At the dinner table, there she was—the female "bro" I had never met, sitting right next to my husband. When she hugged his arm for the fourth time, I threw up all over the floor. My husband was frantic, patting my back and trying to help me catch my breath. But his "bro" just raised an eyebrow, crossed her arms, and scoffed: "Well, Arthur, you certainly know how to pick a wife. What a buzzkill." Oh, I see. A classic "Pick Me" girl. But what she didn't know was... When it comes to playing the innocent victim, I wrote the damn book. 01 The atmosphere in the private dining room plunged into a bizarre, suffocating awkwardness. Arthur frowned. "Chloe, stop talking nonsense." His hand kept gently patting my back. Chloe lowered her voice a fraction. "I'm just saying, back when you and I would drink all night, and wake up in the same bed, I never threw up like this." Immediately, people in the room tried to smooth things over: "Come on, Chloe, that's ancient history. Don't listen to her, Evelyn, she's just got no filter." Chloe froze for a second. Then, someone slapped a hand over her mouth. She peeled the hand away, pouting. "Can't a girl even tell the truth? Women are so much drama." Another wave of nausea hit me, and I started choking, tears welling up in my eyes. When I looked up, my eyes were already red. "Arthur, I'm not trying to ruin everyone's fun... I'm so sorry..." Arthur looked entirely heartbroken. "Honey, if you're not feeling well, let's just go." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Chloe's expression instantly shift. She grabbed the hem of Arthur's shirt. "I just got back into the country! You have a wife now, so you can't hang out with your bros?!" Arthur's face darkened. "Chloe, my wife is sick." She craned her neck to look at me. "Evelyn, are you just upset because Arthur and I are so close?" I collapsed weakly into Arthur's arms. "I really don't feel well... Excuse me, sister, if you absolutely must keep Arthur here, could you at least let me go home first?" He furrowed his brow. Supporting my waist, he said, "I'm taking you home." Arthur led me toward the door. "You guys keep drinking. My wife is sick. Next round is on me." Behind us, the female "bro" sounded genuinely annoyed. "Do people who get married just lose all their freedom? Arthur, you are such a buzzkill!" Arthur didn't even break his stride. He pulled me into the car and called a designated driver in one smooth motion. Once in the car, he rubbed my back soothingly. "Evelyn, are you still feeling sick? Should we go to the hospital?" The cool night air had significantly quelled my nausea. I pulled slightly away from him. "When exactly did you and Chloe roll into the same bed?" Arthur froze. He looked away unnaturally. "That was way before I even met you. And I swear, I had no idea she was going to be at the dinner tonight..." He reached for my hand again, his tone pleading. "Besides, we were both blackout drunk that time. Nothing happened, I swear to God!" Just then, the designated driver tapped on the window. Arthur pulled my hand against his chest, looking deeply worried. "Please drive carefully, sir. My wife isn't feeling well." 02 The next morning, I was woken up by another wave of nausea. I leaned over the toilet, dry heaving. Arthur immediately came running from the bedroom. "Still feeling sick, honey? I'm going to go buy you some medicine right now!" He scrambled around, frantic. He even forgot his phone on the bed. Right then, his phone started blowing up with notifications. After wiping my mouth, I picked it up. I saw a group chat on iMessage with four people. The girl, whose contact name was "Foam," was rapid-firing messages into the group: [Wake up, bros! The sun's shining on your lazy asses!] [I'm going to come around to all your houses to wish you a Happy New Year! Have you guys got my red envelopes ready?] [@Arthur, how's your precious little wife? Let's hang out today, just us. And don't you dare run off again! Your family is such a buzzkill! Or better yet, just leave the wife at home!] [I don't care, you have to give me a massive red envelope this year! Bigger than your wife's! Otherwise, your bros will never forgive you!] Arthur came bursting back into the room, beaming. "Honey, I asked the pharmacist, and they said you might be pregnant! Let's take a test first, and then I'll take you to the hospital!" His eyes landed on the phone in my hand. His expression turned incredibly stiff. I handed the phone out to him. "Your 'bro'. She's asking for a red envelope. Bigger than mine." I paused for a second. Then added, "She said she wants to hang out tonight. And told you not to bring your wife." Arthur took the phone awkwardly. "Chloe... she's just clueless. She's a tomboy, she speaks before she thinks. Don't be mad, honey." I just stared at him quietly. Arthur hesitated for a moment, then held down the voice memo button right in front of me: "Stop talking nonsense. If my wife isn't going, I'm not going." 03 I went to the bathroom and took the test with my morning urine. Two pink lines appeared on all of them. Arthur was ecstatic. He picked me up and spun me around, making promises: "Honey, I promise, I'll never do anything to make you upset again." "Just focus on being happy and having this baby. From now on, you're the queen of this house." He hurriedly drove me to the hospital for a blood test. Once the pregnancy was officially confirmed, he immediately called his mom. "Mom! We're coming over, I've got a huge surprise for you!" The car sped all the way to his parents' massive house. Arthur grabbed the gift boxes from my hands, his face glowing with joy. Before we even walked through the door, he started shouting: "Mom! I've got amazing news!" He had barely stepped into the foyer. A flash of red hurled itself at him, throwing an arm around his neck. "Arthur, what took you so long?! We've been waiting forever!" She hung off his neck, one hand sliding inappropriately far down his chest. Then, she locked eyes with me. As if startled, she quickly let go, looking deeply annoyed with herself. "Oh, damn. Force of habit. I forgot you're a married man now." Arthur's clothes were wrinkled from her grabbing him. He subconsciously smoothed his shirt, looking nervously at me. "Evelyn..." Before he could finish his sentence. I walked over and gently flattened his collar. As I did, my eyes welled up with tears. "Sister... do you really hate it when I iron his shirts so perfectly flat?" Chloe was stunned. Her eyes went wide with shock. Arthur had told me before that watching me iron his collar every night was the thing that made him feel the luckiest. Hearing my words, his brow furrowed deeply. "Chloe, you're an adult now. Stop being so erratic." At that moment, my mother-in-law came down the stairs. Seeing me, she smiled elegantly. "Evelyn, you're here." Arthur picked up the gift boxes that had dropped to the floor. He took my hand and walked toward her. "Mom, you don't even miss your own son, you just miss Evelyn." The scene was picture-perfect. A happy, harmonious family. I turned my head. Chloe was staring daggers at me. Her lips were pressed into a thin, tight line. I addressed her directly by name: "Sister Chloe, why do you look so unhappy?" Panic visibly washed over her face. Every eye in the room turned toward her. Chloe stammered, "I... I... Evelyn, you must be seeing things..." 04 At the dinner table. Arthur couldn't wait to announce the news of my pregnancy. My mother-in-law was overjoyed. On top of the red envelopes she had already prepared, she immediately transferred a massive sum of money to my account right in front of everyone. Chloe's chopsticks clattered loudly onto the floor. My mother-in-law paused. She frowned slightly. "Chloe, you aren't getting any younger. You should start thinking about getting married and having kids of your own." Chloe's face soured. "Aunt Mary, I'm not in a rush." My mother-in-law replied casually, "I just heard your mother saying the other day how anxious she is. She's waiting for us to hold our granddaughters together." Chloe forced a strained smile. "Aunt Mary, I really don't mind." Then, she suddenly looked right at me. "Besides, even if I never have kids, Arthur's kid can always take care of me when I'm old, right?" My face dropped. But before I could speak, my mother-in-law slammed her juice glass down onto the table. Her face was deadly serious. "Even if you were educated abroad, you shouldn't make jokes like that." "Has the culture abroad deteriorated so much that people think it's acceptable to joke about taking other people's children?" The more she spoke, the angrier she got. She picked up her phone from the table. "I need to call your mother. She needs to have a serious talk with you about how you speak to people." This time, Chloe's face went completely white. She desperately kicked Arthur under the table. "Say something for your bro!" I picked up the toughest, chewiest fried meatball on the table and shoved it directly into Arthur's mouth. "Hubby, taste this for me~" 05 "Pick Me" girls have one major advantage. They can use their "tomboy," "carefree," "one of the guys" label to pretend they don't understand when people are disgusted by them, and just keep doing whatever they want. Outside the window, fireworks exploded in the sky. A knock came at the door, and Chloe immediately bounced over to open it. Two of Arthur's childhood friends pushed the door open, greeting everyone with a barrage of New Year's blessings. Chloe linked arms with one of them. She dragged him over to Arthur and held out her hand. "Arthur, the boys are here to wish you a Happy New Year!" "Wishing you prosperity, now hand over the red envelopes!" Arthur sneaked a nervous glance at me. I linked my arm through Arthur's and smiled sweetly. "Sister Chloe, is the economy abroad really that bad right now?" The two friends who just walked in froze. I squeezed Arthur's arm and gently swayed it. "Was it America? I heard they have a huge homelessness problem over there..." Before I finished the sentence, I covered my mouth in feigned shock. "I didn't mean anything by it, sister! I just heard you just got back from America, and I was just curious..." Chloe's face turned beet red with rage. She violently shoved away the hand of the friend she had been holding and pointed a trembling finger at me, screaming. "I came here to celebrate the New Year! I am Arthur's BRO! What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" She kicked over one of the gift boxes the friends had brought. "Arthur, your wife is insulting me and you're not going to do a damn thing about it?!" I recoiled in terror. Both my hands instinctively flew to cover my still-flat stomach. "Please... please don't be mad..." Arthur gasped, quickly wrapping his arms around me to steady me as I stepped back. He glared at Chloe, his eyes flashing with genuine anger. "Chloe! She's pregnant!" Chloe's eyes were red with fury. One of the friends, Liam, tried to play peacemaker. "Chloe, it's the New Year, let's not get angry." Her lips were trembling. She took a step back, right into Liam's arms. "Arthur, everyone else gets married and stays the same! But the second you get married, you let your bros get treated like garbage?!" Arthur looked miserable. He looked at her, then looked at me. He was trapped. I bit my lip. "Sister Chloe, you just really hate the sight of me, don't you..." I tugged gently on Arthur's wrist. "Sister Chloe seems to have misunderstood me... Arthur, could you please explain it to her..." As I spoke. I let go of his hand and subtly wiped away a completely non-existent tear. My nose was perfectly pink. I looked at her, hesitant. "Is it because I'm not good at expressing myself? Did I say something to upset you...?" After I said that. The living room fell into a bizarre, heavy silence. Arthur wrapped his arm tightly around my waist. "It's fine, honey. They're just overreacting." 06 Liam was the ultimate compromiser. He dragged Chloe outside, and within a few minutes, he had calmed her down. The two of them hauled several cases of liquor out of the trunk of his car. Chloe slapped the top of one of the boxes, looking incredibly smug. "I specifically told Liam to bring these for you! See? Only your bros actually care about what you want." I slowly descended the stairs from the second floor. My tone was soft and delicate. "Hubby, the bedroom is so cold..." Every single person on the couch turned to look at me. Arthur hurried over and soothingly stroked my cheek. "Honey, go turn the heater on in the room first. Once they've had enough, I'll come right upstairs to be with you." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Chloe aggressively opening bottles of alcohol on the couch, frantically shooting pointed looks at the two friends. She said loudly, dripping with sarcasm: "If you're pregnant, you should stay upstairs and rest! Why do you have to come down and interfere with the men?" "Arthur, your wife is seriously high maintenance!" Liam quickly covered her mouth. Arthur looked deeply conflicted. "Evelyn, it's so late... why don't you... go back upstairs for a bit?" He lowered his voice, pleading: "I'll get rid of them as fast as I can." My heart stopped for a second. Something heavy settled in my chest, slowly sinking. 07 The noise coming from the living room downstairs was loud. Four people—three guys and one girl. They drank and hollered well past midnight. Chloe's cheeks were flushed pink as she suggested playing a game. Truth or Dare, of course. She "lost" the very first round. Liam laughed mischievously: "Then you have to choose someone to kiss! We never got to see you guys when you used to sleep in the same bed! We gotta get a front-row seat this time!" The atmosphere was rowdy. Chloe, her eyes blurry with alcohol, grabbed Arthur by the collar and pulled him toward her. Arthur looked hesitant, his eyes darting around. "Chloe, you've had too much to drink..." Before he could finish his sentence, she crashed her lips fiercely against his. The security camera footage I was watching on the second floor was high definition. I could clearly see a pink tongue sliding back and forth where their mouths met. One full minute. They finally broke apart, looking reluctant. Chloe giggled, her words slurring slightly: "I bit your lip and made it bleed. Let your wife see that. You were always mine first." I saw it with absolute clarity. Arthur's hands, which had been hanging limply by his sides the whole time, seemed to suddenly regain sensation. He reached up and cupped the back of Chloe's head. He scolded her, but his tone was affectionate: "You never behave." I silently closed the live feed on my phone. The bitter ache in my heart completely vanished. I suddenly realized something. Arthur. He wasn't the man I thought he was. I used to think he was just a bit oblivious when it came to boundaries, but at least he shared fifty percent of my mother-in-law's DNA. I didn't expect him to be as ruthless or decisive as her. I just needed him to not be a philandering scumbag like his father. I never imagined. I really, truly never imagined. 08 Early morning. The sky was just beginning to lighten. They finally called it a night. The mattress beside me dipped. The man next to me, reeking of alcohol, wrapped his arms around my waist. "Honey, don't be mad. They just wouldn't let me leave..." "I love you..." Before he could even finish the sentence. He was snoring heavily. I peeled his arms off me and moved as far away as possible. I opened the security camera app and watched the playback. After that first kiss, Chloe proceeded to "lose" almost every single round. She went down the line, exchanging saliva with every single one of her "bros." Including Arthur. She lost two more times. The penalty for the dare was for the guys to reach under her shirt and unhook her bra. The scene was completely debauched. Even on fast-forward, you could tell everyone involved was having the time of their lives. I was suddenly incredibly thankful. Ever since my mother-in-law had a minor stroke a while back, I immediately had security cameras installed all over the first floor. However, I had never mentioned it to Arthur. 09 They finally woke up in the afternoon. There were a lot of elderly people in the neighborhood where they grew up. According to the local tradition, they had to go door-to-door to wish the elders a Happy New Year. Chloe was incredibly enthusiastic about organizing it. When she looked at me, her eyes carried a faint, unmistakable glint of contempt. I understood that look perfectly. See? The man you treat like a treasure is still easily caught in my trap. I pretended to be completely oblivious. I smiled back at her. Arthur suddenly hugged me from behind. "Honey, we drank a little too late last night. Please don't be mad. I love you the most." I frowned. I instinctively pried his hands off me. Arthur froze. But he recovered quickly and started coaxing me: "Honey, don't be mad. It was just once for the New Year. I promise I won't drink with them like that again, okay?" He hugged me again. From the other side of the room, Chloe yelled, "Hey! Arthur! Stop being so gross and get over here for the picture!" "Coming!" Arthur yelled back. He reached out to pull me along. "Please, honey, just give me some face right now. When we get home, I'll buy you that bag you wanted." He dragged me into the middle of the group. I suddenly suggested, "Let me take the picture! I'm not very photogenic anyway." Arthur looked slightly taken aback. But Chloe immediately ran over and squeezed right next to Arthur. "Fine, you take it! But make sure you turn the beauty filter on! Make us look good!" She was loud and boisterous. Grinning from ear to ear, she threw her arm around Arthur's shoulder and threw up a peace sign at me. I snapped five photos in a row. I told the childhood friends that I would create a group chat via airdrop right then and there to share the photos. Seeing the group chat immediately swell to 30+ people—because the wives and girlfriends of the other guys had also joined—I instantly sent the photos I had just taken. However. Sent alongside them were the video clips from last night's security footage. To make it perfectly clear for everyone. I had selected the most exciting scenes and spent quite a bit of time editing them together. Very quickly. A scream erupted from the couch area: "Evelyn! What the hell is this?!" "Recall it! Recall the message right now!" In the crowd, the sharp sound of a slap echoed. Arthur's face turned ashen. He sprinted toward me. "Honey! Honey, we were just drunk..." "I swear to God, there is absolutely nothing going on between me and Chloe! We didn't do anything! I swear!" He was spinning in circles, frantic with panic. But he still grabbed my arm and begged: "Please, just recall the video first, okay? It's not just me in there, it's Liam, and Chloe, and the others!" "Evelyn, this isn't the time or place to make a scene." Chloe also came jogging over to me. "Evelyn! You did this on purpose! You did this on purpose, didn't you?!" "How can a woman be so vicious and calculating?! We were just playing a game between bros, and you actually kept evidence?! Recall it! Recall it right now!" The living room. Was in absolute chaos. But I looked even more panicked than they did. "I didn't do it on purpose! What do I do?! The time limit passed, I can't recall it...!"
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