ManyWriters

After my wife's 44th affair, my father was hit in a car accident. When I found the perpetrator, my wife emerged disheveled from the passenger seat.
I stayed by my father's side at the hospital, while she accompanied the perpetrator at the police station during questioning.
When I refused to settle, she grabbed her thermos and smashed it violently against my head.
"He's a lawyer. Do you want to ruin his entire career? What's wrong with you?"
I calmly wiped the blood from my head, watching her panicked face as realization dawned.
This wasn't her first affair, but it was the most serious one.
My mind flashed back to our fifth year of marriage, when she grinned at me and said:
"Don't you get bored sleeping with just one person for the rest of your life? To be fair, I won't care what you do either."
"I give them sex, but I give you love."
Later, I did as she wished and got together with the girl she herself had introduced to me.
Yet she ended up on her knees begging me to come home.

After the Wife's 44th Affair

When I arrived, all I saw was a scene of chaos and my father's blood-stained face.


This was the first time Genevieve had come to the hospital to visit him since the incident.


She set down the fruit she was carrying, feigning a look of concern.


I stood up to go get some water, not wanting to stand next to her.


Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her inexplicably breathe a sigh of relief.


When I returned, she was tightly gripping my father's hand in gratitude, her reddened eyes suggesting she had just been crying.


As soon as I came back, she hurriedly excused herself, citing pressing work matters.


My dad, meanwhile, shakily took my hand and spoke to me weakly, "Let it go, just focus on having a good life with your wife."


I was puzzled, assuming he had noticed the tension between Genevieve and me.


It wasn't until I called the police officer handling the case that I understood. He responded with surprise, "Didn't you say it was settled? Your father agreed to it himself."


The veins on my forehead pulsed wildly as I shook uncontrollably with anger.


Thinking back to the day Genevieve visited, holding her phone tightly to my father's ear, everything became clear without words.


The police let me listen to my father's recording, looking helpless. "It's your father's own voice, and there's a signed reconciliation agreement. This can't be faked, right? Your family is really strange, one moment wanting to pursue responsibility, the next moment not. And your darling is even running around helping the other side—"


The words suddenly stopped. I hung my head, clenching my fists.


Fintan, following the procedures, transferred the compensation to my phone. He smiled mischievously, leaning close to me as he stood.


"In the end, Genevieve just cares about me too much. I told her I had money to compensate, yet she still insisted on transferring it back to me."


I almost couldn't hold back, raising my hand.


"Honey!" Genevieve suddenly appeared, grabbing my fist.


She glared at Fintan in annoyance, forcibly squeezing her own hand into my palm.


"Honey, let's go back to the hospital to see Dad."


Just as I was about to speak, Fintan, standing nearby, objected.


He pouted at Genevieve, "Miss Frost, I'm too shaken up to drive. Could you give me a ride home?"


Genevieve hesitated for only a second before nodding at him.


I laughed once, pulled my hand away, and turned to leave.On the way, I received a text message from Genevieve.


"Honey, I'll be there in a little while."


But even as darkness fell, I still hadn't seen Genevieve at the hospital.


My phone kept buzzing incessantly. Worried about disturbing my father's rest, I took the phone and went out into the hallway.


As soon as I answered, I heard unmistakable heavy breathing on the other end.


"Baby, are you wearing the one I bought you?"


"Of course, top and bottom, all of it."


The sounds coming through the phone were like countless needles piercing my heart.


I thought I had already gotten used to this, and believed I had let go of all my feelings for Genevieve. But when faced with it directly, the healed scars were torn open again, and blood flowed freely.


After my dad was discharged, he insisted on going back to our hometown. After seeing him off, I finally returned home.


When I opened the front door, leftover food from days ago was still on the dining table. Every corner of the house hinted that Genevieve hadn't been back during this time.


Ignoring the moldy, stinking food, I went straight to the bedroom to pack my suitcase.As the door to the foyer opened from the outside, I froze in my tracks.


"Who are you? How did you break into my son's house?"


A couple stood in the doorway, luggage in hand and keys at the ready.


The woman, her plump frame squeezing forward, glared at me with fury. "Speak up, quick! Or we're calling the cops!"


Chapter 2