My mother spoke as if it were completely normal, “How could your sister be like you? She was born to live an easy life, and you were born to serve others.”

A tight knot rose in my throat. All that favoritism since childhood, I had never once been chosen.

By now, I should have been used to it, yet every time, my chest still hurt like it might burst.

Trying not to cry, I was just about to hang up.

Then my mother suddenly commanded, “Bring your ID and come to the City Hall right now.”

My eyelid moved. “What are you trying to do?”

“Are you stupid? Didn’t I tell you yesterday, you’re divorcing Waylon today? Your sister is going to marry him.”

I stood frozen in shock, my vision spinning. “Mom, have you lost your mind? Waylon is my husband! Just because Reese wants him, I have to give up my own marriage?”

“What are you screaming for?” Impatiently, she said, “Your sister is prettier and more capable. The fact that she likes your husband is good luck for you. She doesn’t even care that Waylon is secondhand after you’ve shared a bed with him for three years. What right do you have to yell? You’re just a small, low-class thing. You’ll never match your sister, you’ll never be presentable.”

My ears rang, and I yelled in anger, “I will never divorce him, not even if I die! And Waylon won’t either!”

“That might not be true!” My mother laughed proudly. “I already told Waylon that you were seen messing around in a hotel with five men last night. He’s heading back right now to divorce you. Just in time for him and your sister to get their marriage license.”

I could hardly believe what I was hearing; tears of rage ran down my face. “Mom, how can you accuse me like that?”

Coldly, she laughed. “If you refuse to divorce, I’ll show up at your job and tell everyone. I’ll post online that you abused and hit me. I’ll ruin your name until it stinks across the city, what people now call ‘social death.’ No company will ever take you again. You’ll end up begging on the streets.”

Before I had a chance to answer, she ended the call.

Quickly, I wiped away my tears, asked my boss for leave, and hurried to the City Hall by taxi.

While riding there, I called Waylon.

We were in the same company, though we worked in separate departments. He had been tied up with a big project recently, often working late and sleeping in the office so he wouldn’t disturb my rest.

When he heard my shaky voice, he spoke gently, “I’m already heading to the City Hall. Don’t worry, wait there for me.”

From our school days to our wedding, Waylon and I had always been together, our interests matched, and our bond grew.

Four years of dating and three years of marriage, we supported and understood one another.

Hearing his calm tone felt like a dose of comfort.

Not long after I ended the call, I reached the City Hall. From far away, my mother’s voice already echoed through the hall, bothering the staff nonstop.

“Aren’t you supposed to handle marriage problems for regular people? I already said it, my younger daughter cheated! She shamelessly messed around with a group of men! And you still refuse to process her divorce?”

“How long are you planning to delay this? Is it really that hard to press a few keys? Just divorce them already, my elder daughter is waiting to get her marriage license with my second son-in-law!”

Her loud words left every staff member frozen in shock.

Carefully, a young worker spoke, “Ma’am, this is a government office. We have to follow the rules. If one person isn’t here, we can’t handle a divorce.”

“How can you not? If your husband slept with several women, could you take it? I bet you’re just like my second daughter, itching to be handled by a bunch of men!”

The young woman’s face turned bright red with anger. “Ma’am, what kind of nonsense are you saying?”

“Am I saying something wrong? If you don’t feel the same as her, will you keep delaying and refusing to process the divorce?”

“At this moment, I command you, divorce my younger daughter and her husband, Waylon, at once, and then grant a marriage certificate to my elder daughter and Waylon. I give you five minutes.”

Every staff member’s expression went dark. “Ma’am, how can something as serious as marriage be decided by a few words from you? If you keep causing trouble, we’ll have to deal with this officially.”

On hearing that, my mother slapped her thigh and pretended to slide to the floor.

“I don’t care! If you people don’t listen to me today, I’ll make such a scene that your whole City Hall will be in chaos. If anyone dares to touch me, I’ll break my hands and legs, and you’ll be paying compensation until you go bankrupt!”

At the doorway, my knuckles went white. As I watched my mother make a scene and act shamelessly to force my divorce, a cold shiver ran from my head to my toes.

Feeling tired, I walked ahead. “Mom, stop it. That’s enough.”

As soon as she saw me, my mother jumped up, grabbed me hard, and said, “Good, you’re finally here! Tell them right now, you were cheap and fooled around with a bunch of men, and you demand a divorce right away.”

I pulled my hand loose, no longer able to take it. “I didn’t cheat! I will never divorce!”

Right after those words came out, my mother rushed forward and slapped me across the face. “You pretend to be pure after being dirty! You filthy slut! How did I ever give birth to such a shameless piece of garbage? Waylon belongs to your sister. Today, you’ll divorce him whether you agree or not!”

From nowhere, my sister suddenly ran out and yelled, “Leigh, I’ve told you again and again to value your marriage! Look at you! Having abortions eight times before marriage was bad enough, but even after getting married, you’re still so trashy! What man could take that? Hurry up and give Waylon to me, only a decent woman like me deserves him!”

Looking at their disgusting, well-practiced faces and hearing the whispers around me, anger made me laugh.

When Waylon and I got married, my mother and sister looked down on his poverty, chased him away with a broom, splashed him with cold water, and shouted at the door that he would stay a beggar forever.

Because we were poor, we had no wedding, no banquet, and my mother didn’t even give me a cent of dowry.

Now that he’s proven himself at work and become the deputy general manager of the company, they shamelessly want to take my husband.

When I stayed silent, my mother tried to hit me again, but before her hand could fall, someone caught her wrist.

As I lifted my head to see who it was, my eyes turned red in an instant.

Dark-faced, Waylon wrapped his arms around me. “Mom, Reese, out of respect for you being Leigh’s family, I’ve kept quiet until now. But you’ve crossed the line today, spreading lies to make us divorce is going too far. Let me say this clearly: I have only one wife, Leigh. Even if I die, I will never divorce her, and I will never marry Reese.”

Those watching who didn’t know what was going on suddenly figured everything out.

“I was thinking, what kind of mother would shame her own daughter in public and force her to divorce? Is that younger daughter even hers? She’s worth less than a cabbage in the field.”

“What’s even more insane is making her son-in-law marry the older daughter, and the two of them working together to throw dirt like that. One old shameless woman and one young shameless one, completely disgusting.”

My sister’s face went pale.

Even more furious, my mother yelled, “Waylon! Don’t be ungrateful! How can trash like Leigh ever compare to my Reese? Reese liking you is a miracle; you must’ve saved the world in a past life! If you don’t marry her, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life!”

Waylon covered my ears and guided me away.

Once we got home, he immediately said, “Wife, headquarters has already sent out my transfer notice. After I come back from a week-long business trip, we’ll move and leave this city.”

Through tears, I nodded.

After Waylon went on his trip, I knew my mother and sister wouldn’t stop. I just hadn’t expected them to be even more shameless than I imagined.

By the third morning, I was leading the early meeting when the office door suddenly burst open.

My mother and Reese charged in with a group of influencer-looking people and reporters holding cameras.

All my coworkers froze. My mother pointed at my face and began to cry and yell, “Shame to the family! Come look, my good daughter Leigh is a tramp and a slut! She not only took her sister’s man but, pregnant with who knows whose bastard, fooled around in hotels with a crowd of men!”

Holding a thick pile of indecent photos that were supposedly of me, she passed them out one by one to my shocked coworkers and managers.

“I think to myself, I’ve spoiled her like a treasure since she was small, I gave her everything she wanted, and look what I ended up raising, such a shameless bitch!”

Beating her chest, she acted like the heartbroken mother of a ruined daughter.

By her side, my sister wiped at her tears at the right moment and spoke soft words of comfort, playing the role of the caring older daughter.

Some coworkers didn’t believe it and stood up for me. “Manager Leigh is usually very proper. I don’t believe she’s that kind of person.”

Prepared in advance, my mother shouted even louder, “What do you know? Leigh has been divorced nine times and had eight abortions. She’s filthier than bugs in the sewer.”

“And your deputy general manager, Waylon, was once my older daughter’s husband. Leigh used to call him poor and look down on him. Now that he’s deputy general manager, she shamelessly crawled into bed with him. My poor older daughter, treated like this, but still thinking of her sister and not blaming her.”

“As a mother, I can’t take it. With morals that rotten, today she can steal her sister’s husband, and tomorrow she’ll seduce your husbands and boyfriends. Do you still want to work with her?”

Lowering her head in fake sadness, my sister wiped her eyes at all the right moments.

“Leigh, I’ve told you to value your marriage. Look at you, having eight abortions before marriage, and even after marrying, still so cheap. What man could stand that? Hurry up and give Waylon to me. Only a woman as good as me deserves him.”

Flashes went off wildly, shining right at my pale face. Coworkers looked at each other and quietly stepped away from me.

After all, nobody could believe a real mother and older sister would go crazy enough to publicly accuse their own daughter of sleeping with her sister’s husband.

But my mother and sister actually did it.

Standing there, I felt like a clown stripped bare in public, meeting everyone’s poisoned stares.

“I never imagined, Manager Leigh, you’d be that kind of person. You really can’t tell someone’s heart from their face.”

“Taking your sister’s man is disgusting enough, and now that you’ve got him, you still fool around. Just look at these photos, the content is so explicit that even porn sites would bow their heads.”

My boss’s face darkened with anger. “Leigh, this involves the company’s moral standards. Give me a reasonable explanation right now.”

My mother smirked. “Explain what? Fire her straight away, never take her back again.”

At the woman who had never shown me an ounce of family affection and only aimed to drain me dry, I stared hard. I bit my tongue until I tasted blood, holding back the disgust climbing up my throat.

Those were my family.

To force my divorce, they had used every way possible to ruin me, faking explicit photos, slandering, and spreading lies, afraid I might die too easily.