I had just gotten hospitalization prior to my operation when my wife told me she was going on an urgent business trip, leaving me and our one-year-old daughter behind.

Two days later, her childhood sweetheart proudly posted a family photo on social media with a caption that said: “Took a picture of our happy family of three on our trip!”

I looked at my wife who was smiling tenderly in the picture and commented, “?”

My wife immediately called and berated me, “He's a single father who doesn’t have a wife to help take care of his child! All I did was take a picture with them, what are you being so defensive about?”

That same evening, her childhood sweetheart posted a picture of a million-dollar dowry given to him with the caption: “After we took the picture, she insisted on giving me this as a dowry.”

I knew my wife gave it to him to appease him.

But this time, I was going to leave her for good.

It was already afternoon. Agnes Carson still hadn’t called to offer an explanation.

Luther Greene was still constantly uploading new posts. He had just posted three pictures flaunting his million-dollar dowry, all of which rocked the internet.

The comment section was flooded instantly with people who did not hold back in expressing their envy.

That was when I spotted a comment from Agnes. "I accept your hand in marriage! In twenty years, we shall celebrate our anniversary with our children."

"I love you, my dearest wife."

My eyes felt scalded by their shameless, public display of affection. I went to the gallery on my phone and looked at the pictures of our daughter, Cecil Larke. I suppose Agnes had forgotten all about the fact that we had a one-year-old daughter together.

Last week was Cecil’s first birthday party. Agnes claimed she was busy with work and could not attend. Later on, I found out she skipped the party because she was trying to have Luther's son transferred to an elite school.

Then, the doctor stepped into the room and relayed an update to me, "Your condition is looking good. I’ll have your gall bladder surgery scheduled for tomorrow."

I was worried about leaving Cecil alone with the nurse for the surgery tomorrow.

After hesitating for several seconds, I ended up texting Agnes. "Do you think you can come home today? Something urgent came up on my end."

It took what felt like forever for her to reply, and when she did, her tone was very disgruntled. "You should know that I’m busy, so quit bothering me with something so trivial. Keep disturbing me, and we'll get a divorce!"

I stared stoically at the text. I had lost count of how many times she had threatened divorce.

It began after Luther showed up. Whenever I tried to express how seeing her flirt with Luther made me upset, she would threaten me with divorce like clockwork.

"We’re just friends. If you can't get over it, we can get divorced!"

I would inevitably apologize every time. This time around, I decided to give her what she wanted.

"I’m only texting you because I decided to have the surgery done earlier than planned. If it upsets you so much, I think we should get divorced."

A few seconds later, my phone rang.

Her voice sounded several measures gentler. "Did you get the surgery expedited? What time is it? I’ll come back and keep you company."

I frowned upon reading the reply, but still begrudgingly replied when I thought about Cecil, "It’s at two in the afternoon."

"Sure."

The next day, her phone was switched off and she could not be contacted. Left without a choice, I asked a friend for a favor and had him look after Cecil.

The surgery was completed in the evening. The doctor advised me to stay in the hospital for the next few days to monitor my condition.

Agnes never returned my calls. Meanwhile, Luther continued to flaunt their relationship on social media.

"I twisted my ankle slightly today, and she was so worried that she turned pale. She sped me to the clinic so I could get my ankle checked."

"She was going to take a flight back home today, but canceled her plans when I sprained my ankle."

"It was just a light sprain, but she refused to let me walk and insisted on getting me a wheelchair!"

I tapped on the post. It was a picture of Luther in a wheelchair with Agnes pushing him from behind.

I recalled an episode from when she had just started her business. At the time, I had gone on a business trip to meet her clients to secure a deal for her. Then, I got into an accident.

After being taken to the hospital, I was told that I had hurt my hip and that I needed to stay indoors and minimize movement for two weeks. I called Agnes and asked if she could buy me a wheelchair so that I could get home and nurse my wound.

She had sounded very upset on the phone.

"I’m busy! I need to focus on my work instead of wasting time on you! Why do you have to be so dramatic anyway? It’s just an accident! If you can’t walk, just stay in the hospital. What’s the point of coming home?"

With this in mind, I grabbed my phone and compiled a text to send her. "My only demands are that I will have custody of Cecil and that I get my half of our assets."

She replied immediately, "I have something important to do tomorrow. Quit acting up and wait for me to get home, alright?"

I waited for three days. Even when the doctor informed me that I could be discharged, Agnes was still nowhere to be seen.

As I sat inside the car and watched the building recede from view, a wave of memories flooded me.

Agnes and I first met in college. It did not take long before we fell in love.

During the first year of our marriage, she started her first business. She was unfortunately backstabbed by a close friend and saddled with debt afterward.

During that period, I worked three jobs a day to help her pay off her debts. During the nights, I would return home to do her laundry and cook for her.

Eventually, she started her second business venture, which turned out to be a success. I thought that was the turning point and that we would live a happy married life from then on.

However, everything changed when she cheated on me with Luther a year ago.

Shortly after I returned home, she returned from her "business trip" as well. She swiped a glance at the surgery report on the table and became upset.

Then, she shook me out of my nap and started nagging at me, "Did you go for surgery without telling me? Why didn’t you wait for me to come back?"

I had been suffering from insomnia during the past few days in the hospital. After finally getting some proper sleep, I was rudely awakened.

At this point, I was completely drained physically and mentally.

"Agnes, did you expect me to let my condition deteriorate for three more days and wait for you to come back before getting surgery done?"

Agnes was taken aback. Her expression softened ever so slightly. "Alright, I’ll forgive you this time. I need you to iron my blazer, the gray one."

I was slightly taken aback by the sudden demand. The reason she came home was not to be there for my surgery; instead, it was only because she had to attend a work event.

My phone's vibration shook me out of my thoughts. It was a reminder to feed the baby. I crawled out of bed and went to get the formula.

Agnes responded by angrily kicking the chair. "I regret ever marrying you. You don’t even take care of me!"

With that, she left and slammed the door behind her.

I ignored her and went to attend to a frightened Cecil, who was crying. It took more than half an hour for her to fall back asleep.

Then, I grabbed my phone and sent a text. "I need a divorce lawyer."

"Are you crazy? You’re getting divorced?"

The next morning, Agnes suddenly came home. She shot an icy look at me and reprimanded me severely, "Why didn't you remind me that it was your birthday yesterday?"

I stayed silent.

"Whatever. I bought you a gift." She handed me a watch.

It only took one look for me to tell that it was a very cheap watch, which was probably worth just over 5,000, at most.

Three days ago, she had included a watch worth more than 200,000 dollars in the million-dollar dowry she had given Luther.

The amount of effort revealed the love she had for me.

"Put on the watch. I'll cook you dinner later so we can celebrate."

"No thanks," I refused flatly. The deliberate overcompensation of gifts and forced companionship made me feel nothing but disgust.

Agnes turned grim when she noticed I was upset. "I’m already trying to please you. What else do you want? What are you so upset about?"

I looked her in the eye and spoke calmly, "I’m not upset."

Without a warning, she shoved me to the ground and stomped on me.

"I know what you're mad about! All I did was take a family picture with him. What’s wrong with that? His son's teacher told the students to share a family picture with the class. That’s why I had to take the picture with him!"

Then, she sighed exasperatedly. "Have you forgotten you were the one who upset him? So what if I got him a present? At least, I didn’t make you apologize to him!"

I just had surgery and wanted to avoid riling myself up with an argument. With that, I took a deep breath and yielded, "Yes, you're right."

As soon as I spoke, I received a notice from my company.

My supervisor had approved my resignation!

I booked a flight scheduled five days later before texting my lawyer. I was determined to get custody of Cecil.

After everything was done, I got up and went to the bedroom to settle in for the night.

Agnes looked at me from behind and hissed sharply, "Where do you think you’re going? I’m talking to you!"

I remarked indifferently with a wink, "I’m going to get some sleep."

When I entered the bedroom, I heard a thunderous crash in the living room. The divorce was proceeding as planned.

Three days later, when I was in the middle of packing my suitcase, Agnes called again.

"I’m at the North Sea Bar. Come here right now."

I frowned.

The North Sea Bar.

There had been some complications with the recovery process of my surgery. I had a fever running on and off. It was not a good time for me to head out.

Just as I was about to turn Agnes down, she called again.

In the end, I ended up throwing on a thick sweater before making my way to the bar. I found Agnes and Luther seated together and being intimate with each other when I arrived.

Her friends scrutinized me up and down before clicking their tongues.

"So, he wasn’t lying, Agnes does have a man! He seems pretty average looking to me, though."

Luther took a sip from a glass of wine before fixing a look on me. "Sorry about this, I just lost a game of truth or dare and was given two choices. It was either I go up to the beautiful DJ over there and kiss her, or I call up Agnes' sidepiece.

"Since Agnes won't have me kissing another woman, she said she was going to call you over. Anyway, you can go now." He was gloating, but was careful to hide it underneath a veneer of an apologetic tone.

I frowned and swiped a look at Agnes, who lowered her head out of guilt and did not speak the entire time.

I realized everyone here saw me as Agnes' sidepiece. I chuckled ironically and was about to say something when I noticed Luther pressing his hand to his forehead and unintentionally revealing the watch on his wrist.

That watch!

It was one of the items included in the million-dollar dowry Agnes had given to him a few days ago.

I marched up to him and snatched the watch from him.

"What are you doing?" Luther’s expression darkened. He tried to seize the watch out of my hands.

I jammed the watch in my bag while scowling the entire time. "Agnes bought this watch with our money! It’s mine to take!"

I had spoken to a lawyer over the last few days who told me I had the right to reclaim the million-dollar dowry that was doled out.

The handsome Luther grimaced faintly, then threatened me, "You’re stealing from me in broad daylight! I’ll have you thrown in jail."

I was not afraid of him and taunted him, "Go on. Would you like me to call the police for you?".

Agnes realized I was serious. She snatched my phone from me and frowned. "That’s enough. Quit making a scene and go home."

My heart dropped when I saw the concerned look she wore.

At this point, her friends were beginning to realize something was amiss, too. They began to murmur among themselves and wondered if Luther was the sidepiece all this time.

A sinister look glowed in Luther’s eyes. He snapped and turned to Agnes, "Go on and tell everyone that Noah Larke over here is your sidepiece! You don’t even love him, do you?"

Agnes was distressed and wiped away his tears while telling me off sharply, "Quit causing a scene, Noah! You do this every time you show up!"

Then, she took Luther's hand and declared to the onlookers, "All of you can stop speculating! Luther is my husband, and I love him more than anything else!"

The crowd of onlookers erupted. "Agnes, kiss him to prove it!"

Agnes stood on her tiptoe without hesitation and planted a gentle kiss on his lips.

Luther smiled upon receiving the kiss, then he turned around and boldly mocked me, "See? Do you think your marriage certificate means anything? Agnes belongs to me! Everything that belongs to her, including her love, is mine to keep! Mark my words. I’ll take it all from you!"

I couldn't hold back anymore and punched him square in the face.

He coughed up blood and covered his face in his hands while whimpering to Agnes, "My dear, he hit me!"

Agnes’ face darkened. She used her bag as a weapon and swung it at me! Even though she put her weight into it, it would not have made me budge under normal circumstances.

However, the bag slammed right into my infected wound. I groaned in pain and dropped to the ground.

Agnes looked down at me and ordered spitefully, "Get up and apologize to Luther!"

I looked up at her and realized I had no strength left in me. Regardless, I challenged her, "He doesn't deserve it."

Her face darkened another shade.

Upon realizing that I lacked the energy to get up, she kicked me in the chest without warning and cursed at me, "All I did was tell you to come and meet everyone! If you’re so upset, why can’t you just go home?

"What kind of man are you? What kind of point are you trying to make by instigating Luther?"

She stomped on my chest repeatedly with the point of her heels.

My already infected wound was ripped open. The pain made me curl up. My face was ghastly and pale, and my body began to convulse.

With the last ounce of strength left in me, I gnashed my teeth and announced, "I’m divorcing you, Agnes!"

A wisp of shock flashed in her eyes. She watched as the color of blood began to soak through my shirt. Her lips quivered faintly.

I could not catch what she said because I passed out by that point.