1 During a holiday get-together with my girlfriends, I accidentally clicked on a newly updated local trending post. [Live Stream: What's it like hooking up with your best friend's husband on her balcony?] The comment section was in an uproar, with everyone begging for the live stream and juicy details. The original poster quickly replied: [It's so thrilling my scalp is tingling! Watching my bestie entertain guests in the living room through the glass door, while her husband pins me against the railing... and it's snowing outside! The feeling of fire and ice is absolutely mind-blowing!] I scoffed, thinking it was just a made-up story for attention, and casually clicked on the live photo the poster had just uploaded. With just one glance, I froze. The vaguely visible figure in the photo was wearing the exact same red sweater as me. And the large hand gripping the woman's waist had a black mole right on the web between the thumb and index finger—exactly identical to my husband's. I immediately looked up at the tightly closed blackout curtains, faintly making out the intertwined silhouettes behind them. It had been half an hour since my husband said he was going to the balcony for a smoke, and my best friend, who had come over for the holidays, had also disappeared. Outside the window, heavy snow was falling; it was fourteen degrees out there. I got up, walked over to the balcony door, and with a soft click, I locked that highly soundproof, double-paned sliding glass door. Since they were pursuing the thrill of fire and ice, they might as well enjoy it out there to the fullest. ... "Chloe, you've been married to Mark for three years now. Why haven't you gotten pregnant yet?" "Exactly. A woman needs a child to secure her position. Otherwise, what will you do when you're old?" "Your mother-in-law is so anxious her hair is turning white! You need to take this seriously!" In the noisy living room, several distant relatives surrounded my mom, spit flying as they talked. My mom's smile was frozen on her face, and she could only keep giving me pointed looks. I kept my head down, pretending not to see, my fingers swiping rapidly across my phone screen. Today was New Year's Eve, the big family reunion dinner at Mark's hometown. I felt like an outsider, huddled in the corner of the sofa. My only shield was this warm phone. A newly trending local post title caught my eye. [Live Stream: What's it like hooking up with your best friend's husband on her balcony?] I scoffed. People these days will make up anything for traffic. The comment section had already exploded, with hundreds of replies begging for details. The original poster updated quickly. [It's so thrilling my scalp is tingling! Watching my bestie entertain guests in the living room through the glass door, while her husband pins me against the railing... and it's snowing outside! The feeling of fire and ice is absolutely mind-blowing!] I rolled my eyes and was about to scroll past when the poster uploaded another live photo. One photo. My finger instantly froze on the screen. The angle was tricky, like it was taken from extremely close up, pressed right against the glass door. The glass door reflected a blurry red figure in the living room. That red sweater was a New Year's gift my mom had bought me just a few days ago, and I was wearing it right now. But the main subject of the photo was a large hand gripping the woman's slender waist. On the web of that hand, there was a black mole. It was exactly the same as the mole on Mark's hand, one I had kissed countless times. All the blood in my body rushed to my head in an instant, only to freeze into ice the next second. I looked up, staring dead at the tightly closed blackout curtains at the far end of the living room. Behind those curtains was the balcony. Mark had said he was going out for a smoke half an hour ago. My best friend, Sarah—the same Sarah who, just a second ago, was whispering in my ear about how sorry she felt for me and helping me fend off the relatives—said she was going to get me some fruit and had also vanished. I looked out the window. Heavy snow was falling; it was fourteen degrees out. In the living room, the relatives' interrogation about me having a baby continued. "Chloe, I'm talking to you, did you hear me?" My mother-in-law's sharp voice pierced through. I ignored her. I stood up and, under the gaze of dozens of eyes, walked step by step toward the balcony. The noise in the living room seemed to be muted. Everyone watched me. I walked up to the highly soundproof, double-paned sliding glass door. Behind the curtains, two intertwined silhouettes could be faintly seen, shaking frantically. I smiled. I reached out and grasped the door lock. Click. A soft sound as I locked the balcony door. Since they were pursuing a thrill, they might as well enjoy it to the fullest. 2 The sound of the lock clicking into place was quiet, but in the dead silent living room, it sounded like a thunderclap. Everyone's eyes were fixed on me. "Chloe, what are you doing!" My mother-in-law was the first to react, her voice pitching up sharply. The silhouettes on the balcony also seemed to notice something and stopped their movements. I didn't speak. I turned around, slowly walked back to the sofa, sat down, and picked up my phone again. As if the act of locking the door had just been a hallucination. "Why did you lock the balcony door? Mark is still out there smoking!" My mother-in-law rushed over, pointing her finger at my nose, demanding an answer. "Oh," I didn't even lift my eyelids. "He'll open it himself when he's done smoking." "You!" Just then, loud banging sounds came from the balcony door. "Honey? Chloe? Why is the door locked?" Mark's voice sounded muffled through the double-paned glass, but he couldn't hide his panic. Immediately following was Sarah's shrill voice: "Chloe, stop joking around, open the door quickly! It's freezing out here!" The living room instantly erupted into chaos. "Why is Sarah on the balcony too?" "What's going on with those two? What are they doing on the balcony on New Year's Eve?" "Chloe, open the door right now!" An uncle stood up, speaking in a commanding tone. I looked at the still-updating thread on my phone screen. The poster had just posted another comment. [Fuck, I think the door is locked. My bestie didn't find out, did she?] The comments below immediately derailed. [Holy shit! Live streaming getting caught in the act?] [OP is insane! This is getting spicy!] [Hurry! Start fighting! I want to see blood flowing like a river!] I pointed my phone screen at the loudmouth uncle and said coldly, "What's the rush? They're experiencing the thrill of fire and ice right now. Don't interrupt them." Everyone froze. My mother-in-law snatched my phone. With just one glance, the shock on her face rapidly turned pale, and finally twisted into an expression of unbelievable ferocity. She gripped the phone tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force. Her lips trembled, but she couldn't utter a single word. "Mom! Open the door! I'm going to freeze to death!" Mark's banging on the door grew heavier. "Chloe! I'm begging you! We know we were wrong! Just open the door first, please?" Sarah's crying voice drifted in. In the living room, the relatives looked at each other in dismay. "What a sin!" My mother-in-law finally recovered, letting out a wail—not at me, but toward the balcony. "My son!" She turned to go open the door. I stuck my foot out and tripped her. My mother-in-law stumbled and almost fell flat on her face. "What are you doing!" She turned back and roared at me. "I locked it from the inside." I looked at her calmly, as if stating a fact that had nothing to do with me. "I have the key." I pulled the small deadbolt key from my pocket and dangled it in front of her. Watching her face twist with anger and terror, I almost laughed out loud. 3 "Rebellion! Total rebellion! She's turning this house upside down!" My mother-in-law pointed a violently trembling finger at me, looking like she was having a stroke. "What sins did our family commit to marry such a bringer of bad luck! A barren hen who dares to try and murder her own husband!" She started throwing a tantrum, plopping down on the floor, slapping her thighs, and wailing. "Everyone, look! This venomous woman is trying to freeze my son to death outside!" Several relatives immediately surrounded me. "Chloe, you're going too far. Whatever issues you two have, can't you talk it out reasonably?" "Yeah, it's New Year's Eve. Making such a scene, what will the neighbors think?" "Open the door quickly! If they freeze any longer, someone could die!" They spoke one after another, each taking the moral high ground to judge me. Not a single person cared about me. In their eyes, Mark was the hope of their family, an elite making a six-figure salary. And I was merely an appendage attached to him, one who couldn't even bear a child. My existence was just to highlight Mark's excellence and maintain the family's respectable image. And now, I was daring to challenge that respectable image. "Did you hear me?! I told you to open the door!" A burly cousin stepped forward, trying to get physical with me. I glared at him coldly: "Try touching me." That cousin was pinned to the spot by my glare. The balcony door was being pounded thunderously. "Open the door! You bitch! Open the fucking door!" Mark finally tore off his disguise and started screaming curses. "If you don't open it, I'll smash this glass!" "Chloe, are you crazy?! That's tempered glass, it'll cost thousands to replace if you break it!" My mom rushed over, anxiously pulling my arm. "Mom." I looked at her, enunciating every word. "From today on, in this house, what I say goes." My mom froze, looking at me in disbelief. I turned my gaze back to my mother-in-law. She was still wailing on the floor, repeating the same phrases like "family misfortune" and "bringer of bad luck" over and over again. I picked up a cup of boiling water from the coffee table, walked over, and squatted in front of her. "Didn't you want the key?" I held the cup up to her mouth. The scalding steam made her shrink back violently. "You..." She looked at me in terror, as if looking at a monster. "Drink it," I said softly. "Drink it, and the key is yours." The entire living room went dead silent. Everyone was shocked by my crazy action. 4 "Ah—!" My mother-in-law let out a scream and scrambled backward on all fours, as if trying to escape a plague. I didn't push her further, slamming the cup down onto the floor in front of her with a clatter. Tea splashed out, burning her and making her flinch again. "Since you all want to save him so badly, fine." I stood up and surveyed the silent relatives. "Whoever wants to open the door, come over here and drink this cup of water." No one dared to move. They exchanged glances, the expressions on their faces a colorful display. There was terror, there was anger, but mostly, there was cowardice. This is human nature. When being generous at someone else's expense, they are self-righteous saints. When the fire burns them, they become turtles pulling their heads into their shells for self-preservation. "Lunatic! You are a complete lunatic!" My mother-in-law pointed at me and screamed. "That's right." I nodded in acknowledgment. "I was driven crazy by your family." I took out my phone, opened the live stream thread, and read out the disgusting comments and the poster's explicit replies one by one. [OP, your body is so hot! Your husband must be bad in bed if he can't satisfy you?] [Reply to above: Him? He's a useless piece of trash, all show and no go. My bestie's husband is much better!] That reply was posted five minutes ago. The faces of the relatives in the living room also turned a kaleidoscope of colors. Now, this monumental family scandal had been ruthlessly exposed by me. "Enough!" My mother-in-law suddenly sprang up from the floor, rushing over like a madwoman to snatch my phone. Smack! I backhanded her, slapping her hard across the face. The crisp sound made everyone gasp. My mother-in-law clutched her face, completely stunned, staring at me in disbelief. "You... you dare hit me?" "Hit you?" I sneered. "If you dare touch me again, I'll make sure you spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair." I wasn't joking. Three years of marriage, her overt and covert humiliations, my endless tolerance toward Mark—it wasn't because I was weak. It was because I loved him and wanted to save his dignity. Now that the facade was torn down, I had nothing left to worry about. "Smash it! Smash it for me!" My mother-in-law seemed to be drained of all her strength, collapsing onto the floor, pointing toward the balcony, screaming hoarsely, "Son! Smash the door open! If anything happens, Mom will take the blame!" Having received his mother's command, Mark seemed pumped full of adrenaline. Bang! Bang! Bang! The double-paned glass door to the balcony groaned in agony, shaking violently. Sarah's screams mixed with Mark's curses. "You bitch! Just you wait!" "When I get in there, I'll fucking kill you!" The relatives in the living room backed away in terror, afraid the glass would shatter and hit them. My mom clung to my arm tightly, trembling uncontrollably. "Chloe, let it go. Someone is going to die..." I looked at the door trembling under the heavy blows, at the two frantic figures behind it. I pulled out my phone, pointed it at the door, and pressed record. Then, I dialed 911. "Hello, police? I'm at..." Just as I gave the address, a hand struck my wrist hard. The phone flew out of my hand. It was my mother-in-law. She lunged at me like a madwoman, grabbing me by the throat. "You want to call the cops? You want to make our family a laughingstock for everyone? I'll strangle you, you bitch!" 5 My mother-in-law's nails dug deep into my flesh, and a wave of suffocation instantly washed over me. But I didn't fight back; I just stared coldly at her, watching her face twisted with fury. "Strangle me," I squeezed the words through gritted teeth. "Your son and that bitch will freeze to death out there. My life for theirs. Worth it." My words acted like a bucket of ice water dumped over her head. Her grip on my throat suddenly loosened. Just then. Crash—! A massive explosion. The double-paned tempered glass of the balcony was smashed by Mark using a large ceramic planter. It was the outer pane. Glass shards exploded like hail, but the inner pane remained intact, only covered in a spiderweb of cracks. After smashing the glass, Mark seemed to have exhausted his strength. Through the cracks, he stared at me like a trapped beast. "This is all your fucking fault!" He suddenly turned on Sarah, violently shoving her to the ground. "Why did you post that thread?! You slut! Are you that desperate for attention?!" Sarah, her lips blue from the cold, cried and screamed: "Mark, you're not human! You were the one who said it was thrilling! Now you're blaming me? Are you even a man?!" "Shut up! If you hadn't seduced me, would this have happened?!" This exchange completely shattered the psychological defenses of everyone present. "Murder!" Someone yelled, and the entire living room descended into absolute chaos. The relatives scattered and fled screaming, terrified the next planter would land on their heads. My mom was so scared she collapsed on the floor. Mark and Sarah were still fighting on the balcony. He was only wearing a thin dress shirt, his lips already purple from the cold. Sarah was in an even worse state; that sexy silk slip dress was completely soaked, clinging tightly to her body. Mark's voice was impossibly hoarse. "I'm... begging you..." He had finally started begging me. My mother-in-law also snapped out of it, scrambling on her hands and knees to the door, crying through the glass: "Son! My son! How are you?" Then she turned around, looking at me with pleading, terrified eyes. "Chloe... no, good daughter-in-law... Mom is begging you, Mom will kneel for you! Open the door quickly, if you don't, he really will die!" Saying that, she fell to her knees in front of me with a thud. The mother-in-law who had just been acting arrogant and domineering, who had tried to strangle me, was now kneeling at my feet. The living room was a disaster zone. The relatives who were bustling just moments ago had all fled without a trace. Only my mom, me, and my mother-in-law kneeling on the floor remained. And outside the door, the cheating couple, who were one step away from death. I looked at my mother-in-law kneeling on the floor, feeling absolutely no emotion. If you knew this would happen, why did you act that way in the first place? I slowly walked over and picked up my phone with its shattered screen. Luckily, it still worked. I opened the thread; the poster's account had turned gray. Deactivated. Too bad it was too late. I had already taken screenshots of everything. I walked up to my mother-in-law and handed her the phone to look at. "Now you know how to beg me? Weren't you acting so mighty when you called me a 'barren hen'?" "I was wrong! It's my foul mouth! I'm not human!" My mother-in-law raised her hand and slapped herself hard twice. "Chloe, as long as you open the door, from now on, you're in charge of this house! I'll work like a dog for you!" "Too late." I pulled my phone back, looking past her to the dying man outside the door. The man I had loved for five whole years. "Mark," I asked him, word by word, through the cracked glass, "Tell me, what did I ever do to wrong you?"
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