“Are you scared I won’t come back, or did you finally learn how to be a proper live-in husband for a rich family?”
She squeezed my cheek with satisfaction and laughed lightly. “How pleasant this feels.”
“As long as you behave yourself, I will never let anyone take your place.”
While speaking, Eulalie smoothly searched through a stack of gift boxes and pulled out a watch to place on my wrist.
“This is your reward.”
“Alright, stop being upset now. I know today is our tenth wedding anniversary.”
“Wipe your tears. I’ll take you out to celebrate.”
She said it lightly.
But she did not know that across these ten years, my tears had already dried out.
I pulled away from Eulalie’s touch and gave her the divorce agreement I had already readied.
“Eulalie, let us get a divorce.”
Eulalie paused briefly, then laughed even harder. “Stop playing games, Valerian.”
“You know it. We cannot get divorced.”
She squeezed my face, her hand sliding across my body.
At last, it rested over my chest.
“Go pack your things and come with me for the prenatal checkup.”
“Do not cause trouble for yourself.”
Back then, to stay with Eulalie, I cut off contact with my family.
My father announced that I was never allowed to return to Vermont, never allowed to go back home.
To punish my stubborn behavior, he even relied on his contacts in Louisiana.
He tied me firmly to Eulalie.
No separation, no divorce.
In this lifetime, whether affection or hatred, we can only stay beside one another.
At that time, Eulalie knelt in front of me.
She promised she would love me for her whole life and said I would never regret my decision.
Yet in the second year after we married, she broke our vows.
Holding her lover in her arms, she faced me boldly and said, “Yes, I was cheating. What can you do about it?”
“Valerian, you have nowhere else to go.”
“In this life, you can only stay bound to me!”
I called my family, crying and saying I was sorry for my choice.
My father ended the call without warmth. My mother watched and stayed silent.
They said this was the path I chose, and even if I cried, I had to walk it until the end.
Because of that, knowing I would not leave, Eulalie grew prouder and more reckless.
Lovers came and left, and rumors spread everywhere.
Now, she even openly brought people to the house.
But what she did not know was that when I left before, my father and I set a ten-year agreement.
We made a wager about how long our love could last.