Old Love Falls Apart

When I came out, Irina frowned at me and said, "Pretending to be sick again. How childish are you? You're just a lazy, good-for-nothing bum, why are you always so melodramatic? It's because you're so useless that you killed our baby!"

I clenched my sleeves, a sharp pain piercing through my heart like needles. Years ago, I had downed drinks to shield Irina from social obligations, which led to a stomach hemorrhage and left me with a serious gastric condition.

After our startup succeeded, Irina took charge of managing the company, while I, due to my poor health, stayed home to care for our baby and handle the household. I became the 'kept man' in the eyes of others.

Once, Irina brought the baby and me to a company retreat, where Chris accidentally pushed our child into the river. I immediately jumped in after them, severely injuring myself, but I still couldn't save the baby's life.

I considered holding Chris responsible, but Irina just laughed at me, "How dare you blame others for your incompetence? If you hadn't wrecked your body fooling around when you were younger, maybe you could've saved a child."

She knew I drank at social events to help her business. She knew it was Chris's fault that our baby died. Yet she still used the cruelest words to insult and belittle me.

Over the years, her constant brainwashing had made me insecure and fearful. It was only today that I finally understood, endless tolerance doesn't bring love, it only encourages the other person to trample over you.

I didn't want to argue with Irina anymore, so I went to the bedroom to pack my things. She thought I was doing my usual housework.

Lounging on the sofa with her legs crossed, she casually chatted with Chris, waiting for me to serve her. Their conversation was accompanied by a close-up selfie of the two of them.

Irina was so engrossed in the chat that she didn't even notice when I came out with my suitcase.

"Chris wants to treat you to dinner as an apology," she said. "See how generous he is? You made such a fuss over a small issue, embarrassing him in front of everyone. Tomorrow, you're going to the office to apologize to Chris publicly and we can put this matter behind us. Then we can get back to living our lives."

I didn't say a word, just lowered my head and glanced at the message from my lawyer. It would take about ten days to settle the assets and gather evidence of her infidelity. I had already waited ten years, so what were ten more days?

I kept my thoughts to myself, but Irina misinterpreted my silence as another surrender. She grabbed my arm and forcefully dragged me out the door.

In the underground garage, I habitually opened the passenger-side door, but she quickly shoved me aside. My forehead hit the door and the pain brought tears to my eyes.

"Are you okay?" Irina seemed flustered.

She pretended to be concerned about my injury, but her body was deliberately blocking the leopard-print underwear Chris had left in the passenger seat.

She pretended while asked, "The passenger seat is a little dirty. Why don't you sit in the back? Are you seriously hurt? Should we stop by a pharmacy first?"

It was indeed dirty. I avoided her touch and sat in the back, pretending not to notice the label that read 'Chris's Special Seat' stuck to the front seat.

Feeling guilty, Irina tried to make small talk with me on the way, her tone noticeably softer, "Adrien, we've been married for so many years. Don't you know me well enough? There's nothing between me and Chris. He's just a naive young man. I only look after him because he's younger."

I nodded and turned my gaze out the window.

As we passed through a grove of red maple trees, Irina spoke again, "Look, the maple leaves are red again. I remember we took a picture here once. You were smiling so beautifully back then."

Outside, the maple leaves were as vivid as flames, but inside, my heart felt like it had plunged into an icy abyss.

I looked at her and spoke slowly, "We have been together for ten years and apart from the wedding photo that was destroyed, we have never had a photo together."