Allergic

My husband claimed he was allergic to women. Even the slightest skin contact made him break out in red, swollen welts. In three years of marriage, we had never once been intimate. Even our child had to be conceived through IVF. After three failed procedures, I finally became pregnant with what I believed was our baby. On the day I was discharged, I received a video. In it, my husband was tangled up with another woman in every position imaginable. His skin was perfectly clear, except for the love bites she had left across his chest. I looked up. My husband was standing beside my bed, peeling an apple for me. He wore a mask, his shirt was buttoned all the way to the collar, and gloves covered both hands. He was protected from me from head to toe. The video had been recorded only the day before. Trembling, I reached for his collar, but he violently slapped my hand away. "Don't touch me! Stay away from me!" He looked at me as though I were filthy. That was when I finally understood. He was not allergic to women's bodily fluids. He was only allergic to me. When my husband went into the bathroom to change, I called the number I had blocked five years earlier. He answered almost instantly. "Send me your location. I'm coming now."

Winter came again, and my husband and son broke out in rashes the moment the cold settled in. No doctor identified the allergen. To keep themselves safe, they drew a hard line and moved to a separate house for the season. It did not matter that I slipped and cracked my head open, or that I ended up in the hospital after a car accident. I fought every battle alone. We became strangers who shared a family name, and I became the thing that could kill them. I endured the bitter cold by myself, lonely and aching. I counted the days hoping that spring would bring my family back to me, until I overheard a conversation I was never meant to hear. "Daddy, we only get to see Daphne in winter. Cannot the allergies last a little longer?" Daphne Bullman, my husband's childhood sweetheart. My husband ruffled our son's hair. "All that allergy medicine is not good for you, and Daphne would worry. I will bring you to see her when I can." My son clapped his hands. "Yay! I love the mango candy Daphne gives me in winter, and I get to see her!" Mango. That was the fatal allergen I spent years keeping out of my son's reach. I stood in the freezing wind for a long time before I quietly walked home. Spring returned, and I stopped caring. "Eat whatever you want. If you think I am abusing you, call the police. I do not want custody anyway."

Christmas was just around the corner, and the head of the company asked us to choose between a bonus and a Christmas gift box for chocolate. I was not much of a sweets person, so I was the first to vote for the bonus. The intern collecting the votes immediately called me out by name in the team chat. "Ella, Christmas is supposed to be about the holiday spirit. Isn't choosing the bonus a bit materialistic?" Even the department manager tagged me. "Ella, the company values team spirit more than anything." In the end, everyone else picked the gift boxes. I was the only one who did not. When the Christmas party arrived, the intern had bought gift boxes filled entirely with nut chocolate. She knew I was allergic to nuts, yet she forced me to try some in front of everyone to show my team spirit. "Ella, this was bought with everyone's bonus money. You cannot just refuse, can you?" The next moment, I was struggling to breathe and a rash spread across my body. The intern looked at me with pure disgust. "Seriously, Ella, do you have to ruin the mood when everyone else is having fun?" I frantically searched my bag for my allergy medicine, but all I could find were a few pieces of chocolate. Seeing me in such a state, the intern laughed. "Medicine is only one part of it. You need more sweets anyway. I swapped your medicine for the chocolate in the gift box." My breathing was getting worse by the second. I quickly grabbed my phone and texted the CEO. [Dad, I'm having an allergic reaction. I'm at the…]

It was no secret that Frank Leclerc, the gang leader, was severely allergic to women. I was the only exception, which was why I was his fiancée. Unfortunately, a university student whose life he had saved refused to believe his condition was real. She relentlessly stalked him and clung to him at every opportunity. After her 99th attempt to sneak into his bed, Frank ordered his men to abandon her on a nearby snow-capped mountain. That same day, an avalanche struck, and she was presumed buried beneath the snow and missing. The news drove Frank mad. He rushed to the mountain himself and disappeared while searching for her. Not long afterward, a video went viral online. It showed Frank and that woman locked in a passionate kiss at the mountain's summit. Overnight, I became a laughingstock and the butt of everyone's jokes. Well, his allergy finally caught up with him that night. Gravely ill and pale as death, he looked at me and whispered, "She just... wanted to bear a child... for herself. Don't trouble her..." I sneered. Why the hell should I care about whatever pathetic reason she had? He had made one very critical mistake. He believed I had no other option but to marry him. The truth was quite the opposite. He was the one who depended on me. Too bad for him. The moment he threw himself into that search party, I had already found myself a new beau.

I inherited Grandma's terrible allergy. One touch of something gross, and I break out in rashes everywhere. At best, I feel dizzy; at worst, I go into shock. Grandma cherished me so much that she signed the old family home over to me. Right after I move into my new place, my older brother, Owen Carter, walks through the door with his girlfriend in tow. Caked in heavy makeup, Sofia Hayes picks apart the decor the second she steps inside. "I hate this. What kind of tacky aesthetic is this? Whoever picked this must be blind. Get rid of it. I want something in a more vibrant color palette." I frown. "This is my house." Sofia acts like she doesn't even hear me. She turns to Owen, pouting. "Babe, I want it to just be the two of us. It's weird for a sister to hang around her brother's place. I don't want her eavesdropping on us at night." Owen tosses his head back. "Emilia Carter, move out. Sofia doesn't like having outsiders around." I glare at my spineless brother, then at Sofia, drenched in cheap perfume and heavy makeup. Red rashes instantly explode across my arms, and blood rushes straight to my head. "Get the hell out of my house, you bitch!"

Daddy brought me to Aunt Jenny’s party. As I was eating a piece of cake, I tasted a cherry between the layers and hurriedly spat it out. Once, I broke out in rashes after eating a cherry and nearly died, so I was deeply traumatized by that flavor even as a young child. However, Aunt Jenny looked heartbroken. “I hid a cherry in the cake as a little surprise, just like it’s good luck to get a bay leaf in a pie. How could you be so rude, Kenny?” Daddy did not even let me explain. He chased me out in the yard and made me stand there as punishment. Mommy said it had been more than a hundred degrees out lately, so she told me to stay home and not go out to play. Now I knew just how hot 104 degrees could be! My body was all itchy, too. I was finding it hard to breathe. I wanted to ask Daddy to forgive me, but he refused to open the door no matter how hard I knocked. He glanced at me coldly through the floor-to-ceiling window. He was not going to let me back in.