At my birthday party, I waited in the restaurant until closing, but Stella Park didn't come to fulfill her promise to celebrate for me.

Just as I was about to leave, I saw the message she sent me five minutes ago: [I have something to do, so I can't be there.]

I then saw her posting on social media, and the photo was taken at her male colleague's home.

She wrote: [Have a nice weekend.]

In the past, I might have kept calling and messaging Stella to question her.

But now I just gave this post a like.

After I left without telling her, she panicked and looked for me.

She said she could change and begged me not to abandon her.

A rare rainstorm hit Aulama. After getting off work, my colleagues left one after another, leaving me working overtime.

Stella sent a message: [It's raining too heavily, I'll pick you up.]

I knew she was easing our relationship.

Last weekend, Stella went to the hospital to check if she was ready for pregnancy. She asked me to wait downstairs in the hospital, but she didn't come downstairs for a long time.

It was not until the doctors had left work that I saw her colleague David Collins's posting on social media. In the photo, Stella had a gentle look and a sweet smile.

He wrote: [Stella, be happy every day.]

When I got home, I questioned Stella about that photo.

But she pushed my hand away impatiently.

"We just happened to meet in the hospital. He has a high fever. As his colleague, isn't it normal for me to drive him home? It's hard to get a taxi in such heavy rain. Don't make trouble for no reason!"

It was indeed difficult to get a taxi in heavy rain, but how could she let her husband walk in the rain?

We had a cold war for half a month because of this.

Yesterday, Stella sent me a screenshot of the restaurant reservation.

I knew she wanted to ease our relationship by taking advantage of my birthday.

In the past, I always tried every means to reconcile with her. If in the past, she could take the initiative to ease our relationship like this, I would be overjoyed and flattered.

But unexpectedly, I was abnormally calm today.

I only replied: [OK.]

We agreed to meet at seven o'clock. I paused my work for this. It was difficult to park in front of the company, so I walked quickly to the bus stop.

At ten o'clock, the rain was getting heavier. Although I held an umbrella, my shoulders and trouser legs were still wet by the heavy rain.

Stella didn't come.

I turned on my phone and was about to send a message when I received a message.

[There's a traffic jam. You should take a taxi first.]

I turned off my phone and took a taxi. Due to the heavy rain and the rush hour, it took me half an hour to reach the restaurant.

As I was late, to express my apology, I bought her favorite dessert at the door.

When I pushed the door open, there was nothing other than a few balloons and a sign with 'Happy Birthday'.

My phone rang again.

I checked it and saw two photos that David had posted not long ago. He wrote: [I am so moved.]

One of the photos showed the center console of my car. I bought it for the convenience of commuting to work. Stella said she wanted to drive it, so I gave it to her without hesitation and took the bus every day.

There was an ornament that I bought last year. Because Stella's driving skills were not good, she hit the telephone poles twice.

When I put this ornament on the car, Stella complained that it was too tacky and said, "This is so ugly, others will laugh at me when they see it."

After I pleaded again and again, she reluctantly agreed as if she were the owner of this car.

Thinking of this, I suddenly felt relieved and gave this post a like.

I asked the waiter to bring the dishes and cakes, and I ate them slowly in the box alone.

I loved sweets, but Stella didn't like them. She said they make people fat, so desserts like cakes never appeared in our house.

I could only have a few bites of cakes on my birthday, and then Stella would snatch it away and throw it away.

"Stop eating, look at your figure!"

I was eating the sweet cream in big mouthfuls.

I thought, "Fuck it!"

When I got home after I was full, Stella had not come back yet.

If it were in the past, I would have wanted to make numerous calls, asking her where she was and asking her to pick me up right away.

But I didn't do so today but fell asleep right after washing up.

In the middle of the night, when I was sleeping soundly, I heard the sound of the door opening.

I knew Stella was back.

Maybe because she didn't see me waiting for her in the living room, she came straight to the bedroom and stood in front of my bed.

She seemed to have been staring at me, but I was a little annoyed after being woken up, so I pretended to be asleep, not wanting to pay attention to her.

About ten minutes later, the sound of footsteps was heard, followed by the sound of washing in the bathroom.

Why didn't she take a bath and go to bed but stare at me?

Was it because I didn't wait for her in the living room as before, and then angrily questioned and argued with her while holding the photos on my phone?

I couldn't figure it out and fell into a deep sleep again.

The next day, I woke up and went straight to work.

I was immersed in work all day and had no time to check my phone.

It was not until lunch break that I saw a message from Stella: [Why didn't you make breakfast for me?]

The doctor said that during the pregnancy preparation period, Stella's diet should be handled very carefully. To let Stella eat less outside, I cooked three meals a day for her.

I slept so comfortably last night that I was too lazy to cook this morning.

[Where are you?]

She sent another message.

I suddenly remembered that in the past, I should have been carrying a thermos and squeezed on the bus to bring her lunch at this time.

[Sorry, I'm too busy at work. Please order takeout. ]

As soon as the message was sent, a call came in.

The first thing she said was, "Are you angry?"

I did not know how to answer.

Any man would be angry if his wife met another man at his birthday party.

But I was very calm last night, so I just responded vaguely.

She sneered.

"Stephan, as a man, you should be generous. I sent him home because he had a high fever last night. Don't think too much.

"And tonight I want to eat steak."

After saying that, she hung up the phone without waiting for my response.

It turned out that she was not calling me to explain, but to order food.

I didn't cook for her that night because I had an emergency meeting that lasted until ten o'clock.

When I got home after buying food, Stella glared at me with her arms folded across her chest.

"What kind of meeting would take so long?"

Her words were full of questioning and distrust as if I had been cheating on her.

I didn't apologize as I planned to because of her words. I wanted to refute her, but after thinking about it, I knew, if I said it, we would have another long argument tonight.

I felt tired, so I just shut up and went to the kitchen.

She wasn't going to give up but followed me.

"Why don't you speak? Did you cheat on me?! Stephan, how can you do this to me?"

I put down the food and asked my colleagues to send me the meeting minutes and photos.

Stella shut up awkwardly and hugged me, saying, "I'm sorry. It's because you didn't reply to my messages."

I laughed out of anger and wanted to open my phone to show her the calls I had made to her.

As soon as I turned on my phone, I saw the photos sent by David. The photo showed a restaurant with warm decorations. There were steaks on the table.

Stella noticed my reaction. She looked up and saw the photos on my phone. Her breath was choked, and she explained hurriedly.

"The takeaway at noon didn't taste good. I was so hungry that I went to eat with him."

I was silent for a while, turned off my phone, nodded, and continued to prepare the dishes.

"Go out since you're full. Here doesn't smell good."

When I learned that Stella was coming back for dinner, I didn't eat the lunch box provided by the company.

She looked at my face and asked, "Are you angry?"

I looked up blankly and said, "No."

After she confirmed it, her expression immediately changed from cautious to accusatory.

"You're angry. I've explained everything to you, but you're still like this. You didn't make breakfast or send me dinner, and now you're acting so cold!"

Only then did I realize that if it were in the past, what happened yesterday and the photos would be enough to make me go crazy and hysterical.

Such scenes often happened during five years of our love and two years of marriage.

And every time at such moments, she always said nothing and let me be jealous like a clown.

Thinking about it now, I thought I must look extremely ugly when I was angry and jealous. No wonder Stella disliked going home.

But today I was very calm. The meeting lasted until ten o'clock, and I was tired and hungry.

"Go take a shower and go to bed. I still need to eat dinner."

She came closer and said, "Don't eat it. My period has just ended. This is the best time to prepare for pregnancy."

"No. I have an urgent meeting tomorrow morning, so I have to rest early."

After saying that, I closed the kitchen door.

There was a loud slam of a door outside, and Stella went out again.

Stella was having a cold war with me again.

If it were in the past, I would be restless and begged for forgiveness, wanting to reconcile with her as soon as possible.

But now, I found these days were the most relaxing time I had had with her in the seven years that she and I had known each other.

I didn't have to shorten my sleeping time to prepare breakfast or give up lunch break to rush home to make her a fresh lunch and then deliver it to her.

With enough sleep, the dark circles under my eyes had faded a lot and I looked more energetic.

When I was at work, I no longer recalled the quarrels with Stella or found fault with myself. I no longer sent her messages frequently. Even my work efficiency had improved a lot.

I got off work on time, so I finally had time to attend gatherings with colleagues and manage interpersonal relationships.

I used to rely on Stella and never attended any gatherings. My colleagues all said behind my back that I was dominated by my wife.

Without cooperating with my colleagues, I couldn't finish many tasks, which made my performance being bad.

Last year, my manager told me that I was capable, but I didn't focus on my work. If I could try my best, he would consider giving me a promotion.

At that time, I only thought about the fact that if I got promoted, I would not be able to cook for Stella and take care of her, so I never expressed my opinion.

Now I worked very hard, and my manager saw it and did a big project with me.

The project was successfully completed and my manager said that unless something unexpected happened, my promotion would be announced by mid-year.

I was overjoyed and traveled.

Lying in the hotel at night, I checked my social media that I hadn't looked at for a long time, and then I remembered David.

For some reason, I checked his account.

Sure enough, during the cold war between Stella and me, she always appeared beside David.

They went hiking together and ate in popular restaurants. David even attended a party of Stella's friends.

In every photo, he was smiling happily, and there were traces of Stella in every photo.

Sometimes she showed half of her face, sometimes she showed her hand.

If it were in the past, I would have called Stella repeatedly or gone to find her.

But I humiliated myself every time.

She would explain and get annoyed when she thought that I was jealous.

Then, Stella would not come home for several days.

But when I saw these photos now, I felt calm and was even interested in the restaurants they went to.

My manager told me that the new position was in the next city. He remembered the crazy things I had done for my wife in the past and spoke carefully.

"I want you to focus on your career."

"Okay, I'll go."

I agreed without hesitation. The manager was stunned and felt that I had become a completely different person.

After returning for a few days, I unexpectedly saw Stella downstairs of the company.

"I happen to be here to deal with something."

I walked around to the driver's seat and saw David sitting inside.

He opened the car window and smiled at me, saying, "Stephan, long time no see.

"Stella and I just happened to finish our swimming lesson here, so she gave me a ride back. Do you mind?"

I smiled and replied, "I don't mind."

Then I sat in the back seat.

Stella realized something was wrong only after she sat in the passenger seat. It seemed as if they were a couple and I was a colleague who was just hitching a ride.

She turned around, hesitating to explain.

"Our company is going to hold a swimming competition. David is a good driver, so I feel safe with him driving."

I nodded lightly without saying a word.

David was very familiar with this car and it was not his first time driving it.

Stella sat stiffly in the passenger seat, glancing constantly at the rearview mirror, trying to know what I was thinking from my reflection in the mirror, but unfortunately, she could tell nothing.

She must be very surprised by my reaction at this moment. This was my first car and I had a unique possessiveness towards it. Most people would not lend their cars to others, let alone let others drive them.

Although I gave the car to Stella, I always sat in the driving seat, no matter how.

I once said to Stella proudly, "Only by sitting in the driver seat can one be considered the owner of the car, and the one sitting in the passenger seat must be my wife."

Stella despised me and said, "It's just a driver's seat. It doesn't matter where you sit."

But I just wanted to see her when driving.

David was driving and chatting with Stella as if no one was around. They were talking about their company's matters and I couldn't get involved at all.

I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep.

David called my name and said, "Stephan, I want to treat you and Stella to a meal this weekend. Thank you for your help during this period."

"Help?"

I asked in confusion, I wanted to strangle David to death, how could I help him?

"I asked Stella to accompany me back to my hometown last weekend. My family was urging me to get married, so I brought Stella back home to pretend to be my girlfriend."

I was confused.

What the hell?

Did Stella meet his parents?

Stella was visibly panicked and said, "Our company held an activity in his hometown. I was just helping out a little."

I laughed out of anger.

In the third year of my relationship with her, my parents suddenly became seriously ill, so I begged Stella to go home with me to see them.

But she used being busy with work as an excuse and never went back with me.

Even after my parents passed away, she never visited them, saying that she hadn't married me and shouldn't go back home with me.

But now she visited David's parents.

Was she helping him or did she want to do so?

After listening to what David said, Stella felt guilty and didn't say a word.