On Teacher's Day, my wife, Hera, was promoted to associate professor.

Even for our marriage we simply registered without a proper ceremony, yet this time, she specifically prepared a feast at home to celebrate.

During the dinner, she took out the flowers a male student had given her and was about to put them in a vase.

Without warning, I knocked the flowers out of her hand, flipped over the vase, and, under the bewildered gazes of the whole family, calmly said, "Let's get a divorce."

Hera was stunned at first, then angrily snapped, "Stanley Lawson, what's gotten into you? I’m just putting some flowers my student gave me in a vase. What's the big deal?"

My mother-in-law, Sarah Swift, chimed in, "Hera just got promoted to associate professor, and it's Teacher's Day. What's wrong with a student giving her flowers? Are you seriously getting jealous over that?"

I glanced at the scattered petals on the floor and slowly said, "Yes, it's because of these flowers that I want a divorce."

The atmosphere at the table instantly turned cold.

My father-in-law, Peter Swift, looked sullen, my mother-in-law's hand froze in mid-air, and my parents stared at me in shock, clearly bewildered.

My mother was the first to react. She grabbed my hand and said, "Stanley, don't make a scene. Today is an important day for Hera."

Hera's expression changed from bewilderment to rage.

The fire in her eyes seemed ready to burn me to ashes. "Say that again?"

I repeated it, my voice not loud, but clearly reaching the ears of everyone present, "I said, I want a divorce."

My mother-in-law, Sarah, slammed her fork down on the table with a loud clatter. She pointed at my face as she spat out her words.

"Stanley, are you out of your mind? Do you know what day it is today?! It's the day Hera gets promoted to associate professor! It's a glorious occasion! Why are you spoiling the mood? What is your problem? My daughter works so hard on her research for this promotion, and she can't even receive a bouquet of flowers?"

I didn't look at her. My gaze was fixed firmly on Hera.

Her beautiful face was filled with incredulous anger. "Over a bouquet of flowers? Seriously? Stanley, has jealousy made your heart so twisted? I was just putting some flowers my student gave me in a vase. Is that really a reason to act like this?"

My father banged the table and glared at Hera with a silent authority. "Keep it down."

Hera glanced at my father, took a deep breath to suppress her anger, and put on a heartbroken expression.

First, she patted Sarah's hand reassuringly, then turned to my parents and apologized.

"Bruce, Candice, I'm sorry. Stanley must be under much pressure at work lately, so his emotions are unstable. Please don't think too harshly of him. I'll have a talk with him."

She tried to reach for me, but I sidestepped her.

Hera looked sincerely apologetic. "I'm sorry, Stanley. I've neglected you because I've been so busy with my research. My bad. But these are just some lilies. Aren't you overthinking things? He's just a simple student."

Hera's older brother, Caleb Swift, couldn't stay silent anymore. He tried to smooth things over. "Stanley, I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding. What do you want Hera to do? Throw away the flowers her student gave her?"

"Yeah, Stanley," Hera's sister-in-law, Lindy Swift, also tried to persuade me, "I've met that kid, Terry Nash. He's well-behaved and sensible. He surely didn't mean anything by it. Don't overthink it. Apologize to Hera and we can put this behind us."

My gaze swept over everyone at the table.

My father and father-in-law frowned, not saying anything.

The look on my mother's face changed from confusion to realization, and she now looked at me with reproach.

Hera, as expected of a professor, turned my request into an unreasonable demand with just a few words.

I ignored her pretentious remarks and pointed to the increasingly fragrant lilies on the floor.

"You say these are just ordinary flowers, right?"

I stared into her eyes.

"Then I dare you to close all the doors and windows in the living room and stay in here with me and these flowers for an hour."

Upon hearing that, Hera's face turned pale.

She instinctively took a half-step back, her left thumb unconsciously rubbing her index finger, her expression extremely unnatural.

That was the telling sign that she was feeling guilty.

Her eyes darted around aimlessly, and her voice trembled ever so slightly.

"You... what nonsense are you talking about? What’s the meaning of this?"

I smiled, bent down to pick up a petal, and offered it to her.

"Didn't you say these are just ordinary lilies?"

Hera turned her face away and tightly pursed her lips, refusing to speak.

Seeing her reaction, Sarah jumped up from her chair and grabbed a broom to clean up the flowers.

"This is ridiculous! You're ruining the dinner! Fine, I'll clean it up so that a certain jealous person can stop making a fuss."

My mother, infuriated by her words, shook with rage, "What do you mean by that, Sarah?"

I soothingly patted my mother's back, then harshly shouted at Sarah, "Don't move!"

She was startled into stillness. I snatched the broom from her and tossed it aside.

Then, I stepped forward, cornering Hera between me and the mess.

"Are you feeling guilty now? Didn't you say these flowers were fine? What are you afraid of?"

My questioning made her eyes dart around, afraid to meet my gaze.

Peter slammed his fork down in anger, his face turning red and pale in turns.

He banged the table again. "Enough, everyone. What’s all this ruckus for? This should be a celebration; what have we turned it into? Sit down and eat. Keep causing a scene, and you can leave!"

With that, he cast me a meaningful glance.

I knew those words were directed at me.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

Hera immediately rushed to the door, her movements a bit awkward.

The door was flung open.

Standing at the door was the student she claimed was innocent, Terry Nash.

He was wearing a white shirt and carrying fine tea and tonics, which he was going to give to my in-laws.

When he saw the scene inside the house, his handsome face paled, and his voice trembled slightly.

"Professor... Mr. Lawson... what happened?

"Are you... are you upset because of the flowers I gave you?

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have given you lilies, but I wanted to wish you and Mr. Lawson a happy marriage; I have no other intentions.

"The florist said this bouquet is popular, so she recommended it to me.

"Sorry to disturb you; I’ll leave now."

As he spoke, he walked into the living room, placed the gifts down, and turned to leave.

What could have been done in three seconds took him a whole three minutes.

"Wait." Sarah couldn't hold back anymore. She immediately rushed forward while casting an accusing glance at Hera.

She grabbed Terry’s hands, pressed him down onto the couch, and turned to shoot me a look filled with disdain. "It's not your fault, boy! Some people are just narrow-minded and can't tolerate others!"

While Sarah was pulling the boy away, I clearly caught the provocative and smug glance Terry shot at me.

I ignored it and simply said in a calm tone, "Get out."

Hera looked at me in disbelief.

She clenched her fists and said with unbearable anger, "Stanley! What did he do wrong? You don’t like lilies, and he’s already apologized! He’s just a twenty-year-old kid, innocent and straightforward. The florist recommended the flowers to him, why are you taking it out on him? I warn you, don’t project your filthy thoughts onto an innocent kid."

Sarah stood protectively in front of Terry. "I dare anyone to try and kick him out!"

She then unleashed her fury, aiming her firepower at me.

"Stanley, you and Hera have been married for five years now, yet you still can't get Hera pregnant. And now you're treating our guest like this. You just stay in your lab all day without even fulfilling the most basic function as a man. It’s truly unfortunate that Hera married you; what terrible luck for her! I’ve said it long ago, a man who can’t have children has a dark heart! Because you feel inferior, you can’t stand to see others do well!"

"Watch your mouth!" My dad finally couldn't hold back anymore. He stepped forward to shield me behind him and glared at Sarah.

"Back then, it was Hera who knelt before me, begging and pleading to marry my son. And now, this is how your family treats my son?"

Peter slowly put down his teacup and said to my dad, "Bruce, calm down. What she said was harsh, but she was just speaking out of anger. Let's not get involved in women's affairs."

With one sentence, he defined Sarah's vicious curses as "women's affairs", causing my dad to breathe heavily in anger.

I held my dad back and questioned Terry, "You gave us these flowers. Don't tell me you have no idea what's inside?"

He stared at me with innocent eyes. "Mr. Lawson, what are you saying? I bought these flowers from the flower shop. If you think there's something wrong with the flowers, I can call the flower shop and ask."

He pretended to take out his phone to make a call.

I watched his performance coldly.

With these words, he not only completely cleared himself of blame, pushing all the responsibility onto the flower shop, but also implied to Hera that I was a suspicious and jealous man, a stark contrast to his innocence.

What an actor.

Sure enough, Hera stopped him and glared at me, "He's just paranoid; you don’t need to prove your innocence.”

She walked up to me, grabbed my shoulders, and shook me hard, "Enough, Stanley! You're embarrassing all of us!"

"Embarrassing you?" I brushed off her hands, "You stayed out all night with your male student to revise his thesis, isn't that more embarrassing?"

"That's work!" Hera roared righteously.

Just as Hera and I were at a standoff, my mom slapped me hard.

Her eyes were red, filled with disappointment. "Stanley, is this how I raised you? Do you have no shame? Hurry up and apologize to Terry!"

My face burned with pain, but I felt cold all over.

My mom, without even asking me the reason, believed the outsider and slapped me.

I covered my face and, through blurred tears, saw the smug smile on Hera's face.

She even raised her eyebrows at me slightly.

And Terry, who was being protected by Sarah, immediately covered his mouth and widened his pair of "innocent" eyes, but the depths of his eyes held undisguised victory and mockery.

He thought he had won. I was alienated and utterly defeated, all according to his plan.

Hera stood in front of me and scoffed, "Do you realize your mistake now?"

She said in an unquestionable, commanding tone, "Get on your knees and apologize to Terry. Admit that you have mental problems and are making wild speculations. If you do that, I'll pretend all this never happened."

"How dare you!" My dad roared, pulling me behind him again.

But my mom grabbed my dad's arm tightly, crying, "Hasn't he caused enough trouble?! He should apologize! Do you want him to get a divorce for something so trivial, embarrassing our entire family?!"

I looked at my father, whose eyes were red from defending me, then at the smug couple.

I gently pushed my father's hand away, took a deep breath, and then nodded. "Okay."

I paused, then said the words they wanted to hear. "I'll get on my knees and apologize."

As soon as I spoke those words, the entire living room fell silent.

Hera's expression froze, seemingly surprised that I would compromise so easily.

She softened her tone, coaxing, "Stanley, stop being unreasonable and let's live in harmony, okay?"

"No, thanks." I looked at her expressionlessly.

I shook my phone and looked at Hera and Terry mockingly. "I can apologize, but before I do, I have to know what's in this bouquet!"

Hera said impatiently, "It's just an ordinary bouquet of flowers, how long are you going to be paranoid for?"

"Really?" I found the phone number of my laboratory and dialed it.

"Hello? This is Stanley Lawson. Stop all ongoing tests and help me identify what's in this bouquet of flowers. I'll send the materials over immediately."