Chapter 3

A slap landed across his face. I knew we could never go back.

"Let's get divorced."

After being slapped, Charlie could no longer control his temper. He looked at me furiously.

"Jenny, I've put up with you for a long time. Why are you so stubborn? Why can't you just let the past go?"

"Your mother has been dead for ten years. All these years, you've been making things difficult for everyone, making yourself miserable and dragging others down with you."

"Back then, your father stopped loving your mother long ago. If she'd agreed to divorce earlier, things wouldn't have turned out that way."

"It was all caused by her personality. She got what she deserved. You can't blame anyone."

Hearing him insult my mother again, I completely lost control. Like an enraged lion, I rushed at him, my fists flailing wildly against his body.

"Shut up! Don't you dare talk about my mother like that!"

"It was that pair of shameless mother and daughter who drove my mother to death! They're shameless! Shameless!"

Smack!

I was violently slapped and pushed to the ground. My forehead hit the coffee table, instantly breaking the skin. Liquid slid down from my forehead.

Charlie was terrified. He rushed over worriedly to support me, regret flashing in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Jenny. I didn't mean to. I was so angry I lost control."

"I'll take you to the hospital right now. You'll be fine. Don't be scared."

Seeing him so worried about me, I felt momentarily dazed.

It seemed like the man who put me first had never left.

After my mother died, I lived a painful life at home. My father didn't care about me. Eve and her mother constantly found ways to torment me.

On rainy days, they'd kick me out of the house, or "accidentally" push me down the stairs.

In that dark childhood, Charlie was my only light.

For my sake, he'd rush into my house with a stick to confront Eve and her mother. Even when his father tied him up and beat him for it, he never made a sound.

Thinking of how good he'd been to me, I suddenly wanted to give him a chance.

My eyes pleaded. "Charlie, please don't be with Eve, okay?"

Charlie's eyes flickered. He opened his mouth to speak when his phone rang.

A familiar voice came through the receiver. "Charlie, my mom found out about us. She's going to break my legs. Come save me, quick."

Then came a miserable scream, and the call disconnected.

Charlie anxiously stood up, knocking me over again without even noticing. The worry in his eyes wounded me once more. I crawled on the floor and grabbed his pant leg. "Charlie, please don't go."

Charlie pushed me away, his eyes full of conflicted panic. "Jenny, go to the hospital and get bandaged up yourself. Something happened to Eve. I have to go save her."

With that, he strode away without looking back.

I laughed bitterly and collapsed to the floor, letting the blood from my head drip down drop by drop.

Eve's mother had stolen my mother's husband. Now Eve was stealing mine.

But I couldn't be like my mother, ending up dead by suicide over a man.

After a while, my phone received a friend request from an unfamiliar account. The profile picture showed Eve in a wedding dress kissing Charlie's face. Both looked deeply affectionate. I wanted to see what she had to say, so I accepted.

She said nothing, just sent me a video.

In the footage, Charlie was kneeling on the ground, making promises to Eve's mother. "I will never let Eve down. I'll give her a grand wedding."