Chapter 4

After all these years of marriage, Lucas seldom let his emotions show like this.

Whenever we had a little run-in with people at a restaurant, I was always the one fighting our corner, while he'd sit there, acting like he was above it all, even looking embarrassed by me.

If there was ever any drama with the neighbors, I was always the one who had to step up and handle it, while he maintained his cool, unbothered image.

I'd get angry and stressed out trying to keep our lives together, and he'd hide behind me, pretending it had nothing to do with him, and then look down on me, calling me petty and embarrassing.

Seeing him lose his composure like that, I couldn't help but feel a bit pleased.

"Laura. What the hell is this supposed to mean?" Lucas shouted.

I said, taking my time, "Oh, nothing really. Since you've been spreading rumors about me online, I'm setting the record straight in public to protect my reputation. Is there a problem with that?"

Lucas was clearly rattled, and through the phone, I could faintly hear a woman crying in the background.

"Lucas, if you've got time to interrogate me, maybe you should take a look at the medical follow-up report I sent you," I said.

I didn't waste another second and hung up on him.

Honestly, I couldn't wait to see how Lucas would react when he found out he wasn't dying after all.

As more and more people poured into the live stream, I smiled. "I stand by every single word I've said here, and I welcome everyone's scrutiny.

"Lucas claimed he wanted to spend his last three months chasing after the person he truly loved, and I simply respected his wishes and let him go.

"But now, somehow, I've become the villain in his story, the one who supposedly made his life miserable during our marriage. It's honestly hilarious.

"I hoped we could break up peacefully, but if he insists on twisting the truth and playing the victim, I'm not going to sit back and let him get away with it."

Not long after I ended the stream, a message suddenly popped up in our old, silent WhatsApp conversation with Lucas.

It was a photo of the results from his latest check-up.

Lucas sent a message: [Laura, what is this?]

The next second, Lucas called again. "Laura. You tell me what the hell this means. What is going on?" His voice was shaking, like he was about to lose it.

I finally felt a surge of triumph. "It means you never had cancer at all. It was a misdiagnosis."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Lucas panted, his voice shaking. "How could you be so cruel?"

I replied calmly, "I was actually planning to tell you the good news that day. But you were so busy rushing to end things that you interrupted me, and honestly, I was so heartbroken that I let it slip my mind."

"Laura. You did this on purpose. You knew I didn't have late-stage cancer, and you kept it from me, tricked me into leaving with nothing, and took everything I had."

"Lucas, is it really worth twisting the truth now? You were the one who wanted the divorce. You were the one who insisted on leaving with nothing.

"You were the one who wanted to chase after your so-called true love, and you were the one who asked me to let you go.

"I did everything you wanted, so what exactly are you complaining about now? I sent you the follow-up report ages ago and reminded you to check it more than once.

"You were too busy wrapped up in your little love bubble to even notice. What, am I supposed to babysit you or something?

"All these years we were married, I worked my ass off. Even if there wasn't much love between us, we still had each other's backs and got through it together. If you wanted to chase after your true love, I wouldn't say a word.

"But I never thought the great Professor Bennett, who always acted so righteous in public, would turn around and publicly smear his ex-wife after the divorce. Guess you really show your true colors when things fall apart."

Lucas's breathing was shaky on the other end. He'd always been obsessed with his image, hated confrontation, and never knew how to stand up for himself in a real argument. This time, he was totally lost for words, all thanks to me.

"Just you wait," he snapped, practically dripping with anger, and hung up on me hard.

The next day, a local news story shot straight to the top of the trending list: [Wife Hides Husband's Misdiagnosed Terminal Cancer, Tricks Him Into Walking Away With Nothing.]

7

My phone was blowing up with calls from old classmates, colleagues, friends, family, even my parents back home.

Lucas and Emily posted a long video on the short video platform, pouring their hearts out and sobbing as they accused me of hiding the truth about his misdiagnosis so I could grab all his money and kick him out with nothing.

In the video, the two of them looked like a match made in heaven, good-looking, talented, and totally in sync. Their angry expressions didn't look fake at all.

Emily already had a decent following, and with all the marketing accounts hyping it up, plus probably some paid promotion, the video blew up locally.

People even started digging up my personal info, and I was getting flooded with harassing calls and abusive texts from random numbers.

My verified short video account was swamped with insults and rumors, and it was getting worse.

The level of shamelessness out there is unreal.

Too bad for them, I, who was a petty, sharp-tongued woman, was not about to let it go.

I screen-recorded every rumor and lie about me, locked down the evidence, and hit back with a long video on my own account. The cover was titled "An Open Letter to My Ex-Husband, Lucas."

The video started with a clip from our home security camera.

Lucas was sitting in the living room, totally unfazed, coming clean about how he'd had an affair in the third year of our marriage.

The video quality wasn't great, but one could hear every word crystal clear.

People could also see him pretending to be all pitiful, acting like he was so deeply in love, as if he was the victim here, and looking down on me like he was above it all.

I said, "About my relationship with Lucas and how our marriage ended, I want to say. Don't buy the cheater's version of events.

"First, Lucas started an affair with his student Emily in the third year of our marriage. She's now his girlfriend and a well-known influencer.

"Second, the whole late-stage cancer thing was a misdiagnosis. I sent him the report ages ago. There was never any intentional cover-up. He got tired of his so-called plain, uneducated wife and decided to get a divorce.

"Third, whether Lucas had cancer or not, the truth is he cheated on me and dismissed everything I did for our family.

"He treated me like I was beneath him, barely lifted a finger at home, and never respected me as his equal. Honestly, leaving with nothing was the least he deserved.

"Fourth, we both signed the divorce papers by choice. The whole asset split? That was his idea. He thought he was dying and decided to drop everything for his so-called 'true love'.

"That was all of him. We broke up because he cheated, not because of some bogus cancer scare.

"Fifth, Lucas, you're only flipping the script now because you realized you're not actually dying, and you regret walking out empty-handed.

"Where's all that holier-than-thou attitude now? What about your true love, your artsy persona, your so-called uniqueness?"

"Finally, I did nothing wrong in this marriage. You couldn't stand me for being petty and materialistic, but honestly, I couldn't stand your phony holier-than-thou attitude either.

"Splitting up suits me fine. Everyone's gotta own up to their choices and actions. It doesn't matter if you're dying or not."