After five years of marriage, my wife’s childhood friend posted a photo of a property deed in his social media circle with the caption, [Thank you, Miss CEO, for transferring the house to me.]

I was stunned when I saw the address on the deed—it was my home. Confused, I left a comment. [?]

Almost immediately, my wife, Alice, called and scolded me.

"He’s a single dad, so pitiful! I only transferred the house to his name to make it easier for his daughter to attend school. It doesn’t affect us living there. How can you be so heartless and lack even a shred of compassion?"

In the background, I could hear her childhood friend complaining bitterly.

Half an hour later, he posted on social media again and tagged me.

This time, he showed off a $150,000 sports car with the caption, [Paid in full! As the saying goes, where a woman spends her money is where her heart lies.]

I knew it was my wife who bought him the car to make up for upsetting him.

But this time, I’ve made up my mind—I’m filing for divorce.

When Alice Scott came back, I stared at the birthday cake and swallowed a Sunitinib pill.

The pill, a necessary evil since the surgery to remove the cancer from my stomach, had become part of my routine.

It was my birthday, and I had bought the cake in advance, waiting for Alice to return home. I wanted to tell her that I had surgery while she was away on her business trip.

However, as the clock ticked to seven, with no call or text from Alice, the festive spirit had long evaporated.

It was not until I left a snarky comment on Yoel Harris's boastful post about his new property that my phone finally buzzed. Alice's voice crackled through, not with concern or birthday wishes, but a torrent of accusations.

I tried to interject, to tell her about the surgery, but the line went dead, and with it, my last bit of composure. The wound on my abdomen, barely healed, throbbed with fresh pain.

When Alice finally noticed the medicine and the cake, her eyebrows knitted in confusion. "Is it your birthday?"

I tucked the pill bottle away and tossed the cake into the trash."No, it's for a friend," I lied, my voice steady.

She seemed relieved. "Your birthday's on the twenty-eighth, and it's only the 8th today."

Five years of marriage, and she never once got the date right. Even so, she remembered Yoel's with crystal clarity.

She sat beside me and handed me a small toy car, with a grease stain on it.

"It's from Yoel," she said. "He was really thrown off by your sarcastic remarks today. Now it's your turn to apologize."

The toy car had a logo on it.

It was probably a promotional item from a car purchase, and there was even a visible oil stain on it.

"I don't want it," I said emotionlessly.

She did not understand, her frown deepening. "Why must you act so high and mighty? He's trying to be nice. Just say you're sorry."

When I would not listen, Alice tried to pull me up to call Yoel.

She yanked me up so forcefully that my injured right leg hit the icy, glass coffee table.

The injury had happened a week ago when Alice accidentally spilled scalding soup on me as she walked through the kitchen, replying to Yoel's message without looking where she was going.

The scalding liquid burned through my skin, leaving a layer of damage on my right foot.

Alice's eyes widened in alarm when she noticed my right foot was bleeding again. "Let's get you to the hospital," she said.

I simply nodded. "Sure."

The moment we settled into the car, Yoel's voice, syrupy sweet like a spoiled pup, filled the space from the Bluetooth speaker.

"Welcome back, Miss CEO. Time to rake in the cash for me to splash."

Alice's face twitched ever so slightly.

"That was Yoel's purchase. He left it in my car by mistake. I meant to toss it."

"It's fine," I replied, my tone flat.

Quietness reclaimed the car.

Alice shot me a puzzled look. "You're not upset?"

I just tightened my lips. There was a time when Yoel mattered to me.

However, then, if I could not care less about Alice, why would I give a second thought to her eager-to-please sidekick?

"Drive on, it's getting late."

We were a mere U-turn and a straight shot from the hospital when Alice's phone chirped, her smile audible in her voice as she picked up.

It was Yoel on the line, whining for a joyride in her shiny new car.

"Yoel's got a little crisis. I'll drop you here, okay? The hospital's just across the street, barely fifty meters away."

Alice was too eager to reunite with Yoel to even consider a detour.

I fixed her with an icy glare. "I can't walk."

Her face instantly turned to stone. "Come on, man up. You're not helpless, just hurt!"

She flung open the door and practically threw me out, instructing me to call her once I had redressed the wound.

Her car peeled off, flinging muck that drenched my injured foot.

As the sky wept a misty rain, I stood there, a drenched and pathetic figure.

The 50 meters might as well have been a marathon. A few steps in, and I was drenched in cold sweat from the pain.

The rain lashed at my freshly stitched belly wound, sending waves of agony through me. My legs buckled, and I crumpled onto the crosswalk.

Cars whizzed by dangerously close, and if not for the hospital security guard's timely intervention, I might have ended up in another roadside tragedy.

I finally made it back from the hospital and lay down when Alice burst through the door, her face a thundercloud of fury.

"Didn't I tell you to call me after you got your meds? I was out there waiting for an hour, and your phone was off the whole time!"

I could only gaze at her, speechless.

After two grueling hours hooked up to an IV, I stepped outside to find no sign of Alice's car. I felt so awful I could not take it anymore and ended up hailing a cab home.

My phone had only been off for a couple of minutes.

So, it was clear—she had not come for me at all.

Alice used to be so attentive to me. When did she start growing so distant?

"You blocked me. I couldn't even call you."

Alice paused, the fire in her eyes dimming slightly. "I thought you might be hungry, so I brought you some French Onion Soup for a late-night bite."

I stared at the bowl she handed me. It was sprinkled with a few green onions but lacked any trace of beef—it looked more like someone's leftovers.

Just half an hour earlier, I had seen Yoel bragging on social media.

He had posted a photo of Alice in the kitchen, cooking soup.

[Who says there aren't any good women left? She's out here taking me for midnight drives in her slick car, and when I'm hungry, she's up making me delicious soup.]

I gave the soup a bitter stir, feeling a surge of nausea. "Just toss it. I'm not in the mood to eat."

Alice's expression darkened in an instant, her eyes turning icy. "What's gotten into you? I went out of my way to bring this for you, and you want to throw it away?

"Is this about me transferring the house to Yoel today? You're annoyed, aren't you? I never said you had to move out. The kid is just grateful he's got his education sorted, and he posted a thank-you. And you? You had to go and leave snide comments. Did I ever pick a fight over that?"

With fresh stitches pulling at my abdomen and my leg throbbing from a second injury, I was utterly spent.

"You've got me all wrong," said I, puzzled over how he could have posted a property deed with my address on it.

Alice cut me off, her patience worn thin. "Wrong about you? Yoel hit the nail on the head, you're exactly that guy!

"You're always on edge, no patience, no room for anyone else's mistakes. Anytime I talk to another guy, you see red! The problem is you, not me."

Before, I would have tried to argue, to get her to see the real me. However, at this moment, I just looked at her, ice in my gaze.

When her tirade finally ran out of steam, I asked, "Finished? Mind turning off the lights?"

She shot me a venomous look and stormed out, leaving the lights on. Seconds later, another door slammed in the living room.

I used to toss and turn all night if she stormed off to Yoel's after a fight. However, that night, I slept like a baby.

Come morning, I got a lawyer's number from a friend to talk about divorce.

Alice had been missing for three days since that door slam.

I saw her again in a vacation snap Jenny posted. There they were, all smiles, Yoel cozying up to Alice in matching outfits.

I gave the photo a silent thumbs-up.

Alice, back from the void, rang me up.

"I'll swing by later, take you to the beach, and introduce you to some friends." She hesitated, then said, "I didn't have to ask you, really. Consider it a reward for your decent behavior lately."

"Sure."

The divorce was in motion, no need to stir the pot.

True to her word, Alice picked me up, and there was no sign of Yoel, the human wrench in our plans.

At the beach, Jenny came up to me. "Sorry about the other night, my bad for not giving you a heads-up. I owe myself a few penalty drinks later."

Jenny stepped up to apologize, putting me on a pedestal in front of everyone.

I gave a half-hearted smile and said, "The office has been swamped lately. I've been up to my neck in work for days."

"I heard you've got some of your top people on board to set up a new branch in Greenwood. That's awesome news."

Jenny was doling out compliments like candy.

I gave a small smile. "Yeah, we're looking into it, but it's all up in the air right now."

Just then, Alice marched over, fixing me with a glare, "You're heading to Greenwood? And you didn't think to tell me? Since when do you make moves without my say-so?"

I turned to face her, taking in her angry expression in silence.

The tension in the air was palpable.

Alice kept grilling me, and Jenny, bless her heart, tried to smooth things over by suggesting we all hit the barbecue.

The server had the grill going in no time, and Alice took a seat next to me, her face showing a rare flicker of panic. "I've got a deal with Yoel. Once his kids are out of elementary school, he's transferring the house back to me.

"Don't get worked up. It's my house, after all. I didn't have to explain myself to you."

"Okay." I nodded, unfazed.

Before long, a familiar, dashing figure came into view, and my smile froze.

A girl I had never met, but who seemed chummy with Jenny and Alice, jumped up and waved frantically at Yoel, "Brother-in-law! Hey, Yoel, Alice is over here—hurry!"

Everyone around sucked in a breath of cold air.

Jenny gave the girl a swift kick and scolded her for her cluelessness.

"I need to hit the restroom." I stood up slowly, not wanting to make a scene, just trying to save face for us both.

Alice shot me a look, then Yoel, but she did not come after me.

When I returned, everyone was lounging on the beach, full and content.

Yoel and Alice were cozied up next to each other, their closeness speaking volumes. I quietly grabbed a seat off to the side, keeping to myself.

Jenny, ever the life of the party, piped up, "Alright, everyone's here. Game time! Truth or Dare, people."

Alice came out on top in the first round, with Yoel on the losing end.

He picked the truth, and Alice, playing nice, asked him about any recent joys.

Yoel's eyes twinkled as he looked at Alice with a tender gaze.

"I met this amazing woman, and just like that, I had it all—a house, a car. And get this, she even took me for a spin in her brand-new car to unwind."

Finishing his tale, Yoel shot me a smug grin.

The crowd knew the score with Yoel's sudden wealth, but it was an unspoken truth, seen but not discussed.

All that, and Yoel was flaunting it like that was a whole different ball game.

The mood turned icy, and even Jenny was startled.

With no outburst from me, Jenny had to tough it out and keep the peace.

"Let's keep it moving, second round—hey, it's our hunk Richard's turn."

Then it was my turn, and Yoel had the reins for my challenge.

"Truth," I stated calmly.

Yoel sauntered over, drink in hand. "Richard, let's up the ante, how about a dare?"

I scrunched my brow, feeling the warning bells. "I'll stick with the truth."

"Come on, live a little. Alice says you're a champ in the pool. Show us a lap."

Yoel's eyes lingered on my midsection, his lips curling with a hint of mischief.

I stood my ground, firmly declining: "I'm not up for it, feeling under the weather—I can't swim."

Yoel turned to Alice with a look of feigned innocence, but Alice was having none of it.

"You're a seasoned swimmer, Richard. Since when can't you swim?

"Just a few days back, everyone had already made their apologies, and now they were bending over backward to get on your good side. What's the harm in taking a quick dip to show them you're cool?" said Alice, paying no mind to my resistance as she and Yoel nudged me toward the shore.

Seizing the moment, Yoel shrugged off my jacket and took a hefty swig from a wine bottle.

"Richard, this one's to you. Your move, buddy."

His toast was like throwing me onto the grill. I snapped back, "I've told you, I'm not up for a swim. Your boozing isn't going to change my mind. And why can't I just pick Truth?"

Yoel's lips tightened, and he shot a wounded look at Alice, whose expression quickly soured.

She chucked her wine bottle onto the sand with a thud. "What's with the act? Swimming is your thing. They're not asking for the moon, and he's already downed a bottle for you! Why do you have to spurn their kindness?"

I glanced at Alice, the heroine in our little drama, and then at Yoel, his eyes brimming with tears. I could not help but sneer. "Who asked him to drink? I said no swimming, and he's pressuring me. How is that not a hassle?"

My sharp retort left Yoel in tears.

Alice's face darkened, and she rolled up her pants. "You won't swim? Alright, I'll join you!"

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Alice yanked my ear and plunged me into the chilly waves.

A shiver ran up from my feet, where the cold bit into my wounds, and in a flash, the sea flooded my nose, leaving me coughing and sputtering.

Alice was relentless, holding me down with Yoel's help.

My eyes reddened with the sting, tears and snot mingling as I struggled.

When it felt like my lungs would burst, I frantically pushed at Alice, and she finally released her grip.

However, as luck would have it, a rogue wave crashed over us just then, and when I reached for Alice's pant leg, she kicked me away with all her might.

I was dragged into the ocean, the freezing water swallowing me whole.

It felt like an eternity before I mustered the last ounce of my strength to reach the shore, taking deep, life-saving breaths of the crisp air.

Meanwhile, Alice was gently stroking Yoel's well-behaved head, soothing him, "Don't worry, I've dealt with him. He had it coming. I'll set him straight later."

With that, she approached me, looking down with an air of superiority. "Say you're sorry to Yoel! And as for you, down a bottle of wine as your punishment! Or else—"

In the midst of everyone's shocked stares and Alice's demanding gaze, my eyes brimming with tears, I cut her off.

"Alice, my lawyer will be in touch. We're done. We're getting a divorce."

At my words, Alice stared at me, her dark eyes wide with shock.

I stumbled forward, my body weak, and as I hit the busy street, darkness overtook me, and I collapsed.

Right before I blacked out, I could hear the panicked cries around me.

"Someone's down!"

"Get an ambulance, fast! God, he's bleeding from his stomach, there's so much blood!"