"Ah! There’s so much blood!"
"Someone called an ambulance!"
Warm liquid streamed from the corner of my forehead, soaking into my lashes, clouding my vision with a hazy red. Around me, the noise turned chaotic, voices echoing as if underwater.
Then I heard Jason's voice—shaking, panicked.
“Honey, I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to…”
“I just… I was afraid you’d lose control and actually kill someone…”
“I already called the emergency. Help is coming!”
The last expression I remember before losing consciousness must have been a bitter, ironic smile.
See? That’s my loving husband.
To protect his precious childhood sweetheart, he smashed a vase over my head with full force.
When I regained consciousness, I was in a hospital room, the pain in my skull screaming as if a hammer were pounding inside.
“Nicole, don’t move.”
“You needed more than a dozen stitches on your scalp…”
I shut my eyes and forced a faint, pained smile.
“Did you sign the divorce papers?”
“Once I’m discharged, let’s go to the Office of Civil Registry and get it done.”
Jason’s sobs cut off abruptly.
“Why are you still clinging to this divorce?”
He looked at me as if I had stabbed him, his tears falling onto the back of my hand.
“Nicole, I love you. The moment I saw you bleeding, I panicked and called for help right away. What’s wrong with you?”
I gave a humorless laugh.
“You love me? So your idea of love is smashing porcelain against my skull?”
If that’s love…
Then I’d rather you gave it to someone else.
Jason faltered, stunned. Then he quickly scrambled for defense.
“Nicole, I panicked! You looked like a completely different person—grabbing Julia by the neck and terrifying everyone in the room.”
“You know she and I grew up together—we’ve been neighbors since we were toddlers. She was just trying to help patch things up between us. How can you twist it like that?”
“Stop.”
I cut him off, my tone of ice cold. “Whatever excuses you’re trying to spin, I don’t care. My answer is simple: divorce.”
Even my father-in-law and mother-in-law, who had been shamelessly eavesdropping from just outside the door, looked at each other, stunned by my unwavering resolve.
They clearly hadn’t expected me to be this determined.
Suddenly, my father-in-law barged in.
“Nicole, you’ve never been this heartless before. Tell me the truth—did Jason do something unforgivable? If he did, just say the word, and I’ll teach him a proper lesson.”
It sounded like he was on my side—but only for a moment.
Before I could even open my mouth, he changed tone.
“Or… is there someone else?”
“My dear daughter-in-law, you just had a baby, you’ve started building your own little family. Don’t let some smooth-talking young man tempt you into ruining everything.”
“One moment of weakness, and your whole life could fall apart.”
My mother-in-law, who had been watching silently, stepped in too—her voice impatiently, her expression filled with disdain.
“Exactly. Young couples bicker, it’s normal. Quarrel at the head of the bed, make up at the foot of the bed.”
“You’re a wife and a mother now. Learn to be more tolerant.”
“Marriage isn’t a joke. You can’t just throw out the word ‘divorce’ every time things don’t go your way.”
Jason, for once, was unusually patient. He gently took my hand and whispered, his tone tender and coaxing.
“Wife, please talk to me. What’s really going on? If something’s wrong, let us face it together.”
“You’re so desperate to leave me… Are you suspecting something?”
His voice trembled. His expression, once confident, now betrayed a crack—a subtle flicker of fear and guilt.
Tears rolled down his cheeks once more.
“No matter what it is, even if you’ve done something, I’ll take the fall for you. Don’t worry about me.”
I stared at him in silence.
That flicker of panic in his eyes told me everything I needed to know.
