Chapter 3

"William, aren't you being incredibly childish? It's just an argument, do you really have to run away from home? Carter's right here, I'll let him explain!"

Mia quickly gave Carter a look, and Carter began, "William, you've misunderstood. Hugs and kisses are just polite gestures abroad. You haven't been overseas, so you wouldn't understand."

"You don't know, Mia cares about you a lot. She was distracted all day at the office."

"If I wanted to have something with Mia, it would have happened ages ago. There wouldn't be any room for you. Mia has looked after me like a younger brother for years. We really have a great relationship, that's why I hugged her."

After Carter finished explaining, Mia looked at me smugly. "William, we're both right here. You believe us now, don't you?"

I was pretty surprised. I wondered if Mia was truly naive or just pretending to be.

Did she really foolishly believe Carter was here to reconcile us?

I thought I was calm and detached, but facing Carter's manipulation, I still felt an urge to punch him!

But I had to consider reality. My child was already losing his mother; I couldn't let him lose his father too.

I suppressed my anger, saying nothing, and walked around them. But Carter suddenly grabbed my arm from behind.

If it weren't for him, I believe my family wouldn't have fallen apart.

So I angrily shook his hand off. He then dramatically fell to the ground, as if I'd hit him hard.

Mia quickly helped him up and angrily demanded, "William! Are you crazy? You actually hit Carter? You're totally ungrateful! Apologize to him right now!"

Before I could speak, Carter took Mia's hand and said, "Mia, don't blame William. He's just upset. This is all my fault. If I hadn't hugged you then, none of this would have happened."

"Carter, stop talking. I'm already grateful you came to explain for me. Besides, this isn't your fault. If he hadn't idly taken our son to the airport, he wouldn't have seen anything, and none of this big mess would have happened!"

I scoffed, "I get it. So, this is somehow my fault now."

"Isn't it? We already had our roles: I handled things outside, you handled things inside. You just needed to take care of your responsibilities at home. What's with the 'surprise'? Don't you think that's childish? Anyway, William, let's not talk about that. Apologize to him first!"

I said nothing. Carter then turned to me again. "William, no need for apologies. You've hit me, you've probably calmed down now, right? Don't argue with Mia anymore, just go home."

The two of them, working together in perfect sync, subtly turned me from the accuser into the accused.

It was the first time I'd felt physically and emotionally disgusted by someone. I didn't want to explain, nor did I want to look at them for another second.

I picked up my luggage and resolutely left Mia's place.

"William, hitting Carter in front of me today really made me lose face."

"We both made mistakes in this situation. Apologize to Carter, and we'll let this go."

"I've given you a way out. It's up to you if you want to take it!"

After leaving Mia's place, she sent me several texts in a row.

I was relieved that she didn't soften her tone.

Because the harder her attitude was, the clearer my own mind became.

Otherwise, I worried that when our son cried for his mom at night, I might change my mind.

Later, I thought that Carter's appearance might not have been such a bad thing after all.

Because sometimes you need to go through pain to be reborn.

I stopped contacting Mia, but she likely figured I'd taken our son back to my parents' house.

A few days later, she showed up at my parents' house looking for me.

From complaining to my parents to threatening me.

"Mom and Dad, you know your family's financial situation. If William wants to buy a house and car in this city on his own, he'll need to work for at least thirty years. So you should persuade him to come back home with me."

"Mia, this is between us two. Don't drag my parents into it."

"They're your parents, so of course they should be involved in our affairs. How about this: if you don't come home with me, then I'll just stay here." Mia told me confidently, clearly believing she had the upper hand.

She thought that would leave me with no choice?

She found my parents to persuade me, but I could do the same with hers.

Because when Mia and I first got married, her parents already didn't think much of me, labeling me a leech and a sugar baby.

Especially after I'd been out of work for over a year, they looked down on me even more.

They'd even secretly advised Mia to divorce me; I'd unintentionally overheard their phone calls.

So when I called them and said Mia was staying at my parents' house, begging me not to divorce her, they absolutely lost it right then and there.

Mia's father yelled into the phone, "William, if it weren't for my daughter, would you be living this kind of life? You're useless, you have no money. Only my foolish daughter would have fallen for you!"

"My daughter is out there earning money to support the family, and you, a lazy sugar baby, dare to talk about divorce with her?"

"Remember this: "my daughter" is dumping "you"! Put Mia on the phone!"

Mia's parents reacted like I'd stepped on their tail, then they tore into Mia, scolding her. In the end, she reluctantly left my parents' house.

After she left, my parents also tried to persuade me, saying that in all our arguments, Mia had never backed down.

This time, she must really know she's wrong and wants me to give her another chance for our son's sake.

Honestly, I wavered.

Because I truly thought my wife would calmly accept my divorce request, believing it would mean no one would bother her about Carter anymore.

So, a few days later, I used the excuse of going back to pick up some things, wanting to see how she was living.

After all, we'd lived together for five years. It was impossible to say there were no happy memories from those years of shared intimacy.

Returning to the house I'd lived in for five years, a wave of inexplicable sadness washed over me.

I sat on the couch for a long time, wondering if I should wait for her to come home and have a proper talk.

But very quickly, I gave up on that naive idea.

In the bathroom, I saw two toothbrushes.