I saw a post online that stopped me in my tracks. "My wife is obsessed with me and she hasn't done anything wrong, but she's useless to me now. How can I make her leave the marriage with absolutely nothing? Advice needed!" Someone in the comments called him heartless. The original poster replied: "Marriage is a business transaction. I didn't make her disappear. That's already my greatest kindness!" I froze. The wife in the post sounded exactly like me. While he was in the shower, I secretly checked his phone. The post was his. I wiped his leather shoes meticulously, not shedding a single tear. But when I thought of my daughter, I coughed up a mouthful of blood. 1 I dated Ethan for four years and have been married to him for sixteen. Looking in the mirror, my hair is thinning, my figure is bloated. I look sixty, not forty. All these years, I supported my husband and raised our child, managing every detail of the household. My black hair turned gray; my smooth face became haggard. Our child is still in high school, yet he wants me to leave with nothing. I quietly wiped the blood from my hand and continued polishing his shoes. Ethan’s voice echoed from the bathroom: "Hey, get me some underwear!" I don't know when it started, but he stopped calling me by my name or even "honey." I quickly grabbed a pair of silk boxers for him. Ethan is extremely picky about what touches his skin. Most of his underwear is made of expensive silk. Meanwhile, I wear the cheapest clearance rack clothes I can find. Ethan dried his hair as he gave me orders: "Clean up the bathroom!" The bathroom was a disaster, as always. His dirty clothes were balled up in the sink. A sock and his old underwear were on the floor. The toilet wasn't flushed, and the stench of urine hung in the air, with droplets on the seat. I have a sensitive nose and I’m a neat freak. "Can you flush the toilet next time?" "What's the big deal? I give you so much money every month, you can't do this one thing?" He gives me $500 a month. Just enough for groceries and basic utilities. Yet he acts like a king at home, throwing things everywhere, expecting me to clean up after him. I developed frozen shoulder, mastitis, and chronic stomach pain. Whenever I felt sick and wanted to see a doctor, he frowned: "You're so dramatic. You do nothing at home but still manage to get sick!" So I endured the pain. No doctors, no medicine. This time, the pain was unbearable. I secretly went to the hospital for a checkup. It was breast cancer. Ethan didn't know any of this. Right now, he was lying on the sofa playing on his phone, smiling ear to ear. "Ethan, do you remember the promise you made me years ago?" Ethan's smile vanished, his voice icy: "You're old enough to stop dreaming. Are you annoying or what?" I glanced at his screen. He had just tipped a pretty livestreamer $1,000. I lowered my eyes. "You said when our daughter started high school, you'd buy me health insurance. Can I have some money for that?" He looked disgusted. "Back payments for insurance would cost at least $20,000. I need money for stocks right now. Where would I get extra cash?" "Then... can we buy a cochlear implant? So our daughter can do speech therapy..." Our daughter lost her hearing as a child. If she gets speech therapy soon, she might have a chance to speak again. I didn't expect him to buy me insurance. But I thought since he rejected me once, he wouldn't have the heart to do it twice. But he rejected me again: "Enough! Stop bothering me! Go cook!" I clenched my fists. Ethan, you are so cruel. How can I trust you with our daughter? With a hardened heart and trembling hands, I crushed the sleeping pills I had prepared and mixed them into his takeout dinner. He scolded me for wasting money on takeout. I whispered an excuse about looking for a job and not having time to cook. He scoffed, burying his face in the food. "You haven't worked in sixteen years, and you think you can do accounting? Keep dreaming! Cleaner, nanny, security guard—if you find one of the 'Three Lows,' you should thank God!" "And if you do find a job, I'm cutting the household allowance! I've supported you for years..." He kept rambling, grease on his lips, rice spraying onto the table. After eating, he sprawled on the sofa, rubbing his belly, leaving the mess for me. Suddenly, I felt sick. "The $500 you give me is barely enough for food! For a highly educated nanny who works 24/7 with no holidays, do you think $500 is enough? Why do you take it for granted that I clean up your mess?" "Jade, did you take the wrong meds today? Believe it or not, I'll stop giving you a cent starting now!" I rolled my eyes and pretended to be distracted. Soon, the smell of burning fabric filled the room. I burned a huge hole in his silk shirt. He jumped up in anger: "Dammit! Can you do anything right? I needed that for the company annual meeting tomorrow!" I quickly apologized. He cursed, calling me a "useless woman," and stormed back to the bedroom. 2 Thanks to the sleeping pills, Ethan slept like the dead that night. I used his fingerprint to unlock his phone. He was cheating, of course. With his secretary, sixteen years his junior. They said goodnight every evening. He called her "Baby," she called him "Darling." His monthly business trips were actually vacations with her, paid for by the company. He bought her expensive jewelry, Hermès bags, Chanel cosmetics... Every item was worth a fortune. And me, his wife? Besides my wedding ring, I didn't own a single piece of jewelry. Whenever I envied other women for looking nice, he always said: "You stay at home all day. Who are you dressing up for?" I'm not afraid of hardship, but to be deceived and looked down on like this for years... Even worse, that woman was pregnant with his child. The day he took her for an ultrasound, I went to the hospital alone for my checkup. He cheered because she was carrying a boy. I walked ten miles home, crying in terror after my cancer diagnosis. But there was more. Ethan had been transferring assets for years. He moved money to third-party accounts—tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands. It added up to over a million dollars. How could he cry poverty and refuse to buy a $30,000 cochlear implant for his daughter? I couldn't stand living with him anymore. That night, I pretended I found a job that required travel and moved out. In reality, I rented a cheap room in a rundown part of town. Before leaving, I secretly installed cameras in the house. Ethan probably thought I wouldn't leave because I had no savings. But he didn't know I had a mother who loved me with all her heart. Before she passed, she left me a nest egg: "Jade, this is my life savings. Don't tell anyone. Unless you have no other choice, don't touch this money!" In 2004, my mother passed away, leaving me $20,000. That money was my lifeline now. In college, I was a top student in Financial Management and a certified CPA. If I hadn't quit to become a full-time mom, I would be a senior partner by now. No use dwelling on the past! Getting back into finance now would be incredibly hard. My daughter is deaf and mute. I need to leave her enough money so she never has to worry. I delivered food and worked odd manual labor jobs while waiting for an opportunity. It took a month to finally get an interview at an accounting firm. 3 To seize this chance, I spent my days reviewing accounting principles. During lunch, I watched the home security feed while I ate. Since I moved out, Ethan brought that woman home constantly. Sometimes their passion ignited right in the living room. What infuriated me most was that my daughter, home for the weekend, walked in on them. Ethan only yelled at her, not even noticing her bruised face. Or maybe he noticed and just didn't care. My daughter left the house in anger. The two continued their intimate chat. "You're reluctant to divorce your wife because she treats you well?" "She's sick all the time. She's useless to me now. Don't worry, I can get rid of her with a few thousand bucks!" "What about your daughter? Is she still going to college?" Ethan frowned. "She's deaf and mute. What future does she have in school? Getting her married off early is the real priority!" The woman sat up straight. "I have a nephew. His family is quite wealthy, though he's a bit... slow. He'd be a good match for your daughter. Should we set them up?" Your idiot nephew is a good match for you, why don't you try him? I was shaking with rage. I thought Ethan would be angry, but he said, "Once we're married, you can arrange her marriage however you see fit." They laughed and rolled around on the sofa. I went cold all over. My hands shook so hard I dropped my book. Panic drowned me. If I die, will my daughter's fate be left in the hands of this adulterous couple? I rushed to my daughter's school. The teacher said she hadn't been in class for two days. Her grandmother picked her up. That meant the day after she caught Ethan cheating, my mother-in-law took her. My heart was on fire. I immediately took leave and headed to Ethan's hometown. When I arrived at the village, the sun was setting, casting a blood-red glow over everything. Before I even reached the door, I heard my mother-in-law bragging loudly: "My granddaughter is deaf and mute, but she's pretty! Don't look at her mom now, she used to be the school beauty! Very pretty!" Surrounded by compliments, she got even smugger: "My son is even more impressive now. He's about to marry the Chairman's daughter! That girl introduced a suitor for my granddaughter. The boy is a bit slow, but his family owns a big factory! Once Lily marries him, our family will really be moving up..." Blood rushed to my head. I slammed the door open. My mother-in-law was playing mahjong with three other old women. Seeing me, her eyes went wide, mouth agape. "Why are you back?" "Where is Lily? Where is my daughter?" From an inner room came frantic banging and muffled cries. It was Lily! I rushed forward, but my mother-in-law blocked me. "What are you doing? You can't just barge into my house!" I shoved her aside and opened the door. In the woodshed, Lily was handcuffed and shackled. Her hair was matted, eyes swollen. She looked at me, crying for help. My mother-in-law hurriedly explained: "Ethan found her such a good husband, but she wouldn't listen! She insisted on going back to school. I had to lock her up so she would agree to the match..." Slap! I hit her across the face. "You old witch! This is kidnapping!" She clutched her red cheek. "What kidnapping? Watch your mouth! Do you know how rich that family is? Does a deaf-mute girl deserve such a good family?" Slap! I hit her again. "Old witch! Who caused Lily to be deaf and mute? You have the nerve to despise her?" When Lily was two, she had a high fever. My mother-in-law, favoring boys over girls, refused to take her to a doctor and fed her "holy water" instead. By the time I found out, the fever had burned out her eardrums. She was deaf. That was the pain and regret of my life. That year, to take better care of Lily, I quit my high-paying job to become a stay-at-home mom. After all these years, this old witch didn't feel guilty. Instead, she despised Lily for her disability. My mother-in-law had tears in her eyes, wailing: "Help! Help! My unfilial daughter-in-law is beating me!" "Who is your daughter-in-law? Didn't you just brag that Ethan is marrying the Chairman's daughter? Old witch, I've already called the police. You kidnapped Lily. Get ready for prison!" She kept babbling: "You can't lay eggs, you can't make money, and you dare hit me! When Ethan divorces you, go beg on the streets!" I finally understood why the Goddess of Mercy has a thousand hands. Two hands weren't enough to slap her. Suppressing my rage, I pulled Lily out of that hellhole. At that moment, I was almost glad she couldn't hear. She didn't have to listen to the filth. It took a week for Lily to recover. During that time, I thought a lot. Ethan, I planned to wait until Lily finished high school to divorce you. But I can't wait anymore. I won't let my daughter be hurt again. 4 The next day, I filed for divorce, submitting evidence of Ethan's infidelity and asset transfers. After his assets were frozen, Ethan found me. "Jade, who gave you the guts to divorce me? Withdraw the suit immediately! Or I won't pay a cent for our daughter's tuition or living expenses!" If I were truly a penniless housewife, he would have me cornered. But the money my mom left me gave me the courage to say no. "Ethan, withdrawing is impossible! You aren't fit to be a father. You have no right to fight me for custody!" "Your daughter is deaf and mute. Only you treat her like a treasure. Jade, you don't even have a real job. Do you think the court will give you custody? Don't blame me for not warning you—if I get custody, I won't let her go to college!" "Of course, if you agree to leave with nothing, I might consider letting you have her!" Lily is a girl. Since birth, she was despised by him and his mother. Especially now that his mistress is pregnant with a boy, Ethan is desperate to divorce me. With bloodshot eyes, I pointed at his nose: "Ethan, was our daughter born deaf? What right do you have to look down on her?" If his mother hadn't neglected her, Lily wouldn't be deaf! Years later, instead of blaming his mother, he despised his daughter! He thought I would submit. But the next day, I paid Lily's tuition and living expenses and brought her to live with me on weekends. The partner at the firm I joined was my old classmate, Kim. With her help, once I re-passed the CPA exam, I could become a full-time employee. Lily used to be bullied at school because she didn't have a cochlear implant. This time, I advanced my salary, added it to my mom's legacy, and bought one for her. Receiving the gift, my daughter bounced around the cramped apartment like a little rabbit. "Mom, if I can talk normally one day... I will make lots of money, buy you a big house, make you beautiful..." I wiped my eyes. "Okay, I'll wait for Lily to grow up..." My daughter is my untouchable scale. No one touches her! Ethan, especially not you!
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