While I'm off taking a mascot job at the mall just to make a quick buck, my wife, Marissa Osbourne, is accompanying her first love, Dominic Finch, on a shopping trip to buy him a suit.

She even goes as far as to buy him five suits in one go just to show how generous she is. The thing is, those suits cost three months of my salary.

When Marissa approaches me, she doesn't recognize me in the mascot suit. Instead, she starts jeering at me.

"To think that a grown man is still dressed up as a mascot in a mall just to earn money! What a pathetic loser!"

She doesn't know that I've given up on my inheritance of hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of assets.

As I watch Marissa leave while tittering, I suddenly realize that the marriage that I've been maintaining for so many years is hollow all along.

It was stifling inside the mascot suit—so hot I could hardly catch my breath. When I looked up, I spotted my wife, Marissa Osborne, walking through the doors, a handbag slung over her arm.

My heart swelled.

Last night, I'd told her that I'd found a part-time job as a mascot at Glory Grocer. It paid 300 dollars a day, and if I kept at it for a month, I could buy her the handbag she'd been eyeing.

I perked up, walking resolutely toward Marissa. However, I then saw a tall man tagging along behind her. He was her first love, Dominic Finch.

My eyes dropped to their hands, fingers tightly intertwined—a display of deep affection.

My heart stopped. I froze to the spot, lost in a daze.

Just then, the store manager rushed over and smacked me upside the head, jolting me back to reality.

"Hey! Why are you spacing out, dumbass? We've got customers. Get moving! We're not paying you to space out!"

I lowered my head and clenched my fists into balls, holding back my anger silently.

Marissa always claimed that she and Dominic were just friends. She told me not to worry, as she would not cheat on me.

As her husband, I should have faith in her. After all, she was just holding hands with a close guy friend. It was completely reasonable.

I picked myself back up and interacted with the customers, sneaking glances in Marissa's direction every now and then.

They went up to the second floor. At the very least, they weren't going up to get a room. I breathed a sigh of relief. When I was finally on my break, I grabbed the opportunity to urgently send Marissa a message.

"Where are you, Rissa?"

The typing indicator popped up, and then her sharp reply came through. "Why are you checking up on me every day, Ainsley Hayes? I'm at work, obviously. Where else would I be? How do you expect us to make ends meet with the pittance you earn?"

My temples throbbed painfully as her wave of complaints left me reeling. Every month, she demanded I hand over my salary of ten thousand dollars as her allowance.

I was also the one paying for everything from our rental to utility bills and daily expenses. All Marissa needed to do was go to work and come home on time. On top of that, she came home to home-cooked meals that I prepared for her.

Wasn't this life enough for her?

But before I could dwell on this, the store manager was once again pushing me to put on the mascot suit and get back to work.

My break was over in a flash. It went by so quickly that I didn't even have time to get a sip of water.

As I stood near the entrance, I heard Marissa's hearty laughter. With bags of shopping in her hands, she was chatting with Dominic, her voice loud enough for me to overhear her clearly.

"Is five suits enough for you, Dom?" she asked. "You work seven days a week, so should we just get seven sets instead? I can afford it anyway, since Ainsley gives me ten thousand dollars as my allowance every month."

She wore a triumphant grin on her face, peeking at Dominic as she leaned in close, her shoulder touching his.

"You know what? I've got Ainsley completely under my thumb. He's so obedient that he'd hand me anything I want on a silver platter."

I saw Marissa lower her head shyly, hooking her pinky around his as she added, "Of course, I would also be willing to give you whatever you want."

Dominic flashed her a tender smile, lifting his hand to stroke her forehead gently. He brushed a few of her stray hairs aside, tucking them behind her ears.

"You really are so good to me, Rissa."

I couldn't help but curl my lip into a bitter smile as I watched Marissa and Dominic flirting right in front of me.

Marissa was always repulsed by my touch, so doing something so intimate like tucking her hair behind her ear was just out of the question. When we shared a bed, the boundary between us was clear, with a massive body pillow positioned between us.

According to her, she was waiting for my family to accept her before she could bring herself to come close to me. But the truth was, I already had a falling out with my family, all for her sake. My mother even suffered a heart attack from the stress and anger, and she forbade me from visiting her.

Marissa kept chatting with Dominic, a youthful bashfulness playing on her face. She handed the shopping bags of suits to him and said, "Please don't feel pressured, Dom. It makes me happy to be able to get you things."

I recognized the brand logo on those bags. The suits were on the pricier side. Clearly, Marissa had no problem spending freely on the love of her life. She was ready to sacrifice everything for this man.

Whenever she bought me clothes, she always bought the cheapest item from flea markets.

Dominic accepted the bags, then pulled Marissa into a hug, as if he had done so a thousand times before. He nuzzled into her neck tenderly and said, "Thank you, Rissa. If not for you, I wouldn't have been able to afford a car or a house."

My heart dropped, my blood running cold.

Marissa bought a house and a car for Dominic?

We had always rented. Whenever I suggested buying a car and a home so that she didn't have to suffer alongside me, she always responded with such grace.

She'd hand me a cup of tea and say, "It's fine, darling. It's pretty nice for us to be renting. It doesn't cost as much, so you won't have to work yourself. I can't bear to see you so tired."

Marissa had played me for a fool, claiming she didn't want the burden of a mortgage or car loans. But at the same time, she went ahead and set Dominic up with both without a second thought.

I clenched my fists so tightly that my nails broke skin. I only noticed when I felt something wet against my palms. Worried about being charged a dry-cleaning fee for my costume, I removed my gloves immediately and cleaned the blood off my palms.

It was also at this moment that Marissa noticed me and headed in my direction. My chest tightened with anxiety. I wasn't sure how to face her. Should I tell her off for being a heartless bitch, or should I pretend that I hadn't heard anything and just let it all slide?

It turned out my worries were for nothing. She didn't recognize me.

With her phone in her hand, she waved me over casually. "You, there. The mascot. Come take a picture of me and my boyfriend."

My mind went blank, and my heart sank straight to the pit of my stomach. Marissa just called Dominic her boyfriend.

Dazedly, I took her phone and watched as she linked arms with Dominic affectionately. Dominic put his arms around her with easy familiarity, pulling her close.

Through the screen, I could see the happiness on her face and the contentment in her eyes. Right as I took the picture, she tiptoed and planted a kiss on Dominic's cheek. Meanwhile, he gazed at her with pure adoration, as if she were his entire world.

My fingers trembled uncontrollably, and my breathing quickened.

Marissa took her phone back, then gave a satisfied nod. "That was a good shot."

Then her gaze fell on my arm. Upon seeing a red mole there, she exclaimed, grabbing my arm and turning it this way and that. She even called Dominic over to mock me.

"Ainsley has a red mole in this spot too. I consulted a fortune teller in secret about it once, and I was told that it's an unlucky symbol of poverty. It's no wonder a grown man like him is earning his keep by dressing up like a freak here. He really has no self-respect at all."

She shoved my arm away, her face full of disgust. As if I had tainted her hands, she pulled a wet wipe from her bag and cleaned her fingers thoroughly.

Fury surged through me. I was about to take my mascot head off, wanting to scream at her. But coincidentally, her ride arrived.

She grabbed Dominic's hand and pulled him hurriedly toward the exit while chattering away, "I made a reservation at Foursquare Dining. Let's get something to eat."

Finally, I took off the mascot head as I watched Marissa walk away.

Marissa, the woman I'd put on a pedestal for three years, suddenly seemed rotten to the core. Like a rotten apple, she was impossible to stomach.

I told the store manager I was done with the job and got the hell out of there with the day's wages.

As I made my way home on my electric scooter, I noticed a food truck selling grilled sausages. The aroma that wafted in the air was enticing, instantly making my mouth water.

Normally, I could never bring myself to spend the money on these snacks unless Marissa had a craving for them. But today, I went on a spree, buying my way down the entire food truck street.

Only then did the resentment within me fade a little.

When I got home, I turned on the air-conditioning and lounged on the couch, eating while scrolling through videos.

By some twist of fate, I came across a livestream from Foursquare Dining and saw Marissa on screen. She was wearing disposable gloves, peeling shrimps and cracking crab shells for Dominic.

She prepared an entire plate of shrimp and crab meat, which she then slid over to Dominic gently with a smile on her face.

Deep down, my envy grew. We'd been married all this time, and we still used serving utensils at home because she found the idea of sharing food and peeling things for one another too disgusting. She had never done anything like that for me.

But she certainly enjoyed being served by me. She loved fish, but she hated dealing with the bones. So, she always coaxed me into deboning them for her whenever we had fish, even though she knew I was allergic.

Every time I deboned fish for her, my hands would end up covered in a rash. Then, she would call me revolting, staying as far away from me as possible. She'd tell me I was sick and warn me not to pass whatever I had to her.

I swiped the live stream away and began watching a food-related video instead. The sausage was delicious indeed, and it was quite blissful to be enjoying a bunch of delicious foods alone.

Just as I was completely relaxed, a notification popped up on my phone, informing me of a hotel room booking. Marissa was used to using my particulars for hotel bookings.

I glanced at the notification casually, noticing that she certainly knew how to enjoy herself. She had booked a presidential suite.

I let out a muted chuckle, then took a screenshot of the notification.

Suddenly, my eyes landed on Marissa's wedding ring, which she had carelessly tossed on the table. It was such a mocking sight.

I swept it right off the table and into the trash can, along with the rest of the trash. Since she couldn't care less about it, it would just be an eyesore to leave it on the table.

At 11:00 pm, Marissa returned home, a smile still lingering on her lips. She turned the lights on and startled when she saw me sitting silently on the couch.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, displeased. "You scared the crap out of me."

She removed her heels and sat on the couch, massaging her feet. Then, she ordered, "Go get me a glass of water. I'm beat."

I smirked. Of course she was tired. She'd spent the whole day with Dominic, then went to a hotel to fool around with him. It was a miracle she still had some energy left at all.

I didn't budge but simply turned to stare at her in silence. Annoyed, she kicked me, her foot landing squarely on the burn on my leg.

A few days ago, I made a dish that didn't quite suit her taste. She'd snapped and dumped the dish on me. The food, piping hot from the stove, landed on my bare skin.

My skin burned and began to blister, even after I ran it under cold water.

After being in a mascot suit for an entire day, my wound had turned into a festering mess. Nevertheless, the physical pain couldn't even compare to the emotional pain I was going through.

After getting kicked by Marissa, the wound had probably split open again.

I furrowed my brow in pain, glaring at her. But to my surprise, she pulled her socks off and hurled them right at my face.

"You've got some nerve glaring at me like that, Ainsley. Do you even want this marriage to work?"

I ignored her words completely, beginning to pull my pants down right before her eyes. She screamed and threw a cushion at me, thinking I was going to force myself on her.

"Can you be any more disgusting, Ainsley?"

I pulled my pants down, revealing the massive wound. As expected, the freshly-healed wound had reopened because of that kick.

"Just take a good look at this, Marissa," I prompted in a miserable yet slightly authoritative voice.

Marissa glanced at it and scoffed. "Do you have to react like this? It has only scarred a little."

She walked to the cabinet barefoot, grabbed a bandage, and threw it at me. "Stop acting pathetic? You haven't even given me this month's salary yet, Ainsley. Do you even want to stay married?"

The rage simmering in me finally erupted. I flashed the hotel room booking notification right in her face, charging at her and grabbing her chin hard.

For some reason, I welled up as I choked out, "Do you even have a heart, Marissa?"

Marissa was taken aback momentarily when she saw the hotel booking notification. But right after that, she smacked my phone aside.

She took a step back, eyeing me with suspicion. "Were you following me, Ainsley? Why are you always so paranoid? Dominic has nowhere to stay. As his friend, what's wrong with me booking a room for him?"

I was done with her. I pulled a stack of receipts from the drawer and slammed them down in front of her. "What are these, then? Marissa, you bought a car and a house for your first love with my money. What exactly am I to you?"

Confident that I'd never actually leave her, Marissa gave a nonchalant shrug. "If you can't take it, let's just get a divorce, then. We can call it quits and move on amicably."