Chapter 3

The next afternoon, Alice finally came home exhausted.

As soon as she saw me, she got excited and jumped into my arms like a clingy cat, wrapping her legs around my back and refusing to let go.

"Did you miss me?"

"It's all Ruth's fault. After her breakup, she kept asking me to stay with her so she could sleep. I was afraid she'd do something desperate, so I had to stay with her."

"But I was also afraid of neglecting my baby."

"Give me a kiss!"

Just as her lips—those lips that had been dirtied by the instructor—were about to touch my face, I instinctively felt disgusted and pushed her away.

Alice trembled violently, her face slowly turning pale.

"What's wrong with you?"

As tears were about to fall from her reddened eyes, I took a deep breath.

"Nothing, I have a bit of a cold. I don't want to infect you."

When she heard the word "cold," Alice reacted as if facing a great enemy.

She rushed over, full of guilt and remorse, and hugged me tightly again.

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault for not taking care of you."

"You're sick, and I ran off to take care of Ruth."

"I'm not going anywhere today. I'll stay home with you."

For the rest of the day, Alice did as she promised, transforming into a caring wife, looking after me in every way.

She fed me by hand, told jokes to cheer me up. If I sneezed even once, she'd rush around frantically.

Watching her in the kitchen making cold medicine for me, with warm sunlight falling on her, I fell into deep thought.

If only she hadn't lied and cheated—we could have kept going like this.

But love was already covered in scars.

While making the cold medicine, she was secretly sending romantic messages to the instructor.

I don't know what he said, but it made her visibly restless, as if unsatisfied.

After coaxing me to sleep, she quietly went out.

I grabbed my jacket and followed her from a distance, watching her jump into the instructor's arms as they kissed passionately.

They immediately rolled into the bushes, using the darkness as cover.

She didn't know that I had been recording everything she did.

Leaving with a heavy heart, I finally made up my mind to leave her.

On the third day, it was her mother's birthday. Alice wanted to take me home to celebrate with her mother.

As soon as we entered, my mother-in-law looked at me with contempt and disdain.

Even though I was carrying expensive gifts, she still couldn't change her disgust toward me.

Alice sweetly called out: "Mom."

Only then did my mother-in-law's expression soften a bit.

But just then, Alice's brother John arrived with Alice's driving instructor.

"Sister, look who I brought—your driving instructor! You're so bad at driving, you should get closer to your instructor. Then he'll teach you better."

When Alice saw the instructor, her eyes lit up immediately, and the desire buried in her heart began to stir.

The instructor also looked at her with heated eyes. John smiled and brought the instructor to my mother-in-law.

"Mom, don't think he's just an instructor—he's loaded! He has dozens of properties and an eight-figure bank balance. Being an instructor is just his hobby."

As soon as he finished speaking, my mother-in-law's face lit up with a brilliant smile.

"I didn't expect someone so young to be so successful!"

"Not like certain people, just a traffic cop with no future. How can someone like that provide for a family?"

"Mom, I won't let you talk about Torres like that."

Whenever Alice heard others humiliate me in public, she would defend me.

"Everyone has their own aspirations. What's wrong with being a traffic cop?"

"If he hadn't saved me that year, I would have died on the highway."

My mother-in-law was about to say something when the instructor played peacemaker and stopped the argument.

"Auntie, you look so young and beautiful. You don't look like you've had children at all. You look like you could be Alice's sister."

My mother-in-law was so flattered that she kept serving him food and pouring him drinks, constantly pushing Alice toward him.

If this were before, I would definitely feel sad and dejected.

But not now, because I no longer cared.

After dinner, John forcibly dragged me out for a walk. He had always mocked and ridiculed me, so this definitely wasn't simple.