“Sallie, don't you think Carlos and Herschel are destined to be together? They look so alike, your mother in-law will be very happy to see them, as if they were your biological children.”

When I heard her words, I looked up subconsciously, only to see Herschel frowning slightly with guilt. In the end, he just barked, “What nonsense! All children look alike.”

Liza pouted in dissatisfaction and continued her confrontation, “I’m just talking, Sallie, you won't be angry, right?”

“No,” I answered expressionlessly.

Herschel breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this and changed the subject. “By the way, I just saw you holding a document in your hand. What did you do this afternoon?”

Before I could answer, Liza interrupted, “Ah! The child seems hungry.”

Herschel really diverted his attention and did not ask any more questions until he got out of the car.

Along the way, the two of them talked and laughed from time to time, teased the children and their actions were intimate and familiar, completely different from the perfunctory attitude they showed when they were with me.

I closed my eyes and felt mocking. His love was so cheap.

Before entering the villa, Liza suddenly found an excuse to take a few steps behind and whispered in my ear provocatively, “Sallie, I will take away everything that belongs to you bit by bit!”

I stood outside the door and watched a group of people come up to greet her with smiles, as if they were a family.

My mother in-law, who used to speak ill of me and looked down on me in every way, was that moment teasing Carlos in Liza's arms, with a kind look on her face.

My father in-law, who had not given me a good face for a long time, smiled and took out an envelope, stuffed it into Liza's arms.

I suddenly remembered that a long time ago, when they learned that I had agreed to Herschel’s proposal, they did the same thing.

At that time, Herschel’s mother held my hand and was so excited that she did not know what to say.

“Sallie, you are a good girl. You have been wronged by following us, Herschel. From now on, we will be your parents and will always treat you as our own daughter.”

However, after my parents went abroad in anger and Herschel successfully started his own business, they changed their attitude.

Over the years, I had endured all the quarrels and covert ridicules.

I loved Herschel and did not want him to be caught in the middle, so I tolerated and tried to please them everywhere.

I thought that even if their hearts were like ice, I could warm them up.

But it turned out that this family had hidden iron under the ice.

Herschel surrounded his family with a look of happiness on his face, but he quickly realized something and looked towards the door anxiously.

Seeing me staring at them blankly, with no light in my eyes, my heart ached suddenly.

Herschel walked up to me and pulled me over, asking cautiously, “What's wrong? Are you unhappy? Mom is just too happy and thinking that she is a classmate, she invited Liza to have dinner with her.”

Without waiting for me to say anything, Herschel’s mother interrupted me with disdain, “What's there to be unhappy about? She cannot give birth to a child and won't let me hold a grandchild? 

“Herschel, you really spoil her too much. She eats and lives in our house and yet she dares to throw a tantrum. 

“Go out and see which daughter-in-law is not doing anything like her. Liza is here today, so let Sallie cook!”

I subconsciously looked at Herschel, but saw that he was as silent as ever and I could not help but laugh at myself.

If he really loved me, why would he have seen me humble myself so many times? But I never doubted it before.

Not wanting to cause any more trouble, I did not argue and turned to go to the kitchen.

When the meal was served on the table, the family was already seated.

Liza smiled and asked me to sit down, acting like a hostess as she said, “Sallie, sit down and eat too. I remember you loved this the most.”

The next second, a few more shrimps appeared in the bowl.

I was silent for a moment and put the shrimp on the plate.

“I don't eat this.”

Liza's eyes instantly turned red and she looked helpless and aggrieved as she asked, “Do you hate me so much? You don't even want to eat the shrimp I peeled.”

Herschel’s mother could not help but slam her spoon and stood up, her face full of disgust.

“What do you want? Liza means well. Do you really want to ruin our happiness? Get out if you don't want to eat!” she yelled.

Herschel also frowned and looked at me with disapproval, as if I was being unreasonable.

“Sallie, why are you so hostile to Liza? She introduced Carlos to us and has done a great service to our family, but you keep throwing tantrums against her. She is innocent!” he snapped.

I guessed they loved Liza just because she was giving birth to Carlos. So, when I looked at this big family, I just found it ridiculous.

I actually laughed out loud and questioned him despite everyone's surprised looks, “Herschel, do you remember that I am severely allergic to shrimp?”

When he ordered pasta, he would specifically ask the store not to put shrimps in it and he would even avoid eating seafood.

He said that everything about me was a big deal, but then he had forgotten it.

Herschel felt flustered at first, then thought I was making a big deal out of nothing and his face turned ugly as he responded, “It's just a minor allergy, it won't kill anyone, why bother to embarrass Liza on the spot.”

I took a deep breath, put down my spoon and walked away.

But he stopped me with a disappointed tone, “Sallie, how did you become so selfish and cold-blooded now?! I know you feel bad about losing your child, but what does it have to do with them? Eat that shrimp as an apology!”

“Even though I might die?”

Hearing my tearful question, Herschel became even angrier. He pinched my mouth and stuffed shrimp meat into it.

“Sallie, stop being so petty. How can you die from a simple allergy?”

I struggled desperately and choked to tears, but I still accidentally swallowed a few and my throat felt sore and swollen.

In the last moment before I fell into a coma, I saw Liza’s smug smile and Herschel’s slightly indifferent expression.

When I woke up again, I found myself lying on a hospital bed and my stomach had been washed.

Seeing Liza standing in front of me, I looked out the window with a pale face.

“You’ve already won their hearts, is not that enough?” I asked.

“Of course it's not enough!” Liza no longer concealed her true colors and slapped me hard with her answer.

Seeing me turn my head away in sadness, she felt very happy.

“Sallie, do you know how jealous I am of you? I love Herschel as much as you do, so why cannot he see me before? But now it's different, I'm the only one in his heart.

“Oh yeah, do you know why you can't get pregnant?”

I looked at her in disbelief. Wasn't it because I was exhausted?

Liza suddenly laughed out loud, as if she felt sorry for me and looked down at me condescendingly.

“How silly! Of course he did something behind your back. The injections your family doctor gave you every day were not nutritional injections at all, but were to prevent pregnancy! I did not expect you to get pregnant in the end, but so what? Your baby is still dead.”

“No, he won't do that!” I covered my ears and shook my head frantically and before I knew it, tears were streaming down my face.

“Why wouldn't he?” Liza pried my wrists apart with resentment in her tone. “You obviously can't have children, but why is he still unwilling to divorce you and make me his wife? Is it just because of that ridiculous responsibility? Sallie, why don't you just die!

“In that case, don't blame me for coming to get it myself!”

She suddenly screamed and rushed towards the window without hesitation.

Accompanied by the sound of breaking glass, Herschel hurried in and saw Liza lying in a pool of blood, unconscious.

He looked at me sitting on the bed and coughing awkwardly and for the first time his eyes turned red with anxiety.

“Liza came here because she wanted to apologize to you. Why did you hurt her? Is there something you can't explain clearly?

“Sallie, why are you so vicious now!”

After saying that, he picked up Liza and left without looking back.

I looked at my swollen cheeks reflected in the glass and could not help laughing. 

I could not stop laughing at my former blind self.

At this moment, there was no greater sorrow than a dead heart.

In just a moment, the ward next door became lively. I heard the family asking Liza about her health and sending the hospital address to the lawyer, asking her to send the divorce agreement.

In the evening, when Herschel came over with a sullen face, I handed him the signed page with an expressionless face as I stated, “I can apologize to Liza, please sign this.”

Herschel was stunned for a moment. We had been together for so many years, but I had never asked him for anything. 

Just as he was about to see what this document was, I heard Herschel’s mother's exclamation from outside, “Liza is awake!”

He did not bother to read it anymore, he signed hastily, pulled me up and said coldly, “Now, go and apologize to Liza!”

I did not care about his attitude. I just put the contract away, smiled with relief and followed him to the next room.

As soon as I arrived at Liza's ward, I saw a nurse running out to ask questions, “Who has type B blood? The patient has injured her aorta and needs blood urgently.”

Herschel was stunned for a moment and subconsciously looked at me. Seeing my pale face, he hesitated for a moment.

But when he thought of Liza, whose life or death was unknown, he said cruelly, “Sallie has it. Please do it, Liza must not get into any trouble!”

Before I even had time to react, he pushed me over to sit down and then someone hurriedly gave me a needle in my wrist.

I was already weak after having my gastric lavage and then someone forcibly drew my blood and my face turned pale instantly.

Seeing this, the nurse could not help but remind him, “Is this person feeling unwell? If we continue to draw her blood, her life may be in danger. Are you sure you want to continue?”

Herschel glanced at the closed operating room and nodded anxiously.

“Why are you hesitating? Hurry up and save her. I'm her husband. I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong!”

Even though I had seen it clearly, I still could not help trembling at this moment. He did not care about my life at all!

As if sensing my gaze, Herschel was silent for a moment, but still comforted me without taking it seriously, “Sallie, it's just a blood draw, nothing will happen. Besides, this incident was caused by you, we can't just ignore it.”

I closed my eyes, feeling more powerless and exhausted than heartache.

As time passed, my face turned paler and paler, as if I was going to faint in the next second. However, Herschel was immersed in worry and did not react at all.

Not long after, Liza was pushed out and Herschel hurriedly followed, without a word of concern from beginning to end.

I was thrown in the corridor. I felt sick watching the family having fun, but in the end, I was just discharged with the contract.

Herschel had to take care of Liza and had not been home for several days.

I cleared out my belongings in the villa bit by bit, selling what could be sold and donating what could not be sold.

Liza would send me provocative messages from time to time, sometimes even including photos.

[Thank you for your blood, but I think it's dirty, so I've thrown it away. Sallie, your life is so worthless. I just bribed the doctor to make a joke and he drained your blood for me.]

[Auntie gave me a bracelet today, saying it was a family heirloom that would only be passed down to her daughter-in-law. How come everyone only likes me, while you, the real owner, are disliked by everyone? How pitiful.]

[The whole hospital is full of traces of my lovemaking with Herschel. Can't you satisfy him? He said he would take me to the beach for the wedding next week. He gave me everything you did not have.]

I did not reply, but saved all the information and waited to give them a surprise at their wedding.

A day later, Liza was discharged from the hospital and Herschel also returned to the villa.

He asked with a frown, noticing that it was much emptier inside.

“What happened at home?”

I did not want to waste any more words, so I just dealt with it casually, “Too many things, so I cleaned it up and donated some.”

Herschel was obviously just asking casually and did not care. He just put away his things and looked apologetic as he said, “Sallie, I'm going on a business trip for a few days. I'll be back to be with you before our wedding anniversary.

“I'm sorry for hurting you in a hurry. I've asked the nutritionist to rearrange your meals. Take good care of yourself. I'll hold a wedding for you when I come back, okay?”

I sneered in my heart, ‘Is it because you and Liza are holding your wedding abroad this time and will have some experience now so you can come back and deal with me?’

I did not know why Herschel suddenly felt a little flustered, as if he could no longer see love in my eyes.

Thinking of what happened before, he suppressed his uneasiness and felt sorry.

This time he was the one who let me down. After settling Liza and Carlos, he would come back and live a good life with her.

It was not until Herschel left that I looked up at the photo of the two of us hanging in the living room. I took it down and lit it with a lighter until it completely disappeared without a trace.

 I once thought that love was indestructible, but it turned out to be just like this.

In the afternoon, I got my divorce certificate and booked a flight abroad.

I had collected the information sent by Liza and sent them to the hacker. Then I packed my suitcase and took a taxi away.

At the airport, Herschel’s parents were holding Carlos and chatting in front, while Herschel was walking behind with his arm around Liza, his face full of happiness.

The next second, he suddenly saw a figure resembling me disappearing in the crowd and he felt uneasy.

‘Isn't she at the villa? Why is she at the airport?’ he wondered.

When he wanted to look for me again, I was gone.

Herschel frowned and was about to chase after me when Liza grabbed his sleeve and said, “Herschel, what's wrong? It's time for us to board the plane.”

He took one last look over there, but did not see me. He just shook his head, thinking it was an illusion and led Liza over.

“You said you wanted to wear that custom-made wedding dress. I've already sent someone to deliver it. Can you please go over there and try it on for me later?”

Liza gave him a shy look.

“So, you want to watch me try it on? Okay, I can wear it for you tomorrow night.”

I stood in the corner, watched the two of them leave affectionately, then turned and went to another boarding gate, going in the opposite direction.

This time, I want to leave completely and never come back, and from now on I will pursue the most beautiful and best self!