Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 1 - Chapitre 9

Chapter 1

Claire Whitman tried to snatch the phone back, but in her panic, she knocked over a whole pot of beef brisket soup.I had spent three hours making that soup.She loved it, so every year on our wedding anniversary, it was always on the table.“Honey, please let me explain. I didn’t mean to hide it from you.”She stepped over the mess on the floor and hurried toward me.“But you know my sister Emily passed away three years ago. She left Mark with a son and a daughter.“He doesn’t have a job, and he has to support himself and the kids. It’s been really hard for him...”I tightened my grip on the phone and forced my voice to stay calm.“So what exactly was your reason for keeping it from me?”She stopped about three feet away from me.Then she stammered, “I... I was afraid you’d misunderstand my relationship with Mark. I didn’t want to make you angry.”I understood.Mark had it hard, so she rented him an apartment worth ten thousand a month for only three hundred.And I was petty and narro

Chapter 2

I went numb from my scalp to the soles of my feet.“Claire, is this what you meant by a man raising his children alone? With no woman around him?”Claire’s face flushed, then went pale. She looked as if she was scrambling for an explanation.But the facts were right in front of us. After hesitating for a long time, she could only say, “His parents and his brother were worried about him, and the house in their hometown is too old...”“Claire.”I cut her off through gritted teeth, each word sharp and deliberate.“Your mother’s place back home is tiny and drafty. She sleeps curled up in the corner of her bed every night, but she refused to move in with us because she didn’t want to bother us.“Just yesterday, she stepped into a puddle and hurt her leg. A neighbor had to take her to the village clinic.“And now you’re telling me you moved Mark’s entire family of six into my massive downtown apartment, a place worth ten thousand a month on the rental market, for three hundred dollars?“Is M

Chapter 3

“I heard this place belongs to you? You’re awfully young to be this selfish. Your wife already gave us the apartment to live in, and you still have the nerve to ask for three hundred dollars?”I turned and shoved Claire away with all my strength.So that was how she wanted to play it.She was the one who had rented out the apartment, but she had told them I was the one asking for rent.She got to look generous, while I became the petty one.“Noah, let’s go home first. Once we’re home, I’ll tell you everything from start to finish.”Claire clutched my wrist tightly, her eyes full of pleading.But was she pleading for her own dignity, or for Mark?When she saw my expression grow colder and colder, she made up her mind and tried to drag me out first.Instead, I suddenly kicked over the umbrella stand by the entrance.Then I pointed at the blue employee badge hanging on the wall, my voice trembling.“You gave him my job too?“So this is what you meant when you said he didn’t have a job?“C

Chapter 4

“Noah, I’ll tell you the truth. Before Emily passed, she asked me to take care of Mark and the kids.“Later, he came to me holding Lily and leading Ben by the hand. I couldn’t just ignore them.”I shook my head.“That isn’t a reason. If he came to you, you could have told me.“But you chose to hide it from me. You even lied to me and took what belonged to me to give to him.”The person in front of me stayed silent for a long time before forcing out one sentence.“I was afraid you’d overthink it. I had no choice.”There it was again.No choice.I didn’t understand.At our wedding, she had promised that in sickness and in health, in life and in death, I would come first.How had that woman spent three years lying to me for another man?Was it only because he was Emily’s widower?Or was it because she had other feelings for him?“Claire, I’m asking you one last time.“Other than all this, is there anything else you haven’t told me the truth about?”Claire heard the meaning beneath my word

Chapter 5

Claire’s eyes widened at once, and she reached for my phone.“No. You can’t call the police!”But it was already too late.After giving them the address, I hung up and watched her face turn more and more ashen.“Claire, so you do know what you did was illegal.”“Noah, you... Why do you have to make something so simple so complicated?”“If it were really simple, you wouldn’t have hidden it from me in the first place.”She clenched her teeth and went silent.The police arrived quickly.Claire reluctantly entered the passcode, and I stepped inside first.Mark’s parents were drinking and watching TV. When his father saw me, he clicked his tongue in irritation.“Why are you back again? Are you done yet? Mark, tell Claire to take her husband and get out. If he dares come back again, I’ll call the police and report him for trespassing!”“No need. The police are already here.”I stepped aside to let them in. One officer looked around the room.“Who is the tenant?”Mark was on the balcony. Hear

Chapter 6

“Honey, this is what your parents left you to remember them by. It belongs to you.”“Don’t worry. We’ll live well together. We won’t let them worry about us.”But now, in the eighth year of our marriage, I finally realized she had long forgotten the vow she made back then.The officer ignored her low murmur and continued.“Ms. Whitman, renting the property to someone else without the owner’s consent is already unlawful.“On top of that, the tenant is your brother-in-law, and the rent is far below market value. Mr. Bennett’s suspicion that you and your relatives colluded maliciously in an attempt to occupy his private property is entirely reasonable.”The last sentence hit like a thunderclap.Everyone was stunned.Claire especially. She shook her head so hard it was almost frantic.“What malicious collusion? What occupation? I didn’t!”I finally spoke.“Then explain it clearly. Why did you hide it from me? Why did you only charge three hundred dollars in rent?”Claire could not answer a

Chapter 7

But Mark lowered his head, making it obvious he was guilty.I checked the time. Daisy was about to get out of school.“Officer, I’ll send you the documents proving ownership of the property.“I also want to add a few demands.“First, I want the lease between them declared invalid. Within twenty-four hours, everyone must move out of my apartment and leave it clean.“Second, Claire must return all the rent and the difference owed to me. In other words, based on a market rent of ten thousand dollars a month for three years, you owe me three hundred and sixty thousand. If you refuse, then that means you were having an affair during our marriage.“Third, Claire, we’re getting divorced.”They stayed behind to confirm my demands, and I left first.Before I walked out, Claire tried to rush toward me, but the police stopped her.All she could do was shout after me.“Honey, I know I was wrong! We can’t get divorced!“Please believe me. I only wanted to fulfill Emily’s last wish. I really didn’t

Chapter 8

Those three slaps left my palm swollen, but I gritted my teeth as anger surged through me.“Claire, you keep saying you love me, but for your so-called sister’s last wish, you lied to me again and again. Now you’ve even let our daughter be bullied!“I’m telling you right now. This marriage is over.”I turned around and tore the divorce agreement to pieces.“But I’ve changed my mind. You’re leaving with nothing. I won’t leave you a single cent. You and Mark’s family of six can all go fend for yourselves.”After moving into the old apartment with Daisy, the first thing I did was block Claire.Then I pulled up the numbers for the company’s senior management and called them directly.That call lasted a full half hour.I told them everything, starting from how she had lied and claimed the company wanted to fire me, then how she used her position to arrange for Mark to enter the creative department and promoted him to associate director.She had even allowed him to skip work while collecting

Chapter 9

“I’m telling you, Noah, don’t get too smug. You and Claire are getting divorced anyway. Once that happens, all I have to do is crook a finger, and she’ll be my wife.“When that day comes, do you think my family of six will have to worry about having nowhere to live?”Halfway through, he suddenly clamped his mouth shut.I followed his gaze and saw Claire standing in the doorway. I had no idea when she had arrived. Her face was ashen as she stared at us.“That’s all in his head. I never thought that way!”Mark still wanted to play the victim, but Claire shoved him away.She chased after me to apologize, only to be stopped by the bodyguards I had hired.“Honey, I was wrong. I was horribly wrong. I kept softening toward him again and again, and I hurt you and our daughter.“The company already fired me. I’ve paid the price I deserved. Honey, please forgive me, okay?”The commotion grew too loud. Mark’s parents came out, ready to curse, but froze when they saw the apartment full of people.

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