The day after I aborted our child, Liam returned home from the military base. He brought me the newest brand of face cream, along with the official divorce papers approved by the military district. The red "APPROVED" stamp on the thin paper was as bright as blood, piercing my eyes. His face showed no guilt. His voice was freezing cold. "I wanted to wait until you had recovered to file this, but Vivian came back from abroad early, so..." The divorce was happening so fast, I almost couldn't hide the smile threatening to break across my face. I furrowed my brows slightly to mask my amusement. "I understand. It was an arranged marriage. Forcing two people together never works out anyway." Looking guilty, he handed me a property transfer agreement. "I know I wronged you. I'm willing to leave with nothing. You can have the house, and the thirty thousand dollars my grandfather left behind is yours too." I took the papers casually and let out a dramatic sigh. "Since this is it, there's no reason for us to ever see each other again. You know how deeply I loved you. If we meet again..." Liam quickly promised, "We won't! I won't ever bother you again." Looking at the man who would practically kneel and swear an oath just to be with his precious first love, I smiled at him. "In that case, I wish you and Vivian a long and happy life together." Seeing that I wasn't going to cling to him and cause a scene, Liam let out a massive breath of relief. A smile I hadn't seen in a very long time broke across his face. He quickly stood up and started packing his bags. This little western-style house was bought for us by his grandfather on our wedding day. It was incredibly expensive, the kind of property you couldn't buy even if you had the cash. With him leaving it to me, plus the thirty thousand dollars, I had the perfect seed money to start my own business. Growing up, my aunt always told me, "Marriage isn't a woman's only way out. As long as you have the courage to hustle and push forward, your life will never be dark." With the recent economic reforms encouraging private entrepreneurship, this was my golden opportunity to make real money. Finished packing, Liam looked at my slightly smiling face and seemed surprised. "I'm leaving. Aren't you sad?" I dropped the smile, stood up, and handed him his last bag. "What's there to be sad about? You're going off to pursue your happiness, not to the executioner's block." Liam frowned and sighed deeply. "Chloe, you don't have to pretend you don't care. I understand." "..." I forced a tight, perfunctory smile and physically pushed him toward the door. "Hurry up. Didn't you say you have to go pick Vivian up from the train station?" Seeing me act so accommodating, a thick layer of guilt and pity clouded his eyes. "Chloe, I sincerely hope you find your own happiness." I nodded and walked him out to the front gate. Liam's retreating back looked lighter and more carefree than I had ever seen it. I shook off the goosebumps rising on my arms. Looking at the wild roses blooming all over the yard, and the keys in my hand, I happily slammed the iron gate shut. Finally. I'm free. After divorcing Liam, I immediately threw out everything that belonged to him. I cut off contact with all his relatives and sold my miserable job at the propaganda department to a neighbor. With all that done, I started plotting my business. Three months later, my clothing boutique opened for business. On opening day, I received a phone call that was both familiar and strange. It was familiar because, during my five years of marriage to Liam, I would occasionally get calls from this exact woman, her voice dripping with sweetness as she specifically asked for him. It was strange because I had never actually met her. She was Liam’s deeply buried, unattainable first love. Her voice was the same as always, soft and delicate. "Is this Chloe? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to call you." "Liam told me never to disturb your life, but I'm completely out of options..." I had heard that the very day after we divorced, Liam had already submitted a new marriage application to his superiors. I had never seen him that eager or impatient in the five years we were married. I calmly kept clicking the beads on my abacus. "If you're out of options, what do you expect your powerless, divorced ex-wife to do about it?" Didn't Liam know that a good ex should act like they were dead? Vivian's voice choked with tears. "It's... Liam got arrested by the police. The higher-ups can't find out about this, or he'll get a massive disciplinary mark on his record... I'm begging you to help us." My hand paused on the abacus. How the hell was I supposed to help with that? I had no power and no connections. I was just about to snap back at her when I suddenly remembered. Oh, right. I have money. I was a 1980s millionaire. Filthy rich. I could literally bury the problem in cash! But why should I? "Sorry, Vivian. You just said yourself that Liam told you not to bother me. If I swoop in to save the day, I'm afraid it might negatively impact your newlywed bliss." "Besides, I'm just a weak woman. I really can't help you with something this big. You should ask someone else." With that, I slammed the phone back onto the receiver. Liam and I were an arranged marriage, set up by our grandparents. Growing up, I was wild. I hated studying and only wanted to follow my aunt—a fashion designer—around, sketching and drawing. My parents could never control me. But Liam was different. He was the famous "golden boy" of the military compound. He was handsome, athletic, incredibly fast on the track, and had top-tier grades. I had a crush on him since we were kids. Whenever he spoke, I listened. When my parents couldn't control me, they would send Liam to discipline me. Later, he went to a prestigious university out of state, and my aunt, defying our entire family's wishes, took me to the coast to study design. We lost contact. I thought our paths would never cross again. But our families decided the old-generation marriage pact couldn't be broken, and they pushed us together anyway. I still remember the day we reunited. The river water flowing under the stone bridge in Suzhou was as smooth as silk. The boy from my memory, who used to tuck his white shirt into his pants, had grown into a refined, elegant young man. My heart felt like it had been hit by a jolt of electricity, tingling and numb. That day, I asked him very seriously, "Do you really want to marry me?" He patted my head just like he did when we were kids, smiling indulgently. "What? You don't want to marry your big brother Liam?" Of course I did. Both our families were thrilled. We got married shortly after. After the wedding, we got along perfectly. And in the bedroom, our chemistry was terrifyingly good. Except, he only ever asked if I wanted to marry him. He never told me that he actually didn't want to marry me. In our fourth year of marriage, I found a locked storage box in our room. Inside were four exquisitely wrapped gift boxes. At first, I thought they were surprises Liam had prepared for me. But when I happily opened them, I found small note cards with someone else's name. [I will secretly save up all my love, to give to the most beautiful white rose in my heart—Vivian.] My heart dropped. My blood instantly turned to ice. Vivian? Who was Vivian? And for whom had he been saving up four entire years of gifts? Liam was out on an overnight mission that evening. I sat on the edge of the bed and thought about it all night. Early the next morning, Liam returned, covered in dust from the road. I held the gift boxes up to his face, demanding an explanation. He looked at me, completely silent. After downing half a bottle of cheap liquor, Liam finally spoke. "She's the girl I loved. A junior from my university." "But it's impossible between us. She went abroad." Time seemed to freeze. In that moment, I felt a level of betrayal I had never experienced before. "So... that's why you married me?" He looked down, silently confirming it. After a long time, Liam slowly raised his head and looked at me. "Aren't things good between us right now? Why obsess over this?" A profound sense of disappointment permeated every cell in my body. I looked at the neatly organized stack of canceled stamps on the desk and let out a self-deprecating laugh. "So every time you made me rush to the post office to buy stamps... those careful, urgent letters were all for her." Liam didn't deny it. That day, I smashed all four of those gift boxes to pieces and threw a massive fit. From that day on, Liam and I started having frequent, prolonged cold wars. But fate has a twisted sense of humor. Three months later, I was eating sour hawthorn berries when my stomach suddenly cramped violently. After going to the hospital, I found out I was pregnant. I thought about it calmly for a long time. I didn't want to bring a child into a miserable, loveless home. I left the ultrasound results on the table, wanting to give us one last chance to fix things. When Liam came home and saw the results, he was ecstatic. He held me tight and refused to let go. "I'm going to be a dad! I have a child! We finally have a baby!" The golden glow of the setting sun spilled through the window, illuminating his genuinely joyful face. I thought that, from that day forward, he would cut off those inappropriate feelings for the sake of our child. But Liam let me down. When I was five months pregnant, I found a fifth gift box hidden in a cabinet, along with a handwritten letter. The letter said Vivian was coming back, and Liam replied that he would always be standing in the exact same spot, waiting for her. That day, I lost completely control of my emotions. I had a hysterical, screaming match with him. Liam looked annoyed and defensive, his hand gripping the letter meant for his precious first love. I broke down crying, collapsing as a sharp pain shot through my lower abdomen. On the way to the hospital, Liam apologized profusely, the regret in his eyes growing thicker by the second. "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have made you angry. Chloe, hold on..." He said all the right things. But on the way to the emergency room, he still managed to sprint into the post office to mail that letter to the woman he was obsessed with. The baby was saved, but the doctor said we arrived a little too late. Because of the prolonged lack of oxygen, the child would likely suffer from severe developmental issues. Looking at Liam, who was standing there playing the innocent victim, a deep, poisonous hatred bloomed in my heart. All my suppressed emotions finally exploded. I ruthlessly grabbed anything I could reach and hurled it at him. My tears wouldn't stop falling. "Did you hear the doctor?! Because you just had to mail a letter to your little white rose, this healthy baby... is going to be born brain-damaged." "This is all your fault..." Liam took the physical abuse without flinching, trying to comfort me through his guilt. "It's my fault. I was wrong. I'm so sorry, Chloe." "You can hit me or curse me. I promise I won't fight back." Looking at his face, I only felt that he was incredibly fake. Absolutely disgusting. I stopped acting hysterical. When I came home from the hospital, I became incredibly submissive. I bent over backward to be good to him. I cooked for him, meticulously organized his clothes, and doted on him constantly. I lowered my pride and begged him tearfully, "Liam, I know you have someone else in your heart. I'm not forcing you to forget her. But please, don't forget you have a wife. Don't forget I'm waiting for you at home..." Every day, I looked at him with eager, expectant eyes, forcing him to read fairy tales to the baby in my belly. The moment he showed even a fraction of annoyance... I would force my eyes to go red and look at him like I was about to cry. "The baby and I just love you too much." Saying those words made me physically nauseous, but they were the perfect weapon to disgust Liam. I wanted him to know that he had ruined my life, yet he couldn't reject me. I would repeat this cycle until, eventually, he would be so repulsed by me that he would finally give me my absolute freedom. Finally, after twenty agonizing days of my relentless clinging, Liam snapped. He begged me, "Chloe, please, just let me go. I really can't take this anymore. This isn't the life I want." I sneered coldly, tears brimming in my eyes. "Oh? Then what kind of life do you want?" A flash of longing crossed Liam's eyes. His gaze landed on the envelope sitting on the table. It was a letter from his first love that had arrived that morning. I had obediently fetched it from the post office for him, and even obediently bought new stamps for his reply. He had no idea that I already knew his first love was returning soon. All my chaotic, annoying behavior over the past few weeks was just a calculated strategy to push him away faster and more securely. I viciously snatched the envelope off the table, ripped it to shreds, and threw it on the floor, breaking down into loud sobs. "Have I not been good enough to you these past five years?! Why is she the only one you ever think about?! Why can't you just love me?!" I cried with every ounce of strength I had. Even I couldn't tell how much of it was genuine heartbreak and how much was an act. Liam looked at me, his expression incredibly complicated. "Chloe, you've been very good to me. But feelings... they can't be forced." "Go get an abortion. Let's... let's get a divorce. I don't want to string you along anymore." I cried even harder, the tears flowing like a broken faucet. Liam's annoyance grew visible. His voice dropped, and he finally said the words I had been waiting for. "Enough!" "I'll leave with nothing. I'll leave everything to you." Unable to stand the sound of my crying for another second, he slammed the door and left. I decisively wiped away my tears and booked an appointment for the abortion. Liam had no idea I had been waiting for this exact day for a very long time. He thought that by giving up the house and his savings, he and his precious white rose could live happily ever after on his military salary and stipends. Little did he know, his "happy ever after" was about to crash and burn. ... I sat in the bathtub, carefully replaying everything in my head. I thought about why Vivian would call me. She could have easily asked the other military wives for help. Why come to me? My clothing store had been wildly successful lately. I had some free time, and after Vivian called me three times in a row... I decided I wanted a front-row seat to the drama. When I arrived at the police station, the officers quickly brought Liam out to the visitation room. He looked much rougher than he did six months ago. He was unshaven, and heavy, dark bags hung under his eyes. When he saw that it was me, his eyes widened in surprise, followed by a flash of undeniable awe. I rarely dressed up when I was with him. But after the divorce, I felt liberated, and I looked infinitely more radiant and alive than I ever had during our marriage. "Chloe? Why are you..." He was genuinely shocked. I gave him a polite, distant smile. "Your new wife called me. She said I could definitely help you out. I had no idea I possessed such incredible power, so I came to see what all the fuss was about." The light in his eyes instantly died. He let out a bitter laugh. "You're right. How could you possibly help? Vivian shouldn't have bothered you. I'm sorry." I smoothed out the skirt of my dress and sighed. "It's fine. Seeing as you aren't dead yet, I'll be going now." Liam jumped up anxiously. "Wait!" He looked at me, lowering his head. "These past few months... I've always felt like I owed you an apology." If apologies actually fixed things, we wouldn't need the police, would we? And you wouldn't be locked in a holding cell right now. I waved my hand dismissively, flashing a carefree smile. "Don't worry about it. Thanks to you, I'm actually living my best life right now." Walking out of the police station, I bumped right into Vivian. I recognized her immediately. She had a delicate, pure face and a gentle, fragile aura. She looked like a fragile flower made of glass. The exact polar opposite of me. No wonder that after living with me for five years, Liam still only had eyes for her. I had zero interest in exchanging pleasantries with my ex-husband's new flame. I turned to walk away. But she ran up to me, looking overjoyed, tears brimming in her eyes. She looked at me like I was her savior. "Chloe! Is it really you?" "I didn't think you'd actually come! I'm so happy. You have no idea, Liam is only in jail because of me. It's all my fault..." I had pretty much guessed that. Even though Liam was a cheating scumbag, he usually had a strong moral compass when it came to following the law. I replied dismissively, "Oh, is that so..." Seeing that I was engaging, Vivian's eyes lit up, and she started begging: "So, Chloe... could you please help Liam?" I actually wanted to know what her game plan was, so I smiled and asked: "How exactly am I supposed to help?" Vivian furrowed her brows, looking incredibly distressed and guilty. "Well, I heard from Liam that when you divorced, he left all his assets to you. You know I just got back from abroad, and it was hard for my family to support me. Right now, I have to send half of Liam's monthly salary back to my parents. The rest just isn't enough for us to live on. So, I tried to do some black-market trading to make extra cash, and I ended up getting Liam arrested." "I heard you opened a store and are making really good money. Giving some of that money back to Liam would be really easy for you, right?" I laughed. No wonder she called me. This was her angle all along. It made sense. A penniless Liam, relying solely on a Captain's salary, was definitely struggling to make ends meet. Of course Vivian was miserable. I looked down at the woman groveling in front of me and fired back without hesitation: "Wow, Vivian. What do you mean 'give it back'?" "The divorce decree clearly states that money was my compensation. Think about it: if I hadn't aborted my baby and stepped aside, would you two be living this blissful, romantic life together right now?" Vivian's face stiffened. A very ugly, forced smile crept onto her lips. "Yes, of course. Liam and I are only together thanks to your sacrifice. But Chloe, we are in serious trouble right now. You loved Liam so much; you can't just stand by and watch him suffer in a jail cell, can you?" "He's been charged with illegal profiteering. He's going to be locked up for a full two weeks." I widened my eyes and gasped dramatically. "Two weeks?! Won't that interfere with his military duties?!" Vivian waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, no. I already requested a leave of absence for him beforehand." I stared at her, slowly exhaled, and offered a soft smile. "Well, that's wonderful! Honestly, I was worried about Liam suffering in there. But seeing how thoroughly and thoughtfully you've handled everything, I feel so much better. I'm sure going through this ordeal together will only make your love for each other stronger." Vivian realized I wasn't going to hand over any cash and that her guilt trip wasn't working. I don't know what possessed her, but she suddenly threw her pride away and dropped to her knees right in front of me in the middle of the street. "Chloe, please help us! I'm begging you..." The street was crowded. Dozens of eyes instantly locked onto us. I almost burst out laughing. I leaned down and helped her up, putting on an exaggerated look of distress. "Oh my goodness! Vivian, what are you doing?! Where in the world does the homewrecker kneel to the ex-wife?!" "I'll help! I'll help, okay?!" With that, I decisively pulled a small notebook out of my purse... I scribbled down a phone number and handed it to Vivian. "This is the direct line to the manager of the garment factory I work with. I heard from Liam that you studied fashion design abroad. Here's the deal: you draw up some designs, take them to the factory for sampling, and I'll stock them in my store. I won't charge you a stocking fee. I'll help you sell them. Sound good?" Vivian clearly didn't expect my "help" to require her to actually do any work. Her face turned green, and she glared at me with blatant dissatisfaction. "Chloe, Liam gave you so much money! Even if you don't care about me, you should care about him! How could you just take all of it?! Don't you know that was his entire life's savings?!" Before I could speak, she kept going. "I don't care. You have to give me twenty thousand dollars right now. And I want half the profits from your new store." Vivian's greed was absolutely staggering. She just wanted to sit back and collect a paycheck without lifting a finger. I wasn't Liam. I wasn't going to coddle her delusions. I slapped her hand away. My voice turned to ice. "This number is all you're getting. Take it, or get the hell out of my face."
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