My husband was cheating on me with the housewife downstairs. Her husband and I used to hide in the stairwell smoking. We wouldn't dare go back inside until they were finished having their fun. Later, they grew increasingly brazen. The housewife's husband said to me, "I'm going in to catch them in the act. What about you?" I took a bite of my hot dog, completely unfazed. "You catch yours, I'll catch mine!" 01 I gently pulled the front door shut and let out a heavy breath. I miscalculated. I should have called ahead. If I hadn't been so quick-witted, that scene would have been incredibly awkward. Let's just wait for them. You have to pamper your own husband, right? I pushed open the heavy fire door, planning to head up to the half-landing between the 18th and 19th floors for some air. But just a few steps up, I saw the guy from the 18th floor standing there, smoking a cigarette. "Well, you locked out too?" He gave me a flat, sidelong glance. "Said she was making dessert for me. The kitchen is dead cold, and the egg tarts are still in the delivery box. I don't know what to do either!" We were in the same boat. I bummed a lighter off him, and we started making small talk just to kill time. We covered local news, national politics, and were just about to dive into the complexities of the global economy. Finally, sounds of movement and sticky-sweet voices drifted up from below. The man checked his watch. "Half an hour. Your husband has decent stamina." "Men like to hold it in. Honestly, the average is ten minutes." "Ha, I feel personally attacked!" 02 When I got back home and was changing my shoes, Ethan walked out of the kitchen wearing an apron. He took my coat and bag. "Hungry? The soup is ready, I just need to stir-fry a couple of quick sides." I could already smell the aroma of chicken and mushroom soup. But given what I'd just witnessed downstairs, I had reasonable grounds to suspect I'd been eating pre-packaged meals this whole time. Still, I put on a blissful smile. "Honey, you work so hard!" Ethan looked at me with profound tenderness. "You're the one working hard out there! "Go have some tea, I brewed some fruit tea. Dinner in ten minutes." Holding my glass, I scanned the apartment. The fuzzy throw pillows on the sofa were a bit rumpled. The trash can in the living room had a fresh liner. The bedroom window was wide open, letting in a strong scent of gardenias. The bathroom had clearly just been used; there were still wet spots on the floor. Overall, no glaring oversights. I nodded in satisfaction. "Honey, dinner's ready." "Coming!" I poured the fruit tea down the drain, put down the glass, and headed to the dining room. At the table, we ate in comfortable silence. Suddenly, Ethan mentioned that the keys on his laptop were sticking, and brought up a new smartwatch that was just released. I always catch on quickly. I immediately pulled out my phone and transferred ten thousand dollars to his account. Ethan's attitude became visibly more attentive. He was serving me food and scooping my soup. Before clearing the table, he even cut up a plate of fruit for me. While I was looking at the message Liam, the guy from downstairs, had just sent me. [Transferred money to your husband?] [How much did your wife get?] [Eight thousand eight hundred!] [Tsk, a twelve-hundred-dollar difference. The middleman really takes a cut.] When we went to sleep that night, Ethan and I lay in the same bed, but it felt like the Grand Canyon was between us. At 1:00 AM, my phone rang. I jolted awake and quickly answered it. "Hello, Mr. Davis?" "Yes, yes, of course. The quote I gave you is the absolute lowest I can go." "Yes, absolutely. I understand, things are tough for everyone right now." "How about this? Let me buy you lunch next time, and we can discuss the details." "Alright, have a good night." Hanging up, I heard the rustle of the person next to me turning over. "Honey? Did I wake you? I'm sorry!" "It's fine, I wasn't asleep anyway. You should go to sleep, you have to get up early tomorrow!" Aww, my husband is so understanding. I hit the pillow and fell asleep instantly. At 2:40 AM, the phone rang again. I didn't even open my eyes. I mumbled a few words and hung up. The person next to me was tossing and turning again. I smacked my lips and fell back into a deep sleep. At 4:00 AM, the familiar ringtone blared once more. The person next to me shot up from the bed and walked out of the room. I reached out, silenced the alarm, pulled the covers over my head, and went back to sleep! I woke up early, stretched, and greeted another beautiful day. I ran into Liam in the elevator. I nodded at him and yawned. "What's wrong? Didn't sleep well?" "I slept fine. I just set three alarms before bed." "Tsk, mutually assured destruction?" I squinted comfortably. "I sleep like a rock; I pass out the second my head hits the pillow. He's different. He's a light sleeper. He didn't sleep a wink last night!" "Can't he just nap during the day?" "Well, that depends on your wife! By the way, how was your night?" Liam frowned so hard you could crush a walnut between his brows. "She was needy. Kept me up half the night. Your husband isn't cutting it; he clearly didn't satisfy her!" "No way!" I rubbed my chin. "I've bought him so many expensive supplements!" Liam pursed his lips. "I think I need to go on a business trip." "Seconded!" 03 Before my "business trip," I tossed an old phone with three preset alarms into the safe, and changed the safe's passcode. That afternoon, I sent Ethan a text from an unknown number. [Honey, I lost my phone. I can't get a new SIM card while I'm abroad. I'll contact you when I get back to the States.] Of course, I didn't actually leave the country. I just booked a room at a nearby hotel. I ate well and drank well every day. And I cackled with glee while watching the live feed of Ethan standing in front of the safe, smoking cigarette after cigarette in the middle of the night. On the fourth day of my trip, the old phone in the safe finally died. Liam and I met up for some BBQ nearby. He said: "I'm going in to catch them in the act tonight. What about you?" I chewed on my brisket. "You catch yours, I'll catch mine!" The scene played out like this: Liam and I stormed in, kicking open the bedroom door with lightning speed. Ethan was on top of Liam's wife. She was screaming "Ah! Ah!" and scratching Ethan's back. I couldn't help but blink. Is it really that good? Must be faking it! It never felt like that when I was with him. While I was still swallowing my shock, Liam had already gotten into character. His face was pale, his body trembling. "How... how could you do this to me!" The two on the bed were terrified, fighting over the blanket to cover themselves. Ethan was no match for Liam's wife, so he panicked and started hastily throwing on his clothes. Liam shot me a look: Act! I quickly found my motivation and screamed at the top of my lungs: "Ethan, you bastard!" And then? Should we fight? Probably! Liam and I exchanged a glance. He charged at Ethan; I lunged at his wife. I ripped off the blanket, grabbed her by the hair, and slapped her hard a few times. She screamed for help. But the only person who could save her was currently being pinned to the floor and pulverized by her husband. The screams, the begging, the cursing—it was music to my ears. After letting it all out, Liam and I stood in the stairwell having a post-fight cigarette. Half an hour later, he went downstairs, and I went upstairs. 04 Ethan was sitting on the sofa, bruised and battered. The apartment had been cleaned up. But this time, he clearly hadn't used the gardenia room spray. The air smelled disgusting. No acting required this time; it was all genuine emotion. "Ethan, I want a divorce!" He snapped his head up. His eyes held vulnerability, guilt, and pleading. Ethan was a good-looking guy. In college, he was both a top student and the quintessential frat boy heartthrob. People always said about him: "He's the most handsome guy among programmers, and the best programmer among handsome guys." They said I only wanted him for his looks. Well, yeah... why wouldn't I? But looking at the swollen pig-face in front of me now, I couldn't feel a single ripple of attraction. He dropped to his knees with a loud thump. "Honey, I'm sorry. I lost my mind. Please give me another chance. Let's not get divorced, okay?" Okay my ass! "Ethan, I bust my ass working out there just to support this family, to give you a better life, and this is how you repay me?" "I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have done it. I swear, there will absolutely never be a next time. Honey, please, give me one more chance." "How long have you two been together?" "Just this once! Really, just this once. She came over to borrow some soy sauce. I was an idiot, I couldn't control myself when she seduced me!" Ha, if I hadn't installed hidden cameras in the apartment, I might have actually believed him. Borrowing soy sauce? What a creative excuse. "Ethan, you've broken my heart. I'm divorcing you!" "Honey, honey, I know I was wrong. Just give me one more chance. Just this once." He shuffled forward on his knees and hugged my legs. I kicked him away in disgust, stormed into the guest bedroom, and locked the door with a loud bang. Ethan was still outside, begging. I yelled: "Shut up! I don't want to hear you speak. Leave me alone so I can calm down." "Okay, okay, I won't say a word. As long as we don't divorce, whatever you want is fine!" I dropped the crying act, curled my lip, and texted Liam: [How are things on your end?] [She won't agree to a divorce. You?] [Same!] But this was all within my expectations. If they agreed to a divorce that easily, it would be too boring. What's the next step? When the heavens are about to place a great responsibility on a person, they first test their resolve. Let's start with a course of the silent treatment. 05 I stopped speaking to Ethan. I didn't even look at him. If he made me a sandwich, I threw it directly into the trash. I ignored his calls and deleted his texts without reading them. I came home late every night, smelling of alcohol. I refused to sleep in the same bed with him. Ethan was visibly deteriorating. He suffered from insomnia night after night and started taking Paxil again. Finally, his emotional tension reached its breaking point. On the eighth day, he blocked my path: "We need to talk." I sidestepped his hand, flicked some imaginary dust off my shoulder, and said coldly: "Six PM. I'll be back." "Okay, I'll be waiting!" I arrived home at 6:30 PM. Ethan was pacing anxiously. "You're back! Are you hungry? Do you want to eat first? I made your favorites!" I slammed my handbag down on the table. "Cut the crap. Talk. What do you want to talk about?" Ethan clenched his fists. "I'm exhausted too. I'm at home every day, cleaning the house, waiting for you to come back, cooking for you. I feel less and less joy. I don't even feel like myself anymore." I knew exactly what he was going to say. He was going to talk about his hardships, my neglect of the family, and my lack of care for him. These were the exact same things he had complained about to Liam's wife. And conveniently, Liam's wife had the same complaints about Liam. So they hit it off instantly and found a shared connection. I watched Ethan wallow in self-pity. To be honest, I felt absolutely nothing. "This is the life you begged for. You were the one who said work was too stressful and you wanted to take some time off. I agreed without a second thought. From then on, your expenses, the mortgage, the car loan—it all fell on my shoulders. And this is how you repay me?" "You only see your own hardships, but what about me? Audrey, have you ever considered my feelings? Have you ever thought about making time for me? I'm a man. I need a gentle, caring wife like Chloe, not a boss who only knows how to boss me around!" Chloe? It took me a second to process. Oh, right! Liam's wife! Pfft, he almost broke my character. I quickly delivered the most important line of the day: "Ethan, admit it. You're just a selfish, cowardly, incompetent freeloader who thinks too highly of himself. You're a shameless scumbag. You're like a rat in a gutter; just looking at you makes me sick." "Shut up!" "Why should I shut up? Am I not telling the truth?" I took a step forward, putting myself right in his striking distance. With the physical proximity and the verbal insults, he finally snapped and shoved me hard. "I said shut up!" "Ah!" A sharp pain shot through me. Fuck, I twisted my ankle. I fell to the floor. The next second, bright red blood seeped out from under me. My expression twisted in shock. I looked up blankly, my hand clutching my stomach. "My baby!" 06 Ethan's advancing footsteps came to a dead halt. "What baby?" Ever since he hooked up with the housewife downstairs, we hadn't been intimate in over half a year. Men are truly bizarre creatures. He can cheat with complete justification and shamelessly beg for forgiveness. But if a woman does the same thing, he acts as if he's suffered the ultimate humiliation. "Who is it? Is it that guy who drove you home last time? Or the one who answered the phone when you were on your business trip? Audrey, how could you do this to me?" The corner of my mouth curled up. Using my most sarcastic, biting tone, I hissed through gritted teeth: "What? You became a dirty man-whore, and I'm supposed to stay pure and chaste for you? "Do you think too highly of yourself, or do you look down on me too much? "I got bored of your three-minute stamina a long time ago. "Now is perfect. We can just call it quits. "But don't even think about taking a single cent of my money!" Under my relentless provocations, Ethan's breathing grew heavier and heavier. His eyes were bloodshot, his body tense and trembling. "Shut up, shut up! Shut your mouth!" "Ha!" I scoffed. "What if I don't? What are you gonna do, strangle me?" That one sentence seemed to snap something in Ethan. The moment the words left my mouth, he lunged at me, pinning me to the floor and wrapping his hands tightly around my throat. One second. Two seconds. Three seconds. Figures burst into the room. Ethan was tackled off me. The pressure on my neck vanished, and I gasped greedily for air. "Could you have waited any longer? Were you trying to collect my corpse?" Liam helped me up. "Fuck, you didn't tell me you were taking it this far! Why is there blood? Are you pregnant?" "Fake blood." "Alright then!" The people pinning Ethan down were all familiar faces—neighbors from the floors above and below. They looked suspicious, but their faces also betrayed undeniable curiosity. I yelled right on cue: "It's bad enough you cheated, but now you want to silence me?! I'm calling the cops! I'm having you arrested!"
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