Country C in South America, England’s diplomatic embassy there.

“Rosanne, are you sure you want to resign? But your husband Addie still needs your cooperation in his daily work.”

Rosanne Huffman remained calm, but fatigue could not be hidden in her eyes.

“Minister, I have been in poor health for the past few years and cannot adapt to the high-intensity translation work here. After all, Addie has already found someone to replace me.”

The minister heard Rosanne's voice-over and saw that Rosanne had indeed lost a lot of weight in recent days and was not as energetic as before. As a result, he stopped dissuading her.

“Your work ability is excellent. I hope you can continue to shine in your professional field when you return to England. I have approved your resignation application, but it will take one month before it can be announced to the public.”

After walking out of the embassy with her resignation letter, Rosanne felt unprecedented relief.

She dialed a familiar phone number and a familiar voice came from the other end.

“Geneva, help me prepare the divorce documents. I'm leaving him this month.”

“Have you really thought it through?”

“Of course. I won't regret it.”

Three years ago, Rosanne never thought that she would reach this point that day.

Back then, Rosanne said she liked roses. Addie Marquez, who was in his early twenties, would hold 999 roses in his hands and stand in the snowy night of London, silently waiting for Rosanne to finish class.

Rosanne said she wanted to see the world. Addie was willing to give up the management rights of the Marquez Family business and accompany Rosanne to South America across the ocean.

On the day of the proposal, Addie prepared the most beautiful flowers in South America for Rosanne and knelt on one knee in front of her in the afterglow of the sunset. 

The moment Rosanne agreed to marry him, Addie was overjoyed.

He carried her on his back and ran wildly on the busy streets of Country C, announcing loudly to the world in Spanish that he had married his beloved girl.

On the wedding day, Addie drove a convertible sports car and openly showed off his beautiful bride to the world.

Amid the cheers and applause of foreigners, Rosanne truly thought that she had married happiness.

Later, Addie became the youngest diplomatic official in the history of the English Embassy in Country C. 

Rosanne, who studied translation, naturally became Addie's accompanying translator, accompanying her husband to attend large and small occasions.

Everyone envied the deep love and strong union between Rosanne and Addie and their relationship gradually became a good story in the English community in Country C.

Even Rosanne thought that she and Addie would be together forever.

Unfortunately, no matter how beautiful life was, it would be destroyed little by little by facts.

Rosanne passed by a restaurant and saw the TV on the wall broadcasting the latest news in Spanish.

"On January 1, 2020, Mr. Garcia, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Country C, met with English diplomatic officials in Bogota and the two sides discussed trade between the two countries…."

“The New Year is approaching. We invite diplomatic officials from the English Embassy in our country to send New Year greetings to all overseas English in Country C.”

The familiar face of Addie appeared on the TV, causing Rosanne to feel sad.

“On behalf of the English Embassy in Country C, I would like to wish all the English compatriots in Country C a happy New Year. You are all welcome to come home often!”

***

The translator beside him was no longer Rosanne, but Addie's childhood sweetheart, Maribel Hudson.

In front of the camera of Country C TV, Maribel held Addie's hand intimately, posing like a little kitty. Addie also cooperated very well and sent a tender look to Maribel.

There was a lot of discussion in the restaurant.

“What is this girl translating? This Spanish has a lot of grammatical errors. The TV station is really making a fool of itself.”

Rosanne studied translation, so she was naturally well aware of Maribel's level of interpretation ability.

But at that time, Addie ignored all the dissuasion and insisted on keeping Maribel, who majored in art history, by his side.

Later, Rosanne discovered that Maribel only kept one pinned post in her Instagram.

“In this busy world, there is always someone who loves us fully.”

Among the nine-grid pictures, a photo of ten fingers interlocked was particularly eye-catching. 

Addie had previously customized a pink wedding ring for Rosanne, but then it appeared in the Instagram of an outsider, Maribel.

Based on the black mole on the thumb joint, Rosanne immediately recognized the pair of large hands with distinct joints. They belonged to the man who always claimed to love her husband, Addie.

The comment section was filled with blessings from her colleagues and Maribel also made a few public comments without hesitation.

“Thank you for your blessings. My husband and I have known each other for a long time!”

“We love each other very much and we are childhood sweethearts who have grown up sleeping in the same bed. This relationship is indeed deeper than that of ordinary people."

Rosanne recalled that on the night when Maribel posted this message on Instagram, Addie used the excuse of being on a business trip and did not return home all night.

But the dozen or so calls I made only received cold and desperate busy tones.

She did not dare to think about it.

In the three years of marriage, Addie has gone on so many business trips, big and small. How many of them were real and how many of them were just excuses to see Maribel?

The more Rosanne thought about it, the more she felt wronged. Tears welled up in her eyes. 

In order to avoid the curious eyes of passers-by, she quickened her pace and walked home.

It was Addie who opened the door.

“Rosanne, why are your eyes red? Did someone bully you?”

The man held her in his arms and rubbed her head gently, but Rosanne quickly pushed him away.

“It's okay. The wind was a bit strong on the way here.”

Addie, how long were you going to keep pretending to care about me?

Early in the morning, Rosanne received a call from the publishing house.

The person on the other end of the phone told her that there were some problems with the famous C country novel “Summer in Macondo” that she had previously translated and she needed to bring the existing manuscript to the editor-in-chief's office.

Coincidentally, the old computer where Rosanne stored her manuscripts lost most of her files due to water a few days ago.

Fortunately, the translation of the entire book had been sent to the editor-in-chief for review and she only had the printed draft left with her.

This book represented more than two years of Rosanne's hard work and was the best proof of her translation ability. Naturally, she did not want to make any mistakes.

Rosanne rushed to the editor-in-chief's office, she did not see the lively Latin girl as usual, but only a strange black-haired woman with her back to her.

“Is Editor-in-Chief Camilla here?”

She knocked on the door, but she did not get the enthusiastic response she usually received.

The black-haired woman slowly turned around, squinted her eyes and looked up and down at Rosanne who was standing by the door. The contemptuous look made Rosanne feel very uncomfortable.

“Editor-in-Chief Camilla has resigned. I, Maribel Hudson, am the new editor-in-chief.”

Rosanne found it hard to accept her friend's sudden resignation. Moreover, Camilla had always been in charge of her translation work before and then, this job would most likely fall to Maribel.

But no matter from which angle you look at it, Maribel was just an amateur. How could she take on the responsibility of being the editor-in-chief?

Maribel took the paper manuscript and just flipped through it twice very casually, deliberately shaking her head vigorously and making clicking sounds.

“Mrs. Marquez, I have read your manuscript. The translation is just so-so, so I can't approve the publication application.”

Just so-so? Rosanne frowned and looked at the person on the swivel chair questioningly.

This was the first time her translation skills have been questioned since she started her career.

“Editor-in-Chief Camilla said before that as long as we polish up a few sentences, it can be published next month.”

Maribel disagreed, a sarcastic smile appeared on her disdainful face. She picked up Rosanne's manuscript and rolled it up without any care.

“The past was the past, so please just see what is in the present, okay? After all, Mrs. Marquez, in my publishing house, rules are rules.”

At this moment, Rosanne could no longer tolerate Maribel’s arrogance and tried to snatch back the only remaining manuscript in her hand.

In a panic, Maribel threw the manuscript away and it accidentally fell into the burning fireplace.

The only manuscript in Rosanne's hand, her only blood and sweat in the past two years, was turned into ashes bit by bit in the raging flames.

She rushed to the fireplace to try to save it, but the scorching flames pushed her back. But Rosanne did not care about the burning pain and waited until the ruthless flames burned her fingertips, but in the end, she only saved half of the manuscript.

Rosanne held the torn paper in her hands, shaking with anger. She could no longer suppress her anger and slapped Maribel's teary face.

“Ah!”

Maribel let out a sharp scream instantly and the sound quickly spread to the side, causing the people who were meeting next door to immediately end the meeting.

The door of the editor-in-chief's office was kicked open, Addie rushed in and Maribel immediately ran into his arms.

“Addie, I wanted to ask Mrs. Marquez for translation skills today, but she actually... hit me," Maribel cried bitterly and even bit Rosanne in order to gain trust.

Rosanne turned around abruptly and as she listened to Maribel's lies, she immediately forgot the pain of the burn. She tried to control her breathing, her heartbeat became more rapid and she cursed at her.

“Maribel, don't put the cart before the horse. It's obviously…."

“That's enough, Rosanne!” 

The man's roar ended the quarrel and also completely extinguished Rosanne's heart.

This was the first time that Addie lost his temper with him because of an outsider.

His face visibly darkened and there was suppressed anger in his voice.

Addie ignored her anger and hugged the woman tighter. On the other hand, Maribel looked like a smug villain and challenged Rosanne with her eyes without any fear.

“Rosanne, I don't understand why you are so malicious towards Maribel.

“You've had a problem with Maribel since she first came to the Diplomatic Office, always finding fault with her at work. Although Maribel's experience is not as rich as yours, as a senior, you should respect the juniors instead of suppressing them blindly!”

Maribel wiped away her tears, pinched her voice, pretended to cry and gently comforted Addie, “Addie, I have always admired Mrs. Marquez. But if Mrs. Marquez doesn't like me, I will leave."

‘Leave? Oh, she meant I should leave them. Okay, then.’

Rosanne could no longer bear it, so she clenched the unfinished manuscript in her hand, turned around and left, slamming the door.

Her heart was in so much pain.

This was not the first time that Addie had defended Maribel in this way.

She had previously pointed out Maribel's translation errors in the document, but Addie accused her of nitpicking and targeting the newcomer.

Rosanne knew very well that if the document from Addie was only roughly translated by Maribel, it would not be presentable at all.

For the sake of Addie's face and also to take into account Addie's career, she revised the manuscripts handled by Maribel again and again behind the scenes.

The burns on her hands were frighteningly red and still irritated Rosanne's fragile nerves from time to time.

She still remembers that when they were newly married, Addie would run all over the capital of Country C in the middle of the night to find the best family doctor and buy the most expensive special medicine for her minor gastroenteritis.

He said that he would protect her all his life, no matter how old his age, in sickness or death, he would never leave me.

But that time, the shocking burns on her hands were nothing compared to Maribel's crocodile tears.

It was already ten o'clock in the evening when they returned to the family quarters of the diplomatic office.

England thoughtfully allocated single-family houses to its diplomatic officials stationed in Country C. Rosanne had been living there since she married Addie.

After entering the room, Rosanne ignored Addie who was sitting on the sofa and walked straight into the room.

After a while, there was a knock on the door.