I've been married to my wife, Stacy Howard, for 12 years now. She doesn't let me sleep with her unless it's on the 5th or 20th of the month.

I thought she was just uninterested in physical intimacy. That is, until I accidentally witness her walking together with her first love, Devin Fisher, on the street on Thanksgiving Day.

Stacy, who's always cold and aloof to me, is actually smiling softly at Devin.

Our daughter, Tammy Gilbert, tags along with them as well. She holds Devin's hand while calling him "daddy" in the sweetest tone ever.

Instead of demanding answers from Stacy, I turn around and head home. There, I dig out the divorce agreement that I've already prepared in advance.

The clock struck 12:00 am. That was when my wife, Stacy Howard, finally came home with my daughter, Tammy Gilbert, who also held a huge bouquet of fresh flowers in her hands.

My expression fell at once as I hurriedly slapped the flowers to the ground. However, that only elicited a shrill, accusatory scream from Tammy.

"What are you doing? Devin gave this to me as a gift!"

She hurriedly crouched down to pick the flowers up. Meanwhile, Stacy looked at me coldly and said, "What the hell are you making a huge fuss about, Allen Gilbert?"

I felt my heart being sliced in two as I looked at their cold, steely gazes. They had completely forgotten that I was asthmatic and deathly allergic to pollen, which meant I couldn't be anywhere near them.

I opened my mouth to speak, but breathing became harder and harder for me. Yet, all of my pain and suffering didn't even induce a single ounce of pity from them.

Stacy was still looking at me coldly.

"What's the fuss about again now? Go to the hospital yourself if you're not feeling well. I still need to wake up early tomorrow morning for work. I don't have the royal time to deal with you."

Tammy hugged her flowers and looked at me impatiently as well.

"Can you stop pretending already? I still need to go to school tomorrow! Don't disturb my sleep!"

In the end, I could only use the last of my energy to get an Uber to send me to the hospital as quickly as possible.

When I finally reached the hospital, my asthma attack was fully-blown, which sent me into shock, and I was quickly rushed into the intensive care unit.

When I finally woke up in the hospital ward, I realized that I was all alone.

I weakly asked the nurse to help get the drip down for me so that I could get discharged. The nurse did all the necessary steps and told me seriously, "You went into an anaphylactic shock because of your asthma and allergies.

"Remember that you're to stay away from pollen at all costs. Otherwise, you would be putting yourself in danger again."

I nodded weakly again, feeling the bitterness surging in my heart.

When I got home, Stacy and Tammy didn't seem the least bit concerned about my asthma attack that happened last night.

"You knew that you had asthma. Why didn't you stay away?" Stacy chided me sternly, as if I were the culprit instead.

I asked her a question in return. "Then, why did you still bring the flowers back despite knowing I was deathly allergic?"

"Mommy's very busy! It's normal that she forgets things from time to time! You were the one who was asking for trouble by putting yourself in harm's way!"

Tammy stood next to Stacy, defending her while shouting angrily at me.

I stared at the daughter I'd poured all of my heart and soul into raising and felt my heart slowly drop to my stomach. I slowly asked, "Then, what about you? Did you also forget that I was deathly allergic to flowers?"

"I'm always busy with homework and having to memorize shit all day. How could I possibly remember something as stupid as that?"

She answered me so matter-of-factly as though my life was just something menial in her eyes.

I inhaled deeply and forced myself to calm down. Then, I looked at Stacy and said, "Let's get divorced."

"Divorced? Just because of a bouquet of flowers?"

I shook my head. "It's not just because of that."

"Then what else could it be? Because I didn't go back with you for Thanksgiving? Or is it because you don't trust me?

"I was out with Tammy all day yesterday. What could I possibly have done anyway?"

"I've already told you before that I don't like you interfering in my affairs. I have my own work, social life, and business to attend to. I can't always revolve around you!" Stacy exclaimed righteously.

I listened quietly and felt my heart filling with disappointment.

She was always like this, never taking responsibility for her actions, knowing that I would always accept being the ignorant bad guy as long as I was my usual, unconditionally tolerating self.

"That's why I'm telling you now that I won't interfere in your affairs anymore. Let's get a divorce, Stacy," I said.

Just then, Tammy piped up and said, "You're both divorcing, I'm not going with Daddy."

I looked at her and smiled slightly, a hint of sarcasm in my voice.

"Have I ever said that I'd want custody of you? I wouldn't want you even if you chose to come with me."

"That's enough!" Stacy exclaimed sternly in my face. "Stop throwing a fuss like this, Allen Gilbert! My patience has its limit too."

Then, she turned and went back into her study.

I sat quietly in place, waiting for my emotions to settle before calmly applying the topical medication to my flared-up skin.

Tammy glanced at the horrible red rash on my skin and expressed her disgust. "Eww."

Then, she walked right past me coldly.

I looked at her figure going up the stairs and felt the irony.

So, this was the wife I'd loved dearly, and the daughter I'd raised lovingly, for years.

Early the next morning, I left the villa and returned to my parents' home instead. They were still living in my childhood home.

I remembered how I'd brought Tammy home with me once to meet her grandparents. She circled their house and said in a cold voice, "You're lucky that Mommy even fell in love with someone as poor as you."

I just assumed that she'd been too young to know right from wrong back then and speaking her mind without a filter. But now that I thought of it, I realized that she had already changed a long time ago under Stacy's influence.

After all, she was still in love with her first love and often spoke ill of me. So, Tammy eventually began treating me with the same contempt her mother treated me with and thought that I was a failure of a man.

I stood at the door to my parents' home, raising and dropping my hand a few times as I hesitated to knock on their door.

It was Thanksgiving yesterday, and when Mom called me to check in on me, I lied to her, saying that I was celebrating with Stacy and Tammy at home.

"Allen?"

A familiar voice sounded from behind me. I looked back and saw Dad behind me with bags of groceries in his hands.

He was a little stunned at first when he saw me. However, he quickly broke into a surprised grin and exclaimed, "Why'd you come back all of a sudden? You never told us you were going to drop by to visit!

"And what are you doing here, still standing at the door? Hurry up and go in!"

He then opened the door and pulled me into the house.

The long-forgotten warmth enveloped me once again, and I could feel it warming up my frozen heart.

Mom walked up to me with a smile.

"Your dad was just complaining to me yesterday that he hadn't seen you in a long while. It's good that you're back now, though. We can make it up for yesterday's Thanksgiving!

"You used to always love your dad's meatloaf. You haven't had it in a while, right? I'm sure your dad would be more than happy to make it today!"

Of course, I remembered. Dad even once made his signature meatloaf for Tammy back then.

It was a well-loved dish that I had always loved and been extremely proud of. However, Tammy had just taken a small bite of it before making a disgusted face and saying that it was tasteless and she hated it.

I told her then that it was rude to criticize food that was lovingly made for her. She reluctantly apologized after that, but she also rarely ever came back to visit Mom and Dad anymore. In fact, she often dismissed the idea of having family dinners with them after that incident.

…

I stayed at my parents' place for a few days before finally returning to the villa where Stacy and I lived.

However, I noticed that we had a guest as soon as I pushed open the door.

Stacy's first love, Devin Fisher, was sitting with Tammy at the table, focusing intently on the game of chess between them.

Meanwhile, Stacy was holding a mug of coffee while standing next to them with a smile on her face.

They looked so warm and picture perfect, like they were the ones who were a true family of three, while I was just the extra that didn't make sense in their narrative.

My appearance shattered the beautiful moment between them.

The smiles on their faces disappeared at once, and I could feel the tension in the air rising.

Stacy was the first one to break the silence. She scoffed coldly. "I thought you weren't coming back anymore."

Tammy also glared coldly at me.

Devin, on the other hand, looked a little awkward and uneasy. He began explaining himself.

"Hey, Allen. I'm just here for a game of chess with Tammy…"

I inhaled deeply and forced myself to stay calm. Then, I smiled gently at Devin and said, "It's fine. You can come over anytime you want next time."

Then, I hesitated briefly before looking at Stacy, asking in a calm voice, "Have you thought about the divorce? What do you say?"

Stacy's expression darkened as she glared at me.

A long while later, she spoke in a loaded tone. "Are you sure you want the divorce?"

I asked her in return. "Are you sure you want Mr. Fisher here to continue standing awkwardly between us instead of giving him a proper title?"

At that, Devin's face paled at once, and the sarcastic grin on Stacy's face also faded away.

I maintained a calm gaze with her, knowing that she would finally agree to the divorce this time.

I already knew how much Devin meant to her. They were childhood best friends after all, and after dating for two years, Devin suddenly ran into some family issues and left to study abroad, completely vanishing from the face of the earth thereafter.

Stacy spent a long time searching for him but to no avail, so she eventually gave up.

After that, I appeared in her life, and things had gone very smoothly between us, from the moment we started dating until we got married.

One day, I discovered that she'd been secretly hiding photos of Devin in her purse. I angrily questioned her about it, but she hit me with a merciless and sarcastic answer back then.

"If it weren't because of the fact that you sort of resembled him, did you really think that I'd even fall in love with you?

"Let me tell you, Allen Gilbert, that if Devin were around, you wouldn't even have the chance to get close and speak with me."

As it turned out, I had only been living in the shadows of her first love. It was such a hilarious yet pathetic reckoning for me.

A short while later, Devin suddenly returned to the city we lived in.

Ever since then, Stacy began treating me worse and colder than before as she began visiting Devin more often instead.

I used to think that I could silently put up with everything for Tammy's sake, pretending that I knew nothing of their little affair because I didn't want Tammy to grow up in a broken family.

However, I eventually realized that I'd been too naive all along.

Tammy never cared about me as her dad at all. She accepted Devin pretty quickly and easily in her life, and she obviously respected him a lot more than she did me.

Devin had a wealthy upbringing after all, and he'd also returned from studying overseas, which was a big plus point in Stacy's eyes as she was very partial toward him. He was also very loving and gentle with Tammy too, never being too strict with her.

On top of that, out of everyone in this family, only Stacy could satisfy Tammy's vanity. So, Tammy naturally aligned herself with whoever Stacy preferred.

I had originally only thought of coming home to pack up my things today. After all, divorce was a huge decision, and I knew that Stacy wouldn't easily agree to my request to protect her public reputation.

However, Devin's presence today just made my job a lot easier.

Stacy went silent for a long while.

I continued triggering her by stressing, "Why are you hesitating? Are you saying that he doesn't deserve to be your husband after all? Or are you trying to say that you actually love me more than you love him?"

Devin lowered his head even more when he heard what I said, looking extremely upset.

When Tammy noticed that, she hurriedly comforted him and said, "Don't be sad, Devin."

She then turned and glared at me.

"Mommy! Just divorce him since he likes suffering on his own that much! You can go ahead and make his wish come true. He's going to regret it later on!"

I couldn't believe that my own daughter would say such things about me.

Stacy remained silent for a while. Finally, she nodded and said, "Fine. I'll agree to the divorce."

She then added resentfully after that, "Don't you dare come back crawling to me, begging for us to get back together when you regret your decision later, Allen Gilbert!"

I shook my head lightly and said determinedly, "That will never happen."

Stacy signed the agreement frustratedly, crumpled up the document, and flung it harshly at me.