Chapter 1

It was New Year's Eve, and my in-laws insisted we spend it at their place, claiming it would bring good luck for the coming year. Unable to get train tickets, we decided to drive back. That's when Jack's ex-girlfriend, Chloe, invited herself along.

She brazenly took my seat in the front, saying, "Emma, I get carsick easily. I can only sit in the front."

Jack looked at me with disdain. "It's just a seat. Why are you being so petty?"

His parents chimed in, "You're older, what's the harm in letting Chloe have the front seat?"

Unable to argue, I squeezed into the back with my in-laws.

At a toll station, Chloe spotted a stray dog and had a sudden burst of compassion. "That poor dog! Let's take it with us."

I immediately objected, "Our car is already full. We'd be over capacity if we took the dog. We wouldn't be allowed on the road."

Chloe gave Jack a pitiful look. Without hesitation, he turned to me, "Emma, why don't you give up your seat for the stray dog? You can take a cab home."

...

At the toll station, Chloe, who had insisted on squeezing in with us for the trip home, spotted a stray dog and wanted to bring it along.

Faced with my objection, Chloe didn't care at all.

She just looked at Jack with puppy eyes:

"Jack, please, can we take this dog? If we leave it here, it'll freeze to death."

"It's so young, it hasn't even seen the world yet. It shouldn't die here like this."

She wrapped her scarf around the stray dog as she spoke.

Jack took my shawl from the car and draped it over Chloe's shoulders, comforting her as if I wasn't there:

"Don't worry, I won't abandon it."

"You're already so frail, you need to take care of yourself too. Don't catch a cold."

Then he turned to me with displeasure: "Emma, how can you be so heartless?"

"It may just be a stray dog to you, but it's a living being."

"How can you be so cold and indifferent?"

I looked at the two of them, annoyed by their excessive display of compassion.

I had never said we shouldn't help the dog, yet they painted me as some sort of villain.

And one of them was my husband, who had shared a bed with me for years.

Despite my anger, I patiently explained:

"If you really want to save this dog, we can leave some food for it."

"Or we could talk to the convenience store staff here, leave some money, and ask them to look after the dog."

"Our car is already full. If we take it with us, we'll be over capacity and will definitely be stopped by the police."

I thought my explanation was clear enough.

But as soon as I finished speaking, Chloe became upset:

"Emma, I know you're loaded, but how can you just leave the stray dog with the store staff here? How do you know they'll take proper care of it?"

"What if they take the money and don't do anything? What will happen to Blackie then?"

In less than five minutes, Chloe had already come up with a name for the stray dog.

"How can you expect a little dog to survive this harsh winter?"

"Do rich people like you think a dog's life is worthless? Is it not a life at all?"

"How can you bear to leave it here all alone? Can't you see it's already shivering from the cold?"

Listening to Chloe's moral blackmail, I couldn't help but laugh. "I think you have a point."

Then I changed my tone: "Why don't you give up your seat for little Blackie?"