On our wedding anniversary, my husband didn't come home.
At midnight, he posted on social media.
"Your body is like the waves, musical notes capturing the bay in a spring night."
The picture showed a pair of large hands gripping a slender waist. The hands were his, but the woman wasn't me.
The next day, that woman dropped him off at home. Because I couldn't hear, they flirted openly in front of me.
He didn't know that I could actually hear again. It was supposed to be a surprise for our anniversary.
I asked for a divorce, but he was certain I would beg him to take me back.
But I forgot about him completely, while he regretted everything.
He went crazy, rushing to kneel before me, pleading for a fresh start.
I pointed at my ear and said, "Who are you? I can't hear."
***
I couldn't sleep all night. I searched every corner of our house, trying to find any trace of Alan Jones' affair.
Unfortunately, nothing was found.
The man who once promised to love me forever was gone. He seemed to have rotted overnight.
I heard the garage door open. Wiping away tears, I ran to the window and looked down.
It was Alan's car, but a pretty young woman was driving.
After about fifteen minutes, they came out, walking side by side, laughing at the doorstep without a care in the world.
I couldn't hold back and rushed downstairs. Alan's eyes showed a flicker of annoyance when he saw my distressed state.
The girl paused for a moment, then realized who I was. She turned to Alan and smiled, "I've made sure you got home safe. Should I head off now?"
"Who is she?" My voice trembled.
Alan smoothed his cuff, showing no intention of introducing us. The girl answered on her own. "I'm Alan's schoolmate, Lucy Smith. You can call me Lucy, sister-in-law."
"She's deaf." Alan shook his head.
Back when Alan started his business, it wasn't going well. I quit my job at a Fortune 500 company to help him.
Once, in order to land a big deal, I drank a whole bottle of wine, collapsed in the bathroom, and ended up deaf. He was devastated, taking me to countless hospitals, but no treatment worked.
That deal, however, made him wealthy. A year ago, his company went public, and he told me I no longer needed to be involved in the business and should just rest at home.
Lucy pulled out her phone, typing a few lines and showing them to me. Now that she was closer, I could see her bare face—flawless even without makeup.
"Lucy, do you want to come up for coffee?" I heard my own voice rasp.
"Sister-in-law, I felt an instant connection with you. How about we grab a meal together next time?" She typed on her notepad.
"Lucy, take care on your way." Alan also called her Lucy, with a closeness that made my stomach churn.
"See you tonight, honey," Lucy stepped aside, winking at Alan.
"See you tonight, my love," Alan's gaze was filled with desire, crystal clear to me.
Suppressing my emotions, I tried to take Alan's arm. His face darkened, as if I was something filthy, and he yanked his arm away.
I stumbled, falling to the ground, scraping my knees and elbows on the gravel.
He shot a disgusted glance at me, turned around, and stepped into the elevator, pressing the close button.
I could no longer hold back the flood of tears. Blinking through them, I struggled to my feet and headed upstairs.
When he saw my tear-streaked face, his temper snapped too.
"I hate it when you cry all the time."
"Everything in this house, I earned it. What do you have to cry about?"
It was the first time I heard Alan yell at me. Maybe he had long lost patience, but I hadn't been able to hear it, nor had I wanted to.
"Last night, you were with Lucy, right? She's pretty. You've got good taste."
"I told you, I ran into her at a class reunion. Don't overthink it." Alan's tone calmed slightly as he half-heartedly signed.
But his words were different. "Yeah, she's beautiful. She reminds me of you. The old you."
I remind him of her? This mistress? Alan spoke as if it was a compliment.
After the accident, Alan feared I would spiral into depression. For me, he learned sign language, spent days with me at the hospital, and nights studying. His eyes were bloodshot from the strain.
He promised, "If you can never hear again, I'll be your ears for the rest of your life."
The rest of my life? It's only been five years. How could someone change so quickly?
"Alan, if you don't want this marriage, we can divorce. Why cheat on me?" I screamed at him.
"Gloria Smith, I should be asking you that. What right do you have to interrogate me?" The contempt in Alan's eyes was something I couldn't understand.
Maybe my confusion was too obvious. Alan ripped off his tie, irritably snatching my phone.
As soon as he unlocked it, he saw a screenshot of that social media post.
For a moment, panic flashed in his eyes. "Gloria, it's not what you think."
Realizing I couldn't hear him, he hurriedly typed. "Lost a dare at the reunion. I blocked you from seeing it because I didn't want you to misunderstand."
Because he claimed office relationships were bad for business, we'd kept our marriage a secret for five years. He'd never once posted about me on social media.
"I don't know who's stirring the pot, damn it." Alan cursed, completely oblivious to his own wrongdoing.
He didn't regret spending the night with another woman, only that he hadn't been careful enough to keep it from me.
2Alan didn't bother to explain further. He didn't even try to comfort me, just grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom.
I sat on the couch, stunned, with his words "See you tonight, my love" echoing in my head.
She is his love. So what am I? Our five-year marriage was a joke.
"I've got to work late, won't be home tonight," he said after his shower, wearing cologne for the first time—a citrus-scented one.
He couldn't even wait until evening. Fresh out of the shower, he was already rushing out the door. Did he think of our home as just a hotel room?
I hurried to get up but cried out in pain, only then realizing that I hadn't tended to my injuries, and the couch was stained red with my blood.
"Alan, could you stay?"
Five years of love weren't so easy to throw away.
I held onto a tiny hope. If he cared for me, even just a little, I'd find the courage to keep going.
"Got to work." Alan impatiently signed again.
"It hurts so much. Could you stay with me? Please, don't go."
I grabbed his sleeve, like a drowning person clinging to a lifeline.
Alan scowled and yanked his arm free, his face full of disgust.
"Stop pretending. If it hurts, go to the hospital. Don't you love hospitals?"
Love hospitals?
It felt like a knife had pierced my heart. Did I want to go to the hospitals? Did I want to be deaf?
I sensed the unusual bitterness and violence in his tone, but I couldn't find the reason why.
In the past five years, I had been to countless hospitals, not just for my ears but also because I couldn't get pregnant.
"As long as you're healed, I'm willing to sacrifice everything."
"I don't care about a child. I only care about you."
I could remember every word Alan said.
Back then, his business was booming. My mother was eager for me to have a child to tie him down.
Following her advice, I visited every famous hospital in the country, enduring injections that left my arms bruised, and taking medications that made my hair fall out in clumps.
Seeing me still not pregnant, my mother grew desperate, forcing me to take dubious herbal remedies.
I drank so much I ended up in the hospital for a month, nearly losing my life.
My mother gave me a break for two weeks before she started hounding me again, insisting I take more treatments, even pushing us into an uncomfortable routine as husband and wife.
I was filled with shame and guilt, but Alan said he didn't care and gave me the respect and dignity I needed.
How did he turn into this? I bit back my sobs, but the tears kept flowing.
Frustrated, Alan pulled out his phone and typed a few lines.
I wiped my tears and finally saw the words clearly.
"Calm down. I don't like troublesome women."
With a loud "bang," Alan slammed the door shut.
I pushed him away and let out a bitter laugh, "Fine, I'll go. You're free now."
Alan's expression darkened, his eyes turning cold instantly.
"Think carefully. I never beg."
I didn't respond, just picked up my phone and walked out the door.
But I had no idea where to go, so I wandered aimlessly.
After not eating or drinking for over ten hours, my stomach started cramping painfully.
I passed a noodle shop and went inside to order a bowl of pork noodles, but as soon as it was placed in front of me, nausea hit, and I threw up, clinging to a trash can until I nearly passed out.
I went to a pharmacy to buy a pregnancy test. The young clerk, startled by my condition, helped me clean my wounds and urged me to go to the hospital.
But I didn't go. I went home instead.
When I saw the two lines on the test, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
If I had known about this baby yesterday, I would have been overjoyed, eager to share the news with Alan.
I thought he should know. After all, this was the child we'd been waiting for five years.
I would tell him, then leave. That was what I told myself.
I sat in the dark until dawn. Alan finally came home with Lucy.
3At the elevator entrance, before they could even make it inside, they were already kissing passionately.
Panting heavily, Alan used his right hand to unbutton Lucy's shirt while hurriedly entering the passcode with his left.
Perhaps the intensity of their kiss made him enter it wrong several times before the door finally opened.
The moment they entered, with the lights still off, Alan hoisted her onto the hallway cabinet.
The sound of violent collisions echoed, and I nearly gagged from the nausea.
I turned on the living room lights, and under the harsh brightness, they separated. The impatience on their faces was etched into my memory.
Lucy's shirt was unbuttoned all the way down to her navel, and she hurriedly buried herself into Alan's embrace.
Alan held her tightly and kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry. I thought she had already left."
"Go wait for me in the bedroom," Alan said as he carried Lucy into the room and shut the door behind him.
"Why are you back again?" His frustration was evident.
"Alan, I'm pregnant."
There wasn't a hint of joy on his face. I once believed that the arrival of this child would be the catalyst for our relationship, but to him, it was likely just a burden.
"Whose child is it?" Alan's lips curled up into a mocking smile.
I slapped him hard, his head jerking to the side from the impact.
"You must have heard everything, Gloria."
"Why didn't you tell me? Did you think staying silent would keep me with you?"
No, I hadn't.
I had only regained my hearing a week ago and wanted to surprise him on our wedding anniversary.
But what awaited me instead was Alan flirting with Lucy right in front of me.
"Let's get divorced."
"Playing hard to get loses its charm after a while." Alan sneered at my words. "We both know you can't live without me. Did you think having a baby would bring me back?" Alan thought I would use the child to threaten him, didn't he?
I looked at the face I had traced with my fingertips countless times. I laughed, and as I laughed, tears started falling.
For the first time, I forcefully pushed his hand away and fled out of the house.
Apart from Tina, I had no one else to turn to. After hesitating for a long time, I finally dialed her number.
"Gloria?" Tina's voice was as loud as ever, but there was also a hint of playfulness in her tone. "Didn't expect that Alan is quite the romantic. I always suspected he wasn't trustworthy. But when I saw how good he was to you, I let it go."
I gripped the phone tightly, my voice barely audible. "Tina, are you home?"
"What's wrong?" She sensed something was off in my voice and asked where I was. Less than twenty minutes later, she arrived.
"It wasn't me. The woman in the photos wasn't me."
Realizing that Alan had cheated on me, Tina was so furious that her head spun, her blood boiling. She immediately wanted to confront him.
"Don't go," I tried to stop her, but I felt my vision go dark, and I collapsed.
Tina panicked, abandoning her plan to confront Alan. She rushed me to the hospital instead.
The doctor handed me a prenatal exam report. He said the baby was about ninety days along, a little over twelve weeks, about the size of a peanut.