"Why the hell should I! Kim, don't push it too far! I'm your husband!"

Kim stood up in her disheveled clothes. The flush on her face had not faded yet.

"What are you yelling at me for? Just because you're infertile, so I can't enjoy it a little? Don't you want to treat your father? Don't you want money?"

Emmett, wrapped in only a towel, stood behind her, looking at me smugly, saying, "Julian, I'm just helping you do your husbandly duties. Don't worry. I will never take your place."

He walked over and whispered in my ear, "You're just a piece of trash who can't even satisfy your woman. Your father should just go to hell!"

There were some insults that I could bear with, some I shouldn't.

I lifted my arm and threw a punch in his face. I did not eat or drink for two days. I was held up with nothing but rage.

The punch drained me of all my energy.

Emmett didn't expect that I would suddenly attack him. He caught the punch in his face and stumbled backward.

However, he was young and strong, so he soon started attacking back.

I avoided a few punches, but missed the one in my abdomen. A pang of pain shot through me as if my organs were destroyed. I tasted metal in my throat.

He didn't give me any chances of catching my breath, continuing with kicks into my abdomen.

Over and over again.

I spat a huge mouthful of blood on the floor.

"Alright, enough!" Kim finally rushed over and pulled Emmett, who was still attacking me, back.

She looked at me and the pool of blood. Her pupils contracted. She had a hint of inconspicuous panic on her face.

She subconsciously went up to me as if she wanted to check on me, when Emmett suddenly sobbed pitifully, "Kim, it really hurts. Why would Julian hit me?"

Kim stopped right in her tracks. All of her focus was suddenly pulled back to Emmett's slightly reddened hands.

"Look at how red your hands are. Does it hurt?" She lowered her head and gently blew on his fists, completely ignoring me, her husband on the floor, who just spat a mouthful of blood. It was as if I was some trash in their way.

She finally looked at me icily, even annoyedly. "You shouldn't have hit him. Clean yourself up. I'll go and deal with Emmett's injuries."

Then, she led Emmett out without looking back at me.

I coughed and spat more blood. I found the entire thing absurd and comical.

Julian, oh, Julian. What were you still expecting?

She no longer cared about me. I was nothing compared to the slight redness on his hands.

I lay on the cold, hard floor for a long time. The pain in my abdomen and chest was so intense that I thought I was about to die.

I struggled to get up and headed out of the bedroom.

Kim was carefully peeling shrimp for Emmett.

Emmett opened his mouth, enjoying her services.

When he saw me, his eyes gleamed with arrogance and condescension.

I remembered Kim once told me that she would never peel shrimp for any man in this world. Turns out that it wasn't true. She just wouldn't do it for me.

When she saw me stumbling over, she looked up coldly and said, "You're here. Come and eat. Emmett's a guest. You'd better be on your best behavior. If you can't do it, just get lost."

Emmett furrowed his brows and said, "Kim, the food isn't really that nice. It's too salty."

Kim immediately got anxious. She placed her cutlery down and got up to coax Emmett.

"Is that so? We don't have to eat this. Come, I'll take you out for a nice meal. You can have whatever you want."

I was leaning against the wall. My abdomen felt like it was going to tear in two with every movement I made.

"Kim, do you remember what day it is today?"

Kim frowned impatiently as if she were looking at a toddler throwing a tantrum.

"What? Some kind of anniversary again? Enough, Julian. We've been together for so long. Who still cares about these things? What are you? A teenage girl? Just stay at home. Once we're back from dinner, I'll buy you a present."

Then, she headed into the bedroom. She didn't notice how my eyes reddened, nor how the last sliver of hope in my eyes vanished.

Emmett and I were left in the dining room. He walked over to me with a triumphant smile.

"What were you hoping for? You're old and useless. Do you really think that Kim will still love you? She loves me the most now."

Then, he produced a certificate from his pocket and showed it to me.

"All I need is to put on a cute act and cry a few drops of tears, she would even get married to me. If you know any better, you'd pack up your things and get lost. Stop being the third wheel here."

I glared at the wedding certificate, with a photo of Kim cosying up next to Emmett.

A bomb seemed to have detonated in my mind. All I could hear was buzzing in my ears.

Yes. I completely forgot about it. Kim and I never registered our marriage. We didn't even have a wedding.

When we just got together, she was still a background actor. She held my hand and said with a sparkling gaze, "Julian, once I'm famous, we'll get married. I want the entire world to know that you're my man!"

Later, she truly got famous, becoming the most sought-after new star of her generation.

When I brought up marriage, she hugged me and said apologetically, "My career is on the rise, and the paparazzi are hounding me closely. Can we wait for a while? I promise, I'll give you the grandest wedding the entire world has ever seen."

Later, she won multiple awards, becoming the most famous actor in the industry. But she never once brought up marriage anymore.

I didn't press on further as well.

Turns out, she didn't forget. She just gave that promise, what was supposed to be mine, to someone else.

My heart sank. Even the pain in my body turned numb.

Emmett arrogantly admired my pale face and kept the certificate away in satisfaction.

At that moment, Kim just returned to the dining room dressed in a pretty dress.

She walked over to Emmett and naturally held his hand, about to take him out.

When she walked past me, she didn't even bother to look at me.

They kissed and left as if they were the true couple.

A long time later, I slowly turned around and walked over to the living room, where I already prepared my luggage.

I unlocked my phone and, without any hesitation, booked a one-way flight to the Great Northwest.

I left this place, filled with so many loving memories, without looking back.

…

Kim somehow felt a little nervous. After all, she was with Julian for so many years. She realized that she perhaps crossed the line that day.

She took her phone out to call her assistant to wire some money to the hospital for Julian's father's treatment.

She thought that Julian would surely be happy about it.

Her assistant was at first stunned, then she replied, "Kim, Julian's father passed away three days ago."