After a heartbreaking funeral for my mother, I went south alone during what should have been my honeymoon and stayed for a month.

During that time, I never once resented Kelly. After all, she was a pearl that had been covered with dust. A child who was burdened by a tragic fate but powerless to change it.

Before leaving, I entrusted Leo to care for her.

And he did an excellent job. In our newlywed apartment we shared, he cooked with practiced efficiency. He prepared five dishes and a soup that looked absolutely exquisite.

I was sincerely grateful to him.

That year, the bond between the three of us grew stronger than ever.

Kelly treated me even better. She spent all the company’s first major profit on buying me the gemstone cufflinks I had admired. She lit fireworks across the entire city to celebrate my birthday. She always took a few days off every month, pushed off all offline meetings and accompanied me to work from home.

So, I never doubted that she truly loved me.

Until one day, by chance, I went to her office alone.

From the half-open, hidden door inside the office came the sound of rapid, labored breathing.

When I pushed the door, the scene before me stabbed into my eyes like a knife.

I screamed uncontrollably.

Her protective move toward the man was swift and decisive.

“Who let you in!”

“Get out!”

Like a madman, I grabbed everything within reach and hurled it at them.

Blood flowed from Kelly's forehead, but he still remembered to protect the man in his arms.

I smashed everything in the room. But I didn't dare to approach them. After all, the two of them were the people I loved the most in my life.

Fear penetrated my bones and my teeth chattered as I tried to calm myself.

"Leo, look at me."

With face red from crying, the man knelt toward me from beneath the tangled blanket.

"Mac, I'm sorry. Kelly and I shouldn't have done this, but our love has grown beyond control.”

“Please, just let us be together.”

His groveling posture mirrored the posture he had made at the first year we met, when he'd been cornered by thugs at the alley entrance.

It was also in the same year that, to protect him, I—a model student—had completely offended that gang. For a long time afterward, I dared not take shortcuts.

I once had Kelly personally hand him the wedding bouquet, wishing him the happiness he deserved.

And now he was lying in my wife's arms, begging me to give them a blessing.

Tears streamed down my face as I murmured, "When did it start?”

His lips trembled, unable to speak.

But someone answered for him.

“Does it matter? Are you done making a scene? This is the company, not your home.”

“Does it not matter?  Kelly! Does it not matter?” I asked her hysterically.

She stood there naked, but her gaze was unflinching.

“Fine! I'll tell you!”

“Last March, when you abandoned me and fled to the south, we were together.”

“I didn't mean to hide it from you. You'd just lost your mother and I didn't want to hurt you further. So I let you have your way and kept up this marriage.”

“Leo has suffered enough. I didn't want to see him worry about me anymore. I planned to ask you for a divorce after your mother's death anniversary.”

“Since you've found out, I might as well tell you.”

“Let's divorce. You can have whatever you want. I only want Leo.”

Only then did I fully comprehend. How heavy the slap I delivered to my mother when I sided with Kelly.

Before I divorced her, I still made a scene.

I photographed their disheveled forms in bed with my phone, printed countless flyers with captions and distributed them to every employee at her company.

Outside the office building, more and more banners exposing their sordid affair were unfurled.

I went to the school to report Leo for his immoral behavior.

The art academy forum where he studied was flooded with vulgar comments.

At his graduation ceremony, someone hired people to loop videos of our past joyful moments on the big screen.

The memories that I once cherished became the weapons I used to attack them.

And yet … Kelly still protected him. In the end, Leo successfully graduated from the nation's top art academy. He was even about to hold his own exhibition.

To protect him, Kelly was finally willing to look at me with respect.

"Leo's dreams are about to come true. This has nothing to do with our past grievances. Don't mess things up for him."

I was already blinded by rage. "Mess things up! I'm all set. Everyone at the exhibition will be delighted to see those masterpieces.”

Suddenly, a document was slammed onto the table before me.

“If you want to preserve your mother's final resting place in peace, be obedient. Sign this divorce agreement and stay far away from me and Leo.”

When my mother was buried, I was too grief-stricken to handle anything. So, Kelly, as her daughter-in-law, took care of everything, including choosing the burial plot and purchasing the land.

Perhaps due to land scarcity, even plots in the afterlife had become commodities.

As long as she was the one who signed the document, my mother would never rest in peace.

I threw coffee at Kelly's face.

That night, I cried myself to sleep on my mother's gravestone.

Then the next day, I went to the City Hall.

But, things turned out differently than I had imagined—Kelly only allocated me one of her family's old houses.

“You reported the company's tax issues back then. Now most of the funds are frozen in the accounts. This is all I can give you.”

“If it weren’t for Leo pleading on your behalf, you wouldn’t get a single cent.”

I could never win against her—not since childhood.

She was steady, meticulous and never acted on impulse. She skillfully used strategy and power to achieve her goals.

I, on the other hand, was always the type to charge headlong into things without a second thought and although it caused immense damage to my enemy, it caused greater injuries to myself.

I fell silent, just as she’d wanted.

Before selling the house and heading south, I still went to Leo’s art exhibition. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision.

A giant projection in the city center displayed the man’s handsome face. The exhibition was titled “The Key to the Heart”.

It was a phrase we’d often spoken in our youth. It symbolized the pure, untainted hope of adolescence. It is the most sincere and beautiful connection between friends.

With the last shred of near-masochistic nostalgia, I armored myself fully.

But the moment I stepped into the venue, I felt like a mouse peering into someone else’s happiness.

Until I saw the painting titled “The Key to the Heart.”

It showed two bodies.

There was a mole on the woman's shoulder blade, the one I had traced countless times.

The man crumpled the pillow in his grip. Behind them, a bed draped in pale purple sheets. Outside the window, magnolias bloomed in full splendor.

That flower's variety was the one that I had personally selected at the flower market.

Pink blossoms as large as lanterns, silent in their beauty.

That was my home. It was also the place where Leo and Kelly had first made love.

So, it turned out that his heart belonged to Kelly and the key belonged to Leo.

A wave of uncontrollable nausea surged through me and I threw up.

This startled the two people entertaining guests nearby.

A bright, concerned voice reached my ears. “Sir, are you alright?”

The key design on his cufflinks dazzled me; it perfectly matched the heart-shaped brooch on the woman's chest.

I frantically yanked the cufflink toward the painting on the wall.

Rip—

The sound of canvas tearing echoed through the entire hall, drawing gasps from everyone around.

Chaos broke out. Security guards pinned me to the ground. My cheek pressed against the cold marble floor as I met her cold gaze—she was holding the crying man in her arms. She looked at me like watching a rat in the sewer.

“Call the police,” she said.

I laughed. And my laugh became louder and louder.

This made everyone recoil in shock.

Since the amount involved exceeded one thousand and five hundred dollars, I was sentenced to three years in prison, plus compensation for material and emotional damages.

I attempted suicide several times in prison, yet I was miraculously saved each time.

A year later, I had my sentence reduced because of good behavior and was released early, but I left with nothing. However, I had come to terms with many things.

When the car reached our destination, Leo went to the restroom to touch up his makeup.

Kelly stood beside me and apologized in a low voice, "I'm sorry."

“What happened back then—it was our fault. Next time, I’ll tell Leoto to watch his behaviour.”

I raised an eyebrow. The Kelly I knew back then would never have bowed to me. But she was now willing to apologize to me.

I looked at her, a little puzzled.

“No need,” I said evenly. “You’re husband and wife. Seeing you just brought back some old memories, that’s all.”

A flicker of sadness crossed her eyes. One I could not understand, nor did I care to dig into it.

Fortunately, Leo returned. It seemed he had forgotten everything that happened in the car.

“Back in the day, the three of us loved pooling our money for chili. Let's eat our fill today.”

However, Kelly did not agree with him.

“Back then, Mac ate chili for our sake. His stomach was sensitive and couldn't handle too much spice. How could you forget?”

“It's okay, my stomach is fine now.”

Years of consistent care had long restored my body and mind to peak condition.

My phone suddenly rang. And the big word “Wife” flashed on the screen.

I answered.

A clear, pleasant woman's voice with a hint of grievance sounded. “Honey, taking the little one on TV was more exhausting than ten days of my work. When you get back, you'll definitely say I've lost weight.”

In the background, the little boy's babyish voice piped up, “No way! Daddy, Mom got hit by some uncle today and they were having so much fun ....”

“You little rascal, you're just trying to dig a hole for your mom! That was the host!”

Listening to the lively commotion on the other end, I couldn't help but smile.

I looked up to see the mall's giant screen displaying a woman's charming face, solemnly answering interview questions.

Beside her, a little pink bundle with sparkling eyes darted between the two, pure and adorable.

We chatted for a few more seconds before I hung up. I snapped a quick photo of the screen.

Only when I sent it did I notice the two people beside me had frozen in place.

"Mac …. Are you married?"