My wife Maria attended her first love's birthday party, leaving her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter alone at home.
The door was unlocked.
Our daughter Stella cried for Maria and went out alone, but was hit by a speeding truck and passed away.
When I saw Stella's dead body in the hospital, I felt heartbroken.
Unexpectedly, Maria said drunkenly, "It's okay, we still have a chance to have children in the future, don't disturb my party with him."
I was so angry that I slapped her in the face.
"Maria, are you sure you're Stella's biological mother?"
***
After three years of marriage, Maria and I had a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter.
Stella was our only child and my spiritual support after getting off work every day.
She had always been my sweetheart, until today when the hospital sent me a message saying that Stella had died!
My heart was even colder than the words.
The moment I saw the news, I felt like I was falling into an icy cave and rushed to the hospital without looking back.
On the way, I sent a message to Maria, asking her to rush to the hospital.
Unexpectedly, she seemed to be drunk, and said groggily, "It's okay, we still have a chance to have children in the future, don't disturb my party with him."
I knew who she referred to.
It was Logan, who had been pursued by her throughout college.
My fists were clenched so hard that they made a crackling sound. I suppressed my anger and called her, but to my surprise, she had decisively turned off her phone.
My wife, Maria!
When our child died, she was still attending Logan's birthday party!
My hands were shaking, but I rushed to the hospital holding on to the last glimmer of hope.
I believed it was fake and Stella was fine!
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.
But the moment I saw the body in the morgue, I felt like I was falling into an icy cave. I said, "Stella?"
I lowered my head and stroked her hair, but he could no longer open her eyes.
This couldn't be true!
My heart was broken and tears welled up in my eyes.
I felt like the most important thing in my life was gone and would never come back.
2When Maria came to the hospital, it was already eight o'clock in the evening, when it was already eleven hours after Stella's death.
She looked at me leaning back in my chair and smelled of alcohol.
"What's wrong? What happened to Stella? Why don't you hurry up and call her out? I have to help Logan clean up. He can't handle it alone."
It was Logan again!
She didn't even know that her daughter was dead!
I was so angry that I slapped her in the face.
"Maria, are you sure you are Stella's biological mother?"
The nurse heard me and came over, trying to separate me from her. "What's wrong with you? You can't quarrel here!"
My bloodshot eyes stared at Maria.
From beginning to end, Maria seemed to be unaware of what had happened.
"Lucas! That's enough! I know it was wrong of me to go to Logan's birthday party without telling you, but this was my own decision and has nothing to do with you."
Seeing that I was still furious, the doctors were also afraid that I would lose control and beat her to death, so they quickly joined forces to pull me away.
"Madam, are you Stella Morgan's relative?"
Maria heard the news of Stella's death in a daze, her face kept changing, and I had no idea what she was thinking.
Soon, her cell phone rang.
She was talking on the phone with Logan again.
Even though Stella died, she still cared about other people's affairs.
That was our only child!
When I got home, my mother, who came from my hometown, was already cooking.
"You guys are back? Try this soup. I made it for the whole afternoon. If it tastes good, I'll bring it to Stella. She's still young and is growing up..."
I took it and accidentally broke the soup bowl in my hand.
"Lucas, what's wrong with you?" My mother looked confused.
My eyes were red, and I really couldn't bear to tell my mother the truth.
Not only my mother but all six people in our families like Stella very much. She was our treasure.
But Maria didn't care.
On the way back, she still took a detour to look for Logan.
She was so cruel, but she truly loved Logan.
I wiped my face hard, pulled my mother into the room, and told her the truth.
Sooner or later she would know about this.
"I didn't agree to your marriage from the beginning! She is dominating and selfish, and you just don't believe me! You finally had a child after three years. My granddaughter, but she is now..."
My mother was so distraught that she covered her face crying, and fainted because of suffocation.
I took her to the hospital immediately.
Lying on the hospital bed, my mother spoke in regret after waking up.
"I could tell at the beginning that she was sure that you couldn't leave her!
"Will you die if you leave her?
"I am going to be pissed off by you to death!"
Indeed, Maria was sure that I loved her deeply.
She knew I only loved her in this life.
If I wasn't the only child in the family, my parents would have cut off all ties with me because of her.
My mother cried so much that she almost suffocated.
"You have to give me a definite answer today.
"You must divorce her!"
3Maria and I were college classmates. She was the most beautiful girl in our class. She pursued Logan for four years, and I also pursued her for four years.
When she was rejected by Logan, she would always come to me for comfort. I thought my sincerity could move her in the end.
The fact was, she agreed to be with me after graduation.
We got married soon, but she never posted anything about me online.
She said she didn't like to be too high-profile.
"Marriage is a very private matter. As long as we live a good life, that's fine. What do you think?"
"I'll listen to you."
To make her happy, I suppressed my joy and kept our relationship in secret.
It was not until she gave birth to Stella that our lives began to become promising.
After we got married, did laundry, cooking, and housework after getting off from work, and never let her worry about anything.
As long as I looked at Stella's happy smiling face, I was very satisfied.
She could focus on her career and was promoted from an unknown salesperson to deputy manager in just one and a half years.
An internal competition for the marketing manager position was about to happen, but she resigned.
Because Logan came back from abroad.
I didn't know how Logan convinced her to resign.
Yesterday, I was busy working overtime, so I asked her, who had just quit her job, to stay at home and take good care of Stella.
Unexpectedly, she went to the party anyway.
I didn't know why I married her. Over the past three years, she had been completely obedient to me, and I thought she was finally moved by me.
But I didn't expect that a sharp sword was about to stab me and my mother.
I took a last look at Maria's WhatsApp, then looked at my mother who was crying.
During these three years, it was my willfulness that made my mother suffer.
A forced relationship would only make people suffer.
It took me three years and I paid a heavy price to understand this truth.
And it was time for me to let go.
4"If you feel uncomfortable, just stay there. How could there be a car accident?"
"I'll be there once I'm done with this."
"But...then wait for me."
When I found her with the divorce agreement, I heard her going out while talking on the phone.
She walked very fast.
I took several days of bereavement leave to hold Stella's funeral. Everyone in the company comforted me.
Unexpectedly, Logan also happened to have a car accident at this time.
The video of his accident was playing continuously in the news.
The perpetrator had not been caught yet, and Maria had not been home for several days.
I went to the hospital to find her, but the nurse told me that Maria had gone to the police station to look for the culprit.
She ran everywhere and helped Logan handle the case at the police station.
I put away the divorce agreement when my cell phone rang.
The text message reminded me that I had spent more than 30,000 dollars.
There were many unread text messages, and I was usually too lazy to read them. This time, I took a look because they popped up.
She used my card. What happened that required her to use so much money?
Was there something wrong with her too?
Since Logan's accident, she never answered my calls. After many twists and turns, I finally found her.
But the scene before me hurt me deeply.
She squatted down and wet the towel, then stood up supporting the hospital bed, and gently wiped Logan's body.
Although she was physically weak, she was in good spirits.
It was as if she could transform into a superwoman and never know pain again.
But when I was with her, she wasn't even willing to touch a needle, for fear that it would hurt her.
However, she did this for Logan.
I knocked on the door.
She turned around and saw me, then her expression changed from guilty to indifferent.
"What are you doing here? Just think that I had borrowed thirty thousand dollars from you. I'll return it to you when I get my salary."
The first thing she did was to distance herself from me.
Had I ever asked her for a penny in all these years?
She didn't even care about Stella after Stella died.
I also helped with the funeral. Although she was very busy, she was still helping Logan as a free caregiver.
Maybe the thirty thousand dollars was all spent on Logan.
Logan half sat up from the bed and pretended to be puzzled, saying, "Maria, you still paid for my surgery? Doesn't Lucas know about it? You shouldn't do that."
"The company has been in a big deficit lately. I don't have enough to pay for your surgery. The perpetrator hasn't been caught, and the commercial insurance compensation is not enough. This thirty thousand dollars is just a small fraction. I have no other choice."
"Lucas is your husband, after all, Maria. Maybe he comes here just to ask you to go back. So you should go back first and leave me here to fend for myself, okay?"
Logan sighed and deliberately made himself sound miserable and pitiful.
But I didn't expect that when he said this, he avoided Maria's sight and made lip movements to me.
"You can't never win me!"
It turned out that Logan's target was not Maria from the very beginning.
But me.
5I'd been worried about Maria during the years I'd been with her.
She was a typical career-oriented woman. After she gave birth to Stella, she worked even harder. She fainted at her workplace several times and I had to go to pick her up.
Her body, which already needed rest, was even more depleted due to this. To replenish her body, I tried all kinds of ways.
She had no time to exercise, so I gave her a full body massage every night before going to bed and helped her exercise her muscles manually.
In addition to working and taking care of her, I also had to take care of Stella all the time. I spent money to hire a nanny, but I was not very reassured, so I often took care of Stella myself.
At the same time, I had to take care of my diet and daily routine, take good care of my body, and try not to fall ill during this period.
I would not let her or Stella endure any hardship.
I could sense her every little emotion immediately.
During those three years, she expressed her love to me countless times, so sincerely that I thought she loved me.
Logan's provocation made me angry, and no man could tolerate it.
"Who do you think you are? How dare you challenge me?"
Stella's death made me lose my control. I couldn't bear it anymore and rushed over to beat him up.
Unexpectedly, I was stopped by Maria.
"Lucas, stop being unreasonable! Thirty thousand dollars is nothing to you. Why are you so mean?"
She was the person I had loved for three years.
"What does our child, Stella, mean to you? She's already dead, but you, her biological mother, were absent from her funeral. And now you're still taking care of Logan. It's ridiculous!"
"Maria!" I yelled, throwing out the divorce agreement I had been carrying with me. "Let's get a divorce, then you can accompany Logan!"
"Stella is dead?"
When Maria heard this, she was stunned and couldn't help but take a few steps back.
"How is this possible? I remember she was very well-behaved and said that the teacher at the kindergarten praised her a few days ago when I saw her..."
I smiled bitterly, it turned out that she hadn't noticed this matter at all.
I threw the divorce agreement in front of her.
"It doesn't matter. You have never been a competent wife and mother. Just sign it. Even if it goes to court, a heartless and ungrateful mother like you won't have any advantage!"
She looked at me in shock, mumbling to herself.
"No way. It's impossible. How could Stella die? You must be lying to me!"
6How could someone so cruel as to take care of a stranger during her child's funeral be qualified to be called a mother?
The divorce process took a long time, and there was a three-month cooling-off period after filing for divorce.
During this period, in addition to preparing divorce documents, I also had to prepare for property division.
But I didn't expect that Maria's parents would find me at my company.
"Mr. Morgan, someone is looking for you outside."
As soon as I stepped out of the office, I was slapped in the face.
"You ungrateful bastard! Why? Maria has been with you for three years, and in the end, you asked her to divorce without giving her anything. Are you still a man?"
My mother-in-law Sofia rushed up to me with red eyes and hit me, everyone in the company was watching us for fun.
"We are all very sad that Stella is dead!"
"You are just incompetent! You couldn't even look after your child that night! How dare you say that you were working overtime that day? You might as well die instead of hindering my daughter from finding a better man!"
My father-in-law Kevin also swore at me.
"You even asked Maria to sign an agreement to divorce with nothing. You're so ruthless!
"She has been living a tough life with you for three years and even gave birth to your child. She has suffered so much, but now she gets nothing. I will fight for her rights at the cost of my life..."
I had never treated my parents-in-law badly since I got married.
I treated them nicely in every festival and even made Stella bear their surname.
After all, I loved Maria.
But there wasn't a single word of truth coming out of her mouth.
If they knew that Maria was still hooking up with Logan, and was probably still staying with him now, would they still come to me to ask for property division?
They wouldn't.
They would only blame me for not keeping an eye on my wife.
Greedy people sought wealth without any reason, they just wanted money.
"Don't worry, the divorce application has been submitted.
"You can fight for Maria's due rights. We just need to wait for the result of the trial."
After Stella's death, I had become hard-hearted and didn't want to talk about any reason or feelings.
It all depended on how the professional team of lawyers I hired could help me solve it.
Kevin was stunned, but soon recovered his expression and said, "Humph, let's see how long you can keep being stubborn!
"Don't come crying and beg us to allow Maria to get back to you then."
7Sofia added, "That's right. You must be sincere when you ask Maria back. You liked Maria so much back then, but now you want a divorce. Don't come to our house and beg for her forgiveness... However, if you pay us money and kowtow to beg us, we can still consider it."
Their nonsense was laughable.
"I finally know that you are heartless and profit-driven. Now, I finally know I had been so humble. From now on, our two families are even."
"What do you mean? You'll never be able to repay our daughter for what you owe her in your entire life!"
I just ignored them and walked away from them.
When I was having dinner that night, my cell phone started ringing wildly.
After hanging up for the last time, the door was finally opened.
"Lucas, come out! How dare you talk shit about me in front of my parents? They are old and can't stand the stimulation, don't you know?"
Maria came to me in a rage to question me.
Maria was no longer attractive to me.
The love that made me have no regrets was gradually slipping away from her.
She changed.
"Maria, do you still remember your speech at the graduation ceremony?
"You said you would not forget your original intention and live towards the sun.
"From today on, the Maria I knew has died along with our baby.
"And you should stay away from me."
I pushed aside her body that was blocking me, just like pushing aside the curtain that was blocking the turning point of my life.
She finally looked panicked as she realized that I was serious this time and she couldn't hold me anymore.
But she would not give in easily, and her attitude of retaining me was still so arrogant.
"If you forgive me now, this matter will be over. I'll go and comfort my parents.
"I don't believe you can stop loving me so easily.
"You said you could die for me."
I turned around and stared at her, making her feel creepy.
"What? Do you also want to kill me after you killed Stella?"
"What bullshit are you talking about?"
Ignoring her screams, I opened my palms towards her.
"Give me back the key."
"I won't!" She put her hands behind her back, her eyes showing a stubborn determination to not give in. "You lied to me by saying that you would love me forever, now you're breaking your promise just because of a child.
"You're not a man!"
I slapped her.
I couldn't stand it anymore.
"I never hit a woman. You're the first one.
"I slap you for Stella. What exactly is she in your eyes? A life was lost but look at your attitude. Get out of here now!"
"Get as far away as you can and don't force me to tell others everything you did!"
My force was a bit too great, so she fell directly onto the shoe cabinet due to inertia.
You hit me? Lucas, how dare you hit me?"
"Tell me what I did! If you can't tell me, then apologize!"
She grabbed my clothes and hit me like crazy.
"Our house is under surveillance, have you forgotten?"
All the madness stopped at this moment.
"I installed it for our children.
"And I haven't used the bank card in the bedroom for a long time, but the money in it is gone. I don't mind going to the bank with you now.
"Or the police?"
Her face turned completely pale at this moment, she collapsed to the ground and sobbed.
She cried and told me how my money was transferred out, where it went, and how she helped Logan pay his debts.
Only then did I realize that after Logan returned, the company he founded had been forcibly executed and not a penny was left in his account.
To help Logan, Maria did not hesitate to transfer my money.
Not only did she want to pay for Logan's medical expenses and surgery, but she also wanted to make up for his company's losses.
Maria and her family had no money at all but relied on me to support them.
Her parents probably knew that we were getting a divorce and wanted to help Maria get a share of the property, so they came to my company to cause trouble.
"Lucas, don't you want a divorce?
"I will never divorce you even if I die!"