3: 3
The next morning, I didn't head out early to the market for the freshest vegetables like I always did, and I didn't rush to have Richard's meal ready the moment the clock struck the usual hour.
Instead, I went to a law firm and asked the lawyer straight out for a set of divorce papers.
Then I took my resume and interviewed at a few companies.
But I had barely stepped out of the last one when Richard called.
"May, do you have too much time on your hands? Do you have any idea how much you're embarrassing me? My wife, going out to look for work, taking orders from someone else?"
"Be a good girl and go home and cook. Make sweet-and-sour fish tonight!"
He hung up before I could get a word in.
Not long after, every company I'd interviewed with called back, one after another, apologizing and gently informing me that I hadn't made the cut.
I curled my fingers, nails digging into my palm.
A video notification popped up on my phone.
It was that girl.
"I've got wonderful news to share with all of you. I'm pregnant!"
"The baby's daddy is over the moon. I just said I wanted sweet-and-sour fish, and he called his mother right away and had her make it for me!"
"I feel like the happiest woman in the world right now!"
The girl cradled her belly, all smiles, those big eyes gazing smugly into the camera, as if she were flaunting it at someone.
My heart lurched.
The comments were nothing but blessings, some of them even begging her for tips on how to land a life like that.
So Richard had clipped my wings, and set another woman up in the palace of happiness instead. Was that it?
I typed a single line into the comment section.
"The happiness of knowingly being the other woman?"
Then I blocked her. I didn't want to look at something that filthy anymore.
But half an hour later, Richard tracked me down and dragged me into his car.
Inside, his face was dark.
"May, do you have any idea? Because of your rumor-mongering, Clara's been so hounded online she's ready to jump off a building!"
I froze for a second, then let out a cold laugh.
"What rumor did I spread? Richard, she's pregnant. With your child. Isn't she?"
A brief silence filled the car.
After a moment, Richard tugged irritably at his tie.
"She's just a girl barely in her twenties. Why do you have to go after her like this?"
"Besides, her being pregnant is a good thing for you too, isn't it? The only reason I didn't tell you was for your sake. I wanted it to be a surprise."
"You went through IVF all those times and never conceived. What's wrong with having a child who'll call you Mom someday? My marriage certificate has only your name on it, after all!"
Richard's shameless words almost made me laugh out of sheer anger. I stared at him, steady and unblinking, as if I were meeting this man for the very first time.
To grant Richard his wish of becoming a father, I'd done IVF over a hundred times. My stomach was still covered with countless bruises from the needles they'd used to draw out the eggs.
That pain went straight into the bone. Even now, remembering it made my scalp crawl.
And yet here he was, saying so lightly that having a child with another woman was for my own good?
Richard paid no attention to how I felt. His tone turned hard.
"In a bit, you're going to apologize to Clara. Tell her you spread the rumor out of jealousy."
I didn't answer. But I didn't even get the right to refuse before Richard yanked me out of the car.
At the edge of the rooftop, Clara's skirt fluttered in the wind, her whole body swaying as if she might topple over any second.
The moment he saw it, Richard's eyes went red with panic. He pulled me a step forward and shouted.
"Clara, come down! I've brought the one who started the rumors about you. I'll make her apologize to you right now!"
I stood there rigid, refusing to say a word.
Clara's tears came harder, and she looked at Richard with a pitiful, wronged expression.
"Richard, am I really the other woman?"
"Because if I am, then I don't want to live anymore!"
At that, Richard's brows knit tight, and he said coldly, right against my ear,
"May, apologize!"
"Otherwise, I won't mind releasing those photos from back then!"
