The fortune teller predicted my wife would cheat on me in the fifth year of our marriage.

Veronica Gerosa scoffed coldly, flipping over the fortune-teller’s stall with one hand.

“William and I have been in love for eight years. It’s none of your business, you’re a fraud.”

Over the next four years, she grew more obedient and gave in to my desires each night. Until her junior classmate, Yohan Larrison, confessed his love to her with tear-filled eyes.

In front of everyone, Veronica tore that love letter to shreds. She swore to sever all ties with him, cutting off their relationship as fellow disciples.

From that moment on, I trusted her more than ever. But on our fifth wedding anniversary, I received an anonymous package.

Inside was a photograph. It showed Veronica and Yohan, their bodies entwined in a passionate embrace.

Behind it was a line of words:

[William Thomson, her heart belongs to you, her body to me. This way, it’s fair to both of us.]

After seeing it, I sat motionless in the living room for three hours, not even calling Veronica, who was coming home late.

Instead, I had my lawyer print out divorce papers and placed them on the living room table.

——

At midnight, Veronica rushed home wrapped in a black coat. Her face turned pale instantly when she saw what was in front of me.

“The evidence is all on the table,” I said coldly. “The divorce agreement. Sign it.”

Ignoring me, she snatched the photo and tore it to shreds, then tossed the underwear into the trash.

“This man set me up! I drank too much at the dinner party that day and she deliberately took photos of me and photoshopped them like this!”

“He didn’t win me over back then and he harbors resentment. Now he’s trying to destroy our family!”

But the scent on her body didn’t lie.

It should have been the pure fragrance of orchids, yet today it was mingled with another scent of tobacco.

Seeing me unmoved, Veronica’s eyes blazed with fury.

“William, we’ve been together for eight years and married for five. You’d rather believe a stranger than me?”

I still made her sign, but she suddenly laughed.

“Fine. I’ll make him explain himself right now.”

Veronica pulled out her phone, dialed a number and roared into it, “Yohan! If you dare harass William again, I’ll make you pay with your life!”

She went out to the balcony and didn’t hang up for several minutes.

When she returned, Veronica looked exhausted. Her voice was tinged with a hint of pleading.

“William, I’ll handle this. Give me some time. Don’t joke about divorce.”

I nodded. “Alright, I’ll give you time.”

She seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and moved to hug me.

I stood up to avoid her, saying, “I’m tired. I’ll sleep in the guest room.”

She froze, staring at me with a deathly pale face.

That night, I lay awake. At three in the morning, I got up thirsty for water and heard noises in the study.

The door wasn’t fully closed. I saw my wife, flamboyant and unrestrained, like a fiery rose.

Holding the photo that should have been in the trash can, she was overwhelmed with emotion.

At last, she whispered two shaky words, “Yohan.”

In that instant, I felt a part of my soul die completely.

The fortune-teller had indeed been wrong.

Veronica didn’t cheat in our fifth year of marriage, but her heart had left long before her body did.

The next day, I insisted on a divorce, but Veronica refused to sign the papers.

She came home on time every day, neatly folding my clothes and arranging my ties. She thought this could erase everything.

But within two days, Yohan began posting frequently on his social feed.

A photo showing his wrist bandaged in gauze with the caption:

[If my existence troubles you, I’m willing to vanish.]

A photo of him receiving an IV drip at the hospital, captioned: [Veronica, don’t worry about me. It’s my fault.]

A selfie in front of the university teaching building, captioned: [Youth that can’t be returned, people I can’t forget.]

I forwarded the screenshots directly to Veronica.

She dialed Yohan’s number and roared into the phone, “Yohan, I’m warning you to stay away from William or don’t blame me for not showing any mercy.”

A tearful voice came from the other end of the line, “But Veronica, I’ve loved you for eight years. I can’t live without you.”

Veronica hung up, her face darkening.

The next day, Yohan’s public warning was posted on the institute’s bulletin board. His eligibility for professional title evaluation was revoked and he was transferred away from the core project.

I knew this was Veronica’s doing. She wanted to use this method to demonstrate her resolve toward me.

But that very afternoon, Yohan burst into my office, weeping.

“William! Are you satisfied? Not only did you use marriage to blackmail my senior, now you’re ruining my career!”

He lunged at me. I slapped him across the face.

“You seduced a married woman, destroyed someone’s family and you still have the nerve to argue with me?”

Veronica rushed over, shielding me in her arms as she glared coldly at Yohan. But he grew bolder and lunged forward.

He lightly kissed Veronica’s lips. My mind went blank.

Then I heard him say, “Veronica, I’m the famous campus heartthrob. So many people are after me, I don’t believe you have no feelings for me at all!”

Just as I was about to slap him again, Veronica stopped me.

After a few stunned seconds, she finally spoke, her voice tight.

“You don’t deserve me.”

“William has been with me from nothing to something for so many years, I won’t betray him.”

Then she grabbed the pen holder and hurled it at him.

Yohan didn’t dodge. He stood silent, letting blood trickle down his temple.

“This is the price you pay for messing with William.”

She dropped the cold warning, then pulled me out of the office. But the moment we stepped outside, Veronica instantly let go of me.

Turning her back to me, she lit a cigarette.

“William, you go back first. I’ll be working overtime at the hospital later.”

My words caught in my throat.

Finally, I managed only a strained, “Mm, okay.”

That night, Veronica closed her eyes and straddled me willingly.

After it ended, she murmured in her sleep, “Yohan.”

My body stiffened and I wrenched myself free from her embrace. I looked at the woman whose beauty hadn’t faded in ten years.

I recalled how she stood up for me when I was bullied, her forehead stitched with thirty-three stitches. I remembered how she risked half her life to save me on the snowy mountain.

I remembered how, at my single mention of feeling unwell, she abandoned an international conference, flew halfway across the globe and cooked me nourishing soup.

Veronica’s kindness was etched vividly in my memory. Yet now, she herself remained unaware that her heart no longer belonged to me.

I stared at the ceiling until dawn. Then I sent a message to the president of the National Academy of Sciences.

[Ms. Barkworth, I accept your invitation. I will join the Sky Dome Project team in one month.]

After that day, Veronica and I shared an unspoken understanding. Our daily interactions gradually decreased.

Until the academy held its annual commendation ceremony.

Veronica and I were invited onstage as the “Model Researcher Couple.” Everyone praised us as a perfect match made in heaven.

Suddenly, a young woman rushed onto the stage and slapped Veronica across the face.

“Veronica! You two-faced bitch! If you don’t love Yohan, why give her hope?”

All eyes in the room turned toward us.

It seemed the woman was a fanatical admirer of Yohan.

She let out a cold laugh, her eyes brimming with contempt.

“Remember that lab fire? He burned half his leg trying to save you and he still has the scar!”

Yohan rolled up his pant leg, revealing the startling scar.

Veronica, standing beside him, gasped for breath.

“That award-winning project of yours? He kept it from you, working tirelessly for a month before submitting the final version.”

“That so-called academic title? He begged and groveled countless times to secure it for you.”

“Veronica, your achievements today are not due to you and your husband, it’s down to Yohan!”

The room erupted in shock.

I broke the silence, speaking calmly, “But all he did was act on his own delusions. Veronica never asked him to do any of this.”

“If Yohan uses this to blackmail me, he’s destroying our family and trying to become the mistress who takes my place!”

The woman was indignant and about to speak again, but Yohan pulled her back, tears streaming down his face.

“Veronica, please stop! William is right, I shouldn’t harbor immoral fantasies about you!”

“It was all my own choice. I love someone without expecting anything in return.”

The woman was almost crying. “Yohan, you’re too selfless. It’s not worth it for someone like Veronica.”

Only then did Veronica speak slowly, “William is right and he is my only husband. He was in the past, he is now and he will be forever.”

“Please leave. Stop spreading false accusations here.”

Her voice was firm. Yet I could sense her fingertips trembling slightly. She looked at Yohan with a hint of confusion.

My heart felt as if a needle had pricked it. Even though I’d already decided to leave, it still hurt.

Just then, the crystal chandelier overhead suddenly made a strange noise and crashed straight down toward us.

Screams erupted and I instinctively closed my eyes.

Veronica, beside me, used all her strength to shove me in the opposite direction. But she darted forward like an arrow, rushing toward Yohan.

“Bang!”

The chandelier smashed to pieces beside me, shards of glass slicing my arm and cheek. Through the pain, I could still see faintly in the distance.

Veronica had shielded Yohan fiercely beneath her body. The main frame of the chandelier crashed down on her back. Yohan was still in shock.

But voices spoke nearby, “Mr. Larrison only has a grazed knee. Ms. Gerosa, did you really need all those resources to save him?”

“Your husband is bleeding heavily! If he doesn’t get treatment soon, he could die!”

Before losing consciousness, I saw Veronica carry Yohan away, disappearing from my sight.

When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in a hospital bed.

The nurses whispered gossip outside the door.

“Did you hear? Ms. Gerosa fractured her back trying to save Mr. Larrison!”

“That’s right! She wasn’t even fully recovered herself, yet she was rushing to apply medicine and feed Mr. Larrison soup. Her own husband didn’t get that kind of treatment!”

“Tsk. She and Mr. Larrison are true love, aren’t they? A perfect match that’s the kind of chemistry that makes a couple.”

It was a long time before Veronica finally came to my hospital room. She held a half-bowl of soup, intending to feed it to me.

I threw it to the floor. “I don’t want leftovers from someone else.”

Hearing this, her face filled with guilt. “William, I’m sorry. Yohan saved my life first, so I repaid her with mine. It’s a common thing as human beings.”