Chapter 1
At the end of the year, during the holiday, my husband, Rodney, took our son, Spencer, to participate in a school-organized trip to Winter Wonderland.
The school sent the commemorative photos home.
In the photos, I saw my husband holding his first love, Jessica, and our son kissing the back of her hand.
They were smiling brightly, looking exactly like a happy family of three.
On the back of the photo was my husband's handwriting.
It read, [Third year traveling with Jessica; may we be together every year from now on.]
My face turned pale.
It turned out that in every trip I didn't participate in, Jessica was present.
After sitting still for ten hours, I called my boss.
I said, "Mr. Cervantes, I agree to go to the Virella branch."
*****
At five in the afternoon, I packed my bags and booked a flight to Virella.
At six, I picked up all the toys my son had scattered around and tidied up his room.
At seven, I had just finished simmering Rodney's herbal tonic when my son burst through the door.
Rodney shook the snow off his coat, and his usually sharp features softened with a rare gentleness.
I passed him the medicine like I always did, and when he finished, my voice barely above a whisper, I said, "Rodney, let's get a divorce."
Rodney's eyes widened in shock. "You want a divorce?"
I nodded. "Now that you've recovered, it's time for me to leave."
Rodney had been seriously ill, laid up in bed for ages.
His parents heard our astrological signs were perfectly aligned, so they paid a fortune to marry me into the family, hoping I'd bring him luck.
Before we got married, Rodney looked half-dead. The maids all thought he was an invalid who wouldn't last; no way he'd ever run the company.
They mocked him openly and behind closed doors, but I was the only one who stuck by him.
Back then, he gripped my hand tight and said, "Marry me. I'll try to love you. Even if I never do, as long as I'm alive, I'll protect you. I'll never let anyone hurt you."
Five years of marriage, and I had held onto those words for just as long. I knew Rodney was getting better, but he never really fell for me. Still, I gave him everything.
I cooked for him, made his medicine, ran the household, and took care of his parents and our son. I did everything I could.
I didn't just realize something was wrong today. Rodney and Spencer used to stick to me like glue.
But ever since Jessica came back three years ago, they started going out together more often. When they came home, there'd always be traces of a woman's perfume lingering on them.
But it wasn't until today, when those travel photos landed in front of me and the words on the back burned into my mind, that it all hit me.
I knew this marriage of convenience was finally over.
Maybe this was for the best after all. Rodney finally ended up with his true love, Jessica, and it was time for me to keep my promise and walk away.
From now on, we could both move on and start fresh with our own lives.
Rodney's brows furrowed. "What happened? Why are you suddenly talking about divorce out of the blue?"
As he spoke, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the open graduation photo on the table. Realization dawned on him.
But instead of looking anxious, he visibly relaxed.
"You've got it all wrong," Rodney said, sounding pretty relaxed. "The staff egged me on, and I couldn't really say no, so I ended up writing that. There's nothing between me and Jessica.
"Even if there was, she's the one who saved my life. Jessica went through all that trouble to hunt down those crazy remedies for me, and that's how I got better so fast.
"I'm really grateful to her. Don't get all jealous of something so small and talk about divorce. That's just going to make me mad."
I forced a smile, trying to look presentable, but it felt almost impossible.
Ever since I married him, I have gotten up at five every morning to brew his herbal tonic. Not once did I skip a day in five years.
To help him get better faster, I even taught myself acupressure and gave him massages, doing everything I could to make sure he was comfortable and cared for.