Burning the Patents of Betrayal

My heart felt like it was being carved apart. I staggered back two steps, staring in shock at the sister I had raised and taken care of my whole life.

But she didn't even register my pale face. After urging me two more times, she just turned and walked away.

A chill sank deep into my bones.

I deleted the message I'd just sent and wrote a new one to my lawyer: [Also draft a document to sever sibling ties.]

I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes, hard.

The love that had already rotted, and the sister who had betrayed me—I wanted none of it anymore.

When I got home, the newly decorated wedding room I had put so much care into was in complete chaos.

Wrappers from condoms were scattered across the floor, and traces of their intimacy were everywhere.

Chuck walked out, rubbing his lower back with a satisfied look.

When he saw me, he deliberately tilted his head, showing off the marks on his neck.

"Adam, that wedding bed you picked out is really something. Julie and I tried eighteen new positions—she was so into it, you'd think she'd never been with a man before. She wanted me over and over. What's the matter—are you not able to satisfy her?"

His eyes dropped meaningfully toward my waist.

Blood rushed to my head. I swung and punched him hard.

"You ungrateful bastard!"

He took the hit and fell to the ground, clutching his bruised lip as he put on an act of apology.

"I'm sorry, Adam. I didn't realize you still couldn't accept me. Since you're calling me the other man, I have no right to stay here. I'll leave right now."

Julie walked in just in time to see it. Furious, she shoved me aside.

"Adam, have you had enough? What did Chuck ever do to you? Why do you keep going after him like this?"

In twenty years together, she had always been sweet and considerate with me. Even when we argued, she was the first to back down.

And now, over another man, she was attacking me without a second thought.

Julie cupped Chuck's face, checking his injuries—the same way she used to worry over me, full of tenderness and care.

A flash of smugness crossed Chuck's eyes. Pretending to be understanding, he said to Julie, "Julie, don't blame Adam. He's just jealous and upset—I get it."

Then he put on a concerned act, coming over to talk to me, leaning close to whisper in my ear with a mocking tone:

"A kept man like you, with no real talent—who can you blame when your wife finds someone new? I was nice enough to let you keep cooking so you could keep mooching off the household."

His voice dripped with ridicule.

"You didn't know, did you? That one-dollar 'encouragement bonus' Julie sent you—I'm the one who told her to give it to you. She said if she hadn't taken you in, you'd be a lonely old man nobody wanted—totally not worth a cent."