When I found out my husband had been assigned to work out of state for another seven years, I made the long trek to visit him. Upon arriving at his job site, I was stopped by an older security guard. When he heard I was looking for Arthur, his face drastically changed: "What are you looking for my son-in-law for?" I felt like I had been struck by lightning. Maybe it was just someone with the same name. But a worker chatting nearby laughed: "Mr. Miller, what are you panicking for? Everyone for miles around knows Arthur is totally whipped by his wife." "Anyone else might fool around, but not your son-in-law." He jutted his chin toward me: "She's probably just someone sent from corporate for work." I feigned composure and pulled up a photo of Arthur on my phone: "I have some business to discuss with him. Is this the Arthur you're talking about?" The security guard relaxed his guard: "Yep, that's my son-in-law." The blood froze in my veins. A short while later, a well-dressed woman approached me with a bright smile: "You're here to talk business with my husband?" "Let's go wait at the house. Our son has a fever, so he took him to the hospital in the city." ... It felt like a thunderbolt had struck me. I stared at the woman in front of me, feeling like I was suffocating. Seeing me frozen, the woman enthusiastically beckoned me: "I'm Arthur's wife, Chloe Miller. Just call me Chloe." She was very friendly, a constant smile on her face, waving for me to follow her: "It's all rough guys out here, and every one of them is a creep. It's not safe for a woman to be out here alone." "Come wait at my house. He won't be back for a while." As she spoke, she familiarly grabbed my arm. As if possessed, I followed her footsteps. I quietly assessed this woman out of the corner of my eye. Her skin wasn't great, and her makeup skills were poor, with foundation caking around the corners of her eyes. But I could still tell she was easily more than ten years younger than the 37-year-old Arthur. "Oh my, you city folks really are different. Your skin is so good, smooth like a peeled hard-boiled egg." She stared openly at my face. Her eyes filled with envy: "My husband has skin just like yours, so soft and smooth." She smiled warmly and casually: "Looks like the city water and environment really do nourish people." I forced out a strained smile, pretending to be unbothered. She wasn't wrong. Both Arthur and I had the kind of skin that was naturally clear and smooth. Even though I was significantly older than her, because I took good care of myself, I still looked like I was in my early twenties. I certainly didn't look like a middle-aged woman who had been married for 12 years. But what did that matter? Even though I was pretty, had a good job, and took care of both the elderly parents and our child... My husband still stabbed me in the back by keeping a second family behind my back. She was very chatty, talking endlessly. A couple riding a motorcycle approached us and stopped when they passed. The woman on the back of the motorcycle handed Chloe a bag of roasted chestnuts: "Look how much your husband thinks about you. He took the kid to the doctor, but still remembered you like chestnuts and asked me to bring you a bag." Chloe smiled, used to the attention: "He just worries too much." I deliberately interjected: "Your husband treats you really well." The woman on the motorcycle chimed in: "He doesn't just treat her well, it's beyond that. If she tells Arthur to go east, he wouldn't dare go west." "Arthur isn't afraid of anything, except Chloe glaring at him or shedding a tear!" Chloe's smile remained casual: "Oh stop teasing me, Mary." A sour, bitter feeling surged in my heart. It felt like God was playing a massive, cruel joke on me. My highly educated husband, who demanded equality in every aspect of our marriage, was actually acting like a whipped husband for someone else. We arrived at Chloe's house. Although it was in a rural area, it didn't look like a typical rural house at all. It was a very chic, modern, country-style villa. "My husband built this. Nice, right? It's the only one like it in our town. He's also the first son-in-law to move into the wife's family home here." My heart skipped a beat, shocked by the concept of him "moving into the wife's family home." Entering the living room, I immediately saw a family portrait hanging on the wall. A family of six, everyone smiling brightly. There was a 5-year-old boy and a girl around 3 years old in the picture. We had a family portrait just like this in our living room back home. Except, we only had one 10-year-old son, no daughter. The year he was assigned out of state by his company, he confidently held my face and said: "Honey, trust me. Two years max, and I'll find a way to transfer back." "When I get back, if your health permits, we'll have a second child. And our family will never be separated again." But he ended up being gone for 7 years. Aside from coming home for a few days around the holidays, he was practically a ghost year-round. Last year when he visited, I even expressed my regret to him about not having a daughter. Uncharacteristically, he replied: "The economy is bad right now. Smart young people aren't having kids anymore." "We have one son, and that's great. Why put ourselves through the hardship of having a second one?" It turned out his mindset hadn't changed; he just already had a son and a daughter elsewhere. "We have Wi-Fi. You can connect to it so you don't use up your data." "The password is 110913. My husband specially set it as my birthday." She said this with a smile as she brought me a cup of tea. My heart jolted again. Arthur had told me there was no internet or cell reception in this mountainous area. So every time, it was him finding a way to contact me; I could never reach him. I opened my phone and connected to Chloe's Wi-Fi. Full signal. Lie after lie was unraveling before my eyes, each one a knife stabbing into my heart. I pretended to be calm and asked: "You guys seem to have a great relationship. I heard he's an out-of-state transfer. Aren't you worried he might be transferred back?" Chloe kept her smile: "Not worried. To be honest, my husband almost did get transferred back this time." My heart tightened as I listened closely to her next words. "My husband called in a lot of favors just to stay here." "He'll probably be able to stay for another 7 years. Once all the projects here are finished, my husband said he'd rather quit than go back." My heart felt like it had been violently thrown to the bottom of a cliff. So it wasn't the company forcing him to take another out-of-state assignment; he had applied for it himself! Even though he knew his mother was hospitalized with a stroke and his father had broken his leg, and they needed their son by their side. Even though his son had cried time and time again, suffering because he rarely got to see his dad. Even though he knew I, his wife, was exhausted managing both work and the household, to the point of being hospitalized for fatigue several times. He still had the peace of mind to live a carefree life thousands of miles away with another woman. A chill washed over me, making my shoulders tremble slightly. Chloe thought I was cold and immediately turned on the AC: "It'll warm up in a bit. The AC my husband bought me is a top brand." Even while she was being accommodating, she always found a way to brag about Arthur's love for her. "In our town, no one has AC, only my house does. Actually, AC costs a lot in electricity, and I didn't want to install it, but my husband insisted. He said he was afraid I'd be cold in the winter." I kept a forced smile on my face and asked indirectly: "I feel like he's quite a bit older than you. Is this his second marriage?" "He's 10 years older than me, but it's not his second marriage. It's just me scoring a huge catch." The smile on Chloe's face grew even more blissful: "God has been good to me, letting someone like me with only an elementary school education find a guy with a master's degree." "He's the project manager sent here to develop the area, practically the boss's right-hand man. I never dreamed I could be the wife of such a capable man." "My husband also says the luckiest thing that ever happened to him was meeting me." She kept chattering on: "Actually, having an age gap is nice. He knows how to take care of me. My husband isn't just responsible at work; he's responsible for the family too." "He gives me every single penny of his salary every month. I only give him two hundred bucks back for cigarette money." Bitterness churned in my stomach. All these years, Arthur would send exactly three thousand dollars back home every month. He said his room and board were covered here, and a hundred bucks was enough for his personal expenses. Their company's accountant was my college roommate. I knew for a fact his monthly take-home pay was over thirty-one thousand dollars. I tested the waters: "With his high salary, he can definitely provide a good life for the family." "Yeah, that's why I say I found a treasure. Not only is he good to me, he's even better to my parents." "My mom has a bad back." She pointed to the expensive massage chair next to the sofa: "That massage chair cost over two thousand dollars. He bought it without blinking an eye." "My dad likes to drink. He buys cases of liquor that cost hundreds of dollars a bottle." "He also gives me five thousand dollars every month to spend however I want." Hearing this, I was certain Arthur was embezzling and taking bribes. The bitterness in my heart was like raw gall, and my heart ached for his parents. Three months ago, my mother-in-law was critically ill from a stroke. I cried outside the emergency room while calling him: "Arthur, you have to come back. Mom is in resuscitation. She keeps murmuring that she wants to see you." But he lied to me, saying: "It's been hard on you, honey. The project is at a critical stage; I really can't get away." "Mom will be fine. Heaven protects the good." There were so many times when I was panicked, helpless, my legs so weak I could barely stand. His phone would either not connect, or he wouldn't come back. He showed zero concern for his own family, completely ignoring his parents and child. Yet he played the role of a good husband, a good father, and a good son-in-law in another family. It was incredibly ironic and soul-crushing. Chloe's phone rang. She didn't try to hide it from me. The volume was loud enough that sitting next to her, I heard every word clearly. He called her: "Honey." The gentle tone of his voice was exactly the same as when he called me. "Our son's fever hasn't gone down yet. The doctor says we need to stay overnight for observation." "I don't have enough money on me. Honey, can you transfer me some? Thirty bucks should be enough." I sneered inwardly. He really is the picture of a dedicated family man. Chloe smiled and said: "Got it. I'll transfer it to you in a bit." On the other end, Arthur worriedly reminded her: "I won't be able to hold you to sleep tonight. You have to be a good girl and go to sleep. Make sure you cover yourself with the blanket so you don't catch a cold." "Being away from you for even one day makes my whole body feel off." These words were like sharp swords stabbing directly into my heart. In our 12 years of marriage, we only had this kind of intimate sweetness in the first few years. Now, he didn't even show this much care for our own son. Time had turned us into an old married couple. And now it had turned us into the most familiar of strangers, drifting further and further apart. She hung up the phone. Chloe looked at me with a smile. Just as she was about to say something, she remembered: "Oh right, I forgot to ask your name." "Stella Thorne." "That's a beautiful name. City folks really know how to pick names." She maintained her chatty, enthusiastic demeanor. Up until this moment, I still believed it. That she was highly likely an innocent woman being kept in the dark, just like me. "By the way, my husband won't be back today. Why don't you stay over? When he gets back tomorrow, you guys can talk business." I agreed. That evening, Chloe cooked a table full of delicious dishes, a good mix of meat and vegetables. I met their daughter, whose features strongly resembled Arthur's. Chloe's parents weren't as enthusiastic toward me, just superficially polite. They even looked at me with a bit of wariness, acting slightly strange. At the dinner table, the person they brought up the most was Arthur. In their mouths, Arthur wasn't a son-in-law; he was a biological son. Chloe was an only child. In this remote area where boys were heavily favored, the old couple had never been able to hold their heads high their entire lives. It was Arthur's arrival, becoming the son-in-law who moved in with them, and treating them with the filial piety of a biological son. That finally allowed them to straighten the spines they had kept bent their whole lives. Chloe's mother said: "Arthur is the pillar of our family. Our family couldn't survive without him." It felt like a thorn had been lodged in my throat, impossible to pull out. He didn't support the roof of his own house, instead supporting someone else's, year after year. When it was time for bed, Chloe put me in the guest room next to her parents' room. After turning off the lights, I couldn't fall asleep for a long time. I listened to Chloe's parents whispering in the next room for a very long time. After much deliberation, I still sent a whistleblowing letter and video to the headquarters of Arthur's company. I also sent a message to my brother, who was a police officer: "It's going to be a hassle, but you need to come arrest Arthur. He broke the law." These two decisions didn't relieve my anger, but they were the only way to answer for my life. It was also the punishment he deserved. The next morning. Chloe brought me her clothes to wear, afraid I'd mind, she specifically added: "My husband just bought this for me. I only washed it once, haven't even worn it." "It's pretty cold here, and you're dressed a bit thin, you'll freeze." I looked at the down jacket she brought over. A long, pure white, fitted coat from a designer brand, costing nearly six hundred dollars. I had looked at it all winter but couldn't bring myself to buy it, adding it to my cart and deleting it several times. It wasn't that I couldn't afford it, but I had elderly parents and a young child to support. I always had to budget my spending. In the past, I had also complained to Arthur: "Other husbands buy clothes for their wives. I've been with you for so many years, and I've never seen you buy me anything." He always smiled warmly and said: "The money is all with you. You can buy whatever you want." "I'm afraid you won't like what I pick, and I don't know how to pick women's clothes anyway." It turns out he didn't lack the ability to pick; he just didn't want to pick anything for me. "Thank you." I took the coat and put it on. It was beautiful and warm. She paused, a second of surprise flashing in her eyes, unexpected that I hadn't politely declined. During breakfast, I listened again to her endless chatter showing off their affection. She also asked me what life was like in the city. She even asked: "How's your life?" I gave a faint smile and answered truthfully: "It's alright, just that my man doesn't know how to dote on his wife as well as yours does." She grinned happily. Finally, noon arrived. The door was opened from the outside, and Arthur's familiar voice came through: "Honey, I'm home." Chloe and I stood up from the sofa at the same time and looked at him. "Which wife are you calling 'honey', husband?" I asked him, my face cold.
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