Chapter 4 Nini's Tragedy

Hearing his words, I almost laughed.

For all these years I had stayed at home, when had I ever not behaved? He saw me standing there, yet there was no explanation, no guilt, no apology.

All there was was an accusation about why I couldn't behave.

Before I could even question him, Calvin had already turned everything around on me. Somehow, I was guilty before I had even said a word.

"And how exactly was I supposed to behave?" I asked. "See my husband holding another woman in his arms and politely apologize for interrupting?"

I lowered my eyes, hiding the pain in them.

"Calvin, let's get divorced. After that, you and Elizabeth can finally be happy together."

A trace of guilt flickered in Calvin's eyes.

"Melissa, once Elizabeth's company is up and running, I'll immediately release a statement saying she and I are divorced. After that, we'll have a proper wedding, okay?"

I felt a bitterness in my throat.

Calvin and I had been married for seven years, but we never had a wedding.

It wasn't as though I had never asked, but he always said weddings weren't important. What mattered was that two people were happy together. Even when I told him that I wanted one, he brushed me off.

Yet the wedding I had begged for had now become a bargaining chip, something he could offer me in exchange for stepping aside for Elizabeth.

"We don't need—"

I didn't even get to finish saying that we didn't need a wedding anymore before Elizabeth walked over and took Calvin by the arm.

"Melissa, I'm taking Calvin with me. You two can discuss whatever you need to when you get home. After all, everything you talk about is just trivial household nonsense, while what I'm dealing with could bring Calvin millions in profit."

I watched as Elizabeth led Calvin away. And just like that, I lost all desire to fight with either of them.

If Calvin's heart had long since chosen Elizabeth, why should I keep putting myself through this?

…

After that, I texted Jessica, telling her I wasn't feeling well and would be leaving early. With that, I went home and began packing.

After living there for seven years, my belongings had spread into nearly every corner of the house.

I packed them away one by one until I found a document.

It was a consent form for Nini's euthanasia.

Nini was the kitten I had raised for almost two years, and she had once been my emotional lifeline. During the darkest days of my depression, it was Nini who had always been there beside me.

Then, one morning, I woke up and couldn't find her anywhere.

At that time, I called Calvin in a panic. He told me she must have gotten outside, saying that he had noticed the front door hadn't been closed properly when he came home.

I searched everywhere for her, but I never found Nini.

I thought it was my fault. I thought I had forgotten to shut the door properly and allowed her to wander away.

For countless nights, I cried myself to sleep. I even went to fortune-tellers, desperately asking if they could tell me where Nini had gone.

Never once did I imagine that Calvin would have had Nini euthanized.

I sent Calvin a message.

"I've found Nini."

A voice message appeared. I pressed play, but the voice that came through was Elizabeth's.

"Melissa, hurry up and get rid of that cat! Last time your cat shed all over Calvin's clothes, it caused me to sneeze for days! I just had one put down. Why is there another one already?"

In that split second, my legs gave way beneath me as I collapsed onto the floor.

That was what happened.

Elizabeth was allergic to cat hair, so Calvin had sent Nini to heaven.

At that thought, I picked up my phone and called my lawyer. "I want to take Calvin to court and file for divorce. During our marriage, Calvin entered into a second marriage with another woman. I want the court to grant me the divorce."

…

Calvin didn't come home for nearly a week. During those days, the image of Melissa appearing at the reception kept replaying in his mind.

Elizabeth told him he had spoiled Melissa too much, which was why Melissa kept causing scenes over and over again. This time, she had even humiliated him in public.

If he let her get away with it, who knew how far she would go next?

He believed her.

So, for the entire week, he used only his private account, believing that what he didn't see couldn't bother him. He didn't even bother reading any of the updates sent by his personal image management team.

He gave them only one instruction.

"Keep liking her posts as usual."

By the time Calvin finally returned home, more than half the house was empty. Almost everything that belonged to Melissa was gone, and all that was waiting for him was a court summons.

Calvin immediately opened WhatsApp and noticed that Melissa had posted an update a week earlier.

"Wish me luck with my divorce."

Underneath it, his personal image management team had liked the post.