Barry’s new secretary,

my husband’s new secretary,

posted a “depression diagnosis” on her social media.

The Photoshop job was laughably bad.

She had simply replaced the original name with her own.

That very day, after being away from home for days,

my husband rushed back

in less than thirty minutes.

He dropped to his knees in front of me,

crying so hard his voice cracked,

his forehead nearly slamming into the floor.

“Keira is sick.”

“I can’t divorce you. I can’t.

If I do, she’ll really kill herself.”

“Please. Let’s just have a fake divorce.

Once I calm her down, we’ll remarry. Okay?”

“One week. Just one week.”

I looked at him and nodded quietly.

He clearly hadn’t expected things to go so smoothly.

He froze for several seconds,then relief flooded his face.

“I won’t wrong you for long.

Really. I swear.”

Then he couldn’t wait to leave.

What he didn’t know was that there had already been no future for us.

The moment he knelt down,

I had finalized everything with my family.

As long as I divorced him,

I would leave this place for good and marry that man.

1.

We didn’t even wait until the next day.

That very afternoon,

he sent a driver to take me to the law firm.

Barry stood at the entrance,

wearing a purple suit.

The color was exactly the same

as the one he wore

the day we registered our marriage.

Even the way he looked at me,

that unmistakable joy,

was identical.

Only this time,

the source of that joy

had already changed.

He pulled a car key from his pocket

and pressed the button toward a Rolls-Royce Cullinan not far away.

The headlights blinked.

“I’m sorry you have to go through this.”

“This is a gift for you.”

“One week.

I promise that after one week, we’ll remarry.”

I held the key,

my chest tightening painfully.

To placate his new lover,

he really spared no expense.

Over the years,

the secretaries around him

had come and gone endlessly.

All young.

All pretty.

All obedient.

At first, it was ambiguous.

Later, shamelessly public.

I argued.

I cried.

I broke down.

And lost

every single time.

Eventually, I learned to endure.

I told myself he would get bored soon,

just like before.

That no matter how far he strayed,

he would circle back to me.

But this time was different.

That “depression diagnosis,”

probably downloaded from some random website,

made him consider divorce seriously

for the first time.

The breakup fees he had paid those “little puppies” over the years were worth far more than ten Cullinans.

I slipped the key into my pocket.

For the coming days,

I did need a car.

When I walked out of the law firm,

Keira was standing by my car.

I unlocked it.

She pretended to be surprised and looked at Barry.

“Oh?

Is this Chloe’s breakup compensation?”

She hooked her arm around Barry’s,

smiling gracefully and triumphantly,

then waved at me.

“This is what you deserve, Chloe.”

“Thank you for completing

my sister and me’s true love.”

“We’ll definitely send you a wedding invitation.”

Smack.

No one expected Barry to slap her.

The air froze instantly.

He lowered his voice and apologized to me.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know she would come,

or say such things.”

Tears immediately streamed down Keira’s face.

She looked like the victim.

“Sister,

I was just worried you wouldn’t have time

to try on wedding dresses,

so I came to pick you up.”

So that was it.

No wonder he was so eager to divorce.

They had already started planning the wedding.

How thoughtful of them,

putting on such an elaborate show

just for me, the old one.

I couldn’t be bothered to watch anymore.

I opened the car door and got in.

Barry chased after me,

leaning over the window,

and tossed a black card inside.

“Buy whatever you want.

Go wherever you want.”

“No limit.”

“I’ll be home soon.”

I picked up the card

and tossed it straight at Keira’s face

through the open window.

In the end,

I had somehow become

the third party

who could be dismissed with money.

“Keep your money.”

“I hope after I’m gone,

you still have enough

to maintain this so-called love.”

My thoughts drifted back

seven years ago.

Seven years ago,

I was in a severe car accident

and became a vegetative patient.

During those days in the hospital bed,

I couldn’t even open my eyes.

My consciousness was clear,

yet my body refused to move.

Trapped in a body stripped of all dignity,

I had no choice.

It was Barry

who pulled me back

from hell.

He took care of me day and night,

patient to the point of reverence.

Little by little, I got better.

I began to imagine the future.

I wanted to marry him.

But he refused.

Until one night, after a business dinner,

he drank so much that he vomited blood from a gastric hemorrhage.

I stayed by his bedside the entire night.

When dawn came, his eyes were red as he finally agreed to marry me.

But my family opposed it.

So I made a deal with them.

As long as Barry succeeded in his career,

the price I would pay

was never stepping back into the family again.

I gave up my status.

I gave up my career.

I gave up my last retreat.

At the time, I thought we would love each other forever.

He would achieve everything he wanted,

and I would be the place he returned to.

But I never imagined this.

Not long after the wedding,

his career took off in leaps and bounds.

He founded his own company.

And the young women around him

only grew more numerous.

At first, he still tried to hide it.

Later, I argued.

I fought.

I broke down.

To keep him,

I chose to retreat again and again.

But my retreat

only earned his complete recklessness.

Until today.

I was finally tired.

My mother asked me,

“Do you regret it?”

I asked myself the same question.

When I didn’t answer for a long time,

my mother’s voice remained calm and resolute.

“In seven days, I’ll book your flight.”

“That man…

it’s time you married him.”

I murmured a low “Mm,”

and hung up the phone.

The receiver fell silent.

The next second,

my stomach felt as if it were violently clenched by something,

spasming fiercely.

My vision went dark.

With the last bit of consciousness I had,

I pulled the car over to the side of the road.

My fingers trembling,

I dialed an emergency number.

Before I could finish speaking,

my consciousness cut out completely.

When I opened my eyes again,

I was already lying in a hospital bed.

The sharp pain in my stomach had been temporarily suppressed,

leaving behind only a hollow, dull, aching sensation.

The doctor stood by the bed,

hesitation written all over his face.

“Your family…”

He paused.

“They didn’t come?”

Then he hesitated again.

“Your condition…”

“I know my condition.”

I interrupted him.

My voice was so calm

that even I found it unfamiliar.

“At this level of pain,

there’s no strength left for sorrow.”

The test report was handed to me.

Stomach cancer.

And it had already metastasized.

Beyond medical help.

I stared at that thin sheet of paper

and suddenly smiled without a sound.

How ironic.

Back then, to cure Barry’s chronic gastritis,

I sought out an old traditional Chinese doctor

and secretly learned from him.

I filled pages upon pages of notes,

changed recipes endlessly,

and cooked medicinal meals for him every day.

Eventually,

his stomach healed.

And now,

I was the one who would finish paying this karma for him.

In a way…

it was a complete ending.

The doctor prescribed painkillers

and told me there was no longer any need for aggressive treatment.

I nodded,

as if he were talking about someone else.

As I passed the nurse’s station,

a few nurses whispered among themselves.

“The patient in Bed 7 is really lucky.

Almost died on the road.”

“They called his husband for help.

Not a single call got through.”

“Good thing a kind passerby stopped,

or he really wouldn’t have made it.”

I lowered my head

and glanced at the admission bracelet on my wrist.

“Bed 7.”

The words pressed coldly against my eyes.

If I had died just like that…

Would he regret it?

In this world,

aside from Barry,

the only person I still knew

was his brother.

Suddenly,I really wanted to go and say goodbye to Osiris.

Osiris lived in the most upscale medical care center in the city.

Our parents passed away early.

It was he who dropped out of school

and single-handedly raised Barry.

Later, in a construction accident,

he lost one leg.

With the compensation money,

Barry managed to finish his education smoothly.

From that day on,

he never allowed this older brother

to work again.

When Barry’s career finally took off,

he arranged for Osiris to live here.

Well fed. Well cared for.

And completely cut off from the world.

Over the years,

Barry’s new lovers came one after another,

and he was often nowhere to be found.

Whenever that happened,

I would come visit Osiris.

He was my family.

And also the only friend in this world

with whom I could still speak the truth.

I knew he had lost his temper more than once

over Barry’s absurd behavior.

He truly treated me as family.

“Get out!”

The moment I reached the door,

Osiris’s furious roar burst out from inside.

Along with the shouting,

nutritional supplements and gift boxes

were hurled violently out of the room.

“Barry, let me tell you!”

“In our family,

there is only one daughter-in-law, and that is Chloe!”

“If you bring these shameless things in front of me again,

are you trying to drive me to my death?”

“What has Chloe ever done wrong to you,

that you treat her like this?”

“You will regret it!

You think just because you’ve got some dirty money,

you can afford to lose all your dignity?”

I stood outside the door,

my feet feeling as if they were nailed to the floor.

Keira hid behind Barry.

Seeing him get hit by the flying boxes,

her eyes reddened.

Suddenly, she stepped forward.

“Brother, Barry and I are true love.”

“They haven’t had feelings for each other for a long time.”

“Barry respecting you

doesn’t mean you get to interfere with his freedom.”

At this point,

she hardened her heart and raised her voice.

“Besides, Barry and Chloe are already divorced!”

“Chloe even wished us well!”

Barry reached out to cover her mouth,

but it was already too late.

Osiris clutched his chest in fury,

gasping for breath.

His remaining leg could no longer support him.

He collapsed heavily back onto the bed.

“Get out…”

“All of you, get out!”

“Brother! Are you okay?”

Barry rushed forward.

“Don’t be like this. I actually came this time

to invite you to my wedding with Keira…”

“She treats me really well.

Why can’t you at least try to—”

Osiris finally caught his breath.

The anger drained away,

leaving only a lifeless gray behind.

“Barry.”

“I don’t want to see you anymore.”

“I failed to teach you properly.

I have failed our parents.”

“Brother, don’t say that.”

“Calm down first.

I’ll come see you again in a few days.”

Barry pulled Keira along and walked out.

When he lifted his head,

he met my scrutinizing gaze head-on.

He wanted to dodge,

but it was too late.

He could only stand there awkwardly, stammering.

“How… how much did you hear?”

“You came to see my brother too?”

“I was just trying to stabilize his condition.”

He hurried to explain.

“You know depression can’t handle stimulation.”

“The wedding is just part of the treatment.

It’s all fake.”

“Don’t worry.

You’re the only one in my heart.”

“You’re my real wife.”

Before his words had even settled,

Keira had already hooked her arm through his,

speaking in a sweet, coaxing tone.

“Brother,

the wedding venue is basically ready.

Let’s go check it together.”

Suddenly, I didn’t understand.

If that was the case,

why was he still lying to me?

Why did he still insist

on maintaining that illusion of loving me?

I didn’t say another word.

I pushed past them directly.

My foot went out of control

and kicked over the gift boxes scattered all over the floor

as I walked straight into the ward.

Osiris kept apologizing to me.

Again.

And again.

Saying he hadn’t raised Barry well.

Saying the Gu family had failed me.

By the end,

his eyes were red.