Chapter 1 Chapter 1

My manager, Tom Smith, was surprised when he received my application. He said, "You went through so much to come abroad, Joey. Why do you want to return home now?" I lowered my head and smiled bitterly. "My parents are back in Summeria, so I think it's better for me to return to be with them." Just then, my husband, Shawn Johnson, entered the room. He frowned and asked, "Who's returning where?" I ignored him and chatted with Tom for a while more before hanging up. I turned around to see Shawn staring at me. "Who did you say wanted to return?" I said perfunctorily, "A colleague has submitted an application to be transferred back to Summeria." Shawn smirked. "And here I thought you were the one applying to return. Then again, that can't be the case. You worked so hard to be with me—how could you bear to leave?" He reached out to wrap his arms around my waist. "Let's have a child once Jill gets her citizenship, honey." This was how he'd always treated me. He would be nice after being nasty. It was too bad I no longer wanted to see his nice side. I pushed him away and said icily, "We can talk about the future when it actually happens." Shawn was surprised to hear that. Then, he softened his tone and said, "I'm actually not used to you not arguing with me this time. I thought you would fight me to the death over this." I couldn't help finding his choice of vocabulary mocking. We were a married couple, yet he thought we would need to fight to the death over an outsider. I chuckled mirthlessly. "We've argued so many times that I've grown sick of it." He started complaining about how I used to argue with him over Jill Green. He said I wasn't considerate of him and that I always hurt his feelings when we fought. This was what Shawn had always been like—he took things too far whenever he had the chance. That was why I'd been the one bearing with him all these years. I'd left my parents behind and submitted a request to my company to transfer me abroad because Shawn wanted to migrate. He told me he didn't yet want to start a family, so I'd told my parents I didn't want to have kids yet and bore the brunt of the stress they gave. Yet ultimately, none of my sacrifices could compare to a word from Jill. I stood up and looked at Shawn calmly. "I won't argue with you anymore." He looked at me smugly. "That's good. Jill and I are just friends, so stop getting jealous over nothing. If—" I finished his sentence. "If there were anything between you two, I wouldn't have had the chance to be with you." I'd heard it a thousand times. He nodded in satisfaction. "I'm glad you finally understand." I said, "I should've gotten it ages ago." I should've long since known that I couldn't even compare to a hair on Jill's head in Shawn's heart.

Chapter 2 Chapter 2

Just then, a child's voice came from outside the door. "Daddy, hurry up and come play racing with me! Mommy's so bad at this!" Shawn instinctively shot to his feet and called out in response. He was already heading toward the door when he turned back to me and said, "I'm only going to play with Neil for a while. He's a boy, so Jill—" I cut him off. "There's no need to explain. I trust you." He faltered. Then, he said, "Good. You should trust me." He opened the door and left. Jill's son, Neil Green, had started calling Shawn "Daddy" since his first day here. I'd expressed my dissatisfaction over this, but Shawn had merely snapped, "How can you be so unsympathetic, Jolene? Neil's just a child! It's sad enough that he's lost his father!" I used to get upset whenever I heard Neil calling Shawn "Daddy", but it didn't seem to bother me this time. I placed a hand over my heart and smiled. It turned out that I would no longer feel hurt once I decided not to love Shawn anymore. … I heard laughter coming from outside the bedroom. It mingled with Neil calling Shawn "Daddy" and Shawn's gentle responses. As I listened to them, I thought about the things I had to do. After a while, my phone rang. It was a call from my mother. She asked whether I'd had any cake since it was my birthday and whether I'd celebrated it. Her words reminded me that I'd yet to eat. Before ending the call, Mom tentatively asked when I would return. I'd rarely gone back to Summeria after migrating. Initially, it had been due to the instability at my workplace. Later, it was because Shawn said it was too troublesome to fly back and forth. As soon as I left the room, Neil threw a toy at me. "What are you doing in my house, you bad woman? Are you going to take Daddy away from me again?" Before I could say anything, Jill apologized profusely. "I'm sorry about this, Jolene. Neil is just a child, so please don't get mad at him." Shawn growled, "You don't need to apologize! It's not a big deal. Besides, Neil's only being like this to her because she scared him in the past. It's her own fault!" He pulled Jill and Neil behind him protectively. "Don't tell me you're going to hold a grudge against a five-year-old, Jolene." I hadn't even said a word, yet the blame was all mine. Instead of defending myself, I said, "You guys continue with what you were doing. I only came out to get something." I headed to the fridge and opened it. That was when I noticed that the cake I'd baked was missing. I looked toward the living room to see a ruined cake on the table. Shawn noticed my line of sight and said nonchalantly, "Was that yours? Neil left it there because he said it tasted bad. I'll buy you one if you want." I picked up the cake's remains and threw it into the trashcan. Then, I said indifferently, "No, it's fine." After that, I headed to the door to leave. I'd only taken a few steps when Shawn came running after me. "Where are you going, Jolene?" I looked at him oddly. This was his first time leaving Jill behind to come after me. "Why did you come after me?" He was taken aback by my question. In the past, I would've been overjoyed to see him run after me. I would've forgiven him regardless of what he'd done. He looked awkward, seemingly not expecting me to react so indifferently. "I… I came to ask you where you were going because you left without saying anything."

Chapter 3 Chapter 3

"Oh. I left to get something to eat," I said indifferently. Just then, Jill and Neil approached. She said, "Neil just said that he wants to have pizza, Jolene. We can eat together if you don't mind. Take it as my apology to you.""I don't like—" Before I could finish, Shawn agreed on my behalf. He even ordered me to take the car around. I didn't want to argue with him since I'd already made up my mind about leaving, so I went to the garage without argument. When I brought the car around, he got into the backseat with Jill and Neil as if it were the most natural thing to do. He only realized the problem after I started driving. He said uneasily, "Neil is still young, and he clings to me. That's why I—" I looked in the rearview mirror and saw them sitting there like a happy family of three. I interjected impatiently, "It's good that you're all sitting together. It's dangerous in the front passenger seat, after all." My words took Shawn aback—he'd told me something similar in the past. I'd quarreled with him over the front passenger seat before, and he'd said impatiently, "What's there to argue about? It's not safe riding shotgun." The rest of the journey passed with me driving and listening to the joy and cheer in the backseat. I was like an outsider. … Shawn, Jill, and Neil headed inside the pizzeria when we arrived. When I entered after parking the car, I found that there were only three sets of cutlery at the table. Shawn looked at me awkwardly. He was about to summon the server to add another set when Neil suddenly cried, "I don't want to eat with the nasty woman! Mommy said she'll take Daddy away! I don't want her!" Jill hurriedly clamped a hand over his mouth and looked at me apologetically. "He's just a child; he doesn't mean it. Don't mind him, Jolene." Meanwhile, Shawn pulled Neil into his arms and soothed him. He shot me a look, telling me that I was at fault for this. I chuckled and said to Neil, "He'll always be your Daddy, kiddo. I won't take him away." That made the look in Shawn's eyes change. Before he could say anything, I turned and headed to a table in the corner. I had pizza by myself. I heard the three of them talking and laughing in the distance, but it didn't affect my mood. I was driving home after finishing my food when Shawn suddenly called me. "Where are you, Jolene? We're done, so you can wait for us in the parking lot." I couldn't help wondering how lowly he thought of me to speak to me so matter-of-factly. Why would he think that I would still return home with them after how they'd treated me?" I said indifferently, "I'm already home." That pissed him off. "What the hell do you mean by this? How could you leave without us when we came out together?" I calmly asked in return, "Didn't you guys say you wanted to catch a movie?" That shut Shawn up. Before leaving the pizzeria, I'd seen Jill's social media update. "Neil has always wanted to watch a movie with me and his father. His wish has finally come true." It came with a photo of the three of them together. A friend commented, "Congratulations! You guys have finally gotten together!" Jill had replied with a blushing emoji. After a brief silence, Shawn said awkwardly, "The four of us can watch the movie together. You keep talking about how I've never caught a movie with you, right?"

Chapter 4 Chapter 4

I chuckled and said decisively, "I don't need it anymore. You guys should enjoy yourselves." After that, I hung up, not caring how Shawn would react. When I got home, I received an update from my workplace. My request to return to Summeria had been approved, and I had to hand over everything here as soon as possible before returning. This was the first piece of good news I'd received in recent days. I was organizing the digital documents I needed to hand over when Shawn returned. He was still mad about how I'd spoken to him over the phone, so he grabbed his clothes and headed to the bathroom to wash up without saying a word. By the time he came out, I was already in bed and ready to hit the sack. He stood by the bedhead and looked at me. I could sense the heat in his gaze even with my eyes shut. I was starting to get annoyed when my phone rang. "Isn't it your birthday today, Joey? I've brought you some gifts the company prepared!" Tom's voice was particularly loud in the silence of the night, and his words made Shawn's expression darken. After hanging up, I left the room and headed downstairs. Tom was there with my gifts—I took them from him and thanked him. Then, I headed back upstairs. When I entered the apartment, I saw Shawn rummaging in the fridge. I put the things down with a glance at him before returning to the bedroom. Unexpectedly, Shawn joined me a short while later and said uneasily, "We don't have any ingredients at home for a cake. I can—" I cut him off with a yawn. "It's okay. I don't need it. I'm still full from dinner." His expression became even more uneasy. "I'm sorry that I forgot it was your birthday…" I said nonchalantly, "It's no big deal. It's just a birthday, right? It doesn't matter whether or not it's celebrated." After that, I turned off the lights and went to sleep. The rest of the night was dreamless and peaceful. … For the next few days, Shawn returned home on time. I didn't have time to care about him, though. I was busy handing over my work. I thought life would continue peacefully like this until the day I left. But one day, I found a name change application in the study when I was tidying my things there. It was dated two months back, and Shawn was the applicant. I was taken aback. I continued rummaging in the study until I found a certificate that indicated Neil's name had been legally changed from "Neil Green" to "Neil Johnson". That was the final nail in the coffin—it hardened my heart, which had started softening a little due to Shawn's actions. I headed to the living room with the certificate and a divorce agreement, which Shawn had given me in the past. He and Jill were watching a movie in the living room. He saw me but had yet to ask me what I was doing there when I held out the certificate. He looked down at it. Then, his expression twisted in panic. "Jolene… Honey, I can explain! This is… Neil is so young; I couldn't bear…" he stammered. His words made me laugh self-deprecatingly. "You're truly something, Shawn. You got yourself a son without me even knowing." He paled at my words and moved his lips a few times but didn't make a sound. I merely watched him coldly before holding out the divorce agreement. "Let's get a divorce, Shawn. I've already signed the papers. There's no need for you to fake a divorce for Jill's sake now—I'll give you what you want."