Chapter 2

The next day she left for work without so much as saying goodbye to me.

By a little past eleven that night, I was drifting off to sleep when my phone suddenly started ringing like crazy.

It was Marina.

"Honey, transfer me five thousand right now, I need to settle the bill over here."

Her voice sounded a little slurred, clearly she'd had too much to drink.

I yawned under the covers.

"I don't have any money."

A burst of loud laughter came from the other end of the line.

Then a man's voice.

"Marina, your husband won't cover it? Want me to lend you some first?"

Marina got flustered right away.

"Stop it! My coworkers are all here watching. We agreed I'd pick up the tab today."

"Hurry up and transfer the money, don't make me lose face!"

I rolled over, my tone calm.

"I really don't have any money. My whole paycheck goes to my mother out of filial duty."

"If you can't afford the bill, why don't you ask your mom for a little more?"

"You give her thirty grand a month anyway. What's five thousand to her?"

With that, I hung up and switched off the phone.

Half an hour later.

Marina, reeking of alcohol, stormed into the bedroom, yanked off my blanket, and glared at me with bloodshot eyes.

"Adrian Fox! Did you set out to embarrass me tonight?!"

"Do you have any idea how humiliating that was? In the end I had to swallow my pride and borrow money from a coworker just to pay the bill!"

I sat up and looked at her coldly.

I just couldn't understand how the gentle, thoughtful woman I dated back then had turned into what she was now.

"When you handed your entire paycheck to your mother, did you ever stop to think you'd end up humiliated?"

"You put on a show you can't afford, insisting on treating everyone to dinner. What does that have to do with me?"

"If you don't have the money, don't pretend to be generous."

Marina choked for a moment, then shot back:

"Show me one husband like you—day after day he doesn't cook a single meal, and humiliates his wife in public on top of it."

"I'm telling you, Adrian Fox, you'd better get that money back from your mother by tomorrow!"

"Otherwise there's no way we can go on like this!"

Looking at that shameless face of hers, all I felt was how ridiculous it was.

In the past, to save face for her, I always gave in and swallowed my pride.

Now it was clear she didn't deserve it at all.

"There's no money to give."

"If you can't go on, then let's not go on."

I said it calmly, then pulled the blanket back over myself and lay down again.

Marina was so furious she stomped her feet around the room, and finally slammed the door and went to the guest room.

I figured she'd at least reflect on things a little.

I didn't expect that the very next day, right after I got off work, my mother-in-law showed up.

"Adrian Fox, what kind of husband are you?"

"Marina called me last night and said you won't leave her a single cent."

"Are you trying to starve my daughter to death?!"

She was carrying a big plastic bag, which she dumped heavily onto the dining table.

I walked over and took a look.

Inside were yellowed, wilted greens and a few half-rotten apples.

I frowned.

"Mom, why did you bring all this?"

My mother-in-law rolled her eyes and plopped down on the sofa.

"Why? To bring you groceries, of course!"

"Didn't you say you had no money for groceries? I went to the market especially to pick these out for you."

"You have to run a household carefully. These may not look pretty, but they're cheap, and once they're in your stomach it's all the same, isn't it?"

I laughed in disbelief.

"Marina gives you thirty grand a month, and this is what you feed her?"

"If you're really so good at making do, why don't you take this bag of vegetables home and eat it yourself?"

Just then the front door opened and Marina walked in.

The moment she saw her mother, she hurried over.

"Mom, what are you doing here?"

My mother-in-law grabbed Marina's hand.

"Sweetheart, my heart aches for you."

"You married such a thoughtless man—he won't even give you a decent meal."

"Mom brought you groceries—hurry up and have him cook them."

Marina glanced at the rotten greens on the table, her face a little awkward.

But she still turned to me and pressed:

"Honey, Mom was kind enough to bring us groceries all this way. Why don't you hurry up and cook?"

Looking at this mother and daughter, I found the whole thing utterly absurd.

"If you want it cooked, cook it yourselves. I'm not eating garbage."

The second she heard that, my mother-in-law was furious. She jabbed a finger at my nose and started cursing.

"Who are you calling garbage? You spineless good-for-nothing!"

"My daughter must have had the worst luck in eight lifetimes to marry you!"

"Hand over the money right now, or I'm not leaving today!"