She was stunned for a moment and just looked at me as if she wanted to see through my mind. I let her look at me and I smiled apologetically. Her eyes reddened and she agreed.

The house issue was settled very quickly. I told Kevin that Maria was the person who helped me the most, so I wanted to repay her. It happened that she wanted to buy a house but didn't have enough money, so I wanted to help her. Kevin agreed.

I took out all the money I had, and Kevin gave me some more, and the house was soon brought.

When Kevin was at home, he became more and more absent-minded and looked at his mobile phone from time to time.

When I was about to go to work, I reminded him that it was time for a physical check-up and asked if he wanted to go to the hospital with me.

He rejected me with the excuse that he would have a physical examination with all his employees later. I considerately gave him antihypertensive medicine.

Mia was pregnant for almost four months and her belly could no longer be hidden.

I looked at my phone and saw a text message coming in.

"I miss you."

I glanced at Kevin, deleted the message, and left.

The person who sent the message was my personal trainer Owen White, a young man with abdominal muscles.

He had been pestering me a lot lately, sending me dozens of messages every day. As long as I didn't reply to his messages, he would stand next to me with a resentful look when I was training.

"Don't be angry. I'm out now."

I sat next to Owen and handed him a glass of water in a gentle tone.

"Then you have to reply to my message next time."

Owen was angry and acted like a wronged child. I couldn't help but rub his hair, and he finally looked happy. He took me to train attentively, and after the training, I took him out for dinner. He didn't want to leave me, saying that he wanted to stay with me.

I had no choice but to send a message to Kevin saying that I would not be going home today, and then I went to the hotel with Owen.

Owen was under-educated and worked as a fitness coach. Because he looked handsome and masculine and acted cautiously and thoughtfully, many women had hinted at him privately, but he rejected them calmly.

As soon as I closed the door, Owen couldn't wait to hug me. I pushed him away and apologized to him, saying that I had a period. I took out the sanitary napkin in my hand and leaned on him coquettishly, asking him to understand me.

Owen gritted his teeth and went to take a shower. I looked at his phone on the table.

I turned on the screen and saw a familiar profile photo. I glanced at the bathroom and turned off his phone.

Owen came out, wrapped in a bath towel, his abdominal muscles exposed. He came forward and hugged me tightly, his eyes full of pride.

I smiled and pushed him away, pulling him to get dressed.

I looked at Owen through the light. He looked handsome and had tanned skin, which made him look very attractive under the light. God was unfair. Although he was born into a poor family like I was, he was so good-looking, no wonder he was coveted by many rich women.

Maybe because of my gaze, he put his arm around me again, I pushed him away and carefully tidied his clothes.

"Owen, I have to go. My sister is not in good condition recently. I have to go see her."

My phone rang at an opportune moment and I picked it up and answered softly.

"Alice, I'll be there in a minute, don't worry, it's okay!"

Owen looked concerned and wanted to go with me.

"Alice's boyfriend cheated on her and she couldn't stand it. She attempted suicide several times, but my aunt stopped her. She and I have been close since childhood and she only listens to me."

Owen was a little reluctant to leave me. He seemed to want to say something. With an emotion in his eyes that I couldn't understand, he reminded me to be careful on the road.

My phone rang again.

"Katherine, Alice is about to jump off the building, come quickly."

I quickly ran towards the elevator, ignoring Owen behind me.