The first time I met Chasel was at a physics competition in my first year of high school.

We are classmates, so we compete fairly for advancing to the finals.

There was no love at first sight, only the determination to win.

None of us was willing to give in to the other.

It was the only one question, Which I got right, and he failed.

Since then, I got the chance to compete in the finals, and got a clingy Chasel.

He had been purchasing me for seven years.

During those days, he bought me breakfast every day and waited outside my dormitory.

In order to take the same class with me, he asked all the roommates to help select the courses.

He initiatively helped me collect information for my urgent group assignment when I was having a fever.

He would prepare flowers and gifts for me on every anniversary.

Later, after graduating from university, we got married without a doubt.

After marriage, Chasel was busy managing the company left by his father, while I stayed at home to help take care of his sick mother.

I was afraid that the care worker couldn't nurse perfectly, so I did almost everything myself.

During the first four years of our marriage, we've been such a loving couple although we didn't have any children.

Chasel's family was rich, and Anna was a kind person who always put me first.

No matter how busy he was, he would always find time to cook for us in person every week.

He would also take me to travel on weekends and anniversaries.

I felt like I was dating Chasel all the time.

However, my world turned upside down only a week after Anna's death. He brought Serena back to our home.

He held Serena's hand in front of me.

Looking at my red eyes from wailing at the funeral, he said blankly, "Hilary, I don't love you anymore. Let's go to the family court."

I sat on the sofa in a daze. My ears were buzzing and I couldn't believe what he said.

My cheeks were still wet. I stared at Chasel with my swollen eyes and confirmed with him, "What did you say?"

But he didn't dare look at me but turned back.

He irritably swept the vase in the hallway, emitting a harsh noise.

Our relationship fell apart like the broken vase.

Serena tried to placate Chasel and patted his shoulder.

Serena took out a divorce petition from her bag and showed it to me.

She raised a sweet smile.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Serena. Chasel and I are childhood sweethearts."

"We've discussed before we came here. We are grateful for your kindness in attending his mom over the past few years. He would like to transfer all the shares in the company to you, plus a villa on Maple Street and 5 million dollars in cash, as long as you agree to go to the court."

Childhood sweethearts?

I suddenly understood something and burst into laugh.

We've been through meeting, love and marriage. I never found Chasel having any childhood sweetheart, let alone hear him mention someone.

Her name didn't even appear on the wedding invitation, but now she stood in front of me and said they were the true love.

I felt ridiculous and slowly calmed down.

I was sure that something had happened to Chasel, and he wanted to conceal it from me.

"Chasel, can we have a talk?"

He had his back towards me, without even turning his head, and spoke in a stiff voice as he had made a draft beforehand, "There's no need. It's a good deal for you if you to get divorced, you'll be better off than you are now."

I intended to grab him, but Serena blocked my way.

"Ms. Ellison, whatever you want to say, you can talk to me."

"Chasel doesn't want to have anything to do with you anymore."

I looked at Serena.

I had to admit that she was much prettier than me.

With well-endowed features and perfect makeup, wearing a costly suit, she was outstanding both in appearance and temperament.

But there were no distracting thoughts in her eyes. And they didn't behave like a couple in love.

"How much did Chasel pay to hire you?"

A hint of surprise flashed across Serena's face, but it quickly disappeared.

She smiled, appearing appealing and proud.

"You misunderstood. We are really childhood sweethearts. Anna has always been against us being together, that's why Chasel married you. People around him were afraid that mentioning me would make him sad, so they never did that."

"The person he loved all along was me. He doesn't dare to face you because he feels guilty about it."

"But guilty don't equal to love."

"Ms. Ellison, you have to think twice. We are willing to compensate you now because we feel guilty."

"We don't want to deceive you anymore."

"If you have any objections to the division of property, you can raise up. We are willing to do our best to compensate you for your efforts over the past years."

Hearing such a long string of words, I restrained myself and questioned Chasel, "Is what she said true? You've been pretending to love me these years?"

"Yes. I want to live with Serena honorably from now on."

"You are lying."

I calmly tore up the divorce petition.

He didn't even dare to glance at me, and this left me unconvinced.

"Your acting was so poor. When you tell me the truth, I will go to the court with you."

Perhaps seeing that I was stubborn, Chasel took Serena and left without looking back.

Chasel didn't come back for three months.

During that period, I sent him countless messages and called him umpteen times, but there was no response.

I was anxious, guessing if he was really suffering from something or what.

I went to his company, but was told that Chasel was on a business trip.

I could call him successfully, but he never picked up.

Except for one. It was late at night.

A soft, sleepy female voice came from the phone, accompanied by the sound of a rubbing quilt.

I was in a panic and subconsciously hung up the phone.

It's Serena. Chasel was with Serena.

After this call, I sat at home for a whole night and forced myself to accept that perhaps Chasel and Serena were really childhood sweethearts.

Chasel had pretended for 11 years and he decided to drop the mask.

But why? Why should I step aside to make their love come true?

What about my love?

Chasel came back one day. He looked much thinner and had a stubbly beard, perhaps because of the tiring business trip. In a word, he became haggard.

I said fiercely, "I won't divorce with you unless I die."

Chasel was silent for a long time.

"Suit yourself."

I quarreled with Chasel frequently from then on.

Every time we quarreled or when he's not home, he would go to accompany Serena.

And every time he left, he would leave a divorce petition to me.

At first, I would throw the petitions into the trash. But gradually I numbly put them away.

He regularly posted updates about his traveling time with Serena on Instagram and introduced Serena to all his friends.

Even Joyce knew that Chasel was openly having an affair with Serena. He never mentioned me again as if I was erased from his world.

I punished myself by looking through his posts over and over again, spending every night in tears and self-deception.

During the two years, I constantly argued with Chasel.

To distract myself, I bought a cafe near the city hospital.

During the days when Chasel lived with Serena, I often sat alone by the window, staring at the traffic and the crowd.

Inevitably, I would often hear depressed cries in my cafe.

Most of the people who came here had relatives being treated in the nearby hospital.

It may be a minor illness or a major one. Some people felt depressed, some cried, some remained silent, and some celebrated being cured.

The business was not good. But I felt satisfied to provide people with a place to sit occasionally.

I hoped that if one day I was about to face death, I could also have a place to stay.