Chris’s mother tried to smooth things over as well, guilt written all over her face.

“Yes, yes… Tucker never had a father growing up. Maybe he is just exhausted from the trip and talking nonsense in his sleep.”

Melissa’s eyes, however, flashed with open pride and provocation, even though she kept her voice soft and agreeable.

“That is right, Nadine. Tucker only acts this way because he likes Chris so much. He even asked me once if he could make him his godfather.”

“Recognizing a relative is fine,” I said with a smile. “Since that’s the case, why don’t you all head back first? Matty has a neurology appointment tomorrow, and Mom needs to pick up more medication for her leg. You can use the time to get the new place ready.”

At that, some of the tension eased from Chris’s expression.

I, however, found the situation almost ridiculous. He knew exactly what mattered most to me: Matty’s condition and Gemma’s mobility problems.

When Matty was born, the doctors said specialized therapy offered only a one percent chance of recovery. So, for ten years, rain or shine, I carried Matty on my back for miles to the town clinic each week.

Regarding Gemma’s bad leg, I also consulted a doctor. With regular massages and medication, there’s hope for improvement.

So for ten years, without fail, morning and night, I massaged her bad leg for an hour each time. I even learned proper techniques from the doctor.

Carefully, I helped her leg recover from being unable to touch the ground to walking again, and to give Chris enough money to start his business, I sold everything my parents had left me.

Even while keeping our household afloat, I set aside the money from grain sales each month to support him.

When Chris finally returned to the present moment, guilt and a hint of heartache surfaced in his eyes.

“Nadine, the medical facilities in the city are better than the town’s. Let us take Matty there for treatment.”

Before he could finish, Melissa jabbed an elbow sharply into his side.

The rest of his words faded into the sound of insects chirping outside, and he did not attempt to bring the subject up again.

A silent, bitter laugh rose inside me.

“No need,” I said quietly. “Matty and Mom’s conditions are important. I do not feel safe leaving them to anyone else. You all settle into the new home. Once I am done here, I will come find you.”

Chris’s face tightened, as if he still wanted to say something.

But before he could speak, Tucker poked his head out from behind him and shot me a disgusted look.

“There are only three bedrooms,” he complained. “I do not want Dad getting talked about because of someone.”

For this child, who was not mine and hadn't grown up with me, I felt no affection at all, and I knew precisely where his snide comments came from: Melissa had taught him.

If I moved into the new house as Chris’s wife, rumors in the city would explode instantly.

The carefully crafted, devoted-lover image Chris had displayed at his grand wedding would crumble on the spot.

Online harassment would be nothing compared to the fallout he truly feared:

Eldridge Tech Corporation’s stock price is plummeting.

He had clawed his way out of poverty with enormous difficulty. Of course, he did not want to fall back down and never climb out again.

But knowing all of this did not make the sting any less sharp.

My heart felt as if it were being sliced open, layer by layer, with a kitchen knife dipped in lemon juice.

For ten years, I had given Chris everything, heart, soul, and body.

To save more money for him, I wore the same clothes for a decade.

I woke before dawn and slept past midnight, surviving on five hours of rest a day.

At my lowest, I collapsed in the rice fields and vomited blood.

Even when the doctor warned I would die if I kept pushing myself, I never once told Chris I was tired.

I sincerely believed that eventually, all my sacrifices would be rewarded. I imagined him standing before me at a special ceremony, placing a wedding ring on my finger, and gazing at me with steadfast devotion.

But I had forgotten something essential:

Love’s ending is often simply that. An ending.

My throat burned as if it had been soaked in acid, and even breathing hurt.

I forced my trembling hands to steady and said coldly, “If anyone asks, just say I am your housekeeper.”

Chris stared at me in shock.

Even Melissa looked frozen in place.

Only Tucker burst into delighted laughter, utterly unaware of the tension in the room.

“Yay! Then we can use the money saved on a housekeeper to buy lots of toys! I want the new drifting go-kart! And the realistic sniper rifle! And—”

“Tucker, stop talking nonsense!” Chris snapped, though disbelief still lingered in his eyes.

Then, he turned back to me and asked, “Nadine, you really do not mind?”

I looked at Matty sleeping on the bed, guilt squeezing painfully in my chest. His toys during his childhood had been nothing but mud and pebbles along the roadside.

The toys Tucker casually listed were ones Matty probably did not even know existed.

“I don’t mind,” I said, swallowing the bitterness rising in my throat.

Then, more evenly, I added, “You said the school is going to check the deed and the household records to make sure both kids can enroll, right? Chris… let’s just get a divorce. You can go ahead and marry Melissa.”

When I married him, his family had been so poor they could not even afford a bride price.

A wedding ceremony was not even an option.

Outside this village, no one even knew I was his wife.

I thought divorcing now would make things easier for him and Melissa.

Unexpectedly, Chris shot me down right away.

“No. We’re not divorcing. Nadine, when we had nothing, all I could offer you was the title of wife. But now that life is better, I’m not going to fail you again.”

Ah, yes... The man who made his fortune in sales.

His words were always beautiful, but the hidden blade behind them always cut the deepest.

My heart twisted with irony, but I kept my tone steady. “You misunderstood. I meant we could have a fake divorce. Once both children finish school and no longer need the quota, we can marry again. It is for the children’s sake. The only question is whether Melissa would agree.”

Melissa’s eyes lit up instantly, though she fought to maintain a gentle, considerate expression.

“Nadine, if you are willing to divorce Chris for the children, how could I possibly refuse?”

Her eagerness barely hid her triumph.

Seeing this, Gemma stepped forward as well, urging her son. “Chris, both Nadine and Melissa are thinking of the kids. Just finalize the divorce. You relied on education yourself to leave the village, so you know how important schooling is.”

Melissa quickly added, “Chris, if you feel guilty, then rent a place in the city for Nadine. She can live there with Matty. It is better than squeezing in with all of us anyway.”

Chris had been hesitant, but after hearing that, he finally agreed. He gripped my hand tightly, his eyes filled with guilt and tenderness. It brought to mind the day he learned I was quitting my job to go back to the countryside.

But I no longer knew whether that tenderness was real or fake.

Silently, I took out our marriage certificate and handed it to him.

Ten years of foolish devotion, every last piece of it, had turned out to be nothing more than a dream mistaken for reality.

A guest’s dream, destined to dissolve into smoke.

What I did not expect was for Gemma to burst into tears suddenly.

She hobbled toward me, her wrinkled hands cupping a pair of heirloom bracelets.

“Nadine, our family has wronged you. These bracelets were given to me by Chris’s grandmother. I am giving them to you now.”

With watery eyes, she gently slid them onto my wrists, her fingers softly brushing over the calluses on my hands.

I let her hold my hand, emotions swirling chaotically beneath the surface.

When Chris married me years ago, she cried and apologized, saying their family was too poor to offer me anything meaningful as a bride price.

And now this.

Was she finally feeling guilty on her son’s behalf?

Did she truly believe the Eldridge family owed me?

Or had these ten long years just been her way of testing her daughter-in-law, and now that I had passed, the bracelets were nothing more than a hidden reward?

I could not be bothered to guess.

Instead, I answered steadily, “Mom, thank you for thinking well of me. I do not feel wronged.”

I was not being gracious. I was cold and beyond caring.

Meanwhile, Chris’s mother looked absolutely stricken with guilt.

Gemma’s lips trembled for a long moment before she finally managed, “Get some rest, child.”

In the end, she and Chris were still family.

How could she possibly choose me over her son?

After they all left, Melissa suddenly returned, claiming she had gotten her period.

She shut the door behind her with a sharp click and announced, “I don’t know what you’re planning, but I need to make something clear.”

Then, she pressed a hand against her lower belly, smug satisfaction written all over her face.

“My period’s been late for three months. And that whole ‘two-kid school quota’ Chris mentioned? That brain-damaged kid of yours was never part of it.”

A thousand knives seemed to slash straight through my chest.

I naively hoped that Chris or his mother still felt some guilt, but I never expected them to use Matty, the person I care about most, to manipulate me.

Seeing how devastated I looked, Melissa’s smile grew even more triumphant.

“Actually,” she went on, practically buzzing with excitement, “the place in the city isn’t some little three-bedroom. Chris is the CEO of Eldridge Tech—yeah, the one that just went public. We’ve been living in a luxury villa.”

She lifted her hand and flashed the massive diamond on her ring finger.

“See this? Chris put it on me at the wedding this morning. It’s worth dozens of times more than those bargain-bin bracelets you’re wearing.”

Her smile twisted, turning mean.

“Nadine, Chris and I are the real family. You’re just a dirty little gutter hen. Don’t even dream about turning into a phoenix.”

I clenched my palms tight enough to feel my nails break skin, forcing back my tears.

“So you came back just to tell me all this?”

My calmness clearly irritated her. The delicate layer of sweetness she had been pretending to hold onto finally tore apart.

“Nadine, you deserve nothing better than spending your whole life with that brain-damaged kid.”

She paused, then added with a sudden, vicious brightness, “Oh—did I forget to mention something?”

Her voice sharpened like a blade.

"Matty isn’t even your biological child. You and I gave birth on the same day. My son was diagnosed with cerebral palsy the moment he was born, so I swapped the babies. Chris saw it happen."

She laughed softly, almost gloating.

“To calm me down afterward, he even cooperated with the doctor. They told you that you hemorrhaged during childbirth and had to have your uterus removed. That way, you’d never get pregnant again. Never have a healthy child of your own.”

Then she leaned in slightly, her tone dripping with cruelty.

“Nadine, you’re a woman with a disabled kid and no uterus. Do you honestly think Chris is ever going to marry you again?”

Maybe my heart had already been punctured full of holes, because strangely, I felt no pain at all.

A numb, quiet laugh slipped out of me.

Melissa didn’t know the truth.

It no longer mattered to me whether Chris remarried me or not.

After she left, I packed my bags overnight. I also returned the bracelets, quietly slipping them into Gemma’s luggage.

...

The next day, I finalized the divorce.

When Chris’s mother noticed my bare wrists, she looked startled.

“Nadine, why aren’t you wearing the bracelets?” she asked, her voice trembling. “It’s all my fault for being so useless. When we reach the city, I’ll pick up trash and sell it if necessary, but I’ll get you an even better bracelet.”

So that was it.

Now I finally understood where Chris inherited his habit of making sweet promises.

So I pretended nothing had happened and said, “Mom, I still have two days of farm work left. I was worried I’d damage them. I’ll wear them once I get to the city.”

Gemma accepted the explanation without hesitation and didn’t say another word.

After I saw their whole family off, my phone rang. It was Professor Pearson.

“Nadine, the overseas specialists rescheduled. Pack your things. I’m coming right now to pick you and Matty up.”

“Alright, Professor.”

I hung up and glanced around the old house one last time.

There was nothing left here worth holding onto.

I felt detached from this home and these people. None of them had anything to do with me anymore.