In the fifth year of their marriage, Ruben Kaiser cheated on his wife.

The target was his students.

He showed no panic or fear in the face of my questioning.

Instead, he told me with a smile on his face, "She is very young and full of energy. You are so much different from her."

I stood there in a daze, and my heart felt cold at that moment.

But after the divorce, he always kept the position of Mrs. Kaiser for me.

——

The first time I discovered that Ruben was cheating on me was when I found a fake nail in the pocket of his suit.

The colour was pure nude pink, which was not mine.

I put the fake nail on the dining table.

During dinner, Ruben saw the nail pieces I placed on the table, and the corners of his lips could not help but curl up with a hint of subtle mockery.

"What? Are you trying to put your fingers on stilts like those little girls?"

"Is it not possible?" I tilted my head and looked at him.

"Okay, I just think it might be inconvenient for you to do this. Also, this color doesn't suit you very well," Ruben said with a smile on his face.

I averted my gaze and looked down at my bare nails. “I took this out of your pocket."

Ruben was stunned for a moment, then sneered, "Yesterday in the lab, a student fainted and I took her to the hospital. I think she fell in at that time."

“I see," I responded softly and reached out to throw the fake nail into the trash can.

Ruben suddenly leaned over and picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork ribs.

"Honey, do you trust me so much?"

I looked at the elegant and handsome face of the man in front of me, but I was thinking about him on our wedding day five years ago.

As the groom gave his speech at the wedding, Ruben loudly expressed his love and made a promise in front of all the guests, “Winnie Scott, believe me, I will love you forever and never betray you."

I remembered that when I looked at Ruben's face which was stained red by alcohol, I was so moved that I was choked with sobs and could not speak. I could only nod at him desperately.

However, as I thought about it again, it was actually kind of a pity.

From the first sight to the discovery of the affair, fate was always cruel and never gave people time to transition.

On the day of the New Year, Ruben’s mother called me early in the morning and asked me and Ruben to go back home for dinner together in the evening.

As usual, I left for school early in the afternoon to wait for Ruben to get off work.

The corridor was unusually quiet.

When I unlocked the door, I stumbled over a pair of silver bow-knot high-heeled shoes.

I was stunned for a moment, then looked up and saw clothes scattered all over the floor of the office, one piece at a time, spreading from the door to the desk and then to the lounge.

The door of the lounge was half open, and one could still hear the sweet and charming voice of a woman, also the doting and comforting voice of a man.

"I'm going home in a few days. Will you stay with me tonight?"

"Okay! I'll come find you later."

"Then I'll be leaving now. I'll wait for you tonight!"

As the door of the lounge opened from the inside, a young girl in a men's shirt met my eyes.

Her watery eyes flickered, and she screamed like a frightened little rabbit and hid behind Ruben who came out from behind.

Ruben raised his eyes expressionlessly and glanced at me who was standing blankly at the door.

He calmly picked up the clothes on the ground one by one and handed them to the girl. "Go change your clothes."

Then he lazily took the shirt from the hanger and put it on, covering up the ambiguous marks on the chest.

He did not even glance at me the whole time.

My throat felt like that of a drowning person, burning and stuffy.

I clenched my fists so hard that my fingernails hurt, and only then did I manage to calm myself down.

But before I could open my mouth to question, the door of the lounge opened again.

A well-dressed young girl approached and timidly called out, “Mrs. Kaiser!"

She was Ruben’s new graduate student this semester, Chelsea Rangel.

I had seen her.

Not long after school started, Chelsea was scolded by Ruben in front of other students because of homework problems.

Later, she rushed home late at night to hand in her homework and was drenched by the rain.

I let her take a hot shower and changed into my clothes.

But, the homework she brought and had revised late at night was again criticized by Ruben as worthless.

Seeing the delicate and weak little girl's eyes red with grievance, I could not help but comfort her with a few words.

Later she added me on WhatsApp and asked me about Ruben's temperament and preferences from time to time.

I thought she was trying to please her teacher, so I told her everything.

Later, during the Mid-Summer Holiday, Ruben said that Chelsea, a young girl from another place, was studying at a university here alone and could not go home for the holidays, which was very pitiful.

In the end, I invited her to come to our house to enjoy the holiday.

But then, it turned out what I did all the time was wrong.

While looking at the ambiguous red mark on her neck that was not covered, suddenly I felt that I was the biggest fool.

"You should go back first," Ruben suddenly spoke.

Chelsea lowered her head, quickly picked up her shoes and bag on the ground, and passed by me.

I turned and looked at Ruben who was sitting on the sofa, while trying hard to suppress the sourness and pain in my heart.

He asked in a deep voice, “Why?"

Ruben put down his crossed legs and sat up straight.

He looked at me and smiled, his expression the same as usual.

I would rather he was a little flustered or scared, so that I would look less embarrassed.

But reality was always cruel, and the words that came out of his 37- degree mouth were icy cold.

"Chelsea, she is very young and full of energy. You are so much different from her."

Well, how could she not? She was a 26 years old university student while I was a 29 years old married woman.

I pursed my lips. Suddenly I did not have the energy to ask any more questions.

While pretending nothing happened, I accompanied Ruben's parents to finish dinner together.

But the home was surprisingly quiet, and the long traffic jam made my already aching head even more painful.

As soon as I entered the door, I could not hold on any longer.

I climbed into bed exhausted, without even the strength to pull up the quilt.

My eyes closed uncontrollably in the night just to wake up from a groggy sleep in the morning.

It was already past eleven o'clock in the afternoon.

The other side of the bed was clean and tidy, with no signs of having been slept in.

I raised my hand and rubbed my sore eyes.

As I came downstairs, I saw Ruben in the kitchen.

"Morning. Since you got up late today, I decided to cook noodles."

Ruben looked as natural as usual, as if what happened yesterday was just a dream.

But Ruben's abnormal behavior had already explained everything, and I could not deceive myself.

"Aren't you going to work today?" I asked.

He answered simply, "Go in the afternoon."

I nodded and walked straight to the refrigerator to get out ice cubes to put on my eyes.

“Do you want to go to the hospital?" Ruben came over with noodles and asked with concern.

"It's okay, just apply ice to reduce the swelling."

"Then, let's eat."

I took the fork he handed over and looked at the noodles in the bowl which looked soggy. It really made me not have the desire to eat.

When I just felt my throat tightening, Ruben said again, “Try it. I just learned how to make it. It may not look good, but it should taste okay."

I had known Ruben for ten years and had been married for five years, but he had never been into the kitchen, let alone cooked.

But by that time, he had learned how to cook noodles. Who did he learn it for and who did he want to cook for? 

Well, the answer was obvious actually, so I commented in a casual tone, "You used to be very resistant to cooking."

My hands unconsciously clenched the fork until my fingers turned white.

"People change. It would be so boring if they remained the same all the time."

My heart seemed to be tightly grasped by a huge hand, so tightly that I could hardly breathe.

Yup, he was right. It was definitely going to be boring.

People tend to get tired of the old and love the new.

I murmured softly, "It's quite boring."

I gently put down my fork, clenched my fists, and when I spoke again, I heard my voice was a little hoarse, "Ruben, we are leaving."

"Chelsea?"

She interrupted me calmly, looking me straight in the face with a smile on her face, "You will always be Mrs. Kaiser, and that will never change."

I looked at Ruben steadily. His expression was gentle, but his eyes were like the bottomless ocean.

He opened his lips, but his voice was low and strong when he spoke, "Don't lose your temper. I was wrong about this matter. I will handle it. It is not wise to act on impulse."

The threat and confidence in his words were obvious.

I raised my eyes and met Ruben's gaze.

In the midst of the calm, I seemed to have a glimpse of his hidden emotions.

Sarcastic. Merciful. High and mighty.

My acquaintance with Ruben was as melodramatic as a common plot in romance novels.

The ‘female protagonist’ was burdened by her family and was about to fall, so the ‘male protagonist’ suddenly appeared to save the ‘female protagonist’ who was about to fall into the quagmire.

When I was in middle school, my father cheated on me with his female boss who was eight years older than him, and he wanted to divorce my mother.

My mother could not accept it and had a mental breakdown.

She tried every method she could think of, including hunger strike and suicide, but I still could not make my father change his mind.

After more than three years of arguing, my mother finally agreed to divorce, but on the condition that she would have custody of me.

My father fought for it, but finally agreed.

At that time, I thought my mother was so persistent because she loved me.

But later I found out that I was just a tool for her to continue to harass my father.

She always asked me to find a way to trick my dad into coming home.

At first, my father was worried about me, so he would come back when she called.

But after so many times, my father stopped being fooled.

My mother thought I was useless and could not make my father come, so she punished me by not letting me eat.

Therefore, during the three years of high school, while other people's minds are full of numerical functions, English words, and chemical formulas, my mind was full of thoughts about food.

As expected, I failed the college entrance examination.

Later, it was my father who paid to send me to an international school.

I thought I could get away from my mother's control by going to college, but fate was cruel.

My mother's desire to control me became stronger.

Other students’ living expenses were given on a monthly basis, but mine was given on a weekly basis.

She did not allow me to be less than three meters away from the opposite sex.

Otherwise, she would deduct my living expenses for the next week and I would have nothing to eat.

So, I became a person in a real-life shell.

Just because I accidentally took a picture of the boy sitting next to me when I was video chatting with her in the cafeteria.

My mother therefore concluded that I was fooling around at school, and no matter how I explained, she would not listen.

My living expenses for one week were directly deducted.

It never rained but it poured,

It was the first night when I had no living expenses and was hungry.

Not long after I laid down, I suddenly felt a pain in my lower abdomen. Before I could react, a hot blood gushed out.