I specifically accompany my wife, Sophie Caldwell, to visit her family during the holidays.

My mother-in-law, Margaret Jackson, brings over a basket of apples. Then, she says in a half-teasing manner, "These apples are meant for the Jacksons. Once you've had your apple, you'll be blessed with a life as sweet as these apples. By the way, outsiders aren't allowed to take the apples."

Everyone begins fighting for the apples happily. So, I grab an apple of my own too.

The next thing I know, the atmosphere in the living room goes eerily quiet.

Sophie drags me to a corner and starts berating me. "Are you so poor that you can't even afford to buy your own apple? Must you steal apples from my family?

"Didn't you hear my mom saying that outsiders aren't allowed to take the apples? Why did you even take one from the basket?

"Thanks to you, now Julius doesn't have an apple!"

I look around my surroundings. It turns out that there are only eight apples in total, while we have nine people sitting in the living room.

So the "outsider" she was talking about is me.

I decide to hand the apple over to Sophie's godbrother, Julius Sterling. Then, I call my dad on the phone.

"Dad, you don't have to bring the holiday gifts over now."

"What's wrong, Preston? What happened?" my father's anxious voice sounded through the phone.

I, Preston Jameson, glanced at the people in the room before replying calmly, "It's nothing. I'll explain later. Just don't bring them over."

Then, I hung up.

My wife, Sophie Caldwell, immediately exploded.

"What do you mean by that? It's just some apples. Are you really going to make a fuss about that? Julius already has it hard enough. Can't you give him a break?" she pressed. "Our whole family feeds you and takes care of you. Is this how you repay us?"

I silently stared straight into her eyes.

The silence made her realize that she had gone too far. Her tone softened as she grabbed my hand and started coaxing me instead.

"I was just anxious, that's all. Besides, when you're out working, Julius is the one running around taking care of everything at home. If you act like this, you're making all of us look bad."

Then, she shifted the topic again. "Apologize to him properly later. Transfer him 500 as compensation, and we'll let it go. Our parents are getting older, and it's the holidays. Let's not worry them."

There was a trace of pleading in her voice.

I looked at every appliance I had paid for in the house. Even the clothes on their backs were ones that I had bought.

A bitter laugh escaped me.

All the money I had spent meant less than Julius Sterling's effortless companionship.

Taking my silence as agreement, Sophie pulled me back into the crowd.

That was when I noticed the watch on Julius' wrist. It was the exact model I'd wanted for a long time.

Julius noticed my gaze. A flicker of satisfaction flashed across his face.

Just as quickly, it was replaced with wounded innocence.

"Preston," he began, his voice trembling. "Sophie gave me this watch because she saw how much I like it. If it upsets you, I'll return it to her right now. And about the apples… You really don't have to apologize to me. I'm not even part of the Caldwell family anyway."

His eyes were already glistening with tears as if he had suffered some enormous injustice.

Sophie's expression changed instantly. She stepped in front of him protectively. "What are you doing? I gave Julius the watch. If you have a problem, take it up with me. Plus, it's my money. I can spend it on whoever I want.

"You've already shaken him. What more do you want?"

I froze.

I hadn't said a single word, and yet somehow, I was the villain.

If this were any other day, I would've apologized just to keep Sophie from getting upset.

The absence of my presence these past few years had made me accustomed to compromising in front of Sophie and her family.

Even when Julius replaced me in the family portrait, or when every New Year's dinner table was filled with dishes Julius liked, I endured it.

I even comforted myself by telling myself that things weren't so bad if someone could stay by their side in my place.

I thought that as long as the family was happy, nothing else mattered.

But today, a single apple gave me a wake-up call. If they already saw me as an outsider, why was I still trying so hard to belong?

I scoffed, "I don't want anything. I wish you and your family a lifetime of happiness."

With that, I turned and went to the bedroom to pack my things.

Sophie followed me into the room and slapped me across the face.

"It's New Year's! What kind of attitude is that? It's just an apple. Do you have to turn the whole house upside down over something so small? Julius already feels awkward in this family. After your little scene, just how embarrassed do you think he is?

"I think you're determined to make all of us miserable!"

My head tilted slightly from the force of the slap. I stared at her.

Before the holidays, I had rushed home early on purpose to spend the New Year's with them. No one came to pick me up. They said they were too busy.

But on Julius' timeline, there was a video of the whole family taking him out to relax.

"It feels so good to be loved by family," the caption read. "I told Mom, Dad, and Sis not to accompany me, but they insisted. What am I to do with them? I matter that much to them."

I felt wronged and confronted Sophie about it.

She got angry instead. "When my dad was hospitalized, it was Julius who took care of everything. Isn't it only right that we take him out to relax? So what if we didn't pick you up? Why are you so petty?"

They forgot that I paid every cent of my father-in-law, James Caldwell's, hospital bills.

I even took a full week off work to come back and help.

Julius showed up symbolically every day, and somehow it became him who was doing all the work.

That day, I stood in the freezing wind outside the station for two full hours before I managed to get a cab, tears silently streaming down my cheeks.

Ever since Julius came into the picture, this had become routine.

Every time I voiced dissatisfaction, Sophie would scold me. She'd say I worked out of town and couldn't accompany them. She'd tell me that Julius was always there for them.

She made it sound like I was jealous and insecure.

Looking at it now, maybe an outsider like me really had been too petty.

Sophie shifted uncomfortably under my stare and cleared her throat.

"You said all those things just now just because you wanted more attention from us, right? You're hardly home. Julius is the one keeping us company. Yet all you do is throw tantrums over your jealousy."

She let out a sigh before adding, "You weren't like this before.

"Enough. You've made your scene. It's New Year's. Don't ruin everyone's mood. And don't ever act like that again. It makes you look uncultured. Go help Mom in the kitchen."

I glanced toward the living room. The whole family was sitting comfortably on the couch, eating fruit. My mother-in-law, Margaret Jackson, was the only one in the kitchen.

I couldn't help remembering how my in-laws used to treat me like their own son. Everything revolved around me.

Even when they were sick, they'd wake up early in winter just to make me breakfast.

Whenever I came home, Sophie would drop even the most important work and wait for me at the station.

I'd tell them I was a grown man and could get home on my own, but they never listened.

My in-laws used to say, "No matter how old you are, Preston, you'll always be a child to us."

In just a few years, everything had changed completely.

I was no longer a child who needed to be cared for.

I looked up at Sophie. "I'm sorry you ended up with such a jealous, unreasonable husband. But it's fine now. I'm not your husband anymore."

Sohpie's face turned ashen. "I've already tried to talk you down. What else do you want? I've really spoiled you all these years!" she exclaimed.

I chuckled, "From now on, we go our separate ways."

I continued packing after I finished my declaration.

Sophie stared at me in disbelief and grabbed my arm. "Preston, have you lost your mind? How could you say something like that? We've been married for years. When have I ever mistreated you? Now you want a divorce over an apple? Have you lost it?"

"If you walk out like this, you'll make me a laughingstock amongst our relatives!" she said, shaking my arm.

I shook her off. "You were the ones who made this a joke first."

She suddenly rushed out of the room.

Seconds later, she stormed back in with some apples. She threw them at me.

"You haven't had this variety of apples, right? Fine. They're all yours. Eat as much as you want. If you want to leave, finish these first!"

The commotion drew the entire family over.

James finally spoke, every word he uttered directed at me. "Preston, it's New Year's. Do you have to make us angry? Look at what this house has turned into because of you!"

"Come on, Preston. Just endure it. Peace is better than conflict. Mom and Dad are old. Don't stress them out," Sophie's younger sister, Olivia Turner, chided in.

My two nephews saw Olivia speaking and immediately joined in. "You're a bad uncle!"

Amelia Caldwell, the youngest in the family, wasn't as polite. She walked up and shoved me.

"Ever since you came back, this house hasn't had a moment of peace. Maybe you should think about why that is. Julius would never act like such a shrew!"

Julius hurried over and pretended to restrain her.

"Amelia, don't say that. Preston didn't mean it," he cried out before turning to me. "Preston, just apologize to Sophie, and everything will be fine."

He reached for me, but I dodged him.

The next second, he fell straight to the floor.

I scoffed. His acting was painfully obvious, but everyone believed it.

They immediately surrounded him and asked if he was hurt.

Julius forced tears in his eyes. "I'm fine. I just tripped. Please don't blame Preston for it."

That single sentence only served to deepen their resentment toward me.

"How could you be so vicious, Preston?" Sophie said, looking at me with pure disappointment. "You've really disappointed me."

I ignored them. One by one, I picked up the apples and ate them.

When I was done, I turned to them and calmly said, "I'm done. Can I leave now?"

Everyone was surprised. They had never expected someone who always bowed his head to turn resolute.