In the fifth year of our bland marriage, I receive a message that my husband has booked a hotel room with a woman.

Within the next second, seductive pictures of me show up in the work group chat. In the pictures, I seduced my husband but failed.

My colleagues in the group chat mock me by saying, "She gave Mr. Reed an ultimatum and forced him to marry her. He was forced to break up with the woman he loves."

"Mr. Reed put up with her for five years. It only makes sense that he could no longer resist and decide to reunite with his lover."

My sick father dies out of shock, yet my husband does not show up to his funeral.

That night, I inform Belinda that I wish to divorce her son.

"Back then, you told me that I'm Caleb's blessing in life. You said that he'd have endless success if we were to marry.

"As long as I married Caleb for five years, you promised to pay for my father's medical fees. Now that the time is up, you should let me go too."

Belinda Green, Caleb Reed's mother, looked extremely helpless.

"Many years ago, I asked a fortune teller to do a reading for Caleb. If he gets together with Julie, it would lead to disaster. He would lose everything.

"You've been secretly in love with Caleb for so many years. It just so happens that you're fated to bring success to your husband.

"I knew you could ensure a smooth sailing life for Caleb. That's why I decided to tempt you with paying off your father's medical fees to force you into marrying Caleb. I never imagined that he would be so opposed to you, and outsiders would end up misunderstanding you."

"All these years, it's been difficult on you. Since Caleb's fated to suffer, we should let him be." Belinda nodded.

I got up, intending to return to my room. Then, my phone buzzed nonstop. Julie Upton had sent me a barrage of messages.

I tapped into her messages and was greeted with one shocking photo after another.

The usual aloof and reserved Caleb seemed to be in a daze. His eyes seemed to be full of devotion as he kissed the top of Julie's foot.

On our wedding night, Caleb showed me the rosary beads on his wrist and explained that he had renounced all earthly desires. His detached behavior back then was nothing like his expression in the pictures.

Julie was practically gloating through the screen.

"Natasha, so what if you had Caleb all these years? The only woman in his heart has always been me. If I wave my hand, he'll come back to me."

My disappointment toward Caleb had reached its peak on the day of Dad's funeral. Right now, I was numb to Julie's gloating.

I took a deep breath and typed calmly. "Tell me. Who would show off stealing someone else's husband?"

She never responded again.

Julie was probably curled up in Caleb's arms, sobbing while complaining about how arrogant I was. After all, she was excellent at sowing discord and twisting the truth.

I stared at Dad's urn and reminded myself not to make the same mistake. Dad's last words kept ringing in my ears.

"Natasha, I was the one who dragged you down. Once I'm gone, you should live the life you've always wanted."

I dug my nails into my palms. Back then, I was desperate to gather funds for Dad's medical bills. I had given up the chance to study abroad and chose to marry Caleb.

Now, I was no longer bound to Caleb. I gave a call to my advisor, feeling terribly nervous.

"I happen to have a project. You're the best candidate." The adviser did not ask why I had changed my mind and chose to assign me the project right away.

Within the next second, someone suddenly kicked open the door. Caleb and Julie had arrived to settle the score with me.

Although Caleb looked furious, he held back his temper and said, "Apologize to Julie."

She stood behind him, sobbing her heart out. But I noticed the menacing glint in her eyes.

"I just feel that she shouldn't ruin someone else's relationship just because she wasn't loved. But she called me a homewrecker for stealing someone's husband. Caleb, was I really wrong?"

Julie's tears fell onto Caleb's rosary beads on his wrist. His expression grew more pained.

"Natasha! If you hadn't colluded with my mom and forced me to marry you, we wouldn't have ended up this way.

"This is all on you. You should suffer the consequences. Apologize to Julie, and I'll forgive you for being rude."

Caleb sounded condescending. It was as if he had given me the greatest gift on Earth.

He wanted me to apologize to Julie, his mistress. It was ridiculous yet amusing that something like this had happened to me.

I stared calmly at Caleb and said, "Since you love her so much, let's file for a divorce."

Caleb was taken aback. He stood rooted to the same spot and stared at me in a daze.

"Aren't you deeply in love with Julie? I don't mind getting a divorce so you two can be together. Are you satisfied with this arrangement?"

Joy was written all over Julie's face. She held onto Caleb's arm and cheered. "This is amazing, Caleb! Now, we can—"

"Are you trying to play hard to get now?" Caleb snapped at me, cutting Julie off. His gaze wavered, and he finally said, "You want others to call Julie a homewrecker? What would others think of her?"

Caleb seemed to have found a proper excuse to justify himself and said again, "I'll never divorce you. I want you to suffer the consequences and be in pain forever."

Upon hearing the words "I'll never divorce you", Julie's smile froze. She looked extremely paranoid as hatred flashed across her face.

Without giving me a chance to answer, Caleb grabbed Julie's hand and quickly left, leaving me behind in a mess.

I began tidying up the room and noticed Caleb's birthday present sitting in a corner. Since I hadn't given it to him, I tossed it into a rubbish bin.

Every year, I always prepared a birthday present for Caleb. But every time, he would find an excuse and hide at a church.

Caleb claimed that since he had devoted himself to religion, he would renounce all earthly desires and no longer celebrate his birthday.

However, a picture of Caleb and Julie would always surface on Instagram at exactly midnight. He never hid his hostility toward me and always seemed ready to provoke me. His cruelty had become a part of my life.

But now, I was finally free. After shipping my luggage, I headed to the office to process my resignation.

Mary Smith, my ex-colleague in the HR Department, thought I had chosen to resign because I couldn't stand the pressure. She kindly told me that the church located on the west side of the city would be quite effective in improving my luck.

Mary and I had worked together for many years, and I often helped her. She couldn't bear to see me looking so disheartened, so she insisted on taking me up the mountain to ward off any bad luck.

I was unable to refuse Mary, so I joined her and climbed 3,000 steps up the mountain. Once we were at the peak, I saw Caleb and Julie sitting next to each other under a thousand-year-old ancient tree. Their eyes were filled with devotion for each other.

Lots of people were at the church, and I could hear their voices all around me. But of all people, I heard Caleb whispering his vow to Julie.

"I, Caleb Reed, swear on all my wealth that I'll only ever love Julie in this lifetime. If I break my promise, I'll lose all my wealth and die—"

Julie hurriedly covered his mouth and said softly, "Caleb, I trust you."

She slowly rolled the rosary beads off Caleb's wrist. He hooked his pinky against her palm as if he were quietly giving her permission to do so.

Finally, the rosary beads fell into the grass, no longer to be seen.

Since Julie had personally removed the rosary beads from Caleb's wrist, he no longer needed to hold himself back. Both of them embraced before sharing a passionate kiss.

I stood where I was and stared at them. The leaves fluttered in the wind, causing Caleb to look up and meet my gaze.

I smiled at him before looking down at the love charm I had gotten from this church. I took it off and stomped all over it in front of him.

Caleb clenched his fists, and his breaths became hitched.

I turned away and walked down the steps.

Caleb watched me leave. He subconsciously took a step toward me, but Julie looked up at him and asked, "What happened, Caleb? Your heart's racing."

Julie was about to look back when Caleb covered her eyes. "Nothing much. I just saw someone unimportant."

I had secretly loved Caleb for ten years and was even married to him for five years. All he could say about me was that I was unimportant.

What was different from the past was that I wasn't sad anymore. I didn't even cry.

Soon, I never had to see him again. There was no need for me to argue and ask whether he loved me.

…

The next day was the Reed family's monthly dinner. Belinda expressed hope that I could dine with her one last time before saying goodbye.

I gave in to her request. After all, Belinda had treated me well for the past five years.

Out of the blue, Caleb returned home that night. He brought home an exquisite birthday cake.

I was slightly shocked. After all, this was the first time Caleb made a move, showing that he wanted to reconcile.

A long time ago, I had just gotten engaged to Caleb. Back then, I was still caught up in my fantasy. I casually brought up my birthday. The closer it got to my birthday, the more I was looking forward to it.

But on that day, not only did I not see a cake, but there was no sign of Caleb either. I had given him a call, but he snorted and said, "You forced me to break up with Julie. Now, you expect me to love you. Natasha, don't you think you're being too greedy?"

That was when I realized that Caleb had hated me for a long time. Ever since that incident, I never mentioned anything about myself ever again.

All this while, I assumed that Caleb had forgotten my birthday. I was surprised he still remembered. That showed he had been intentionally hostile toward me.

"Happy birthday." Caleb smiled at me, acting rather relaxed. He was always really good at covering things up. As long as he did not bring up the incident, he could pretend that nothing ever happened. Life would go on peacefully.

I stared at Caleb and did not respond.

His smile froze. He looked around, desperate to find a new topic. "Why are your things gone, Natasha?"

I immediately noticed a faint red mark on Caleb's neck. Even after multiple layers of concealer, he still couldn't hide it. He probably just got out of Julie's bed and hurried here.

I took a deep breath. "Lots of those things were rather old. Keeping them would be a waste of space. Also, didn't you always complain that I like collecting useless stuff?"

My tone was rather aggressive. I didn't even bother to hide my displeasure.

Lately, I had been acting out of character, and that probably made Caleb feel uneasy. He was acting gentle with me out of nowhere.

"I've thought about it. Julie did go overboard for some things she did recently." Caleb reached out to stroke my hair.

In the past, all I ever wanted was for Caleb to come close and touch me. But now, all I felt was disgust. I backed off to avoid his touch.

"I'll get someone to get rid of those photos and screenshots. I've also fired those who knew the inside story. Your work and daily life won't be affected, so no need to worry."

Caleb scooped up some cake and brought it to my mouth. "We've not visited your dad in a long time. I wonder how he's doing.

"After our monthly dinner with Mom, we'll go and visit your father. I heard the hospital just brought in a new miracle medicine. Perhaps that'll help with his treatment." Caleb was still talking, but I was no longer listening.

At this point, he still had no idea that Julie's overbearing attitude had upset Dad so much, causing him to die in a fit of anger. Caleb was still fantasizing about having a harmonious family and a happy marriage.

An intense rage rose within my heart. I smashed the entire cake onto the floor.

"Caleb, why are you still acting so concerned? Get lost!" I yelled angrily.

I had refused Caleb's attempts to reconcile. At that moment, he could no longer put up with my nonsense.

His expression was extremely grim as he silently got up and looked at me.

"Natasha, when will you stop being so domineering and stubborn? If you were just as kind and gentle as Julie, we wouldn't have ended up this way."

I shoved Caleb out of the room before slamming the door. I stepped on the buttery floor as I made my way to the bedside table. I crouched down and slowly picked up Dad's urn.

I had placed the urn by the bedside table, yet Caleb didn't even notice it.

I had had enough of being shunned and ignored. I also refused to put up with Caleb always making decisions on his own.

Tomorrow, I would definitely leave him.