: Betrayal

I was preparing a surprise for our fifth wedding anniversary when I saw a trending topic online: "A Romantic Ride, A Different Kind of Life."

I zoomed in on the picture. A man and a woman, out for a ride, were straddling a bike, locked in a passionate kiss.

I recognized the man in the photo instantly. It was my wife's "male best friend."

My gaze shifted to the woman beside him, and I fell silent.

Though most of her face was obscured, I still recognized her by the diamond earring on her earlobe. It was my wife.

It was a custom gift I'd had made for her for our fourth anniversary.

Suppressing the overwhelming wave of hatred, I calmly sent the evidence of Bella Vance's affair to my lawyer.

This time, I'll send them both to hell!

...

At midnight, I stretched my stiff limbs.

'I silently made a decision—my five years with Bella Vance were over.'

Bella Vance didn't call once the entire day.

She'd forgotten the promise she made when she left that afternoon, forgotten what day it was.

I looked at the elaborate dinner I'd prepared, the red wine, then got up and dumped it all in the trash.

The crimson roses, dark as blood, were like my own bleeding heart, slowly growing cold and hard.

I tossed the anniversary necklace I'd bought into the trash, then turned and began to pack my bags.

'A woman whose heart is elsewhere is a woman I don't need.'

Bella Vance didn't come back until the next morning.

Her face was flushed and she collapsed onto the sofa in exhaustion. Her neck was covered in red marks.

Bella Vance gave me a seductive smile. "Miles, hurry and get me a glass of honey water. I'm exhausted."

Seeing the flush on her face, I felt a wave of nausea.

I frowned, taking in her appearance. Her clothes were wrinkled and rumpled, her hair a mess.

When Bella Vance saw I wasn't moving, she whined impatiently,

"Honey, could you hurry it up? I'm dying of thirst."

As she spoke, she stuck out her tongue and licked her lips.

An image immediately flashed in my mind: her, sticking out her tongue, being intimate with her "male best friend."

Instantly, a bitter taste rose in my throat.

I don't have much family, so being home alone always feels especially cold and lonely.

When we first got married, Bella Vance would still be home to keep me company every day.

Then she got into cycling and met her "male best friend," Holden Holt.

She started coming home later and later. She was either out riding with her "male best friend" or "helping him out" at his place.

It's not that I didn't object.

Bella Vance would always give me a cold look and snap irritably,

"It's bad enough you don't support me getting fit, but now you're trying to hold me back. Are you even a man?"

Afterward, she'd give me the silent treatment for days, locking me out of the bedroom and refusing to speak a single word to me.

Time and time again, I had no choice but to tacitly accept her nights spent away from home.

Bella Vance's expression turned ugly. She kicked the coffee table. "What's gotten into you now? Is breakfast ready? Hurry up and serve it. I'm going to take a nap after I eat."

Watching her order me around so matter-of-factly, I almost had to laugh.

I used to get up early to make breakfast for her no matter how busy I was, while she slept in until eight without a care in the world.

'But why should I be the one waiting on her? As my wife, couldn't she make breakfast for me just once?'

For years, I've been skipping breakfast, then entertaining clients until the middle of the night. I already have a severe stomach ulcer.

I gave a cold laugh.

"Bella Vance, let's get a divorce."

Bella Vance froze, then snapped in anger,

"Are you crazy? It's the crack of dawn. If you're going to act like a lunatic, take your meds. Don't come looking for a fight."

I glanced at her neck, which was covered in hickeys, then shoved my phone in her face.

"You're already all over your 'male best friend.' If we don't get a divorce, what are you waiting for? For me to catch you in the act?"

"What are you talking about? 'All over' him? I'm exhausted, I don't have time for this nonsense!"

Bella Vance glanced at the screen, her eyes darting away.

Then she tried to cover for herself, her voice suddenly loud.

"Yesterday, Holden got some sand in his eye. I was just helping him blow it out. What's the big deal?"

"You're a grown man, acting so paranoid all the time. Don't you feel pathetic?"

With that, she rolled her eyes at me and slammed the bedroom door shut.

The intense stress made my stomach churn.

I couldn't hold it in any longer. I grabbed the trash can and threw up.

Back then, to give Bella Vance a good life, I stayed up late every night working on proposals and ran all over town chasing orders.

I'd wait outside a company's gates just to land one order. And if the client was in a good mood, I'd have to drink with them late into the night.

Due to this long-term, irregular lifestyle, my stomach had bled three times and was covered in massive ulcers.

I bought Bella Vance a spacious condo so she could comfortably be a stay-at-home wife.

When she wanted to go cycling, I bought her a $10,000 bicycle.

She knew Holden Holt, and since he was her mentor's nephew and had apparently looked out for her, I bought one for him too.

I was so dizzy from vomiting that I didn't have a shred of strength left. Finally, I couldn't hold out any longer and called Bella Vance.

Bella Vance opened the door with a cold expression. Seeing me collapsed on the floor by the sofa, she finally realized something was wrong.

She hurried over and, like a normal wife, asked anxiously:

"Is your stomach acting up again? We should go to the hospital."

I nodded, and Bella Vance started grabbing her bag.

Suddenly, her phone rang:

"Bella, I think I might have pulled my back while cycling today. I'm not feeling great. Can you come over?"

The moment Bella Vance heard this, she said frantically:

"Holden, I'll be right there. Don't you move, okay?"

Then she looked at me and said:

"This is just your old problem acting up. You can take some medicine on your own."

"Holden isn't feeling well, and there's no one there to take care of him. I'm going to go check on him."

With that, she strode out the door and ran off.

I was curled up on the floor alone, clutching my stomach. I tried to drag myself to the dining table to pour a glass of water, but I was in too much pain to move, without a shred of strength left.

Staring at the still-swaying security door, I sprayed a mouthful of blood onto the dining table and collapsed, stiff as a board.

I woke up in the hospital. Apparently, my neighbor had come home in the middle of the night, saw my door wide open, and found me collapsed in the living room.

I fumbled for my phone, wanting to arrange some company matters, but instead, I saw a new post from Holden Holt.

"It feels so good to have family. To be cared for and loved by someone."

I stared blankly at the accompanying photo, an indescribable exhaustion welling up inside me.

A pair of slender hands were massaging his lower back, the person straddling his hips.

Although no face was visible, the custom diamond ring on the hand could only belong to her.

Finally, I took a deep breath. 'It's time to let go.'

Just then, the doctor walked over and chided me:

"Young man, I've told you many times, you absolutely cannot keep overworking yourself like this. Your job isn't more important than your life."

"Your condition is much more serious this time. When you get home, have your wife make you more stomach-friendly foods."

"Where is your wife? Have her come by my office later. I need to go over some important instructions with her."

I gave a bitter smile. 'My wife?'

'She's busy giving someone else her warmth right now. She's long forgotten she even has a sick husband.'

I knew the doctor meant well. I was one of his regulars.

"Thank you. I'll definitely be more careful in the future."

I silently swore to myself that from now on, I would take good care of myself.

After a two-day hospital stay, I came home to find that Bella Vance had actually cooked a table full of food.

She said that Holden Holt had heard I was sick and came over to see me.

Looking at the table full of seafood, Braised Rooster, and Spicy Blood Stew, my stomach clenched.

Holden Holt emerged from the kitchen, chewing on a piece of beef:

"Bro, not to criticize, but you really should work out more. What can you even do looking like such a weakling?"

As he spoke, he shot a meaningful glance at Bella Vance.

Bella Vance smiled, opened a bottle of red wine, and said to me:

"See how thoughtful Holden is? I told him it was just your old problem, but he insisted on coming to see you."

'See me?'

My eyes scanned the living room. 'I don't see any gifts.'

I glanced amusedly at the boorish Holden Holt, who was now holding a chicken leg and tearing into it with big bites.

Bella Vance poured wine for everyone. Holden Holt wiped his mouth, downed a big gulp, and said with a smack of his lips:

"This is good wine. It's got a kick."

Holden Holt then raised his glass:

"Bro, let me toast you. Here's to a smooth recovery."

The smell of alcohol wafted over. I fought back my nausea and said with a blank expression:

"My stomach is in bad shape. The doctor told me not to drink."

Holden Holt's face immediately changed:

"What's the deal? You not gonna give me any face?"

Hearing this, Bella Vance said unhappily:

"Holden is toasting you. How can you be so disrespectful? Drink it now!"

As she spoke, she shoved the glass into my hand and said to Holden Holt with a smile:

"He's just a stubborn brat. He needs to be taught a lesson."

With that, she took my glass and forced the wine down my throat.

: Let's End It

I may be a man, but for one, I was weak from just getting out of the hospital, and for another, I didn't want to lose face in front of an outsider.

A glass of wine went down, and a sharp pain immediately stabbed through my stomach.

"Holden's our Group Leader, you know. Plenty of people would kill for a chance to buy him a drink, and he still turns them down."

Seeing the proud look on Bella Vance's face, I couldn't help but give a bitter smile.

I first met Holden Holt at a cycling group meetup.

He had his arm wrapped around Bella Vance so brazenly, and I was put off by it from the start.

But Bella Vance saw him as frank and magnanimous, someone who didn't sweat the small stuff. She worshiped him like an idol.

Their relationship grew closer and closer, to the point they even slept in the same bed.

I gently tried to tell Bella Vance that she should be more mindful of the boundaries between men and women.

Bella Vance rolled her eyes.

"We're just fellow riders. When you're out in the wilderness on a trip, you can't be so picky about everything."

"If all the women in the group were as narrow-minded as you, we couldn't get any damn riding done."

That was our first real fight. In the end, I was the one who had to apologize just to get Bella Vance to calm down.

After that, we fought many more times over her staying out all night.

And every time, she would burst into tears and throw a fit.

"Do you think that just because you give me some spending money, you get to control my life? That you can lock me in a cage?"

"You're so selfish."

My heart grew a little colder each time.

I wasn't against her going out; I just wished she would show a little discretion.

Their relationship had clearly crossed the line, yet she still put all the blame on me.

'Holden Holt has a fiancée,' I'd thought. 'He should be getting married soon. Maybe things will get better once he's settled down.'

That was the thought that kept me going, that made me fight for this family time and time again.

I don't know when Holden Holt is getting married, but I don't want to hold on anymore.

Seeing that I had downed the drink, Bella Vance finally said with satisfaction:

"You're impossible. I try to be nice, and you throw it back in my face. See? You drank it and you're fine. Did you really have to be so melodramatic?"

Holden Holt scoffed.

"What an act. If you don't want to drink, then just don't."

With that, Holden Holt stood up, looking at me sideways.

"Since I'm clearly not welcome here, I'll be leaving."

He turned as if to walk out.

Bella Vance panicked and grabbed Holden Holt's arm.

"Holden, don't go! Do it for me, just have one more." As she spoke, she pulled Holden Holt back down into his chair.

Holden Holt sat back down, albeit reluctantly.

"I'm only doing this for you, you know. And don't worry, I'll take you on the Cloudcrest trip next month."

Bella Vance was overjoyed. She quickly raised her glass to toast Holden Holt. They went back and forth, drinking and clinking glasses, their gazes practically glued together.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Bella Vance said:

"Holden has something to discuss with you today. Your company needs to order steel, right? Well, it just so happens Holden sells steel. You should give the contract to him."

I stared at Bella Vance and refused without hesitation. "Absolutely not."

The words were barely out of my mouth before Bella Vance shot to her feet, glaring at me furiously.

"Miles Sterling, what has Holden ever done to you? Why would you give the contract to an outsider instead of him? Holden's a capable man, what's so wrong with giving him a hand?"

As she spoke, Bella Vance gave me a disgusted shove.

"Since you refuse to give me any face, get the hell out of this house right now! And don't ever let me see you again!"

With that, Bella Vance grabbed my arm and started shoving me forcefully toward the door.

I didn't have the strength to fight with her. The churning in my stomach grated on every last nerve.

'It took me years to get the company on the right track. We just launched a new business line this year, and my partners have always been well-established clients with sterling reputations.'

'Leaving aside Holden Holt's competence, I couldn't even trust his company. They were known for passing off shoddy goods as premium ones.'

'He spent all his time partying under the guise of 'doing sales.' What kind of results could he possibly have?'

'If I worked with someone like that, the company would be one step away from going under.'

Bella Vance continued to shove me, grabbing anything within reach and throwing it. She kicked over the trash can, a stool, and even the hot water dispenser.

Finally, Bella Vance ripped our wedding photo off the wall and hurled it straight at my head. "Miles Sterling, since you have no regard for our marriage and refuse to help the man I consider a brother, then we're through!"