When my husband, Robert Bowen, takes his assistant, Bianca Strickland, to a prenatal checkup, I'm being kissed by his 18-year-old version in a corner.

"You're already 30 years old, yet why do you smell so nice and taste so kissable? I love you so much, honey!

"By the way, where did my 30-year-old self go? Why didn't he come pick you up after work?"

I push the 18-year-old Robert away helplessly, only to meet the icy gaze of his 30-year-old self from afar.

"You already have a young side piece, and yet you still can't bear to get a divorce from me? Don't make me look down on you, Kaitlyn Hudson."

As I watch Robert leaving the hospital with his arm around Bianca, his 18-year-old self begins throwing a temper tantrum in my arms.

"That idiot! How dare he speak to my wife in such an arrogant manner! I might as well commit suicide right now so that he'll disappear from this world permanently!"

The 18-year-old Robert Bowen standing before me was still the same as I remembered him to be—a little arrogant and domineering, and also difficult to please if he really got angry and lost his temper.

It wasn't until I retrieved my treasure Nintendo Switch game console from my drawer that he finally behaved himself and sat down on the couch.

I locked him in my office and went downstairs to buy some takeout dinner for him. Just as I'd just entered the fast food joint, however, I heard a cold, chilling voice behind me.

"28 minutes."

I stiffened and turned around, suddenly finding myself face-to-face with the 30-year-old version of Robert Bowen this time, who had a cold, chilling expression on his face.

"What are you still doing here? I thought you left with Bianca," I said.

He ignored my question and continued staring coldly at me instead.

"What are you playing dumb at? You were alone in your office with that brat for a full 28 minutes!"

He practically spat out the last few words between his gritted teeth.

"That brat looked pretty young for you. What was the matter? He couldn't last longer than that? If I were him at that age, I'd have lasted at least 40 minutes or more."

I scoffed. Sometimes, I really needed to install a pervert translator in my brain to fully understand what he was even implying.

I just glared at him speechlessly, finding it a little awkward to tell him that the "brat" was actually his 18-year-old self. So, I just turned my back on him and got in the line to place my order instead.

"The double cheeseburger set with no lettuce, please, with fresh waffle fries, cornbread, and a set of spicy chicken nuggets."

Robert laughed coldly again when he heard me making my order.

"Really, Kaitlyn Hudson? You just ordered all of my favorite items on the menu. Aren't you even going to pretend to order something that little brat would prefer instead?

"Or is he just someone you're seeing as a way to pass your time and not exactly your next target?"

I felt irritated just listening to his words dripping with sarcasm.

"Not everyone is desperate to find a new partner before they'd even gotten divorced like you, Robert Bowen."

Robert suddenly choked, retorting on instinct, "I already told you that I didn't—"

"You even brought her to the hospital using my employee card. Don't you dare tell me that you weren't doing that on purpose," I said, coldly interrupting him before taking the packaged food from the cashier.

"But congratulations again for succeeding in making me even more disgusted with you.

"I agree to the divorce. See you next Monday at the courthouse, then."

Then, I didn't even wait to see his reaction before walking right past him and leaving the fast food restaurant.

The moment I stepped out of the warm restaurant, the biting cold of the chilling winter wind stung my tear-streaked face like blades to the skin.

As I frantically searched for some paper napkins to wipe the tears away, a warm cup of mocha—my favorite drink from when I was a teenager—was suddenly placed into my hands.

"Silly little kitty. How could you be so forgetful and forget your coat when it's freezing outside? You're even crying from the cold."

The 18-year-old Robert then ruffled my hair and took off his coat before draping it around my shoulders.

His warm, familiar scent and temperature instantly wrapped around me, making me fall into a daze.

…

"So, you're telling me that my 30-year-old self actually achieved my dreams of marrying you, but he forgot to love you and cherish you like he promised to do?

"And he even got his personal assistant, Bianca Strickland, pregnant? And he's now demanding a divorce from you?"

There was still some burger sauce smeared on the 18-year-old Robert's lips, but his eyes were as round as saucers as he stared at me incredulously and in horror.

"How could I have done such a stupid thing? Did I mutate or something? Or did I get into a car accident and knock myself silly? Maybe I suffered from memory loss? Or severe brain damage?"

I hung my head and stirred my coffee listlessly, a bitter smile playing on my lips.

"No. Nothing happened, actually. You're also in very good health.

"We got married as soon as we graduated from college. At first, we had a very close relationship with each other, and life was very blissful. We loved each other as deeply as we had for the past decade or so.

"However, everything changed as soon as Bianca appeared."

Bianca had begun working at Robert's company in its fifth year, and that was also the year when our marriage entered its "seven-year itch".

I had been busy working and getting promoted as the youngest attending physician at the hospital, while Robert's career was also experiencing exponential growth.

Gradually, his social engagements and obligations increased, having to attend countless balls, galas, banquets, and business meetings.

After rejecting his invitation to accompany him to a couple of such social events, Robert lost his temper with me for the first time ever.

"Everyone else always has a female companion with them except for me! So what if I'm married? I always have to attend them alone anyway!

"All my business partners keep laughing at me, calling me a henpecked husband or accusing me of not earning enough money that you were too embarrassed to show up and support me in my career!"

This was the first time he'd accused me of such things, and I felt lost, wronged, and aggrieved.

After all, he'd always doted on me and never said a harsh word to me before, let alone openly criticizing me like this.

However, no matter how much I loved him, I couldn't possibly give up a decade of my hard work in medicine and all of my results that I'd painstakingly accumulated just to keep him company and boost his ego.

Neither one of us was willing to admit fault and apologize first, and thus, a cold war began between us.

Robert moved out of the home we shared together and went to live in his own private apartment in Lakeview Suites, which was closer to his company.

He barely came back to our home, and I could count the number of times he actually did with the fingers on one hand.

Once, I missed him so much that I decided to show up unannounced at his apartment on his birthday.

I never thought that Bianca would be the one answering the door in her mini strap dress when I knocked on his door.

"Mr. Bowen had a bit too much to drink tonight, and he can't see anyone right now."

She didn't seem to recognize me. She just kept her head hung low, shyly and subtly showing off the faint red marks on her neck that were peeking through her long hair.

"Maybe you'd like to leave him a message? I'll make sure to pass it to him when he wakes up later."

I suppressed the tears welling in my eyes and handed her the gift bag in my hands, making every word I said clear.

"My name is Kaitlyn Hudson. Ask him to call me as soon as he wakes up. I have something to tell him."

Bianca just hummed softly and closed the door on me in a polite manner.

However, two weeks passed, and I never got any response from Robert.

When the 18-year-old Robert heard that, he could no longer hold back his fury and smashed a wine glass on the floor.

"How is that possible? How could I have possibly just slept with another woman like that! This can't be real, can it? There has to be a mistake! A misunderstanding!"

I wiped away the tears on my face and shook my head in silence.

I was the one who wished that it had been nothing more than a misunderstanding the most. However, it wasn't too long after that when Bianca found out that she was pregnant.

The 30-year-old Robert was incredibly attentive to her, whether in public or in private, even bringing her for her prenatal checkup at the hospital where I worked at, using my employee card.

No matter how much I tried to deceive myself, I just couldn't convince myself that it wasn't the truth.

Also, it seemed that the 18-year-old Robert was even less able to accept his betrayal and infidelity toward me than I was.

He began downing glass after glass of alcohol like a wounded, heartbroken little puppy as he curled up on the couch and sobbed with tears flowing down his cheeks.

"How could it be, Kitty? How could I ever bear to hurt you like this…"

I sighed and crouched over to pull a blanket over his body.

Before I could even straighten up, the door behind me was suddenly pushed open.

When I turned around, I was instantly met with the 30-year-old Robert's gaze.

"You sure know how to surprise me, Kaitlyn," the older Robert said, his face dark and thunderous as he witnessed my seemingly intimate actions with the 18-year-old Robert.

"So, it wasn't enough that you messed around with him at the office—you even had to bring him back to continue where you left off.

"Judging from how hard it is for you guys to separate from each other, it's no wonder that you're suddenly so eagerly pushing for the divorce now."

I frowned instinctively when Robert began raising his voice at me.

"Keep your voice down. You're going to wake him," I said.

Given the 18-year-old Robert's short fuse, if he realized that his 30-year-old self was now standing in front of him, there was no telling what he would do.

I just didn't want to bring on any unnecessary trouble for myself. However, Robert clearly interpreted my words very differently.

He chuckled with a hint of tears welling in his eyes.

"Do I even need to remind you, Kaitlyn, that this is our home?

"How dare you bring home your boytoy and demand that I, your husband, keep my voice down for his sake! Who do you even think I am to you anymore!"

Seeing that the 18-year-old Robert was stirring and about to wake up from the noise, I immediately went up to the older Robert and grabbed his hand.

"Let's not talk here and go down to the cafe nearby instead."

I was worried that he would shake me off forcefully, so I gripped him as tightly as I could. However, to my surprise, he didn't struggle in my hold. In fact, he gripped me back equally as tightly, probably out of instinct.

He still didn't let go even though we'd already stepped out of the elevator a few minutes later.

I found it a little embarrassing and tried shaking him off and withdrawing my hand, but he just held me even tighter.

"What? A boytoy can touch you, but I can't? How could you betray me so easily like this yet act like a purist with him instead?"

I couldn't put up with the sarcasm in his voice anymore and flung his hand off forcefully.

"Don't you dare judge me with those filthy thoughts of yours, especially since you're the one who wasn't clean to begin with!"

I shook him off so hard that he just took a step back and looked at me with a hurt expression.

Before he could say another word, however, the phone in his pocket suddenly began to ring.

I could see his expression change when he looked at the caller ID on the screen. He turned around and walked off slightly to answer the call.

I didn't even have to guess to know that it was a call from Bianca.

I hadn't wanted to eavesdrop on his call at first, but the building entrance was far too quiet, and I could still hear him clearly despite being a short distance away from him.

"What's wrong? You're bleeding? Wait, don't cry. Lie down on the couch and wait for me to come for you!"

Robert then hung up and left. He was already at least half a block away from me when he suddenly stopped, turned around, stormed back to me, and pulled me along.

"You're coming with me!"

I lost my balance and stumbled for a few steps as I was dragged after him. I couldn't shake him off no matter how much I tried.

"Are you crazy, Robert Bowen? Why should I come with you?" I shouted.

"Because you're the top gynecologist at the biggest hospital in the city and the youngest attending physician in its history!"

Without further ado, Robert then stuffed me into his Maybach and personally fastened my seatbelt for me.

"This is a matter of life and death, after all. You're not going to break our Hippocratic Oath, are you?"

I felt like killing myself when the car began driving off. I would rather that we got into a fatal accident on the way there than be forced to deliver my husband's mistress' baby.

The Maybach didn't turn into Lakeview Suites. Instead, it turned into a slightly smaller apartment complex next to it, Velvet Heights.

I was only confused for a very short while before it all clicked for me.

It was around the time that Robert's company was about to be listed as a public company. And, at a crucial time like this, he obviously didn't want to allow anyone to use his private life against him. That would explain why he had his mistress live in a separate apartment complex from him.

As expected, after turning into Velvet Heights and getting out of the car, Robert made his way to the elevators, pressed on the correct floor, and went to the right unit like he'd been here a thousand times before.

He even fished out a spare key from his pocket and easily unlocked the door before rushing inside in a hurry.

A short while later, a soft and slightly resentful female voice could be heard from inside the apartment.

"You're finally here, Robbie! I nearly had a heart attack just now…"

Robbie.

I used to think that I was the only one who ever referred to him by that very intimate nickname of his.

A bitter feeling welled up inside my chest. I paused at the door without going in.

A few minutes later, Robert walked out of the door with Bianca in his arms.