On my wedding night, I caught my good friend Judson and my wife Doman in bed together. Crying, they claimed they were drunk and confused. They knelt at my door for three days and three nights. When they saw I was determined to divorce, Doman slit her wrists, and Judson got a vasectomy. Under the repeated persuasion of friends and family, I eventually softened. For seven years, she was gentle and considerate. Everyone praised her for knowing her mistake and reforming. Until my father-in-law Andrew's birthday, when my six-year-old sister-in-law hugged Doman's leg and asked: "Where's my daddy?" I smiled and pointed at Andrew behind me: "Jones, your dad is right there, isn't he?" Jones turned her head and said crisply: "I'm talking about my real daddy." I froze and looked awkwardly at Doman. Her expression remained calm as she looked up at me and said: "Samuel, there's something I never told you. Actually, Jones isn't my parents' child. She's mine and Judson's daughter." I heard her words and froze in place. My brain felt like someone had punched it hard. It was buzzing. "What did you say?" My voice was trembling, full of disbelief. Doman put Jones down and patted her back: "Be good, go to Grandma." Jones bounced over to my mother-in-law Eve. Eve scooped her up, her eyes darting away, not daring to look at me. Doman turned around, her expression so calm it was chilling. "Jones is mine and Judson's child. Judson got a vasectomy. He'll never have children in this lifetime, so I gave birth to her." She paused, looking at Jones who was playing with Eve's hair, her tone as casual as discussing what to eat today. "I originally planned to keep it from you for life." I staggered back a step, grabbing the dining table behind me to keep from falling. "Then you... why are you telling me now?" My throat felt like it had been scraped with sandpaper. Every word tasted of blood. Before Doman could speak, Andrew stood up. He looked at me, his voice heavy: "It was my idea." I jerked my head up to look at him. "Jones is already six years old. Your mom and I are getting old. We can't raise a child properly." "We don't want to keep making this mistake!" My chest felt like someone was squeezing it. I couldn't breathe. Eve suddenly put Jones down and pushed her toward the bedroom: "Jones, be good, go play inside. I'll come keep you company in a bit." When the bedroom door closed, she turned around. The expression on her face had completely changed. "Samuel, don't blame Doman. If you hadn't insisted on divorce back then, Judson wouldn't have gotten a vasectomy. We were the ones who told Doman to give birth." She paused, her tone self-righteous: "Judson is our adopted son. We had to leave him an heir!" My brain went blank. Doman had said back then that Eve had a late-life pregnancy and was afraid of gossip, so she went to Europe to give birth. Doman went along to take care of her for a whole year. I thought she was being filial. It turned out it wasn't Eve having a baby. It was her having a baby. I raised my head and looked at Doman. This woman I had loved for ten years. We met in college and married after graduation. I thought we were a perfect match. But on our wedding night, she rolled into bed with her adoptive brother, my best friend. I asked for a divorce. She knelt on the ground begging, her forehead hitting the floor with loud thuds. Judson knelt beside her, a grown man trembling and crying. Seeing I wouldn't compromise, the next day, she slit her wrists. When I rushed to the hospital, she lay in the bed, pale as paper, but gripping my hand tightly. "Samuel, I was wrong... please don't divorce me..." "Without you, I'll really die..." I softened. Judson also got a vasectomy that same day, saying he would spend the rest of his life atoning. Everyone urged me: "She slit her wrists, he got a vasectomy. What more do you want?" I thought about it for a whole month, convincing myself to forgive her, convincing myself to forget that night, convincing myself to love her again. I did it. For seven years, I forgot about that incident and treated her sincerely. I thought she had really changed. But now it seemed, all of this was just a joke! After a long silence, I raised my head and stared coldly at Doman, saying word by word: "Doman, let's get divorced." My voice was so soft I could barely hear it myself. When the words fell, Andrew and Eve's expressions changed completely. Doman also froze, her brows furrowing tighter. "Over such a small matter?" She turned her head, impatience in her tone. I laughed, laughed until my eyes stung. "Small matter?" "Doman, you had someone else's child and raised her right under my nose. That's a small matter?" She sighed, turned to look at me, her eyes calm. "Samuel." She placed her hand on her lower abdomen. "I'm pregnant." "Are you sure you want to divorce me?"
I froze at her words. "What did you say?" Doman removed her hand from her abdomen and looked up at me, her eyes as calm as a stagnant pool. "Your dad has late-stage liver cancer. He doesn't have much time left." "Before he dies, doesn't he just want to see you have a child?" I felt like all the strength had been drained from my body. These past seven years, I had mentioned having a child to Doman countless times. The first year, she said her career was just starting, to wait a bit longer. The second year, she said she wanted to enjoy our two-person world for a few more years. The third and fourth years, she always said she was busy, always said there was no rush. I thought she didn't want children. I thought she was really planning for our future. But now, she was using a child as leverage to threaten me. In my mind, I saw my father in his hospital bed. When I visited him last week, he was so thin he was unrecognizable, yet he still held my hand and smiled. "Samuel, I don't have many regrets in this life. I just want to see you have a child." "You and Doman have been together seven years. It's time to have a child." I kept my head down, unable to speak. He patted my hand, smiling with expectation. "It's okay, I can still hold on. I can still help you take care of the baby." I closed my eyes and clenched my fists, my nails digging deep into my palms. Eve came over, her tone softening. "Samuel, you and Doman have been together so many years. Can you really bear to divorce?" Andrew also walked over, his head down as he said in a muffled voice: "Doman did wrong in this matter, but these years... how she's treated you, you know in your heart." "For the child's sake, both of you back down a bit." I opened my eyes suddenly, a bitter smile pulling at the corner of my mouth. Had Doman treated me well? Yes. After that incident, she was attentive to me in every way. Every morning when I opened my eyes, there was always a pressed shirt at the bedside. Whatever I liked to eat, she learned to make it at home. No matter how troublesome, she was willing to learn. When I worked overtime until late at night, she always left a light on, with soup warming in the pot. When I had a fever and was hospitalized, she stayed by my bed for three days and nights without closing her eyes. Everyone said I was lucky. "Your wife treats you so well. I've never seen anyone so considerate." "You two are such a perfect match. You'll definitely grow old together." Even Andrew and Eve, because of that incident back then, were especially good to me. During holidays, Andrew personally cooked my favorite dishes. When my parents visited, Eve would accompany them shopping all day without complaining. I thought she had really changed. I thought the woman who knelt before me and slit her wrists was really spending the rest of her life in repentance. But it turned out all of this was just an act performed for me. I raised my head and looked at the three people in front of me, saying hoarsely: "So, what do you want me to do?" "Just acknowledge this child?" As soon as I finished speaking, Doman pulled out a document from her bag and handed it to me. "This is a property division agreement." I looked down. The content was painfully glaring. It stated that no matter how many children Doman and I had in the future, 70% of the family assets would belong to Jones. Including the old house my dad left me. I was stunned and looked up at her in disbelief: "You want me to leave most of my assets to your illegitimate daughter?" Doman showed no guilt. She looked at me with complete self-righteousness. "Samuel, you don't like Jones. In the future, you definitely won't be able to treat both children equally." "I'm just fighting for a bit more for Jones. Is that wrong?" "I just want to give my child security." I opened my mouth but couldn't speak for a moment. I just felt it was ridiculous. She wanted to give her child security, so she had to sacrifice my interests and my child's interests? Why should I? I was about to argue when the doorbell suddenly rang. Eve walked over to open the door. Standing outside was a man in casual clothes, with a faint smile on his face: "I'm back."
Judson's voice carried into the living room. Everyone froze. Andrew and Eve's faces first flashed with disbelief, then were overtaken by enormous joy. "Judson? Really?" Doman was even more excited, her eyes reddening. She unconsciously walked a few steps toward the door. Judson entered, first holding Eve's hand and saying gently: "Mom, I'm back." His gaze swept across the room. When he saw me, the smile at the corner of his mouth stiffened. "Samuel, you're here too." I forced out a smile that looked worse than crying. Seven years. Judson seemed not to have changed at all, except for a bit more gentleness in his expression. Did he know Doman had given birth to his child? Just as I was thinking this, the bedroom door suddenly pushed open. Jones, hearing the sound, ran out. The moment she saw Judson, her eyes lit up. Like a little butterfly, she flew into his arms. "Daddy! You're finally here! I missed you so much!" Judson quickly held the child in his arms, the affection in his eyes overflowing. "I missed you too." Jones wrapped her arms around his neck and looked at Doman, saying in a sweet voice: "Mommy missed you too. She looks at your photos every day." Hearing this, Judson looked up at Doman, his gaze tender as water. Watching their happy family of three, I felt cold all over. Finally, I just laughed in anger. So they had known all along. Only I, like a fool, had been kept in the dark for seven whole years. I looked at Judson, my voice cold as ice. "Don't you owe me an explanation?" I stared at him hard, asking word by word: "Didn't you say you would never appear in front of me again?" As soon as I finished speaking, the smile on Judson's face froze. He handed the child to Eve and looked at me, struggling to speak: "Samuel, I'm sorry, I..." "Enough!" Before he could finish, Doman sharply interrupted. She quickly walked to Judson's side and glared at me: "Samuel, Judson finally came back. Are you going to drive him away again?!" Andrew and Eve also snapped out of it and immediately glowered at me. "Samuel, Judson has been gone for seven years. What more do you want?" "Exactly! This is our home. If anyone should leave, it's you!" Jones also broke free from Eve's embrace, rushed over, and pushed me hard, screaming: "You're a bad person! Don't bully my daddy!" I looked at their united front, looked at Doman's undisguised disgust toward me. The last trace of warmth in my heart was completely crushed. "Fine, fine... I'll leave!" Eyes red, I slammed the door and left. Leaving Andrew's house, I drove toward the hospital. While waiting at a red light, I scrolled to Doman's Twitter. It was a photo of their family of three. Judson holding Jones, Doman leaning against him, smiling radiantly. The caption read: [A happy family] I laughed, liked it, and left a comment under that post: [Brother becomes lover, sister becomes daughter. Quite happy indeed.] Less than a minute after posting the comment, Doman's call came through. As soon as I answered, her angry accusations came pouring out: "Samuel, what do you mean?! Delete that comment right now!" I laughed coldly: "Isn't what I said the truth?" "You!" She was furious. "Fine! You'll regret this!" With that, she hung up. I tossed my phone to the passenger seat and floored the gas pedal. When I reached the hospital and went upstairs, I saw several nurses rushing a hospital bed toward the emergency room. And lying on the bed was my dad. I froze, my brain going blank. After coming to my senses, I frantically called Doman. "What did you do?!"
On the other end of the phone, her voice was cold and vicious. "What did I do?" "I just called your dad and told him I was going to abort the child in my belly!" "That the Simon family will be without descendants forever!!!" I was so angry my whole body shook. I roared into the phone: "Doman, are you insane! Don't you know my dad is sick? Don't you know he can't handle shock?" "Get over here right now! Come tell my dad you were joking!" Doman laughed coldly: "Who told you to post that stuff on Twitter? Do you know how upset Judson was when he saw it?" "Do you know how much determination it took for him to come back?!" "Samuel, this is the price of speaking carelessly!" With that, she hung up directly. After that, no matter how many times I called, no one answered. Twenty minutes later, the light in the emergency room went out. The doctor came out, removed his mask, and shook his head at me. "There's not much time left. Go in and see him." All the strength in my body seemed to drain away. I staggered into the room and held my dad's icy cold hand. He could no longer speak. He just looked at me weakly, his lips moving slightly. I understood from his lip movements. "Doman... child..." Tears burst from my eyes. I choked out: "Dad, don't worry, the child is still there!" "She's just mad at me, talking nonsense. Don't take it seriously." In my dad's cloudy eyes, there seemed to be a glimmer of light. He struggled, as if wanting to say something. I leaned my ear closer and heard him use his last bit of strength to say: "Want... to see... Doman... and the child..." He wanted to see Doman. He wanted to see that unborn child. "Okay, okay, I'll call her. I'll call her right now!" With trembling hands, I took out my phone and called Doman's number over and over, called Andrew's house... all went unanswered. "Dad, wait, she'll come soon, very soon..." I held my father's increasingly cold hand, tears falling in large drops onto the back of his hand. I kept calling and texting, but there was never a response. My dad kept looking toward the doorway, the light in his eyes dimming bit by bit, little by little. Finally, I could only watch as my dad's hand slowly dropped, watch as the line representing his heartbeat on the monitor became a flat line. "Dad——!!!" I knelt by the hospital bed, letting out a beast-like wail. Over the next few days, I handled my father's funeral arrangements alone, without notifying anyone from Doman's family. It wasn't until a week later that my phone screen lit up. It was a message from Doman. [Tomorrow my parents are throwing a welcome party for Judson and announcing Jones's identity. We'll say Jones is our child to outsiders!] I looked at the words on the screen, expressionless. Seeing I didn't reply, she sent a few more messages. [Alright, I know you're still angry.] [Don't worry, after the party ends, I'll go with you to see Dad.] [We'll bring Jones too, to make him happy.] [Remember to come tomorrow!] Seeing her mention my dad, a cold smile pulled at the corner of my mouth. I picked up my phone and replied with three words: [Got it.] After sending the message, I looked at the document envelope on the table. Doman, don't worry. Not only will I come, I'll prepare an unforgettable gift for all of you. The next afternoon, I appeared at the party on time. The hotel banquet hall was crowded. All the guests were relatives and friends from Doman's side. Andrew and Eve stood on stage, beaming. "We've invited everyone here today to announce some great news!" "Our adopted son Judson, after working overseas for seven years, has finally come home!" Thunderous applause erupted below. Judson stood to the side in a sharp suit, smiling and nodding. Finally, Doman led Jones onto the stage. She took the microphone, smiling gently and gracefully. "There's one more thing we want to share with everyone. Actually, Jones is mine and Samuel's daughter." She followed yesterday's script, relating Jones's "background" in detail. Finally, she looked at me with deep affection and said softly: "Now, let my husband, Samuel, say a few words too!" I was about to stand when Eve leaned close to my ear and whispered threateningly: "Don't say anything crazy up there, or you'll regret it!" I smiled, picked up the document envelope, and walked onto the stage. I took the microphone from Doman's hand. Facing the crowd below, I said clearly, word by word: "Thank you all for coming today to attend mine and Doman's—divorce party." As soon as those words left my mouth, the entire room fell deathly silent.
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