I went home to pack my belongings.

I looked at the place where I'd lived for ten years, and memories poured in uncontrollably.

My eyes filled with unshed tears.

If Jake had no feelings for me at all, then why did he buy this place immediately after I said I wanted a home?

Why did he, usually shrewd in business, donate year after year to the orphanage where I grew up without expecting anything in return?

Why did I see him outside the operating room with eyes filled with unshed tears and pleading with the doctors to ensure the surgery's success?

It was strange.

Even though I was hurt deeply, I remained hopeful and was unwilling to believe that I had misjudged him.

Then I opened the drawer and found the wedding planning book buried within.

The book was worn and heavily annotated, filled with his handwriting, detailing changes. Everything was according to Freda's measurements and preferences.

My fingers skimmed over the luxurious photos of wedding dresses and the elegant venue arrangements. I trembled uncontrollably.

To the world, I was Jake's wife.

But only I knew that he never held a wedding for me.

One ordinary morning, he simply slipped a ring around my finger and said, "Molly, let's get married. But I have terminal bone cancer and don't know how long I have left, so we won't hold a wedding." He paused before continuing, "This way, after I'm gone, you can remarry without facing judgment."

I cried and threw myself into his arms. I stopped him from continuing.

I decided to donate my marrow to him at that moment.

Looking back, I realized I was a complete joke.

On the last page, Jake had written solemnly. "This New Year's Eve, I must give my beloved the grandest proposal."

My heart felt as if it had been sliced with a knife.

It was New Year's Eve this evening.

Just then, the phone rang.

I hastily wiped away my tears and answered it. "Hello?"

"Molly." Jake's voice came. He sounded a bit anxious. "How did you make that soup for me before? I have a hospitalized friend who can't eat anything, and I want to make some to bring over."

Jake couldn't cook.

So even though he knew my stomach was weak, he never cooked for me.

Through the phone, I heard the clatter of pots and pans. He sighed and said directly, "Forget it. You just make some and bring it to the hospital as soon as possible."

I suppressed the disappointment in my heart and replied, "I don't have time."

Freda's voice faintly reached my ears from the other end of the line, and Jake immediately turned his attention to her.

"Hurry up. If you want a gift, just pick one yourself." With that, he hung up.

I stared at the darkened phone screen and remained unmoved for a long moment.

I didn't want anything from him anymore, not even a gift.

Two hours later, Jake rushed back.

Seeing no packed soup on the table, he immediately pulled a long face. "Molly, where's the soup I asked you to cook? Don't you know I'm in a hurry?"

In the past ten years, I rarely refused his requests.

Precisely because of that, it was the first time he lost his temper with me over some soup.

I looked at him and felt nothing but coldness in my heart. "I told you that I didn't have time."

He pointed at my half-packed luggage and said, "Then what's this? You have time to pack but not to make soup? You've been in a mood all day. What's wrong with you, Molly? You weren't like this before."

He was right.

But I had watched that video.

I interrupted him, "If I cook it, I need to buy groceries, prepare ingredients, and make the soup. It takes at least eight hours. Jake, do you remember that I just had surgery?"

I looked at him and continued softly, "As your wife, am I less important than your friend?"

He was momentarily lost for words. His expression changed several times before he managed dry explanations. Then he turned and slammed the door as he left.

As the planning book outlined, Jake indeed rented out a popular riverside area of the city to propose to Freda that evening.

The ring was the highlight of a charity auction. Fireworks exploded with their initials, and even the decorative flowers were Ecuadorian roses flown in.

Social media buzzed with excitement about that extravagant proposal.

Messages from friends popped up one after the other, but I replied to none. Instead, I quietly booked a flight to the south for the next day.

Before leaving, I visited the orphanage to see the director, Ellen Norris, and the children there.

I only mentioned that I was leaving, without saying a word about Jake.

Yet, Ellen saw right through my facade and asked with concern, "Are you okay? Did something happen?"

Her words caught me off guard, and I almost burst into tears.

In fact, I wanted to make a scene, but I was timid, as I grew up in an environment without support.

Moreover, if I fell out with Jake, he could withdraw his investment in the orphanage at any time.

I couldn't say anything.

Ellen gently patted the back of my hand and said, "Take care of yourself. If anything happens, you can come back as you want."

As soon as she finished, she looked behind me, and her smile vanished instantly. "What are you doing here?"

Freda entered in high heels. Her red lips were perfectly made up, and she was dressed head-to-toe in designer labels.

She said with disdain, "I just wanted to see how miserable you are."

I clenched my fists and stood up. "Get out. You're not welcome here."

"Molly, you haven't changed at all over these years. You are still a coward." She raised her eyebrows and continued, "I took your husband from you, and you don't even say anything."

"I've already given you my bone marrow. What more do you want?"

"So you do know the truth." She feigned surprise and tossed a document from her handbag. "But what can you do? My bone marrow is perfectly fine."

I was stunned as I picked up the medical report.

The results were clear that everything was fine.

"I told a casual lie, and Jake set up a trap for you for ten years. What do you have to compete with me?" She chuckled softly.

A chill ran through me, and my fingers turned pale from clenching them. "Why are you doing this?"

"Why?" Freda's smile was venomous. "Because I hate you. Why did you meddle and save me back then? If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have had to suffer so much here."

Her words reminded me of what had happened twenty years ago.

Freda's original family was a nightmare. Her mother worked at nightclubs and was seldom home. Her father was buried in debt and addicted to gambling. She grew up going hungry and getting beaten.

That day, she had been beaten so badly that she dragged her bleeding leg and fainted at the orphanage gate.

When I found her while cleaning the yard, I was scared and called Ellen. The latter brought her in.

Ellen took her to various doctors and managed to save her life.

I thought I had helped her, but I hadn't realized that I had pulled her into another hell.

Being fragile and marked by past trauma, she was soon ostracized by other children in the orphanage.

In fact, even in an orphanage, there would be bullying.

Although I tried my best to protect her, there were always times I couldn't.

Other children spat in her food, poured filth on her while she bathed, cut up her few clothes, framed her for theft, and even cornered her to break her hands...

She was taken away as an adult later, and I hadn't seen her since.

I never imagined that my act of kindness back then would lead to a decade-long revenge.

"I originally planned to let you die on the operating table, but you have such a tough life." Freda admired her freshly done nails and said, "Since you're not dead, hurry up and leave. Stop bothering me and Jake."

She stepped closer and threatened me. "Otherwise, I'll have him pull the funding, and everyone here will be out on the street."

My eyes widened sharply, and I grabbed her collar. "Are you insane? You grew up here, too. Those who bullied you were sent to juvenile detention by Ellen long ago. These kids now are innocent."

She shoved me away, and her eyes were red with rage. "So what? Does that erase the pain I suffered? It's all your fault for being kind and saving me."

She pointed at Ellen and said in a sharp voice, "And you are an old fool. You couldn't even get justice for me. What's the point of your living? You might as well be dead."

I slapped Freda hard across the face.

Just then, Jake opened the door and walked in.

Seeing the red mark on Freda's face, Jake abruptly pushed me away. "Have you lost your mind?"

He immediately shielded her in his arms.

As my hipbone wound crashed heavily against the table corner, a wave of agony sent shivers down my spine, leaving me pale.

Yet Jake was solely focused on checking Freda's condition. Only after confirming she was unharmed did he coldly turn to me. "Do you have any idea that she's pregnant? If anything happens, can you bear the responsibility?" Molly, I never thought you'd be so unreasonable."

Even though my heart had long since shattered, I still received a heavy blow to my chest when I saw Freda's swollen belly and Jake publicly humiliating me for her sake. That scene suffocated me with pain.

Jake and I once had a baby, too.

Back then, he found the best doctors for me and canceled her work plans to accompany me to prenatal check-ups. He had handled everything personally.

On the day of delivery, I was in the passenger seat, barely conscious from the pain, while he repeatedly turned back to comfort me. "Just bear it a little longer. We're nearly arriving at the hospital..."

I felt so much pain and couldn't bear it any longer. When I reached for the painkillers in the glove compartment, I found a few unopened boxes of condoms.

Jake had always shunned having sex. We had done it so rarely that even having a child was just an accidental result of his drunkenness.

His voice was strained at the time. "They're not mine... A colleague borrowed the car a few days ago."

In that moment, I couldn't even feel the excruciating contractions.

Later, when I was wheeled into the operating room, I remained numb.

The baby seemed to have sensed my despair, too. It wrapped the umbilical cord around its neck and died on the operating table.

Afterwards, he brought the colleague who had borrowed the car to me and apologized repeatedly.

But my heart was soft after I saw his diagnosis of terminal bone cancer.

I wasn't wrong. Those condoms belonged to him and Freda.

Regret and heartbreak surged up and choked me.

I should have left him long ago.

The wound on my hipbone tore open, and I collapsed to the floor in pain.

Jake instinctively wanted to rush over, but Freda stopped him. "Jake, she pushed me just now, and my stomach hurts... Will the baby be okay?"

He paused and then ran out carrying Freda. He only said hurriedly before leaving, "Ellen, take her to the hospital. I'll be there later."

I grabbed Ellen, who wanted to call him back, and shook my head.

After a brief treatment in the clinic at the orphanage, I grabbed my luggage and headed straight for the airport without hesitation.

On the other side, after confirming Freda was fine, Jake finally breathed a sigh of relief and hurried downstairs. He asked the nurse, "Could you tell me which room Molly Jensen is in? I couldn't find any record of her room."

The nurse checked the files and looked up, saying, "She was discharged two days ago."