Bertha did not reply to Simon. Disgust crept through every part of her body. She could no longer feel warmth in Simon’s arms, only coldness.

He was such a good actor.

She had witnessed with her own two eyes how he cheated on her. If she had not, perhaps she would have believed him after he worked so hard to explain himself to her. But there were no what-ifs in the world, were there? The sight of his tears just disgusted her, and she found the entire situation ironic.

She pushed Simon away and smiled at Luna.

“Thank you for working so hard to take care of me all this while. Since you’re here, you might as well have a seat and eat with us.”

Simon could sense that there was something off about Bertha, and he signed timidly, “Bertha, are you still mad?”

Bertha shook her head and looked at the beach again.

Simon clapped, and the entire ocean of flowers lit up. A server then pushed a cart over. When he lifted the lid, Bertha found that the tray was not filled with food. Instead, it contained a set of emerald accessories.

Simon had spent a few hundred million dollars on the emeralds during an auction in Paris last month, simply because Bertha had said that she liked them.

She looked up and saw the burning love in Simon’s eyes.

Whenever she saw such gifts in the past, she would be surprised and weep. But all she did in the present was stare at him calmly.

“Bertha, do you remember the first gift I gave you? I gave it to you in this restaurant as well. When I first confessed to you, I gave you an emerald too. I spent half a month researching what you liked. Everyone told me that I would never win your heart and that I was an idiot, but I knew that you were worth the effort.

“When you said that you liked them, I bought them and hired someone to turn them into accessories. Our names are carved into the backs of each one. Once words are carved into something, they won’t disappear, just like how my love for you won’t disappear.”

Luna cast her an envious gaze.

“To think that after all these years, your relationship with Mr. Zimmer would still be so good, Mrs. Zimmer.”

Mockery flashed in Bertha’s eyes. Simon had indeed sworn to love her forever, and he had declared that his love for her would never disappear. All these things were a subject of envy for others, but only Bertha knew that their love had rotted away long ago.

She allowed Simon to put the accessories on her. The emerald made her skin even more radiant, and she supposed that she really did love emeralds. However, emeralds shattered easily, just like love.

While they ate, Simon busied himself cutting steak for her, but she noticed that he would occasionally reach for the car keys beside his hand.

She had never seen those keys before. Each time he pressed down on it, she would hear a faint buzz, along with a faint moan.

Right before her eyes, she saw Luna’s cheeks slowly turn red. Luna gnashed her teeth, as if enduring something. Just when things were about to go out of control, Luna trembled, and her glass of red wine toppled over. It accidentally spilled on Simon’s shirt.

Simon frowned before giving Bertha a troubled look as he signed, “Bertha, I need to clean myself up. I’ve cut your steak for you. Go ahead and eat it.”

He then left.

Soon after, Luna received a call. With the excuse that she had surgery in the hospital, she left the restaurant too.

As for Bertha, she did not eat her steak as Simon had asked. Instead, she got up and went to the other side of the restaurant. Through the floor-to-ceiling window, she saw Luna running strangely toward the car Simon had parked by the road.

Bertha got down quietly. The car window was partially rolled down, and it revealed the people inside. Simon and Luna were pressed flush against each other as they kissed.

Soon, the car started shaking.

Simon pinned Luna against the seat and said in a passion-filled voice, “Didn’t I satisfy you earlier? I told you before not to show up that often in front of Bertha.”

Luna giggled wantonly. Her moans grew louder as she crooned, “It’s your fault for putting that thing in. It was so tough for me…”

“It’s because you’re insatiable. I’ll satisfy you this time, but after this, respect my boundaries and stop causing trouble in front of Bertha.”

Bertha hid behind a tree beside the car. Even though she already knew about Simon and Luna, her heart still hurt. Before she realized it, tears filled her eyes, and the sounds of their passion grew louder. Sometimes, it sounded like water striking stone. At other times, it sounded like splashes. She clenched her teeth to silence herself. She tried to leave a few times, but for some reason, she could not find the strength to move her legs.

Pain filled her entire body. With trembling hands, she took her phone out and pointed it at the car as she pressed the record button.

She never felt time move as slowly as it did at this moment.

The moans from inside the car slowly came to a stop. Bertha checked the video time. It was an hour and forty minutes.

However, this was only the beginning. In less than ten minutes, the limited-edition Rolls Royce started shaking rhythmically again.

Luna’s voice also became weak.

“Simon, I… can’t do it anymore. But if you really want to do it, why don’t we change places? The ocean of flowers upstairs is beautiful, and you know that I love roses the most.”

Luna’s voice was delicate and charming. The desire in Simon’s eyes grew as he lifted her chin and chuckled. “Be good now. We’re doing it in the car today. Tomorrow, I’ll let you have fun in a sea of flowers.”

The car started shaking violently again. This time, Bertha could not bear listening to it anymore. She covered her ears and left looking pale.

By the time she got home, her tears had dried up. Even so, her heart still hurt.

Looking around, she found that every inch of the house was covered with something related to Simon.

On the bookshelf was a picture of them together on their first date. On the cupboard were the ceramic cups they had made together, along with plaster dolls they had painted at a stall. Everything represented a memory of their past together.

There was also the wedding photo above their bed. His eyes were filled with sincere love. In the walk-in closet was the wedding dress he had designed for her too.

Bertha removed her wedding ring and put all those things together. Then, she asked the maids to move everything to the backyard. In the end, she grabbed the wedding dress and went over as well.

She calmly picked up a pair of scissors and started cutting up the wedding dress. The lawn became filled with the white gown, reminding her of the day Simon had proposed to her.

The lawn had been filled with fresh, tender lilies at that time. While laughing, Simon picked her up and spun her around.

“Bertha, I hope that our love will be as pure as these lilies. This one-of-a-kind wedding dress is for you, the most special person in my life. You’re the only woman I’ll ever love, and I’ll give you all the best things in the world.”

“I’m the only woman he loves?”

Bertha sneered and put the cut wedding dress together with the things in the box. Without any hesitation, she lit them up with a lighter.

In an instant, fire rose and bathed the area in a red glow. The maids panicked, but Bertha remained still and unmoving. She coolly watched as everything that symbolized her relationship with Simon went up in flames.

In her mind, she thought, ‘There’s nothing left between us now, Simon.’

She returned to the room to pack up, but halfway through, she suddenly heard someone calling her name from outside.

“Bertha?”

Simon rushed in. When he saw Bertha, he immediately ran over and hugged her tightly. He only let go after a moment.

“Why did you leave on your own? Did you have any idea how worried I was? I almost lost my mind looking for you!”

He sounded like he was panicking. By the looks of it, he was truly worried about her.

Even so, Bertha only stared at him with a stony expression. Since she had not said a word for a long time, Simon finally realized what he had done wrong and signed to her.

Just then, he noticed the luggage bag behind her and froze. Multiple errors began showing up in his signs, and it took Bertha some time before she pieced together a sentence.

“Why are you packing up? Are you leaving me?”

As she saw the panic and fear on Simon’s face, Bertha wanted to laugh.

If she left, he and Luna could finally be an official couple, no?

That would be perfect for his wish, right? Why was he pretending to be all scared?

Bertha spoke calmly. “I’m leaving after lunch. I’ve been really bored just sitting in the house all the time, and I got tired of some of my clothes. I’m going to be donating them since I won’t be wearing them anymore.”

Simon sighed in relief, and the worry in his heart finally faded away. He smiled with a sense of ease as if he was feeling lucky about something. But when he saw Bertha’s flat gaze, he still felt anxious and knelt down to apologize to her.

“I’m sorry, Bertha. It’s all my fault. Something suddenly went wrong with a contract, and I forgot to tell you because I was really flustered about it. I shouldn’t have left you alone in the restaurant. I know that you’re mad. You can hit me or yell at me, just don’t scare me, please. I’m really afraid of losing you…”

As Simon spoke, he cried, and his eyes were full of fear.

Bertha just watched everything unfold.

Simon was a company president who ruled over the business world. No one could ever imagine him kneeling before a woman and begging her to not leave his side.

However, she had only vanished for a few hours. What was Simon going to do once she left for good half a month later?

Bertha could not understand it. Since Simon loved her, why did he sleep with Luna?

“I’m fine. Your work is more important.”

The more magnanimous she was about the situation, the more uneasy Simon felt. He swore, “Bertha, you’re more important to me than anything else.”

He hugged her tightly and pressed his face against her neck. “You haven’t eaten your birthday cake today. I ordered a fondant cake for you. I know it’s your favorite. Why don’t we make a wish and blow out the candles?”

Simon had a pitiful expression on his handsome face as he stared at Bertha.

In the past, she would start to pity him at this point. But she no longer wanted to put up an act around him, so she just shook her head. “My birthday’s the same every year anyway. I’m tired. I’d like to sleep.”

Since Simon was panicking, he agreed to whatever Bertha said and entered the bathroom to take a shower.

After that, he stayed by her side for three days.

On the fourth morning, Bertha woke up and saw Simon making a call on the balcony. His tone was doting, and his gaze was gentle as if he was speaking to a really important person.

Over the next few days, Simon would even begin calling Luna right in front of her. It would also be common for him to sneak out in the middle of the night.

On this day, a good friend of Simon was going to get married. So, he wanted to meet up with him before his wedding.

Bertha had just returned from a toilet break when she was about to open the door. Right then, the people inside talked about her.

James Jonas, Simon’s good friend, teased him, “Simon, you’ve been with Bertha for almost eight years, right? I’m about to be tied down to another woman too. Tell me, have you ever been tired of her?”

Upon hearing this, Bertha’s hands froze above the door handle for a moment. But she soon pushed the door open and entered as if nothing had happened.

The group that was laughing inside fell silent. Simon immediately went up to her and led her back to the couch.

He poured her juice and even fed her fruits.

When James noticed that the atmosphere had turned awkward, he cleared his throat before saying, “Come on, Simon, tell me. It’s not as if Bertha can hear you.”

Simon hugged Bertha tightly and smiled brilliantly. “Tired of her? How could such a thing exist between me and Bertha?”

The others laughed.

“Simon’s a great man. Eight years is nothing. Even if he’s together with Bertha for eighty years, he won’t get bored of her.”

Simon took a sip of wine while the people around him laughed. Then, he softly said, “But a lifetime is really long, and you’ll get bored of sleeping with the same person.”

He gave special emphasis to the word “sleeping,” and everyone got excited. They started cheering him on.

“Ooh! Looks like you have quite an exciting life, Simon!”

Bertha was shocked when she heard this, and the grapes she had just eaten suddenly tasted poisonous. Pain spread from her throat straight down to her stomach.

She looked at Simon, only to see that his eyes were still filled with love. At that moment, her blood ran cold as if she had been thrown into a blizzard.

“Enough, pipe down. Don’t let Bertha notice that something’s off.” Simon only thought that she was curious about why they were laughing, and he snapped at the group.

“Come on. You don’t have to be scared. It’s not like Bertha can hear you. Just tell her later that we were talking about the wedding tomorrow.”

“By the way, Simon, who’s better? Bertha or Luna?”

Simon slumped against the couch. His expression remained the same, but his tone was intriguing. “Bertha’s special to me, but everyone needs a sense of novelty in life.”

The cheers in the room grew louder, and they were making Bertha’s mind go blank.

Simon picked up a grape and fondled it for a moment before he added, “Luna’s young and pretty. She’s open in bed, and she has plenty of bedroom tricks…”

He had not finished his entire statement, but everyone got even more excited. He pointed at Bertha and motioned for everyone to fall silent with a look. After he peeled the skin off the grape, he fed it to Bertha.

However, Bertha remembered how he had just fondled the grape, and she could not swallow it.

Perhaps he noticed her unusual behavior, but Simon patiently signed to her, “What’s wrong? Are you sick of it? Do you want to eat something else?”

When Bertha saw the words “sick of it,” her entire body trembled.

“No. If I like something, that will be the only thing I like. I won’t ever change.”

With a doting look, Simon held her hand and smiled as he stared into her eyes. “I’m the same.”

Bertha met Simon’s gaze. His eyes remained as gentle as ever as he confessed his love through sign with practiced ease.

If she had not heard him say those things with her own ears, Bertha would never have believed how fake her husband was. After she listened to their conversation, Bertha finally understood that everyone knew about his affair with Luna. She was the only one who had been kept in the dark like an idiot.