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.

I hurriedly got up from the bed to look for a sanitary napkin, but no matter how hard I searched in every corner, I still could not find a sanitary napkin.

Yes, my living expenses were barely enough for food, and no matter how much I saved, it was barely enough for the daily necessities I needed at the time. I had no extra money to stock up.

Another roommate in the dormitory moved out shortly after school started.

I did not even have anyone to borrow from.

I had no choice but to use toilet paper at that time.

But toilet paper would become soaked once it got wet and would not last long.

In order not to dirty the sheets, I had to sit.

Even though I have changed them frequently, the stools still inevitably get dirty.

Finally, I could only stand.

I finally made it to dawn and immediately called my mother to ask for an advance on living expenses to buy sanitary napkins.

Even though I produced various photos and videos to prove it, she still thought I was making up an excuse to cheat for living expenses.

The exam was approaching, and I had no choice but to put on a thick layer of toilet paper and then put on all the wearable pants in the closet.

As a result, even though it was in June, I dressed myself up like a ball.

In the classroom, I tried hard to ignore the strange looks from my classmates, walked carefully to my seat and sat down, not daring to move.

After more than two hours. No matter how careful I was and no matter how thick my pants were, the thing I was most worried about still happened.

The strong smell of blood made me want to bury myself in the table pocket.

The exam finally ended and I sat in my seat waiting anxiously for everyone to leave the classroom.

However, Ruben appeared at that time.

He stood up from the seat behind me, raised his hand, took off his shirt and handed it to me.

The midsummer sunshine and the gentle breeze blow through the window.

Ruffling the strands of hair on the boy's forehead. At that moment, he seemed like a knight walking out of the light, just to save his princess.

I stared blankly at the clothes he handed me, and a feeling other than embarrassment welled up in my heart.

"Put it on and wait for me in the bathroom."

I was so embarrassed that I did not know what to do.

In the end, Ruben put the shirt on my shoulders and pushed me into the bathroom next to the classroom.

I did not know how long it took until the cleaning lady who cleaned the toilet handed me a black plastic bag and a pair of sweatpants.

I saw the sanitary napkins in the bag, the grievances that had been suppressed in my heart for two days seemed to have an outlet and my tears could no longer be suppressed and rolled down.

When I tidied myself and returned to the classroom, it was already empty.

Only my stationery was neatly placed on the table.

The dirty stools had also been cleaned.

That day I walked all the way back to the dormitory from the teaching building wearing baggy sweatpants with the legs rolled up several times, receiving countless attention.

Later I washed the shirt and sweatpants and hung them in my closet, thinking that I could return them to him the next time I saw him.

But I did not see him again for a long time.

If the clothes hanging in the closet had not been real, I would have thought that what happened that day was just a dream.

In order to have food to eat, I carefully avoided all opposite sexes, and checked the videos and photos I took over and over again.

But my mother was still not satisfied. My living expenses were still often deducted and I still had no food to eat.

In order to survive and not starve to death, I accepted the part-time job thrown by my senior.

That was the first time I went out with my senior.

As the door of my hotel room was knocked open, the person inside the door seemed stunned when he saw me.