At the New Year's party, my pineapple juice is swapped for beer. To make things worse, I've just taken cephalexin, which shouldn't be mixed with alcohol.

After barely surviving the ordeal, I am shocked to see my husband, Harry Grant, defending Sally Lane, who was responsible for the mix-up.

"Can we please just let it go? She didn't do it on purpose," Harry pleads.

However, I'm not about to forgive Sally, especially given how sketchy her relationship with my husband has always been.

But Harry cuts me off with a scowl, "Enough! She's just graduated and doesn't know any better.

"What's the point of holding a grudge? Do you really want to ruin her life to feel better?" he asks, clearly trying to protect her.

As I watch him stand by her, my heart sinks.

"Fine then, go live with her."

"What do you mean 'go live with her'? Grace, can you stop being so petty? I was just checking in on a colleague as her boss. What's so wrong with that? How could you accuse us of something so awful?"

My words had clearly hit a nerve. Harry snapped back, trying to act like he wasn't fazed.

I let out a cold laugh and calmly asked, "Oh? Don't you think the way you check in on her is way too much? You care more about her than you do your wife.

"When I collapsed at the dinner, you were the first one to step back, weren't you?"

Harry froze, then tried to soften his tone. It was obvious he was struggling to hold back his temper. "Grace, I know you're upset. I'll definitely deal with Sally and make things right for you. But you don't need to call the police. She just graduated from college..."

"How exactly are you going to deal with her?"

After brushing up against death and waking up again, I felt like I could finally see everything clearly. My temples throbbed with a dull ache, and I cut him off before he could keep rambling.

Harry hesitated. Then, he muttered, "Dock half a day's pay."

"You're telling me I nearly died and all she gets is half a day's pay docked?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I almost laughed out of sheer disbelief.

"That's enough! It's not like she did it on purpose. She just graduated. She barely has any money. She has to pay rent and support herself. This is already a big deal! How is she supposed to survive if you take more?" His face darkened. He clearly just wanted me to drop it.

But I had no intention of talking to him any further. I pulled out my phone, ready to call the police.

Sally just having graduated was not an excuse. The moment she became an adult, she became responsible for her actions.

I had just started dialing when Harry rushed over, snatched the phone from my hand, and hung up. Then, he lashed out in anger, saying, "Do you have to ruin her future over this? She's still so young! What does she even understand?"

"I'm just trying to tell the police the truth. She knows exactly what she did." I frowned and reached for my phone again.

The room instantly filled with tension as neither of us was willing to back down.

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

Soon, Sally walked in carrying a fruit basket. She wore just the right amount of tears on her face, looking shy and nervous as she stepped inside. The moment she met my eyes, she bowed and apologized.

"I'm sorry, Grace. This was all my fault. I'm really sorry."

"Sally, come sit down," Harry quickly said, rushing over to welcome her. He took the fruit basket from her and even patted her shoulder. "You didn't have to bring this. Grace is fine now. Don't cry. There's nothing to be afraid of."

"I'm sorry for causing trouble."

If Sally had just left it at that, maybe it would've been tolerable. But the moment she said that, her eyes welled up with tears like she had been truly shaken.

Upon seeing her choke up, Harry looked even more distressed.

Just as her tears brimmed over, she glanced up at me. Her eyes were full of smug satisfaction.

I furrowed my brow and was about to call her out. Then, without warning, she dropped to her knees beside my bed. As she bowed her head, she pressed her forehead to the floor and burst into tears.

"I'm sorry, Grace. I really didn't know you were on medication. I only swapped the drinks to liven things up. I didn't mean anything by it."

"Sally! What are you doing? Get up!" Harry was completely stunned. He rushed forward to help her up, then turned back to me, furious at my cold expression."She's already doing this much! And you still won't believe her?

"Grace, how did I not realize how heartless you are? Just forgive her already! Don't make this harder on her.

"Sally, get up. Grace wouldn't want to see you like this..."

"I won't get up! Not until Grace forgives me!" Sally sobbed uncontrollably, begging for forgiveness.

My head pounded. I had no patience left to watch her performance.

Harry saw that I remained unmoved and, in a sudden fit of rage, slapped me across the face. "Grace! You cruel woman!"

It all happened so fast.

The right side of my face burned with pain.

With that slap, Harry shattered the last bit of love I still had for him.

Harry and I met and fell in love in college. We were classmates in the finance program—one of the top-ranked in the country.

Most students there had powerful family connections or came from privileged backgrounds, but Harry was different. He got in purely of his own merit and had plans to build everything from the ground up. That grit he carried drew me in instantly, so it wasn't a surprise that we ended up together.

I was the one who pursued him, and I learned a lot from him along the way.

My family never approved of Harry. In fact, they had already lined up a marriage for me before I'd even graduated. They thought I was just having fun with Harry for the time being and would eventually go back to the path they'd chosen.

People were rebellious by nature, but that fire in me had long burned out.

Back then, I cut ties with my family and chose Harry. Looking back now, we had been married for three years and together for five. Over those three years, Harry's career had soared with my support every step of the way.

He used to protect me the same way he protected Sally now. I remember him yelling at clients who tried to pressure me into drinking at business dinners, and staying up late at night to cook me soup.

I really believed we'd spend the rest of our lives together.

But as our life got better, our relationship started to crumble.

Ever since Sally joined the company as an intern assistant, Harry's attitude toward me had taken a sharp turn. I even heard that he was the one who personally requested to have Sally transferred to his side.

From then on, he started working late and took frequent business trips with Sally. He claimed it was to train her skills, though I had no idea which skills exactly were being trained.

Soon, rumors started swirling around the office. People whispered that Harry was having an affair with Sally and that she had been sleeping her way to the top.

Lost in thought, I didn't even see the next slap coming.

It landed hard across my face.

I slowly looked up at Harry as he gritted his teeth and spoke, every word biting and cold, "Grace, accept Sally's apology right now. Or I swear, you'll never have peace again."

"Harry, stop! Don't fight because of me!" Sally finally stepped in—after he hit me, of course. She stood up suddenly, and a flicker of determination flashed across her face. "Grace, since you still won't forgive me, I'll turn myself in. I'll spend the rest of my life making up for this!"

Before either of us could react, she ran straight out of the hospital room.

"Sally! Where are you going? Don't do anything rash!" Harry rushed after her, but not before throwing one last threat over his shoulder.

"If anything happens to her, Grace, I'll never forgive you!"

With that, the door slammed shut behind him.

For the first time all day, the room finally went quiet.

I let out a long breath and felt nothing but exhaustion.

Of course, Sally wasn't really going to turn herself in. Everything she did was calculated. She just wanted to drive a wedge between Harry and me.

It was such an obvious performance, but somehow, Harry still fell for it.

Not long after, he posted a scenic photo taken right outside the hospital on his social media. The caption read, "I'll protect you for a lifetime."

He didn't hide it from anyone. It was out there, bold and shameless for the world to see.

After he left, he never came back to check on me.

Then again, I was no longer in critical condition, so I guess he didn't see the need to.

I let out a cold laugh, completely numb to his petty provocation.

I had just had my stomach pumped the night before, and now, I couldn't stomach a single bite. But I didn't want to stay in that hospital for another second, so I spoke to the doctor about getting discharged the next day.

When I packed up and made it back home, I found Harry already there.

"You're back?" Harry was sitting on the couch. The moment he saw me walk in, his smile disappeared. His whole demeanor turned distant, and he didn't bother asking me how I was feeling.

He clearly hadn't expected me to come home so suddenly. From the look of things, he had been in a good mood before I arrived, but the second I opened the door, his face fell.

This was what our marriage had become—just an empty shell.

"Yeah, I'm back," I casually replied.

It was then that I noticed how stiff his posture looked, almost like he was subconsciously bracing himself.

I frowned slightly. Then, at the next moment, I heard the sound of running water coming from the bathroom shower—someone else was in the house.

"Who's taking a shower?"

Even though I already had a bad feeling, I still asked, holding on to a sliver of hope.

But the moment Harry heard me, his expression shifted, and he quickly tried to explain.

"It's Sally. Her building's water got cut off for the whole week, so I brought her here after work to shower. Don't overthink it. The water really is out."

"I got it. I'm not overthinking anything."

That response seemed to catch Harry off guard. He stared at my face, clearly trying to find any signs of anger, but when he didn't see it, he actually looked relieved. "You finally figured it out. I'm amazed you're not making a scene for once."

"Making a scene"? So, that was what he thought of everything I had done before?

I didn't say another word. I simply turned around and went straight to the bedroom. Then, I pulled out a suitcase from the closet and quietly began packing.

The entire time, Harry never once came to check on me.

Only when I started gathering my things did I realize how little I had actually accumulated in our years of marriage. I was never someone who cared much about material things anyway.

I left behind everything Harry had ever given me and all the things we had shared together. I didn't want them. I didn't even want the memories.

When I stepped back out, Harry was drying Sally's hair. He was kneeling on the couch beside her, chatting and laughing.

They could have passed for a loving couple from the way they looked.

At that moment, I felt like I was the outsider in my own home.

Harry had his back to me, and the sound of the blow dryer was too loud for him to notice my footsteps.

But Sally saw me the second I came out. She slowly looked up with a smug glint in her eyes. Then, she curled her lips into a faint smile. It was like she was saying, "See? You can't beat me."

I stood there, expressionless.

I didn't want to win, and I didn't feel like I'd lost either. I just silently watched as Harry patiently dried Sally's hair, his expression full of affection.

It had been so long since he'd looked at me like that.

So, it wasn't because he was stressed from work that he snapped at me at home. He had simply used up all his patience on someone else.

When the dryer finally shut off, Harry turned and saw me. His face stiffened, and he quickly explained, "I was just drying her hair. I didn't want her to go to work tomorrow with a headache if it stayed damp."

"Got it. You don't have to explain to me," I flatly replied, my voice calm and indifferent.

But that one line gave Sally the perfect opening to jump in. She looked timid as she said, "Grace, you probably don't want me here. Maybe I should just leave." As she spoke, she made it seem as if she was about to stand and leave.

Harry immediately stopped her. "You just showered. If you go out now, you'll catch a cold."

"I never said I didn't want you here," I said. "I'm the extra one. You stay. I'll go."

With that, I walked back into the room, grabbed my suitcase, and headed straight for the door.

Harry's face darkened as he rushed over to block me. "Grace, what are you doing? I knew something was off the moment you got home acting all calm. Is this one of your schemes?"

I let out a small, bitter laugh. I didn't even want to guess what kind of person I had become in Harry's eyes after all the things Sally had accused me of.

I just looked at him and calmly said, "No schemes here, Harry. Keep an eye on your email. I'll be sending you the divorce papers."