He Left

Things between William and I seemed to get more serious.

The two of us didn't even eat together anymore now since our last fight over that lipstick.

He started coming home late, even staying out all night.

He sent a short message in the middle of the night, telling me he would work late.

After about a week, William couldn't bear it.

One day I had just laid down when he walked in with his quilt and pillow.

I turned my back on William. He lay beside me and hugged me.

"Stop the fight, OK?"

His coaxing tone made me uncomfortable, and I shrugged him off.

"No, you left me on the street. I won't forgive you."

William did the same trick again, wrapping his arms around me so tightly that I couldn't break free.

"I'm sorry, honey."

This time I didn't want to hear his explanations. His gentleness was an excuse for cheating. I was the one who got hurt in the end.

Saying that, William slipped his hand into my pajamas.

I sat up at once. "Don't touch me."

William was dissatisfied. "Audrey, I'm your husband. What's wrong with touching you?"

I sneered. "I'm afraid I'm not the one you want to touch."

Hearing my words, William showed a little panic for a moment.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

He resumed that expression and lay down.

"How is your body?"

"What's wrong?"

"Mom let us have a baby as soon as possible."

"I can't get pregnant, you know that."

"Why can't you get pregnant?"

William sat up angrily. "You are a woman. Women can get pregnant."

I squeezed the covers harder to keep from shedding tears in front of him.

Seeing that I didn't say anything, William compromised.

"We can do that." With those words, he fell silent, and before long I could hear his heavy breathing.

I looked at the phone beside William and wondered if I should check it or not.

The last time I checked his phone, I got nothing.

He must have deleted the messages completely.

I couldn't even find the name Abril.

I didn't know what name he used for Abril.

But the whole changing passwords thing had made me crazy.

A man's password could only be his lover's birthday.

However, William's password was changed to Abril's birthday date.

What did that mean? It was obvious.

The image of Abril's bulging belly came back into my mind. A wave of vertigo swept over me.

The next day, our fight continued.

William seemed angry. "I'm your husband and a normal man. If I want to have sex with you, you must agree."

I shielded my body with the covers. "Why?"

It occurred to me at this point that Abril was now pregnant.

Sex was not good for pregnant women. So William hadn't had sex for a long time.

He cared about her. He couldn't let her get hurt. He then came to me.

The cry on the side of my mouth dissolved into a mocking smile. I felt so funny, both William and I.

"Besides, how can we have a baby if you don't sleep with me?"

"William," I called out to him.

"Have you ever thought about finding another woman to have your baby?"

To my surprise, William answered me in silence.

It was only after half a minute that he spoke grimly.

"What you have to do is get pregnant. Don't think about other things."

After that, he started to undo his pajama pants. I was finally on the verge of collapse when he pushed me again.

"Pregnant? Pregnant with what? Didn't you tell me you didn't want kids?

"William, from falling in love to getting married, I've been with you for many years. If I wanted to have a baby, wouldn't I have done it so long ago?

"If you want a baby, you can have a baby yourself. I don't want to. Go find another woman then!"

Bang!

I felt a pain in my face, followed by an indescribable soreness in my nose.

"Audrey, that's enough!"

Just now William threw a pillow at my face in a fit of rage.

Because I said something he didn't want to hear.

When I said this, I felt hurt too.

Something seemed to stab in my heart silently.

I didn't know how long it took, but there was a violent knock on the door in the living room.

"Police, open the door!"

William put on his clothes and ran out, changing into a warm and polite look.

"Good evening, what can I do for you?"

My argument and fight with William had scared the neighbors. They called the police.

The policeman looked warily toward the house. "Why are you arguing in the middle of the night? What happened?"

William rubbed his hands together. "Nothing big deal. My wife quarreled with me. Sorry."

He turned to our neighbors again. "I'm so sorry to have disturbed you."

I took three steps forward. "Why am I the one making a scene?"

William gave an apologetic smile. "Look, she's doing it again. I'm sorry."

I rushed to the neighbors and the police like I was crazy. "Why did we fight? Do you dare tell everyone?"

By the time I calmed down, it was too late. I became an irritable cranky woman in front of everyone.

And William, on the contrary, was a good husband.

The police talked to us. We apologized to the neighbors. They all left.

"You want everyone to think I'm crazy, right?"

I grabbed William's clothes. "I'm your wife. How can you do such a thing to me?"

I knew how desperate I was right now. William's tone turned cold as he watched the neighbors go back.

"I don't want to waste time with you. Think by yourself."

He got dressed as fast as he could and walked out. I sat paralyzed on the floor as if all the strength in my body had been taken away with William.

I should find him. If I couldn't find William, I could come to Abril.

In the dim light, I opened Abril's profile once more.

It had her phone number on it.

I kept it in mind and then searched for information about Abril on all platforms.

Finally, I got Abril's Twitter account.

Looking at the pictures, I felt angry at first, and then cold.

How many times did William say he worked overtime? But he was actually with Abril.

Although the pictures showed no faces, I could determine that the one Abril was embracing was William by his clothing and hand.

How many nights before leaving, he kissed me tenderly? And then he turned to indulge in the love of Abril.

I smiled bitterly as I looked at Abril's account.

I was kind of mad.

Just before I turned off my phone, Abril's Twitter was updated.

It was a photo taken under a desk lamp with dim ambiguous lighting.

"It's a great blessing for me that when I think of you, you just show up."

In the photo, Abril snuggled on a man's shoulder, full of happiness on her face.

I knew that shoulder. It belonged to my husband who had just left the house.

William's...

Apologize

I waited for three days before William came back.

And I was well prepared during those three days.

"Is it good to live in a car?"

William opened the door, and I asked him with a smile.

He glared at me and changed his slippers to wash his hands.

I knowingly asked, of course, but that was exactly what I wanted.

Was this perhaps a form of revenge?

By the time William walked out, I was sitting on the couch waiting for him.

"I see you."

He raised his eyebrows again out of habit. "What do you mean?"

"That day, at the hospital, I saw you and Abril."

I was straight to the point. "You're accompanying her to do a maternity checkup, aren't you?"

From these abnormal behaviors of mine lately, William had already guessed that I should know something.

But he was still a little surprised to hear the name Abril coming out of my mouth.

After saying that, I waited for William to explain.

I fantasized that he would coax me like he used to, that he would blink his wet eyes and beg me to forgive him.

But he didn't.

"I do want a child."

Hearing William's words, I felt like my heart was torn into pieces.

"Honey, I want kids. She's got...

"And I want her to give birth to my baby."

I didn't say anything, and after a long time, I suddenly clapped loudly.

As I laughed out loud, teardrops continued to fall from my eyes.

"Well, William, I'm happy for you!"

William seemed to realize something and suddenly became alert.

"Just come to me, Audrey. Don't hurt the child."

I stopped applauding, and my whole body was still shaking.

"That's all you ask?

"William, what do you take me for?"

William spread his hands.

"What do you expect me to say when you've already found out the truth?"

He sat down on the couch and looked at me with a smirking expression.

"At least, it's much easier for her to get pregnant than you do."

I nodded seriously.

"So that's how you think."

I still hoped that William could come around.

But I was wrong.

Instead of feeling guilty or sorry, he admitted his affairs plausibly.

He thought I couldn't do anything to him.

But at least he could have cared about my feelings. Why did he hit me when I was already down?

"William, I'd asked you a thousand times if you wanted a child."

I said in a broken voice.

"And you answered me a thousand times that you didn't want children. So how can you back out so easily?"

William didn't dare to look me straight in the eye.

"I'm sorry, okay?"

The apology I cherished and cared about was just a flippant shrug in his case.

His evading took my last hope away.

I lost. I lost completely.

"You're cheating!"

I shouted hysterically at William, who was now wearing a poker face.

"No matter what you say, I will keep that baby."

With that, he went into the bedroom and took the initiative to end the conversation.

I looked at William's back. His back gradually overlapped with the William who loved me in my memory.

And yet, there was a piece that didn't match up in any way.

The next day I showed up at the door of Abril's company.

"Hello, I'm looking for Abril."

The receptionist asked me with a smile, "May I ask your name?"

I answered, "William."

Abril saw me as she walked out, and her smile froze.

I offered my hand. "You should know who I am."

"How did you find me?"

Abril turned pale and unconsciously protected her belly with her hands.

"You investigated me? You know, you are breaking the law."

I said, "Oh, so it's not illegal to have a child with a married man?"

Abril's body began to tremble. "What do you want?"

What did I want?

It didn't seem to have occurred to me.

Before I came, I imagined a million images of how angry, desperate, even mad I would be.

But I was surprisingly calm when I saw her.

"I want to give this back to you."

I took out that lipstick. "Next time you drop it in his car, I won't help you keep it."

Abril revealed a hint of a mocking smile. "This one... I'm going to throw it anyway. But he likes this color."

Maybe she said that to provoke me, and she succeeded.

Things I usually couldn't afford to buy were discarded by her.

I was mad. I was extremely mad. I wanted to do something to humiliate her.

Everyone in the company should be made aware of Abril's secret. She was a pregnant mistress.

Until I saw her belly...

Abril's baby bump was more obvious than the last time I saw her. The little guy was growing slowly but hard.

I handed the lipstick back to Abril.

"Then please cherish it, and..."

I looked at her seriously. "This lipstick is not good for the baby."

Leaving Abril's company, I realized that I didn't feel any sense of revenge.

Instead, I was even more confused.

Making her lose the baby?

I was not that cruel.

I was absent-minded the whole morning. William's call came in at noon.

"What did you do with her?"

My eardrums were almost ruptured by him. "What are you yelling about?"

"She's in the hospital!"

William's voice sounded angry and aggrieved, "I know you went to her. Why did you do that!"

My tone was surprisingly flat, "I want to see what she is really like.

"And sooner or later, we're going to meet, aren't we?"

William's tone was commanding, "Go to the First Hospital now and apologize to her!

"If anything happens to my child, I won't spare you!"

"What do you mean by not sparing me?"

William's voice grew lower, "If she has any...

"Then we'll get a divorce."

Hanging up the phone, I didn't know what to do for a moment.

It was the first time I heard "divorce" from William.

Sure enough, it was because of her and the baby.

I went to the hospital eventually.

The maternity ward was the place I avoided the most.

And today I came.

Just as I reached the door to the ward, I heard several familiar voices.

"Are you okay, Abril? I know this hospital well. Call me if you need anything."

"You should call her Mrs.Cooper."

"Abril won't care. How do you feel now?"

They must be William's friends.

It was ironic. When I went out with them, these guys usually called me "Mrs. Cooper".

Now "Mrs. Cooper" belonged to Abril.

Fate was pretty ironic.

I knocked on the door and walked in. The ward went silent.

"Mrs. Cooper..."

One of William's friends welcomed me, and the other hurriedly told him to shut up.

William was half sitting on the bed while Abril was lying in his arms.

I seemed to be in a movie. I couldn't help but take out my phone to record it.

William showed an indifferent expression.

"Are you done? You should apologize to her."

I laughed. "Why should I apologize to her?"

William's fists were clenched as if he was holding back his anger.

"You went to Abril's company and irritated her, causing her to almost lose her baby. You almost killed my baby!"

I laughed again. "Your child? What's that got to do with me?"

Without waiting for William to speak, I continued.

"William, if you called me here to humiliate me, then you have achieved your goal.

"Your friends have known about Abril's existence for a long time, haven't they?"

Hearing me say that, those men put their heads down, and no one said anything.

At least they knew they had done something shameful.

I continued, "But you have nothing to be proud of. Cheating on your wife. I could sue you for marital infidelity, you know?"

William sneered. "Do you think I will care? Compared to my child, it's not worth mentioning."

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"You are a perfect match. Both of you are shameless."

"Honey!"

Abril had tears in her eyes and wrapped both hands around William's neck. "Look at her!"

"Audrey, don't go too far."

William stared at me. He warned me.

But I couldn't stop anymore. It was more like venting.

"What will a child born out of wedlock face?

"Besides, the baby doesn't have to be yours..."

In the next second, William slapped me hard.

The ward was in chaos. Someone tried to stop me. Someone just enjoyed the show.

The nurse walked in. "Be quiet!"

William pointed at me, his eyes almost bursting into flames.

"Audrey, get out of here. We'll get a divorce!"

I covered my face and froze for a few seconds. I then ran out of the room.

Sitting in the cab, I felt like the world was falling apart.

William's slap knocked away my dignity and broke up our marriage.

Feeling someone looking at me, I realized that the driver's eyes always flicked at me.

I suddenly felt nauseous.

As a woman, I began to get suspicious. A woman would not get nauseous for no reason.

My period had been delayed for two months. I had been having a lot of headaches and dry heaves lately.

Did I get pregnant?