When my wife gave birth to our second child, the doctor asked her husband to stay beside her. Just as I was about to step inside, the doctor shouted the name of my wife’s childhood friend.

“Who is the husband of Rebecca Mooore? Mr. Travis Dunne? Please come in and accompany her.”

I froze in place. Later, Rebecca told me she didn’t let me in because she didn’t want me to worry. Since she had just given birth to my child, I forced myself to accept it.

But yesterday, my little daughter turned one month old. I made a suggestion that we take her to the studio for her one-month-old celebration photos, but Rebecca refused. She told me that she didn’t want to trouble me at work.

While I was working at the office, I opened my phone and saw a picture Travis had sent. In the photo, my wife, our son and our daughter stood with him. They looked like a family of four. Somehow, I felt like a thief watching someone else’s happiness.

That night, I asked my wife for a divorce when I came home.

Yet, Rebecca didn’t take it seriously.

“It’s just some photos. Why are you making such a big fuss about it?”

“Of course.”

——

Rebecca scrolled on her phone without care.

“Didn’t Travis just go with us to take the baby’s one-month celebration photos? Do you really need to make such a big fuss? Travis posted it on Instagram Live by mistake, so I already told him to delete it.”

“You’re an adult, Matthew. But you argue with me about such tiny things. Don’t you feel tired of yourself?”

As my wife spoke, she kept smiling at her phone. What a careless mistake. If Travis hadn’t ‘accidentally’ shared it live, I might never have found out. So, her refusal had nothing to do with worrying about my busy job.

She only wanted to take photos with Travis and my daughter.

Thinking of that, I gave a bitter smile.

Rebecca’s eyes stayed on the screen. In fact, she even grinned at it. Without thinking, I grabbed her phone.

Since the day we married, I never once checked her phone because I trusted her fully. Perhaps because my action was so sudden, Rebecca was stunned. Her phone screen still showed the Instagram Live.

When I clicked her profile picture, her first post there shocked me. It was all pictures of our baby’s first full month. Out of nine photos, Travis was in eight of them. The endless blessings in the comments nearly blinded me.

[What a perfect married couple! Your daughter is so cute!]

[Whoa! My daughter has finally moved on from that loser. She’s upgraded to someone better.]

Rebecca didn’t explain, but her silence meant she agreed.

Before I could finish reading, Rebecca rushed to grab her phone back.

“What’s wrong with you? Give it back.”

I sneered and lifted the phone higher.

“You said Travis posted by mistake. But what about you? You carefully fixed the layout, even blocked me. Did you do it by accident, too?”

Rebecca’s face showed guilt. She opened her mouth to speak, but a knock on the door cut her off. Travis stood at the door, acting polite.

“Rebecca, it’s almost time to leave. Everything’s ready for the dinner party. Your mother asked me to hurry you.”

Rebecca quickly turned off her phone.

“If you want to talk, we can talk later. You don’t want to ruin your daughter’s dinner party over such a small thing, right? Go call our son down. He should still be upstairs watching TV.”

After saying that, she turned to Travis. Her eyes softened when she looked at him.

“Thank you for your help.”

With Rebecca’s approval, Travis naturally carried the baby. I stood there, my legs feeling like heavy iron. Seeing me not moving, Rebecca’s face darkened with anger.

“Why are you not calling Sonny yet? Do you want everyone to wait just for us?”

I clenched my teeth and swallowed back the words stuck in my throat.

After my son, Sonny, heard the noise, he ran to the railing on the second floor. Once he stuck his head out, he saw Travis and ran down happily.

“Uncle Travis!”

I wanted to pat his head, but my son quickly hid behind Travis. Sonny then gave me a look full of hatred. I couldn’t help but let my hand drop helplessly. Even though I had expected it, I still felt a sting of pain inside.

When I wanted to take my daughter from Travis’s arms, my son pushed me away.

“You are a bad man! Don’t touch my sister! You don’t deserve to hold my sister!”

Rebecca looked a bit uneasy.

“Let Travis hold her. He’s careful. Our daughter became calmer in his arms.”

Those light words felt like the last straw on my back.

“Divorce! Sign the papers before you leave.”

Rebecca’s eyes showed surprise for a moment, but then turned into impatience.

“Why are you so serious? It’s just some one-month-old celebration photos. I was being kind since you were busy with work, so I didn’t ask you to go.”

“I asked Travis to come because he happened to be free. If you still insist on doing the photos, you can do it next time. Why keep making a fuss about such a small matter?”

“And that time I didn’t let you come with me? I was afraid you’d be nervous. Travis grew up with me. Besides, he’s a doctor. So he’s used to this kind of thing.”

“Moreover, I already told you everything clearly. What else do you want me to explain? Dragging up old things again and again makes no sense. Can you stop being so hard to deal with?”

Her voice grew so loud that it woke our baby, who started crying. Travis rocked her gently and looked at me with an uneasy face.

“Matthew, I’m sorry about the one-month-old celebration photos. I really shouldn’t have been in them.”

“This is my fault, not Rebecca’s. If you’re upset, you can let it out on me. Don’t let me break your peace.”

However, Rebecca quickly stood in front of him.

“This has nothing to do with you, Travis. You don’t need to say sorry.”

My son copied her words.

“That’s right! Uncle Travis, you don’t have to say sorry to that bad man. Once my mom gets divorced, she can take us to your house to play with you!”

Rebecca, who had just been so confident, suddenly turned to shut him up.

“Sonny, don’t talk nonsense.”

Travis freed one hand and pulled my son close.

“Sonny, be good. Don’t get into adult problems. I’ll buy you the newest Transformers toys later, okay?”

My son jumped with joy.

“Uncle Travis, you’re the best. Unlike that bad man, who only knows how to bully Mom and fight with her.”

Rebecca glanced at me awkwardly, then held her son’s hand and walked past me.

“Since you don’t want to come, just rest at home. We’re leaving first.”

I grabbed her arm.

“Sign the papers before you go.”

She rolled her eyes at me, clearly angry. I was about to lose control when the phone rang.

After listening for a moment, Rebecca said sharply, “You should talk to Matthew. Just because Travis was in our daughter’s one-month-old celebration photos, he’s insisting on divorce. He even won’t let me leave.”

After speaking more with the person on the other end of the line, my wife put the phone on speaker and shoved it toward me.

“Matthew, what’s wrong with you? Do you want to shame my daughter in front of everyone? You’re already late, but you’re still making a scene!”

“Rebecca and Travis are childhood friends. They grew up together. If something really did happen, would it even be your turn? I actually hope it is true.”

“Travis is a young, successful and kind man. He’s a much better man than you, Matthew. Instead of making trouble, you should learn from him.”

Rebecca’s mother started scolding me nonstop. I tried to argue, but there were no words coming out. It all felt pointless. Their careless tone made me look like a crazy person. Yet, they truly drove me mad.

Both Rebecca and I first met in college. It was the time when we fell in love crazily. We stayed together naively and without knowing the real world. But we held on for five whole years.

When we spoke of marriage, her parents refused to agree to it. They put the blame on me for being poor. They even threatened to make Rebecca disabled if she dared to marry me.

After Rebecca and I got married, I focused all my attention on my work to calm her parents. To win business for the company, I drank so much that I ended up in the emergency room because of gastric bleeding. When her parents came to see me, they had nothing kind to say.

“I never agreed to your marriage. You’re such a loser! You even land in the hospital just because of one deal.”

“Why didn’t you drink him to death? That would have been better. My daughter could still find someone else while she’s young.”

I kept their words in mind and worked without rest to pull the company back up. Still, they looked down on me. No matter what I did, it might not be good enough for them. I thought Rebecca would see my effort, but she only felt I ignored her. Even my son slowly drifted away from me.

Eventually, I stopped everything and tried to make things right with my wife and our son. But she pushed me away. When my daughter was born, she was the one who asked Travis to stay with her during the birth and even let him join the photos of our daughter’s one-month-old celebration.

It might be because Rebecca’s parents despised me, but they supported her actions without question. I had had enough. I understood it this time.

All I wanted was to end it.

“Sign the divorce papers, then we’ll both be free. After the one-month-old celebration party for our daughter, we can split peacefully. I’ll give you half of our things.”

“As for our daughter, the custody will be mine. I’ll place her in the best schools.”

Rebecca lost all patience.

“What do you mean by putting our daughter in the best schools? Matthew, are you trying to raise our daughter into a paranoid madman like you?”

“You asked me to marry you, was it just to torture me? Just to kill me slowly?”

My wife then grabbed the divorce papers from the table, tore them to bits like a crazy woman and threw them at me.

“Don’t you just want me to admit I was wrong? Fine, I was wrong. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done it. Can I leave now?”

Her words carried no regret. Rebecca was only pressing me, forcing me to give in. My son tried to cover her with his small body.

“You bad man! I won’t let you hurt my mom. I won’t let you take my sister away!”

After a pause, Rebecca patted his shoulder gently.

“Sonny, apologize to Dad, too.”

“Uncle Travis came with us for your sister’s one-month-old celebration photos, so Dad got angry. If you don’t say sorry, he’ll leave the house.”

My son pouted.

“Then let him leave! I don’t want to see this bad man ever again!”

“I won’t apologize! Get out of our house, you bad guy! I want Uncle Travis to be my dad!”

When I looked at Sonny’s stubborn little face, I almost cried. He once loved me so much, always waiting for me to play with him after I got home from work.

Then, Rebecca clicked her tongue sharply.

“Sonny, don’t talk to Dad like that! Say sorry now, or he really will abandon us.”