Since I was a child, I was groomed to be the perfect daughter-in-law for the Vance family. At twenty, I married Carter Vance. At twenty-four, I gave birth to our son, Liam. Liam was exactly like Carter: always quiet, a man of few words, and never very affectionate with me. Every night, before they went to bed, I would bring both father and son a cup of hot milk. But one day, Carter accidentally knocked his cup over, and Liam secretly poured his down the drain. A sudden wave of exhaustion washed over me. When I handed the divorce papers to Carter. He furrowed his brow, looking annoyed, and asked, "Just because of that?" "Yes. Just because of that." 01 "What about our son? "What are you going to do about Liam?" Carter quickly regained his usual emotionless demeanor, asking me as if this were just another business transaction. I sat across from him, feeling more like a client at his negotiating table, and said calmly, "I'll give up custody of him. "I'll also transfer the deed to the estate in the Hamptons into his name. Consider it child support and compensation." After all, the child's last name was Vance. He and Carter looked much more like a real family than he and I ever did. Carter looked down at me, his eyes betraying very little emotion, as if he couldn't understand what I was making a fuss about. "Maya," he softened his tone. "If you're still upset about the milk last night, I apologize. You know I was drunk. I didn't mean to do that to you." He explained it away with practiced patience, still completely convinced that this was all about a cup of milk. Last night, Carter came home very late from a business dinner. I had waited up for him half the night, and only woke up when the blast of cold air from him opening the front door hit me. I got up from the sofa. Seeing him grimacing and rubbing his temples while taking off his coat, I immediately went to the kitchen and brought him the milk I had been keeping warm. Normally, even if our marriage wasn't exactly passionate, we at least kept up appearances. But last night, I asked one question too many: "Did you meet someone? That perfume smells familiar." Carter suddenly let go of the glass I was handing him. Before I could react, the glass slipped from our touching fingers and shattered loudly against the floor, shattering the quiet warmth of the room. Carter's face went ice-cold, an aura of pure irritation radiating from him. He glared at me and warned, "Maya, you're crossing a line. "From now on, don't wait up for me, and don't bother making me milk anymore." And my son, Liam, after seeing his father's reaction, secretly poured his own milk down the drain. When I caught him, he stood in the doorway and apologized to me with the exact same emotionless expression: "I'm sorry, Mom. If Dad isn't drinking it, I don't want it either." To the two of them, it was probably just a trivial, insignificant incident. I was overreacting. I shouldn't have made such a big deal out of it. 02 I didn't bother offering any further explanations. I signed the papers and retained a lawyer. I chose to end my marriage with Carter Vance. Carter flatly listed off numerous details regarding the division of assets. I didn't really listen, and I didn't care. I went back to our bedroom to pack my things. He looked down at me, studying me. "Maya, the paperwork will take time to process. You don't have to rush to move out. You can keep this penthouse." I looked at the man who was still as steady and cold as ever. I calmly replied using words he had once said to me: "It's better to make a clean break, so there are no lingering attachments or unresolved issues." Carter didn't say anything else. I never thought packing my bags would be such an overwhelming task. The house was filled with trivial little things, every single one of them painstakingly arranged by my own hands. I took one last look around, finally deciding to just keep it simple, and dragged my suitcase toward the door. Carter stopped me. "Where are you going? "To your parents' house? "I'll have the driver take you." "No need," I declined, telling him, "Just remember to have the housekeeper clear out the rest of my things tomorrow. I won't be dealing with them." It's not like their family was short on people to do the manual labor anyway. As I stepped out the front door, I paused and thought for a moment. I turned back and looked at Liam, who had been standing behind Carter this whole time, expressionless. I told him, "I won't be picking you up from prep school anymore, but remember not to go with strangers." I considered it providing closure for myself. After saying that, I turned and left. I didn't take another look at the child I had held in my arms and patiently rocked through countless sleepless nights when he was crying during his weaning phase. 03 I bought a plane ticket out of New York. I randomly picked a city down South. Savannah, Georgia. From the moment I was told at fourteen that I would be marrying into the Vance family, my freedom and choices had been restricted. After I married Carter, apart from attending mandatory social galas, he never once suggested taking me out anywhere. My most common routine was waiting for my husband and son to come home every night and bringing them a cup of warm milk before bed. Everyone in our social circle said that Mrs. Vance Sr. had raised me perfectly. I was practically tailor-made to be Carter's wife. I matched his social status, and I took immaculate care of his daily life. My only flaw was: I was too perfect. So perfect that I was boring. I seemed rigid and lifeless. I once overheard Carter's friends teasing him. "Carter, man, what's it like living like an old married couple when you're still so young? "Your wife is way too boring. Even her smile looks fake. "Do you want the guys to introduce you to someone a bit more fun? "Just a few days ago, Dave met this hilarious girl. Super funny. Exactly like Chloe back in the day. What do you say, interested?" Chloe. Carter's first love. Back then, when Mrs. Vance Sr. disapproved of their relationship, Carter fought her tooth and nail. I don't know what happened later. They broke up, and Chloe moved all the way to London. Shortly after that, when he was twenty, Carter suddenly accepted the Vance family's arrangement and took the initiative to propose to me. Four years later, I gave birth to Liam. Oh, right. I remember now. That familiar perfume I smelled last night was the one Chloe always used to wear. A custom blend of gardenia. 04 After finding a place to stay in Savannah. I wandered around to many different places. The Southern drizzle, the hazy, historic cobblestone streets—I delighted in every bit of it. I never expected that early on my third morning, I would suddenly receive a call from Carter. He sounded like he had just woken up, asking me in a raspy voice, "Maya, where did you put those ruby cufflinks I bought at the charity auction last year?" I paused for a second. "In the second drawer of the walk-in closet." I asked him, "What's the occasion?" Carter: "A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new commercial center." Me: "The matching suit is the fourth one in the second row." Carter still didn't seem fully awake. I could hear the rustling of him searching on the other end of the line, along with a few muttered complaints. I listened for a moment before asking him, "Did you find them?" The voice on the other end stopped, as if he had finally realized what was happening. "I found them. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you." I said "Mm" and told him, "I know." I advised him, "Have the housekeeper reorganize your closet for you. If you can't find something again, you can ask them. "From now on, don't call and bother me anymore." Carter was silent for a moment before saying, "Okay." After hanging up, I blocked his number and went back to sleep. But this time, I couldn't sleep peacefully no matter what. I had a series of bizarre, disjointed dreams. I dreamed of laughing and playing with my classmates on the middle school campus when I was fourteen. I dreamed of the sunny day I first met Carter when I was fifteen. I dreamed of sneaking out to a drag race when I was sixteen, only to be dragged back by my dad and beaten until my legs ached. And... Another piercing ringtone. I jolted awake from the dream, irritated as I blindly reached for my phone on the nightstand. It was an unknown number. I answered it, and a polite voice inquired, "Hello, is this Liam's mother? "I'm Liam's teacher from his prep school. It's like this: today the school is hosting a robotics exhibition, and Liam is participating. But he didn't bring his project. He said his mother was preparing it for him. Would it be possible for you to bring it over for him?" The teacher was very enthusiastic. My fingers tightened around my phone. I closed my eyes, feeling an indescribable wave of exhaustion. Not long ago, I was sitting in the living room, meticulously following video tutorials frame by frame to build that robotics project for Liam. But because I left so abruptly that day, the robot was still half-finished. I looked out the window at the blazing sun and softly replied to the teacher, "I'm sorry, but I no longer have custody of Liam, and I won't be managing his affairs anymore. "Also... is he right next to you right now?" "Ah." The teacher sounded quite embarrassed. "Yes, yes, Liam is right here beside me." I sighed. "Then could you please put me on speakerphone?" "O-okay." "Thank you." There was a rustling sound as the phone was shifted, followed by silence. I figured Liam could hear me. I spoke softly, "Liam, the robot is in the toy bin in your room. "You can call your dad to bring it to you, or you can have anyone else bring it. But from now on, I hope you won't call me anymore. I won't be picking you up, and I won't be helping you with your projects. You know I'm not your mother anymore." After finishing, I apologized to the teacher one more time and hung up the phone. 05 Saying those words to the child I almost died giving birth to still broke my heart. I couldn't even remember when Liam started becoming more and more like Carter. My marriage to Carter was an arranged union established very early on. When I was fourteen, my grandfather and father walked out of the study with the elders of the Vance family, all beaming with smiles. From then on, I was groomed by the Vance family to be their daughter-in-law. In high school, many of my classmates envied my wealthy background. I never argued, I could only smile bitterly. I had a privileged life, but I had absolutely no freedom. When I didn't do well on an important exam. In the middle of the night, my mom got so angry, feeling that I had humiliated her, that she burst into my room, yanked me up, and slapped me across the face. In high school, when I had a rebellious phase and started dating a boy, my dad delivered the second slap. He warned me that if I didn't want to marry into the Vance family, I could only marry those businessmen who were nearly twenty years older than me. The first time I met Carter, I was fifteen. It was an arrangement made by our two families. Carter back then was different from how he is now. He was a boy who loved to laugh and wore his emotions on his sleeve. My impression of him wasn't deep. I only remember a white button-down shirt under a blue sky, and a pair of incredibly expressive eyes. Later, I heard he was in a cold war with his family over his first love. I admired and envied him. At least he dared to rebel. He had the right to resist. But not long after, Mrs. Vance Sr. came to visit our house. With an elegant yet apologetic smile on her face, she held my mother's hand and told her, "Don't worry, the situation with Carter has already been resolved." I hid by the door, listening, my heart sinking. I thought to myself, I knew it. After that, our families constantly arranged for Carter and me to meet. At first, he was quite resistant and never gave me the time of day. Later, he slowly accepted it, and occasionally he would say a few words to me. I watched as that prickly, rebellious boy gradually became silent and withdrawn, suppressing all his emotions. And the custom gardenia perfume he used to wear also vanished into the air as time passed. 06 It wasn't until I was twenty and Carter was twenty-four. While we were on our way to a gala in another city, we were caught in a sudden mudslide and trapped in our car. Carter and I were buried together for a full day and night. When rescue finally arrived, my last memory was of his arm—which had been shielding my body—pierced and mangled by the crushed frame of the car. After he woke up, he proposed to me. In front of both my family and the Vance family, he asked me, "Maya, will you be my wife?" At that time, I looked at his arm, heavily wrapped in white bandages. I remembered when we were trapped in the car, how he anxiously called my name and told me, "Maya, don't fall asleep. "If you fall asleep now, you'll really lose your freedom forever!" Like I was possessed, I placed my hand over his. And in doing so, I ignored his lowered eyes—calm and lifeless, like he was merely completing a mandatory ritual. And so, we got married. Four years later, just as everyone wanted, we had a child. From the moment Liam was born, he was showered with love and adoration from both families. Mrs. Vance Sr. believed he needed the same elite upbringing as Carter. So, when he poured out that cup of milk, he did exactly what his father did. He used the most innocent face to say sorry to me, while doing what he believed was his absolute right. 07 I don't know what that father and son were actually thinking. Less than a week later. I received another call from Carter. He used a different number. Because I had blocked him. Dragging things out like this didn't seem like something Carter would do. After I answered the call, the line went dead silent for a few seconds. Just as I was feeling baffled and about to hang up. Carter's voice came through. "Maya." He called my name. "Your parents said you didn't go home. Where did you go? Are you in Savannah?" He was investigating me. I knew he had the resources to do that. But I felt an unspeakable anger boiling inside me. During our long, nine-year marriage, he was cold, he was distant. He acted like a transient guest living under the same roof as me. Now, in just half a month, he had called me more times than he had in the entire past year combined. Before, when I would text him: [Are you coming home for dinner tonight?] [Are you in a meeting?] [Does your stomach hurt? Should I bring you some porridge?] He would reply with, at most: [Yeah.] The rest was just a wall of my own green text bubbles. Now, he was acting like nothing had ever happened. He asked me over the phone, his voice hoarse, "Maya, I had a business dinner today and drank too much. My stomach is killing me. Where did you put my medication in the house? "Also, Liam caught a cold from a classmate at prep school. He's running a fever of 100 degrees and keeps crying that he feels awful. What did you usually do to make him feel better?" I was beyond angry. I suppressed my fury, trying not to sound like a hysterical lunatic, and told him word by word, "Carter, we are divorced. "I am no longer your wife, and I am not your maid. "Whether your stomach hurts or not, whether you can find your medication or not, none of that is my business. And with one phone call, you have plenty of people who would gladly buy you medicine. "If the child is sick, talking to me is useless. I'm not a doctor, and I've never seen a father who, at a time like this, still has to ask the mother what to do. "I don't know what you're trying to do. Maybe it's bruised ego, maybe you're just used to me taking care of you. "But Carter, I don't want to make this ugly. We are over. Don't ever disrupt my life again, do you understand?" After saying all that, I hung up the phone completely. I popped open the back of my phone, took out the SIM card, and threw it in the trash. 08 In today's society, everything is tied to your phone number. I didn't expect Carter and Liam to call me every few days. Naturally, I didn't flatter myself into thinking Carter still had feelings for me. It was just that I had taken care of them for so long; it's hard to break a habit instantly. I got a new SIM card and withdrew some cash. I signed up for a scientific expedition tour group and followed them on a trip through the rugged outback of the Pacific Northwest. It was a project I had seen online a long time ago. When I brought it up back then, Carter said he didn't have time. His "friends" in our social circle had laughed and said, "That's way too shabby. "Maya, with Carter's status, going on such a cheap tour group would be incredibly embarrassing." I just smiled and didn't say anything else. At the time, I thought it was just a passing whim. The Vance family would never allow me to be so reckless and wild. I never thought that now, it would be so incredibly easy. When a shackle is broken, a bound person will start struggling from the very depths of their soul. 09 The day I headed out with the expedition team. The sky was crystal clear. We traveled by train. The train rocked back and forth for the entire journey. Every time I sank deep into that exhausting, suffocating dream, I would be slowly rocked awake. The dawn broke, piercing through the chaotic haze. The expedition took us through the Cascade Loop and down to the high deserts of Oregon. From Seattle, we went to the Olympic Peninsula, passed through the Columbia River Gorge, and stopped at the Painted Hills and Smith Rock. Mount Hood rose sharply from the forested horizon, and Crater Lake was serene under the night sky. Traveling through the high desert, crossing the passes, we saw endless miles of colorful, rugged terrain. The expedition team was primarily made up of geologists. They looked like people who weren't good with words, yet they could talk endlessly about a pile of dirt, a blade of grass, an unknown wildflower. Sometimes humorous, sometimes witty. They filled the vast, sparsely populated Northwest with a profound, vibrant life force. Undeniably, my privileged background and those years of being groomed by the Vance family had allowed me to see many things other people never got to experience. Before, in my understanding, traveling was something that could only be enjoyable if done with family. But now, hiking through badlands and camping in the desert. Eating burnt barbecue, covered in dust and sand, I saw stars brighter than I had ever seen in my life. I knew Carter was probably still trying to track my itinerary, but that didn't matter anymore. Later, after the Northwest loop ended, I exchanged contact info with these new friends. After resting in the city for a few days. We set out again to hike the Rockies. The moment we reached the summit of a challenging peak. I suffered severe altitude sickness. My breathing was rapid, and my head felt like it was splitting open. I almost thought I was going to die on that towering mountain range. But in the distance, the sun bathed the snow-capped peaks in gold, and everyone at the summit was cheering. In that passionate, chaotic atmosphere, I burst into loud, unrestrained sobs. The team scrambled frantically to give me oxygen and feed me high-sugar drinks. Thinking I was crying because I was in so much pain, they rushed to comfort me. "Oh man, don't cry girl. You're okay, you're okay. Your blood oxygen is coming back up. Don't be scared, we've got you. You're not gonna die!" "Yeah, kiddo, you're so young, you're definitely fine. You've got a long road ahead of you. This is nothing!" I sobbed uncontrollably, but eventually, their thick Midwest accents and clumsy comforting made me break into a smile through my tears. With their help, I stood up from the snow, facing the golden sunlit peaks in the distance, facing my new life. No matter how many shackles there were, no matter how hard the journey. I could still reach the summit on my own, couldn't I? 10 After returning, I picked up some of my old hobbies. Like extreme sports. Like auto racing. Like getting a dog I actually liked. Before I was engaged to Carter, I actually had a very carefree and lively personality. I loved everything that was full of life. But later, I didn't even have my own freedom. How could I talk about loving anything? I got a mixed-breed Maltipoo. I named her Bella. She had a coat of soft, caramel-colored fur and innocent, big eyes. Every time she ran, her ears flopped up and down like a little propane tank. Puppies are easier to get along with than people. Puppies also understand your needs better than people do. A puppy will never give you the cold shoulder. A puppy knows you love her, and she loves you back. And the next time I saw Carter. It was at the door of my new house. I was just about to take Bella out for a walk. When I pushed open the door, I saw Carter standing by the elevator. And by his side, he was holding the hand of Liam, who was nervously staring at Bella in my arms.
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