My husband’s "one of the guys" female best friend micromanaged everything. Every purchase I made had to go through her for "budget logging." She dragged all my private matters out into the open, leaving me exposed to ridicule. When I bought lingerie, she would shriek in surprise. "Wow, Olivia, you're only an A-cup? I always thought you were a C. You must stuff your bra a lot before you go out." When I bought tampons, she made it a joke. "That's a massively heavy flow, buying so much at once. A bit wasteful, don't you think? But the quality you buy is decent. I rarely see you leak, so I guess I can recommend it." She even kept a strict tally on the condoms we bought. "This brand is garbage, and it doesn't even have Declan's size." Whispers erupted around the office. The strange, judgmental looks forced my head down in shame, but my husband just laughed out loud. He’d say she was just speaking nonsense and had no filter, but when his eyes met my aggrieved, angry stare, he’d just pat my shoulder. "That's just how she is, completely unfiltered and loud. She wants to learn about household budgeting, so just let her play around with it." This time, facing their interrogation over a $3,000 expense, I calmly pulled out a medical receipt. I waited for his female bestie to read it out loud, just like always. "Hymenoplasty? Olivia, do you and your husband have some freaky new roleplay going on? I didn't realize you were so open-minded behind closed doors." I smiled, shaking my head and then nodding. "We sure do. It’s just with someone else." ... Chapter 1 Declan's face instantly went black as thunder. He shot up from his chair. "Olivia, what the hell are you talking about? What do you mean 'someone else'? You better explain yourself right now." His best friend, Vanessa, quickly shifted her expression and tried to smooth things over. "It’s just to spice things up. Probably some roleplay dynamic we basic folks wouldn't understand. Declan, you'll find out tonight. Make sure to give us a full debrief tomorrow." Declan's face finally started to relax. But I gripped my fingers tightly. Declan would always tell Vanessa about our intimate life, no matter how private. I had thrown tantrums, warning him to keep his mouth shut. But he would just coax me and go right back to doing it. "What's the big deal? She asked. I'm just satisfying a tomboy's curiosity, don't be so petty." Thinking about this, I fought to suppress my rage until I was perfectly calm. I pulled out a document and told him to sign it. He assumed it was for some luxury item that required both spouses' signatures, and casually tossed it to Vanessa. "You sign it, it's all the same." I let out a cold laugh. After all these years of our relationship, he couldn't even spare a few minutes to look at a divorce agreement. I stubbornly pushed the document back toward Declan. "Can her signature make a divorce filing legally binding? I suggest you sign it yourself. I don't want any messy disputes later." Declan's previously relaxed face twisted into a deep scowl. "Olivia, you're intentionally picking a fight, aren't you? Tossing the word 'divorce' around at the drop of a hat. How many tantrums do you have to throw, how many fights do we need to have before you grow up?" Perhaps my freezing gaze struck a nerve. He took the document, intending to look at it, but Vanessa caused a scene again. She stood up in a panicked rush, urging him. "Declan, hurry up and sign so you can come with me to the OB/GYN. I've been feeling off. Don't you dare refuse; I went with you to the urologist last time." Declan didn't hesitate anymore. Without even glancing at the page, he quickly signed his name. I stared blankly at that signature. I had originally planned to have an amicable split... Forget it. To me, as long as he signed it and it was legally binding without disputes, that was all that mattered. I took the document and turned to leave. Declan turned his head and called out to me. "Olivia, I'm coming home tonight." I casually replied, "Oh." What did it matter to me? I wasn't going back there anyway. Chapter 2 Evening arrived as expected. My phone chimed with a notification. I picked it up. Declan had sent me a text. [Something came up tonight. Won't make it back. Wait until tomorrow for your surprise.] I scoffed and didn't reply. It was exactly as I had expected. On a past wedding anniversary, I was swamped with work but specifically flew ten hours back to celebrate with him. Yet, the moment I walked through the door, he was heading out. "Something happened with Vanessa. A pipe burst at her place; I'll be right back." All my expectations vanished into thin air. The exhaustion from the long journey magnified tenfold, and a sour sense of grievance flooded my heart. "Do you even know how to fix a broken pipe? If there's an issue, call a plumber. Your being there is useless. Did you forget what day it is today?" He anxiously pushed past me. "I know, it's our anniversary. It happens every year, no big deal. I'll be right back. You don't get it; Vanessa looks tough on the outside, but she's absolutely terrified when things actually go wrong." He left in a frantic rush, leaving the anniversary gift burning like hot coals in my hands. Gradually, I had stopped expecting anything from him at all. I reined in my emotions and made a trip back to his family's estate. After all, I had promised to attend the family dinner. Breaking my word would only give them more ammunition to gossip about me. Right at the front door, I ran into Declan. For once, he actually offered an explanation and an apology. "I originally planned to go home, but Vanessa was having bad stomach cramps. I felt like leaving her alone at the hospital would make her scared." I gave a slight nod and brushed him off with a few perfunctory words. Declan wanted to say more, but I had already stepped inside the house. At the dinner table, after a few brief pleasantries, the conversation inevitably shifted to me. My mother-in-law had long been dissatisfied with me. "You've been married for so long, and still not a single child. Are you refusing to conceive, or are you physically incapable? Have you been drinking the fertility teas I gave you?" Every time I visited, my mother-in-law would lecture me and force countless bitter herbal supplements on me. Even that one time I drank them and got severe food poisoning, she didn't stop. "We'll just switch the prescription. Not being able to have kids is the real emergency." And Declan, who knew the entire inside story, just sat there, watching everything unfold as a bystander. He let me endure the endless harassment or brushed it off by saying we would "keep trying." This time, I didn't apologize like I used to, nor did I promise to dutifully drink the supplements and try to get pregnant. I put down my fork and unceremoniously fired back. "Declan doesn't want one himself. How am I supposed to get pregnant?" My mother-in-law jumped up in a panic to refute me. "Liar! How could my son not want children? It’s obviously because you have an issue and can't conceive." All these years, I was the only one who took the brunt of this topic, as if I were the ultimate sinner. I pulled out my phone and played an audio recording. Immediately, the sound of our argument filled the room. It was the night I discovered he had been slipping me birth control pills. "The reason I can't get pregnant is because of your sabotage? Just because Vanessa doesn't want you to have a child right now? Can you get it through your head that having a baby is an issue between the two of us?!" Such an absurd reason naturally enraged me. In the recording, Declan frowned and scolded me. "Are you really that desperate for a kid? It’s not like you’re too old to conceive. What's the harm in waiting a few more years? As for my mom’s nagging, just take the scolding and it'll pass." The argument hadn't resulted in any compromise from Declan. He simply stopped sleeping with me altogether. "We'll have one in a few years. Vanessa needs some time to accept it. Any child I have, she's going to be the godmother. You wouldn't want the kid to miss out on their godmother's love, would you?" In the past, considering the harmony of the family, I had chosen not to expose this. But now, since they didn't care about dignity, why should I? My mother-in-law's face instantly turned beet red. She stammered, unable to utter a single word. After the family dinner ended, Declan found me. He was somewhat angry, but his demeanor softened when he met my icy gaze. "There was no need for you to do that. But fine, it is about time we had a child." Chapter 3 I felt my entire good mood for the day sink. Just as I was about to retort, my phone rang. Seeing the caller ID, an unconscious smile spread across my face. I stepped to the side to answer it. Our wedding was currently in the planning stages. When I looked back up, I didn't expect Declan to still be standing there, a flash of deep displeasure on his face. He stared at my phone and demanded: "Whose call was that? You were smiling so happily." I curled my lips into a smirk. It was my new husband, of course I was happy. But I didn't answer him, I just turned to walk away. Declan relentlessly persisted. "I asked whose call it was." As our eyes met, I felt like I was looking at the old him. We had been together since college, falling in love during the prime of our youth. He used to get jealous over a single smile I gave someone else, grabbing my hand and pouting, demanding I only look at him. Back then, it was a sweet enhancer to our romance. But seeing him act like this now was nothing short of laughable. I coldly shook his hand off. "It has nothing to do with you. Also, your precious Vanessa is here looking for you." Hearing Vanessa's name, Declan finally retracted his hand with a look of reluctance, watching the person approaching from the doorway as he slowly regained his composure. That afternoon, my best friend Zoe took me out to clear my head and celebrate my divorce. After downing two bottles of wine in our private booth, I stepped out to use the restroom. On my way, I caught the sound of a very familiar voice. The door to their VIP booth hadn't been closed all the way. A group of people was surrounding Declan, urging him to share his biggest regret in life. "What's the big deal? Tell us! We're all bros here." I was just about to walk away when Declan spoke up. "My biggest regret in this life was taking Olivia's grandmother to the hospital. At the time, seeing Olivia crying so miserably, I rushed to get her medical attention. It bought her an extra three years of life, but honestly, I felt like her grandmother had already lived long enough. It really wasn't worth me wasting my time." I froze, completely stunned. Before I could even process it, I heard Declan add: "It was only afterward that I realized tickets for Vanessa's favorite artist's concert had gone on sale. But because I was delayed by that incident, I missed out on buying them." The crowd sighed in sympathy, while Vanessa looked utterly blissful. "But didn't you still accompany me to see it later? You spent a massive fortune buying those tickets from a scalper." Standing outside the door, I broke out in a cold sweat. The smell of alcohol in my stomach surged violently upward, forcing me to sprint to the restroom to vomit. The moment I threw up the acidic bile, tears cascaded down my face. My grandmother had treated him incredibly well. She loved him like her own flesh and blood. Every holiday, she was anxious to cook him nourishing meals, reminding me daily to bring him food to help nurse his severe gastritis back to health. I never imagined that in his eyes, all of that amounted to this. My grandmother's life couldn't compare to a single concert ticket. It was absolutely sickening. Zoe, noticing I had been gone for a long time, frantically texted me. "Babe, where did you go? Are you feeling sick?" Not wanting to make them worry, I quickly wiped away my tears, composed my thoughts, and headed back to our booth. But the exact second I reached out to touch the booth door, someone violently grabbed my hair and threw me heavily to the floor. "You homewrecking slut! All you do all day is figure out ways to seduce other women's husbands!" Chapter 4 I was completely stunned. Before I could even react, I was slapped hard across the face. "You look so young and pretty, why are you so damn cheap?" Zoe, hearing the commotion, rushed out and immediately shielded me. I slowly snapped out of my daze. "What does this mean?" Several middle-aged women threw a stack of printed chat logs directly into my face. "What do you have to say for yourself? Leaking such incredibly private details to the public, you're absolutely disgusting." I caught a glimpse of those private details, yet the tone and phrasing of the messages sounded exactly like Vanessa. A blinding fury instantly engulfed me. I promised the women I would give them an explanation, and then I stormed directly into Declan's booth. Seeing me, a flicker of panic crossed Declan's face, but it vanished completely amidst my ensuing interrogation. I grabbed Vanessa by the collar. "You did this, didn't you? You used my name online to have explicit chats! Let me tell you, that is illegal! I can call the cops and have you arrested right now." Vanessa's eyes instantly turned red with fake grievance. "It wasn't me! Olivia, those little details about you... it's not like I'm the only one who knows them." I was so furious I reached for my phone to dial 911, but Declan violently snatched it out of my hand. "Stop throwing dirty water onto everyone else. How do we know you didn't do this yourself? You were probably lonely and desperate and just found random guys online." I stared at him in absolute disbelief. After all our years together, is this really how he viewed me? He actually believed the "female bro" he met years later over his own wife. A sharp, agonizing pain seized my chest, so intensely that when the middle-aged women started hitting me again, I forgot to even react. "What else do you have to say?! I am so furious I could die! At my age, I still have to deal with my husband getting seduced. What are you trying to do to our families?!" Someone edited the video of the confrontation and uploaded it. In the footage, my "sins" were magnified a hundredfold. I was brutally cyberbullied. People dug up my address and phone number. No matter where I hid, an endless stream of curses and insults pushed me to the absolute brink of insanity. And Zoe was dragged into it too. Everyone assumed that since we hung out together, we were both worthless trash. We were both suspended from our jobs because of this incident. I gritted my teeth, meticulously organizing the evidence. Just as I was about to go to the police station, Declan showed up with Vanessa. Avoiding my gaze, Declan said: "Let this end here. Vanessa knows she was wrong. She proactively admitted her mistake to me, and she told me she wanted to come apologize to you. The internet mob will move on soon. Don't ruin a person's life over this." My suppressed emotions completely erupted. I slapped him across the face with everything I had. "You want me to live the rest of my life carrying this infamy?! Declan, you have incredible nerve! What makes you think I will listen to a word you say? Let me tell you, I am going to the police." Declan's face instantly turned ugly. "Then what do you want?! Vanessa was just being playful. Do you absolutely have to destroy her?" I curled my lips into a cold sneer. She hid in a safe zone, yet she wanted to sacrifice half of my life and my best friend's life. What a beautiful delusion. I didn't want to engage with him anymore. I just wanted to go file the police report, but Declan physically blocked me. "The IP address and account Vanessa used were registered under your name. If you insist on calling the cops, I will personally testify that you were the one using it. This is finally about to blow over. If you do this, your situation will only get worse. You should know perfectly well that you don't have enough solid evidence to prove Vanessa did it." I dug my nails fiercely into my palms, my voice thick with unshed tears. "You love her that much? You are willing to ruthlessly destroy me like this?" Declan frowned in displeasure. "Where is your mind going again? I just don't want anyone else getting hurt. The damage is already done, let's just turn the page as fast as possible. You still have me. She has nothing. Real cyberbullying will cause serious mental health issues for her." Vanessa made a dramatic show of apologizing to me. "Olivia, I really didn't do it on purpose. I just thought it would be fun at the time." In that fraction of a second, I truly, deeply regretted ever meeting Declan, regretted ever being with him. I tried to take a deep breath, but my legs gave out and I slumped weakly to the floor. The door was unlocked. A strong, sturdy body caught me and lifted me up. "Don't worry. I have plenty of ways to prove she did it." My heart inexplicably settled, but I was also confused. "Weren't you on a business trip? You're back so early." Declan stared at the man in front of him in absolute disbelief. Because years ago, they used to be best friends, brothers. But they mysteriously had a massive falling out, and Sebastian eventually moved abroad. They hadn't seen each other since. I had asked Declan about the reason multiple times, but he never told me, only giving vague, evasive answers. "Just stay away from him, that's all." Back then, I loved him too much, so naturally, I obeyed. Sebastian glared coldly at the two of them. "See yourselves out. You two are not welcome in this house." Declan let out a harsh laugh. "Sebastian, you're the one who needs to leave. This is Olivia's house. I am her legal husband. Who the hell are you?" Sebastian didn't get angry. He just offered a slight smile. "Not for much longer." Ever since I decided to get a divorce, I hadn't returned to my old apartment. I had been staying at Sebastian's place. He looked at me, his eyes filled with unwavering certainty. "Olivia, kick him out. We'll discuss our matters behind closed doors. We don't need an outsider interfering." To Declan's utter shock, I intertwined my fingers with Sebastian's hand. "He's not an outsider anymore. I accepted his proposal. This will be our marital home from now on." Declan listened in disbelief, then laughed again. "Olivia, you're just messing with me on purpose, right? Trying to make me jealous? Look at the pathetic excuse you came up with. I told you a long time ago to stay away from Sebastian." If I hadn't held him back, Sebastian looked like he wanted to plant a fist right into Declan's face. I sighed. I had long since found my peace. "Declan, we are divorced. That document I had you sign the other day was the divorce agreement. Black and white. Even if you hadn't agreed, I would have filed a lawsuit. Either way, it's impossible for us in this lifetime." "Oh, and my hymenoplasty? That was for him too. He didn't care, but I wanted to give him the best of me." Declan still refused to believe it. "Olivia, stop joking around. You're just mad that I took Vanessa's side in this incident. I can explain everything, and I know I wronged you. But you still have me. She has no one backing her up. Why can't you understand this simple logic?" As he chattered on endlessly, my patience completely ran out. "Declan, you are truly shameless. The moment you chose to protect her at the cost of destroying my life, I felt nothing but hatred and profound disgust for you." Declan stood there, stunned. He finally started to reflect. Maybe he had realized something, or maybe he truly understood how far he had crossed the line. In the past, it wasn't like I hadn't used divorce as a threat, throwing a massive, hysterical fit. But every single time, Declan couldn't be bothered to care. It was always me who softened first and actively repaired the relationship. But now, that was never going to happen again. Declan stared into my icy eyes, his tone softening. "Forget it. If you don't agree to this, fine. Once I send Vanessa away safely, you can clear your name. Just stop talking about divorce." He tried to quickly flip the page on this massive betrayal. This made Vanessa unhappy. She pulled at Declan's sleeve. "How can you do that? How am I supposed to face the internet then? I can already imagine how brutal it will be." Declan didn't comply with her like he usually did. He just brushed her off dismissively. "Just endure it and it will pass. Besides, I'll send you somewhere isolated. Just stay off the internet for a while."
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