“Today, I’m ending this marriage.”
Kaia’s face froze, her whole body going rigid in an instant.
At that moment, my father-in-law also lost his temper. “Apollo! You’re nothing but an scumbag!”
“You’re divorcing your wife over something like this? You call yourself a man?”
I met his eyes and laughed coldly. “If you were a man, and your wife cheated on you, could you still stay with her?”
My mother-in-law’s hand trembled as she pointed at me, her voice rising with anger.
“How can that be the same thing! Do you really think Kaia wanted this to happen?”
I didn’t respond, lowering my eyes to the woman standing in front of me.
Two months earlier, just before dawn, Kaia had stumbled home.
She was completely out of it, her stockings ripped apart, her skirt hanging crookedly around her waist, looking as if it might fall any second.
I’d rushed to ask what had happened.
But it was as if she couldn’t hear me; she went straight into the bathroom, locked the door, and started scrubbing her body over and over.
It wasn’t until the next morning, when she had finally calmed down a bit, that I found out she had been forced by her boss while working overtime. She had struggled with all her strength, but couldn’t escape.
I had been furious beyond words and dragged Kaia to the police station to report it.
But after washing herself over and over, there wasn’t a single trace of physical evidence left on her body.
The assault had happened in her boss’s office, and the company’s cameras had been under maintenance that night, leaving no footage to use as proof.
In the end, the police refused to file a case, saying there wasn’t enough evidence.
Watching Kaia break down every day, crying herself to sleep, I eventually couldn’t take it anymore and went to her company to beat the boss.
What I got for it was seven days of administrative detention.
Now, two months had gone by since that night.
What had really happened between Kaia and that boss was something only the two of them knew.
As I thought about it, I smiled bitterly. “Kaia, do you truly not know why I want a divorce?”
“Do you really not understand?”
Kaia froze, a hint of guilt flashing in her eyes. Taking a step back, I widened the distance between us.
“After that incident, I told you to quit your job and stay home to rest.”
“I can provide for you and this family, but you wouldn’t listen, you insisted on going to work every day, facing that boss you claimed to despise.”
Kaia exhaled softly in visible relief before she spoke again through tears, her face showing deep sadness.
“We’ve only been married two years. The mortgage and car payments both need money. How could I let you carry all that on your own?”
“Apollo, do you think I embarrass you? Do you feel ashamed seeing me outside?”
“But I did it for you, for this family.”
A cold laugh escaped me. “You know very well what your real reason was.”
As soon as my words fell, the anger among the relatives around us reached its peak.
“Apollo! You’re heartless! Kaia went through something so awful, and instead of comforting her, you’re blaming her for humiliating you?”
“She did it all for you! She’s in pain every single day yet still forces herself to go to work, facing that monster, don’t you see she’s suffering far more than you?”
“You’re the real monster! Cold and cruel!”
Even my father-in-law couldn’t take it anymore. He grabbed Kaia’s hand and pulled her toward the door.
“Let’s go! Come home with your mother and me! We don’t need to waste another word on this scumbag!”
But Kaia slipped free from her father’s grip, tears shining in her eyes as she tried to keep her composure.
“It’s alright, Dad. Apollo and I are husband and wife. No matter what happens, I’ll face it with him.”
