Chapter 3

After several boring days in the hospital, I returned home utterly exhausted.

As soon as I pushed open the door, I was hit by a strong whiff of cologne.

Instinctively, I covered my nose and scanned the room.

Then I saw Jane's uncle wearing my pajamas, sitting in a wheelchair.

His chest was half-exposed, and I could faintly make out several bright red lipstick marks.

He looked at me defiantly, his eyes conveying a warning message.

[What are you doing here? Who gave you permission to wear my clothes?]

To make Jane believe me, I had deliberately eaten less during my hospital stay, and now I looked weak and pale.

[Dashiell, is that any way to talk to Uncle?]

Jane opened the bathroom door and walked towards me, her silk nightgown floating with each step. She seemed unsteady on her feet, her face flushed as if she had just finished an intense workout.

[Luna, don't blame Little Jing. I was out of line. I shouldn't have taken it upon myself to wear his clothes. He's right to scold me.]

John seemed to be pleading on my behalf, but in reality, he was stoking Jane's anger.

[But shouldn't you be in the hospital right now?I heard from Luna that you've become impotent after having that kind of surgery. How are you out of the hospital so quickly?

[As a fellow man, I sympathize with you. But don't worry, I'll give Luna a child. Luna has already told me that when the time comes, she'll let the child call you godfather.]

John spoke to me as if he were giving alms to a beggar. His few words ignited the anger that had been building up in my heart: [You must be overestimating yourself. With your body, I doubt you could perform even with medication.]

"Smack!" A crisp slap echoed in the room.

Jane glared at me, her face crimson red and filled with malice.

[Dashiell, how dare you speak to Uncle like that! Apologize to him right now.]

Seeing this, John laboriously wheeled his wheelchair in front of Jane. He grabbed her hand tightly and consoled her: [Luna, don't be angry. Little Jing, what he said isn't wrong. With my body, who knows when I'll be gone. I... I... I...]

He hesitated, then broke down in tears, covering his face.

Jane quickly bent down and embraced John.[John spoke while shaking his wheelchair, aiming to crash into the wall. "I'm already unfortunate enough to have this illness, but why do I have to be maliciously insulted like this? Luna, just leave me alone. Let me die."]

Jane quickly stopped him, speaking softly to soothe him. Her expression looked as if she was about to lose the most precious thing in her life.

After calming John's emotions, Jane walked towards me. She mustered all her strength and kicked me in the stomach.

I stumbled back a few steps in pain before barely managing to stand up straight.

"You eunuch, what right do you have to be so arrogant? How dare you insult my uncle like that? Who the hell gave you the guts?" Jane berated me while shoving me towards the door.

"Dashiell, I thought about the saying 'one day as husband and wife, a hundred days of grace.' I saw how pitiful you were, unable to have your own children in this lifetime, so I considered not divorcing you and even kindly offered to let the child have you as a godfather. But now I see, I was just feeding a dog with my kindness."

"I've been thinking, we should still get divorced. However, you'll have to pay me compensation for my wasted youth and emotional distress."Seeing that I was about to refuse, Jane impatiently blurted out, "Don't you dare try to weasel out of this. At our wedding, you swore on my late parents' graves that you'd take good care of me. Now you're the one who hasn't lived up to that promise, so you owe me big time."

Looking at her face contorted with disgust, my heart skipped a beat.

I never imagined that the vow I made at our wedding - to cherish her for a lifetime - would become the dagger she'd use to stab me now.